[UPDATE] Feds Take Down Megaupload

[Sandytimeman]

Hey umm actually would like to point out that...that link to megauploads. It installs Anon's DDOS program on your comp unless you have a good malware blocker. XD Just...uhh thought you might want to know.

How exactly do you know? Thats what im wondering at this Point..

Well here's for having No-Script to block sites i dont trust, no messy autodownloading for them!

And before a Mod gets hammer-happy, no i dont use it to block the escapist or encourage others to do it as well ;P

OT:

Well, there's one down, just..whats a good number, 100? 200?...well alot more to go. And no i dont agree with what they have done but given that nobody had prior notice to it, its not like we could stop it now that they went ballistic already.

My Malware Bytes program blocked the install and the on a few other sites people warning not to try and access the megauploads ip otherwise your'll get the DDOS program installed.

 

[Nielas]

But really, let's put this event into perspective. Roman Polanski drugged and raped a 14 year old girl and fled to France. We're not extraditing him to face charges, oh, but those evil, evil pirates, we can't let them get away with this!
Yeah, if there was any doubt that the corporations own our government, this should wipe it away.

France won't extradite him on those charges. There was a lot of hoopla when he was in Switzerland and the US government wanted him extradited from there but a Swiss judge denied the request. The US government has wanted to extradite him for years now.

 

[DSQ]

'According to reports, charges have been laid against seven Megaupload employees - four of which are already in custody in New Zealand. The Department of Justice reckons this is "among the largest criminal copyright cases ever brought by the United States,"'

Ummm... I'm guesing the had the New Zeland's coperation right?

My Malware Bytes program blocked the install and the on a few other sites people warning not to try and access the megauploads ip otherwise your'll get the DDOS program installed.

Are you kidding? Fuck, I clicked on that link...

 

[Vivi22]

What I don't think is posted here but is really ridiculous is that if found guilty, these people will be facing a 55 year sentence.

That's right. 55 YEARS

Awesome. I could kill a man in a fit of rage and be out before them. I just might too with the way things have been going over the last few years.

 

[TheDooD]

snip

It's true they don't want people make massive money of the net. Hell there's so many highly skilled guys that if they would team up would completely dominate in their field of expertise. These old rich crocs don't want the little man to come up and gain their own wealth, so they'll try anything and everything to keep them down.

Exactly. It makes me wonder if those Congressmen have ever seen the movie "War Games".

Most of them act like they're stuck in the 1940's I seriously doubt it.

 

[JoaoJatoba]

just HOW does the US have jurisdiction outside their country?
as far as I know the internet has no leader/owner meaning nobody has jurisdiction on it (except for admins).
it,s like the Dutch government catching Texans for owning weapons.

Since most of the infrastructure of the internet passes through USA they can block out data traffic, but the content will not be erased in its source.

 

[The_root_of_all_evil]

What about the millions that used these sites for perfectly legal means? The type of people that far outweighed the pirates?

Ask Steve Jackson about that.

http://www.sjgames.com/SS/

TL;DR: In 1990, The PnP RPG GURPS Cyberpunk was raided by the Secret Service for making "A handbook for hackers" - all of their perfectly legitimate equipment was stolen by the Feds and held for 3 years. (That's all their computers, work, e-mails etc.)

They sued the US Government for over $50,000 in damages, plus over $250,000 in attorney's fees; and won.

 

[RJ Dalton]

But really, let's put this event into perspective. Roman Polanski drugged and raped a 14 year old girl and fled to France. We're not extraditing him to face charges, oh, but those evil, evil pirates, we can't let them get away with this!
Yeah, if there was any doubt that the corporations own our government, this should wipe it away.

France won't extradite him on those charges. There was a lot of hoopla when he was in Switzerland and the US government wanted him extradited from there but a Swiss judge denied the request. The US government has wanted to extradite him for years now.

Still holds up, even if it's not entirely the US's fault. It still shows us how the world at large views piracy as a worse crime than rape.

 

[shadowstriker86]

What I don't think is posted here but is really ridiculous is that if found guilty, these people will be facing a 55 year sentence.

That's right. 55 YEARS

meanwhile murderers, rapists and carjackers get 25. american justice at work people

 

[OniaPL]

Still holds up, even if it's not entirely the US's fault. It still shows us how the world at large views piracy as a worse crime than rape.

But you don't understand! Piracy costs people in high places money, rape doesn't! D:

 

[kebab4you]

Seeing how they did take down stuff that was hosted over there quite often, I don't see how they would get problems with the law. Granted I don't know the size on the team but I can't think it´s that big so of course they can't work as fast as youtube with taking down videos.

What I don't think is posted here but is really ridiculous is that if found guilty, these people will be facing a 55 year sentence.

That's right. 55 YEARS

Awesome. I could kill a man in a fit of rage and be out before them. I just might too with the way things have been going over the last few years.

You could kill 1, sit your 25 years, and then kill another man, and still be out before them.

 

[Alar]

Well, this certainly sucks. I hope that there's a big enough out-lash against this.

On other news, following an article link and watching some videos told me that at least a dozen more U.S. Reps/Senators have joined the anti-SOPA/PIPA league.

 

[Parnage]

Almost every single comment in this thread disgusts me and makes me realize just how very entitled much of the world is thanks to modern day net piracy. Literally you had to be blind to -not- know that Megaupload was hosting illegal content and geeze wasn't it odd that the same files always kept popping up. It'd be a poor choice to spend money/store important files on such a site for any length of time. It's just poor planning.

Read the Indictment. Here's the full 72 pages.

http://www.scribd.com/doc/78786408/Mega-Indictment

before you decide to start complaining about how it's just a company, how about the parts where chief employee's of the site where not only profiting off of the piracy but also outright encouraging it! This wasn't some lowbie tech guy this was the top guys. READ the bloody paper before you go tossing out how they are just some innocent 3rd party. Pirate bay had a stronger case then these guys do if even half of these claims have evidence behind them(considering it's already went to Grand Jury it's most likely the case they do have some fairly compelling evidence.)

Did I mention they also encouraged actions against rival websites so they could profit more from the very thing they themselves where doing? Megaupload was perfectly fine with the FBI and companies going after other sites pirating but surprisingly enough not thar own. It's almost as if..*gasp* THEY WANTED MORE MONEY?! I know crazy..but true.

The US isn't tossing it's power around when the countries agree to extradite them as per the signed treaties they have. It's not like the US said to New Zealand if you don't give us these guys where going to invade. It's a simple matter of criminal transfer between two powers. Hate to break it you but Anon is acting like kids and this is actually a good thing as it's sites like Megaupload that not only promote piracy and profit from it but it's the thing people point to when SOPA/pipa style bills get promoted.

Please for the love of god escapist at least provide the link to the indictment and at best read and post the exact reasons because all this is doing is stirring the anti government anon in alot of users.

 

[Smokej]

hrmpf there goes my prem account. MU was one of the best hosters on a worldwide level since the net lost its faith in rapidshare. Even as a free User it had decent speed and was user friendly...

but in the end it's all part of the content/file-sharing evolution. i've seen the copyright sheriffs trying to catch up since the days of usenet and sharing floppy disk or tape drives... now we have one-click-hoster with 1 gig files you can download with 10+ mb/s

that being said what i'm really missing is having state officals pulling those big guns on the crooks responsible for the 2007 financial crisis

 

[maninahat]

snip

The problem with such logic is that you're saying its okay for them to chop down a tree in a forest for having a branch they didn't like so long as they really didn't like it. As logical as you want to reason this out, allowing officials to progress down this path will only end in a clear cut field.

All I am saying is that in some circumstances, there simply isn't an option to cut off the offending branch only. That is to say, in the examples I gave, there is no plausible way of tackling a serious problem without having to take an extreme, all-encompassing measure (unlike a real tree branch, which obviously could be just cut off). Extreme measures have their severe downsides, so they should only be taken if really necessary. Is the problem big enough to require disrupting the service for everyone? In some cases, I think that wide-spread, clear cutting is required.

 

[LetalisK]

Hey umm actually would like to point out that...that link to megauploads. It installs Anon's DDOS program on your comp unless you have a good malware blocker. XD Just...uhh thought you might want to know.

How exactly do you know? Thats what im wondering at this Point..

Well here's for having No-Script to block sites i dont trust, no messy autodownloading for them!

And before a Mod gets hammer-happy, no i dont use it to block the escapist or encourage others to do it as well ;P

OT:

Well, there's one down, just..whats a good number, 100? 200?...well alot more to go. And no i dont agree with what they have done but given that nobody had prior notice to it, its not like we could stop it now that they went ballistic already.

My Malware Bytes program blocked the install and the on a few other sites people warning not to try and access the megauploads ip otherwise your'll get the DDOS program installed.

AW! god damn it. I only let it load a few seconds since it was taking so long, but I better go get malware bytes now anyway.

 

[Slayer_2]

I wish I could say I feel bad, but after that douchey ad they released, I'm glad to see them go bye-bye.

 

[Wintermoot]

just HOW does the US have jurisdiction outside their country?
as far as I know the internet has no leader/owner meaning nobody has jurisdiction on it (except for admins).
it,s like the Dutch government catching Texans for owning weapons.

Since most of the infrastructure of the internet passes through USA they can block out data traffic, but the content will not be erased in its source.

the thing is the US government also caught people from outside the US that British guy and somebody from New Zealand they also took down servers outside the US.

 

[samsonguy920]

This little quote just makes me shake my head.

"The fact is that the vast majority of Mega's Internet traffic is legitimate, and we are here to stay. If the content industry would like to take advantage of our popularity, we are happy to enter into a dialogue. We have some good ideas. Please get in touch."

It's the same as Clinton saying he tried marijuana but didn't inhale, or a girl being almost pregnant. You don't erase the illegality by being mostly legitimate. If that was true none of the mafia gangs would have ever been touched by the Feds.
If you can't police your own house, someone else will with worse consequences. Trying to act like you were mostly legit doesn't cut the cake. You are either all legit, or you are not.

What about Youtube then? Their webtraffic is mostly legitimate, but they do have some infringing content. Should they be shut down.

I don't hear Youtube saying that they shouldn't. Youtube does acknowledge that gray material comes through their site, but they also take steps to curb it(Sometimes being too quick on the button, assuredly). I don't hear anything about MegaUpload doing their part to curb any pirated content coming through their servers.

And, yes, the Justice Department can always do this, legitimately. SOPA would have taken away all that annoying bullshit like search warrants and due process.

man you scare me, it´s darn scary to hear a person calling search warrants and due process annoying, the two few things protecting people from rich farts and sneaky politicians or well anyone from abusing the law in there favour, the two things that forces people to pause and ask questions.

You need to change the batteries on your sarcasm meter, son. Search warrants, grand juries, and due process is all that stands between us and a government that can do whatever they want to whoever they please, regardless whatever real evidence they probably don't have.
What scares me(as it should you) is that there are a significant number of people in our own Congress who have zero problem with taking away due process. They may be in the minority, but for a time there, they had most of the other congressbeings into thinking SOPA/PIPA was a good thing or mostly harmless. It took people actually doing something and not just sitting on their ass on some street to bring some sense to the Capitol.

 

[SenseOfTumour]

Those in favour of sites checking all uploads for legality, do you want all your mail opened and read by the mailman in case someone's sending you drugs in the post? Of course, the price of mail, and services products of any company that needs to use the mail, will have to go up to cover paying for these mail probing staff.

Then do you want the mailman to be jailed because someone's sending you drugs? Must be his fault, not the sender or recipient, right?

I still am not sure Megaupload's takedown was legal, but either way, to me it sure as hell proves we don't need anyone getting EXTRA powers to run roughshod over the law and due process.

Whatever comes in, it's ESSENTIAL that guilt is proven, before anyone starts being punished. At present, I don't see that happening in the SOPA bill or any of its close friends.

Also, how about war, terrorism, healthcare and a few other hundred things take priority over this, politicians?