[UPDATE] Feds Take Down Megaupload

[Awexsome]

Haha! Yes! Finally some god damn consequences against those who actually deserve it in this whole piracy thing. Stop going after freaking google and youtube and go after sites like this!

And for all the people using Megaupload/megavideo/etc for perfectly legal reasons? This could happen to any hosting site, and probably will.

For those sites like MegaUpload who obviously benefit from piracy and do little to nothing to prevent it they deserve it. There's a large difference to a site like Youtube which SOPA threatened to a site like MegaUpload.

dude you don't even know what you are talking about megaupload, just like youtube has modirators that take down pirated material, the only difference is that on youtube the video will be called copyrighted material X, but on megaupload the uploader calls the file some random stream of bullshit like 147N987H2ND89H12 so it is near immpossible for the moderators to find. Then he uploader posts the link on a forum or directory and bam the pirates can find it the the mods don't have a clue.

Oh but you have no idea what you're talking about my friend. Comparing megaupload's efforts and youtube's to combat the copyright infringement as equal efforts is laughable anyway but the charges aren't just for hosting infringing content. Charges such as money laundering, conspiracy, and others are behind this.

They weren't just ok with their services being used for piracy. They were actively encouraging it through rewards and plans on how to get around it.

 

[Vizen]

Hello America. Fix your Government.

Regards, rest of the world.

The UK offers its full support to this statement.

 

[Wuvlycuddles]

Quick question: If you rent some storage space, like a warehouse or a garage are the people you rent from responsible for what you put in storage?

I mean, I'm pretty sure that when I moved house a while back I signed an agreement with the storage people that I wouldn't use the space to store anything illegal, absolving them of any responsibility should I break that agreement. Stands to reason that an online digital storage space, such as Megaupload would be smart enough to ensure a similar arrangement with individuals wanting to upload their files and that they would immediately delete any infringing material once they have been alerted to it breaking a law. So I don't know exactly what people are trying to prove/accomplish here.

 

[skullpile]

Haha! Yes! Finally some god damn consequences against those who actually deserve it in this whole piracy thing. Stop going after freaking google and youtube and go after sites like this!

And for all the people using Megaupload/megavideo/etc for perfectly legal reasons? This could happen to any hosting site, and probably will.

For those sites like MegaUpload who obviously benefit from piracy and do little to nothing to prevent it they deserve it. There's a large difference to a site like Youtube which SOPA threatened to a site like MegaUpload.

dude you don't even know what you are talking about megaupload, just like youtube has modirators that take down pirated material, the only difference is that on youtube the video will be called copyrighted material X, but on megaupload the uploader calls the file some random stream of bullshit like 147N987H2ND89H12 so it is near immpossible for the moderators to find. Then he uploader posts the link on a forum or directory and bam the pirates can find it the the mods don't have a clue.

Oh but you have no idea what you're talking about my friend. Comparing megaupload's efforts and youtube's to combat the copyright infringement as equal efforts is laughable anyway but the charges aren't just for hosting infringing content. Charges such as money laundering, conspiracy, and others are behind this.

They weren't just ok with their services being used for piracy. They were actively encouraging it through rewards and plans on how to get around it.

And what were they doing to supposedly "encourage" and "reward" pirates again, besides owning a file hosting service very much like youtube?

 

[Awexsome]

Haha! Yes! Finally some god damn consequences against those who actually deserve it in this whole piracy thing. Stop going after freaking google and youtube and go after sites like this!

Your joking right? If they can set precedent laws with this youtube could well be next with all the anime and music content on there...

No slippery slope bullshit that was actually a threat with SOPA. This is a single takedown of a single site giving blatant disregard for piracy laws and, with this new revelation, was actually encouraging it and giving out benefits to their users for doing it.

There is a distinct difference between MegaUpload's objective and Youtube's. Youtube actually gives a fuck about enforcing piracy laws. Megaupload encouraged breaking it.

It's not bullshit[footnote]well it is, but not in the way you mean it[/footnote]; that's the way the American court system works. Every time a judge makes a ruling on a subject, it sets precedent, which all of the other judges at that level and lower have to pay attention to, as if it was actually the law instead of an (often flawed) interpretation of the law. Bad precedent is never a good thing, and Tay was exactly right: depending on how this goes, precedent that could be used to take down Youtube could very well be set.

Well if you don't hold any belief that the government and judicial system can differentiate between what Megaupload does and what Youtube does then I guess that's your belief. However I can see how MegaUpload is a piracy haven and now, if charges hold, actively worked towards expanding and profiting off it is different than what Youtube does.

It's possible to step too far. But equally bad is not stepping at all.

 

[Major_Tom]

Even without SOPA they can do this kind of bullshit.
It's like they found out some freight ship might be carrying some smuggled goods, and then sunk the whole ship. Brilliant.

 

[Al-Bundy-da-G]

Wait, they took down Megaporn as well? Oh it's on now, don't mess with peoples porn.

You bastards D:< you really did it you took away our porn. That's the last straw...

VIVA LA REVOLITIÓN VIVA LA PORN

 

[Ariyura]

Even without SOPA they can do this kind of bullshit.
It's like they found out some freight ship might be carrying some smuggled goods, and then sunk the whole ship. Brilliant.

Yep! But hey what a few casualties compared to the handful of bad people they can catch. It this just sets up so they can just keep doing it over and over again.

 

[Awexsome]

And what were they doing to supposedly "encourage" and "reward" pirates again, besides owning a file hosting service very much like youtube?

The indictment accuses the suspects of being members of "the Mega Conspiracy, a worldwide criminal organization whose members engaged in criminal copyright infringement and money laundering on a massive scale."

the indictment noted, "For much of its operation, the Mega Conspiracy has offered an 'Uploader Rewards' Program, which promised premium subscribers transfers of cash and other financial incentives to upload popular works, including copyrighted works, to computer servers under the Mega Conspiracy's direct control and for the Conspiracy's ultimate financial benefit."

That.

http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/justice-fbi-crack-megaupload/story?id=15396526#.TxirWfnNlGV

 

[Atmos Duality]

If we're wielding the Copyright Axe of Scorched Earth to secure the futures of b/millionaires against those nasty pirates, we'd better ban FTP, TFTP, VLANs/trunking, PPP, and any P2P protocols from the Internet too, because those are traditionally used to transmit pirated material too.

Because that's effectively what Megaupload was: a collection of file transfer servers.

 

[5-0]

I'll say what I said to my friend.

What the hell? It's just a website to allow people to host content. It's no different from Dropbox, really. Do they really expect moderators to police absolutely every bit of content that gets uploaded there?

 

[Awexsome]

It's possible to step too far. But equally bad is not stepping at all.

Woah there Confucius, think about it. When you go too far, it's really hard to go back. When you've gone nowhere, it's pretty easy to get going.

Point is that no, it's not equally bad. Going too far is always worse, especially in these cases. Once you get that boulder rolling, it's not gonna stop.

That still reads like, "Do nothing because it's too dangerous" to me. So long as the moves they make are good ones I'll support them like this and write and protest about the ones that aren't like SOPA.

 

[Beryl77]

SOPA and PIPA? Who needs them in a world where the rich rule? Ugh, I wonder how much money was involved for this to happen.
This is ridiculous, Megaupload deletes illegal files and they condemn piracy.
I don't remember where I read it anymore but someone made a good point. "If they take down Megaupload because some people abuse it for illegal activity, then why don't they take down phone companies? Many people use phones as tools for robbery, rape and murder." Same logic.

On related news, Anonymus has gone nuts over this. They've taken several sites down because of this. Normally, I'm not too fond of their actions but confronted with this stupidity, it's hard to feel pity for their victims.

 

[Al-Bundy-da-G]

Hello America. Fix your Government.

Regards, rest of the world.

Hello, Japan, UK, Russia, Italy, Greece, Australia, and various others. Please fix your respective Goverments as well.

Regards, Canada I guess...

 

[skullpile]

And what were they doing to supposedly "encourage" and "reward" pirates again, besides owning a file hosting service very much like youtube?

The indictment accuses the suspects of being members of "the Mega Conspiracy, a worldwide criminal organization whose members engaged in criminal copyright infringement and money laundering on a massive scale."

the indictment noted, "For much of its operation, the Mega Conspiracy has offered an 'Uploader Rewards' Program, which promised premium subscribers transfers of cash and other financial incentives to upload popular works, including copyrighted works, to computer servers under the Mega Conspiracy's direct control and for the Conspiracy's ultimate financial benefit."

That.

http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/justice-fbi-crack-megaupload/story?id=15396526#.TxirWfnNlGV

So some PEOPLE that worked AT megaupload were rewarding pirates by giving them money to upload copywriten content not the actual company. Ok then, now can you tell me what MEGAUPLOAD was doing to supposedly "encourage" and "reward" pirates again, besides owning a file hosting service very much like youtube?

 

[Tony2077]

SOPA and PIPA? Who needs them in a world where the rich rule? Ugh, I wonder how much money was involved for this to happen.
This is ridiculous, Megaupload deletes illegal files and they condemn piracy.
I don't remember where I read it anymore but someone made a good point. "If they take down Megaupload because some people abuse it for illegal activity, then why don't they take down phone companies? Many people use phones as tools for robbery, rape and murder." Same logic.

On related news, Anonymus has gone nuts over this. They've taken several sites down because of this. Normally, I'm not too fond of their actions but confronted with this stupidity, it's hard to feel pity for their victims.

i personally think there going to do more harm then good in the long run. eye for an eye just doesn't work out well for anyone

 

[BabySinclair]

Haha! Yes! Finally some god damn consequences against those who actually deserve it in this whole piracy thing. Stop going after freaking google and youtube and go after sites like this!

Your joking right? If they can set precedent laws with this youtube could well be next with all the anime and music content on there...

No slippery slope bullshit that was actually a threat with SOPA. This is a single takedown of a single site giving blatant disregard for piracy laws and, with this new revelation, was actually encouraging it and giving out benefits to their users for doing it.

There is a distinct difference between MegaUpload's objective and Youtube's. Youtube actually gives a fuck about enforcing piracy laws. Megaupload encouraged breaking it.

It's not bullshit[footnote]well it is, but not in the way you mean it[/footnote]; that's the way the American court system works. Every time a judge makes a ruling on a subject, it sets precedent, which all of the other judges at that level and lower have to pay attention to, as if it was actually the law instead of an (often flawed) interpretation of the law. Bad precedent is never a good thing, and Tay was exactly right: depending on how this goes, precedent that could be used to take down Youtube could very well be set.

Well if you don't hold any belief that the government and judicial system can differentiate between what Megaupload does and what Youtube does then I guess that's your belief. However I can see how MegaUpload is a piracy haven and now, if charges hold, actively worked towards expanding and profiting off it is different than what Youtube does.

It's possible to step too far. But equally bad is not stepping at all.

Except that's not how the US Judicial system is supposed to work. Stepping to far is "cruel and unusual", something opposed in the Constitution. Additionally, since this was done before any members of the company were tried, the entire belief in "innocent before proven guilty" has been violated. Megaupload removes copyright infringing material once it is brought to their attention, something that is much harder to find than on youtube. That and the US DOJ has only charged the non-american workers for the company that is not based in a US territory. And the majority of Megaupload users were using it for legal means, if it stays down pirates will just move to another, less popular file sharing service and this whole bullshit precedent will kill it too. Dropbox, youtube, yousendit, mediafire, and anything else that allows someone to host a file will be taken down and charges will be filed. There is no slippery-slope, that is exactly what they are doing.