MegaUpload Has Been Taken Offline

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8312 posts

Uber Geek

#571187 20-Jan-2012 12:26

gzt:
wellygary: Hmm looks like NZ is going to get its own Richard O'Dwyer case.

O'Dwyer believably argued he made no money after paying for the servers and it was essentially a hobby. [and he was not hosting the files] He served 2 years in the US after extradition.

Err he's still in the UK and appealing, he is not even in the US yet?

JinMao

38 posts

Geek

#571189 20-Jan-2012 12:33

gzt:
wellygary: Hmm looks like NZ is going to get its own Richard O'Dwyer case.

It is a bit different because those arrested are NZ resident rather than NZ citizens. There are other differences. For instance, O'Dwyer believably argued he made no money after paying for the servers and it was essentially a hobby. [and he was not hosting the files] He served 2 years in the US after extradition.

MegaUpload is clearly a business. [and is hosting the files]

What makes it different from something like YouTube which violates copyright every day?

The US prosecution case is that MegaUpload actually knew about and conspired to reward distribution of copyright material to further benefit their business.

I still didn't see how US government is able to sue megaupload's owner though.

It is more like a weapon manufacturer get arrested because the weapon manufactured by them is used to kill someone. It is obvious that the only place they can use a weapon is to kill someone. And weapon manufacturers know that and make profits out from it.

DrStrangelove

368 posts

Ultimate Geek

#571196 20-Jan-2012 12:54

I don't pretend to understand all this, but I get the overview and general idea of what is/has happened.

Interesting timing with yesterday's protest where many sites focused on just this sort of thing.

The problem for me is that I have an Android box which Google can not identify correctly and thus they place it's specs at the lowest common threshold. It has no GPS or phone built into the box and a Mesarda card, thus the problem.

This means a lot of the common free Android applications on Google Market are not available to me and a right pig to locate on the net. For example Google maps and etc.

MegaUpload had some of these free apk applications and I'm able to install them. ... BUT not any more.

Now I have to locate them elsewhere. DOH!!!! Thank you America!!!!!

Techies will know there are Android app extractors one can use, but if other devices I own, also say the device specs are not good enough, it gets harder to locate any source for shared and free apps outside of Google App Market (which I can't download from).

Guess in this new world, the good suffer along with the bad.

kontonnz

137 posts

Master Geek

#571198 20-Jan-2012 12:58

What I think is the most interesting is why the need for the SOPA type laws if they can already charge people such as in this case, what this is showing is that govts, have tools available to them if sufficiently motivated to utilize to pursue people for media piracy.

Also if sites such as megaupload lose their court battles (which is likely) then it opens the door for every other type of site ligit or not and I would even say youtube could be targeted eventually.

gzt

17104 posts

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#571199 20-Jan-2012 13:00

wellygary:
gzt:
wellygary: Hmm looks like NZ is going to get its own Richard O'Dwyer case.

O'Dwyer believably argued he made no money after paying for the servers and it was essentially a hobby. [and he was not hosting the files] He served 2 years in the US after extradition.

Err he's still in the UK and appealing, he is not even in the US yet?

Total confusion on my part. My bad. I was intending to refer to Hew Griffiths - a UK citizen resident in Australia, and confused some aspects of the two cases. Griffiths served three years in Australia (while fighting extradition) then six months in the US after making a deal. No commercial motive.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/technology/digital-living/6279323/Advice-from-a-convicted-file-sharer
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hew_Raymond_Griffiths

ObidiahSlope

260 posts

Ultimate Geek

#571209 20-Jan-2012 13:14

If you read the news articles carefully the arrests and extradition requests are being handled by some Sir Humphreys called the Organised and Financial Crime Agency of NZ.

I sure methamphetamine manufactures, people smugglers, and finance company directors are thrilled that this new agency is going after real crime that directly impacts on New Zealanders.

Obsequious hypocrite

Finch

2851 posts

Uber Geek

#571212 20-Jan-2012 13:17

Thankfully I always found MU slow to download from so I never used them. Fileserve/Filesonic/Megasahres on the other hand...

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old3eyes

9119 posts

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#571221 20-Jan-2012 13:33

I like this part at the end of the Stuff article.

"Hackers from Anonymous have taken down websites for the US Department of Justice, Recording Industry Association of America, the Motion Picture Association of America, and Universal Music Group today."

Regards,

Old3eyes

lokhor

2858 posts

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Trusted

#571222 20-Jan-2012 13:33

This is a very interesting case to watch, especially with allegations of cash incentives for uploaders of copyright infringing content as well as money laundering.

All comments are my own opinion, and not that of my employer unless explicitly stated.

gzt

17104 posts

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Lifetime subscriber

#571228 20-Jan-2012 13:43

lokhor: This is a very interesting case to watch, especially with allegations of cash incentives for uploaders of copyright infringing content as well as money laundering.

I have not read the indictment in full, but my guess is the money laundering part is just a downstream consequence of distribution of proceeds from the prosecutions claims of the illegality of the business.

The entire 72 page indictment is online, and is surprisingly easy to read:

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

MikeB4

18435 posts

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#571230 20-Jan-2012 13:46

old3eyes: I like this part at the end of the Stuff article.

"Hackers from Anonymous have taken down websites for the US Department of Justice, Recording Industry Association of America, the Motion Picture Association of America, and Universal Music Group today."

So without reviewing the facts, analysing the evidence etc these criminals have decided they are right and the various prosecuting agencies are wrong.

crackrdbycracku

1168 posts

Uber Geek

#571234 20-Jan-2012 13:53

KiwiNZ:
old3eyes: I like this part at the end of the Stuff article.

"Hackers from Anonymous have taken down websites for the US Department of Justice, Recording Industry Association of America, the Motion Picture Association of America, and Universal Music Group today."

So without reviewing the facts, analysing the evidence etc these criminals have decided they are right and the various prosecuting agencies are wrong.

I believe the search for WMDs is ongoing.

Wonder where they got that idea?

Didn't anybody tell you I was a hacker?

mattwnz

20141 posts

Uber Geek

#571235 20-Jan-2012 13:57

garvani: This is the tip of the iceberg im afraid. if the S.O.P.A law gets passed in America then all these sites are gone, youtube will almost certainly be in a load of trouble. Major problems are coming if that horrendous bill gets passed.

If you havn't heard of SOPA before it was the reason wikipedia and numerous other sites shutdown yesterday..

I am pretty sure youtube will be fine due to it's size and resources, especially as it is now included on many tvs. It will be the other smaller operators that will have trouble.

Cloudmelon

186 posts

Master Geek

#571236 20-Jan-2012 13:57

old3eyes: I like this part at the end of the Stuff article.

"Hackers from Anonymous have taken down websites for the US Department of Justice, Recording Industry Association of America, the Motion Picture Association of America, and Universal Music Group today."

Info on this:
http://rt.com/usa/news/anonymous-doj-universal-sopa-235/

marmel

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#571254 20-Jan-2012 14:36

I can't believe that some people still think it is OK to steal software and think of it as a 'victimless crime', or hardly a crime at all.

If this guy set up a site which hosted copyrighted material for all and sundry to steal and in doing so made millions of dollars then why should he not be extradited to face charges?

I'm sure if some of those that are thinking along these lines had something they had created whether it was music, written material, software etc stolen and distributed for free across the web they may feel differently.

Theft is theft regardless of how it occurs. If you think stealing copyrighted software is not theft then you deserve what you get.

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