FBI charges Megaupload operators with piracy crimes

[SteveEisenberg]

Withdrawn.

[teh603]

Originally Posted by murraypaul

If their actions were against the law of the country they were operating in, charge them there. If they have violated copyright in that country, sue them there.
I don't see how US law comes into it.

An American goes to Russia to hunt some Russian moose from a helicopter, in a way that doesn't violate Russian law. He comes back to America and suddenly finds that PeTA has pressed felony charges on him for violating American law. Because aparrently, in his home state you aren't allowed to hunt anything from a helictopter and they were somehow able to apply that law in Russia.

So yeah, explain that one to me?

FYI, I think he got convicted, too.

[HansTWN]

Originally Posted by teh603

An American goes to Russia to hunt some Russian moose from a helicopter, in a way that doesn't violate Russian law. He comes back to America and suddenly finds that PeTA has pressed felony charges on him for violating American law. Because aparrently, in his home state you aren't allowed to hunt anything from a helictopter and they were somehow able to apply that law in Russia.

So yeah, explain that one to me?

FYI, I think he got convicted, too.

They have this problem in Europe. The age of consent (when a minor can start to have sex with an older person) varies between 13 and 16. In most countries heavy penalties are applied when the minor involved is 14 or younger, but they had cases where the couple committed the act in Spain, and 13 is the legal age limit there. Still they tried to prosecute the older partner (only 15 in some cases) upon return to their homeland.

[AnemicOak]

Originally Posted by mr ploppy

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-16642369

Federal prosecutors have accused it of costing copyright holders more than $500m (£320m) in lost revenue.

I wonder how they came up with that number. How do they know the number of downloads? How do they know that they were lost sales?

[xg4bx]

Anonymous Goes on Megaupload Revenge Spree: DoJ, RIAA, MPAA, and Universal Music All Offline

"Anonymous has sure been quiet lately, but today's federal bust of Megaupload riled 'em up good: a retaliatory strike against DoJ.gov (and plenty of other foes) leaving them completely dead.

DownForEveryoneOrJustMe.com is reporting the department's site as universally nuked, and an Anonymous-affiliated Twitter account is boasting success. This is almost certainly the result of a quickly-assembled DDoS attack—and easily the widest in scope and ferocity we've seen in some time. If you had any doubts Anonymous is still a hacker wrecking ball, doubt no more.

The combination of the hacking nebula's SOPA animosity—they've been a vocal opponent of the bill since its inception—combined with today's sudden Megaupload news has made the group bubble over: hundreds upon hundreds of Anon operatives are in a plotting frenzy, chatting about which site will go down next. In Anon's eyes, the government and media interests are responsible for the undue destruction of Megaupload (and the arrest of four of its operators), so it'll be exactly those entities that're feeling the pain right now. Pretty much every company that makes movies, TV, or music, along with the entirety of the federal government, is in Anonymous' crosshairs."

http://gizmodo.com/5877679/anonymous...revenge-strike

[RainingLemur]

Originally Posted by xg4bx

Anonymous Goes on Megaupload Revenge Spree: DoJ, RIAA, MPAA, and Universal Music All Offline

"Anonymous has sure been quiet lately, but today's federal bust of Megaupload riled 'em up good: a retaliatory strike against DoJ.gov (and plenty of other foes) leaving them completely dead.

DownForEveryoneOrJustMe.com is reporting the department's site as universally nuked, and an Anonymous-affiliated Twitter account is boasting success. This is almost certainly the result of a quickly-assembled DDoS attack—and easily the widest in scope and ferocity we've seen in some time. If you had any doubts Anonymous is still a hacker wrecking ball, doubt no more.

The combination of the hacking nebula's SOPA animosity—they've been a vocal opponent of the bill since its inception—combined with today's sudden Megaupload news has made the group bubble over: hundreds upon hundreds of Anon operatives are in a plotting frenzy, chatting about which site will go down next. In Anon's eyes, the government and media interests are responsible for the undue destruction of Megaupload (and the arrest of four of its operators), so it'll be exactly those entities that're feeling the pain right now. Pretty much every company that makes movies, TV, or music, along with the entirety of the federal government, is in Anonymous' crosshairs."

http://gizmodo.com/5877679/anonymous...revenge-strike

Sigh. Anonymous. http://xkcd.com/932/

[teh603]

Uh... wow. They do realize they aren't helping things, right?

[SeaKing]

Originally Posted by teh603

An American goes to Russia to hunt some Russian moose from a helicopter, in a way that doesn't violate Russian law. He comes back to America and suddenly finds that PeTA has pressed felony charges on him for violating American law. Because aparrently, in his home state you aren't allowed to hunt anything from a helictopter and they were somehow able to apply that law in Russia.

So yeah, explain that one to me?

FYI, I think he got convicted, too.

Hey wait a minute!
Would you please direct me to information on that case.

Thanks

[ScalyFreak]

Originally Posted by teh603

Uh... wow. They do realize they aren't helping things, right?

No, they don't. They think that making a point is more important than being constructive.

And if they don't, they certainly act that way.

[mr ploppy]

Originally Posted by ScalyFreak

No, they don't. They think that making a point is more important than being constructive.

What could they realistically do that would be constructive? Things like this sometimes make the mainstream news, as long as nobody famous dies. Petitions and letter writing campaigns never do. And I doubt anyone feels strongly enough about it to go out on the streets and start smashing stuff up, which would be the only other way to get noticed.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by mr ploppy

What could they realistically do that would be constructive? Things like this sometimes make the mainstream news, as long as nobody famous dies. Petitions and letter writing campaigns never do. And I doubt anyone feels strongly enough about it to go out on the streets and start smashing stuff up, which would be the only other way to get noticed.

This is "cyberterrorism". There's really no other term for it.

[carpetmojo]

Originally Posted by teh603

Probably the fact that their countries are willing to honor extradiction treaties.

Probably the fact that their countries are willing to honor ....almost totally one-sided.... extradition treaties.

These extradition "requests" are apparently made not on the evidence etc... that would be required in a court under British law, but basically on the US authorities saying they are guilty of doing whatever it is they claim they have done. Hard evidence does not have to be provided in support of an application.
And it doesn't matter if it's not illegal in Britain....
And Britain does not have "reverse" rights to do the same when, for example, American citizens are concerned....

Britain still can't get uncharged nationals out of the ghastly institution that is Guantanamo, even in cases of complete lack of evidence of "wrong-doing."

Who knows what's going through the minds of Anonymous. There is a very real possibility that they are just using this as an excuse to justify destruction. On the other hand, it may be a symptom of the governments not listening to people -- of placing corporate welfare above the social good.

Either way, the whole debate over IP rights has gone nuts. On one side you have people trying to neuter governments and law enforcement in the name of free speech (since when is committing a crime speech). On the other side you have some ideologues who appear to be using social Darwinism to justify their greed and deny that their is any such thing as the social good.

I think I'm going to duck now, before I'm hit by the crossfire.

[xg4bx]

i'm torn on anon. on one hand i kinda support them when they do stuff like this, other times they're far too liberal for my tastes (i.e. releasing names/addresses of border patrol agents because they disagree with tougher illegal immigration laws).

but overall i think this stuff does my harm than good and hands the government reasons for involvement in the internet on a silver platter.

if they want to crack drm and release the codes far and wide so be it, i'd probably applaud. but unless they're prepared,and able, to utterly shut down a government they can't f around like this. like they say, don't point a loaded gun at someone unless you intend to use it.

[spindlegirl]

Originally Posted by xg4bx

but overall i think this stuff does my harm than good and hands the government reasons for involvement in the internet on a silver platter.

Exactly, they now have this as a reason to point to, that the internet is truly out of control and is full of "Hackers" (the nomenclature has morphed over the years so that hackers really means crackers), pirates, and criminals and thus they really need to get tough.