Feds Shut Down Popular File-sharing Website Megaupload!

http://foxnews.com/scitech/2012/01/19/feds...haring-website/

 

http://venturebeat.com/2012/01/19/megaupload-indictment/

 

Anonymous has responded: ''Anonymous is no longer playing nice, and we do not intend to ever play nice.''

 

 

This raises two types of debates...

 

1. What everyone is saying: If the feds are doing this with the current laws, imagine what will they do if SOPA and PIPA bills get passed.

 

2. If the feds do have the power to do this with the current laws, then why the need for bills like SOPA and PIPA?

I couldn't believe that it was that fat german douche from the old Gumbal race vids that founded the site.

Three CLK DTMs? Something's not right. Cool plates, though

 

 

2005 Mercedes-Benz CLK DTM, VIN WDB2093422F165517, License Plate No. “GOOD”;

2004 Mercedes-Benz CLK DTM AMG 5.5L Kompressor, VIN WDB2093422F166073, License Plate No. “EVIL”

2006 Mercedes-Benz CLK DTM, VIN WDB2094421T067269;

1989 Lamborghini LM002, VIN ZA9LU45AXKLA12158, License Plate No. “FRP358”

"Megaupload was led by colorful Australian Kim Dotcom -- aka Kim Schmitz, or Kim Tim Jim Vestor. He is a a resident of both Hong Kong and New Zealand, and a dual citizen of Finland and Germany, who legally changed his last name to "Dotcom." "

 

 

Kim is a mega douche.

 

Last pic had me ROFL

he even had a giraffe in the backyard, lol

 

he even had a giraffe in the backyard, lol

 

You're kiiling me here..

his cars beeing seized

 

 

 

 

 

full gallery of pics here - FLICKR !!!

I'm kind of saddened by this. Looked like a fun guy

The plates are amusing...I'm wondering why the need for 2 CL's, 2ML's, 2E's, 2 G's...etc etc.

Looks like I'm gonna have a lot more free time on my hands now.

LOL love his vanity plates.

No way..... Lol I used to argue with that douche.

No way..... Lol I used to argue with that douche.

Who havent you argued with?

The plates are amusing...I'm wondering why the need for 2 CL's, 2ML's, 2E's, 2 G's...etc etc.

 

He was too big to fit in one, so he was going to cut them in 2/3 pieces and JB Weld them together.

 

The better question is how the fock does he fit in a Mini Cooper....

No way..... Lol I used to argue with that douche.

 

 

do tell please

The better question is how the fock does he fit in a Mini Cooper....

 

heard about this yesterday but I had no idea it was this Kim fellow that was behind the whole site - clearly business was good. wow.

do tell please

I don't remember where it was, may have even been lp... From what I remember he came on thinking he was king... I showed him I was king... I remember going back and forth with him as he was always a scammer. Ohhh I remember.... He was gonna also do a gum ball style race that had a purse of 1 million dollars, he came here promoting it looking for people to enter. I think cost was gonna be like 50k and several of us here were gonna do it until we started to research him. Then we called his dumb ass out. He said the race was gonna be epic and we were all fools. He collected deposits. Race never happened.

Completely against the new legislation. For obvious reasons that parallel the book "1984."

 

Do we live in Iran?

heard about this yesterday but I had no idea it was this Kim fellow that was behind the whole site - clearly business was good. wow.

 

It's easy to make a lot of money when you break the law.

I don't remember where it was, may have even been lp... From what I remember he came on thinking he was king... I showed him I was king... I remember going back and forth with him as he was always a scammer. Ohhh I remember.... He was gonna also do a gum ball style race that had a purse of 1 million dollars, he came here promoting it looking for people to enter. I think cost was gonna be like 50k and several of us here were gonna do it until we started to research him. Then we called his dumb ass out. He said the race was gonna be epic and we were all fools. He collected deposits. Race never happened.

I remember that, can't believe people actually went for it.

It's easy to make a lot of money when you break the law.

What exactly did he do, since rapidshare does the same and so many others? There is something else to it/going on.

 

 

I really wonder why he has to show off his wealth, he shouldn't have bought the most expensive house in NZ. If he stayed in Asia and lived like a king no one would care. He's smart but also very dumb.

Everyone knows that MegaUpload was only able to exist due to hosting of infringing media. Without it, it probably wouldn't be profitable. Their business intent really was getting users to upload infringing content to create downloads and sell advertisement. They tried to hide behind DMCA, but they just pushed it too far. Most other sites, including the mainstream ones like YouTube, do a much better job of monitoring the content. Obviously there is tons of infringing content still there, but they certainly don't encourage it and do take it seriously. If you're going to play the game, you sure as hell better be prepared to play by the rules.

 

Site like MegaUpload, PirateBay etc, all operate in the grey area that is always being debated and could be one lawsuit away from being taken down.

 

Here is the given basis for indictment, from wikipedia:

 

In practice, the "vast majority" of users do not have any significant long term private storage capability. Continued storage is dependent upon regular downloads of the file occurring. Files not downloaded are rapidly removed in most cases, whereas popular downloaded files are retained.

 

Because a small proportion of users pay for storage, the business is dependent upon advertising. Adverts are primarily viewed when files are downloaded and the business model is therefore not based upon storage but upon maximizing downloads.

 

Persons indicted have "instructed individual users how to locate links to infringing content on the Mega Sites ... [and] ... have also shared with each other comments from Mega Site users demonstrating that they have used or are attempting to use the Mega Sites to get infringing copies of copyrighted content."

 

Persons indicted, unlike the public, are not reliant upon links to stored files, but can search the internal database directly. It is claimed they have "searched the internal database for their associates and themselves so that they may directly access copyright-infringing content".

 

A comprehensive takedown method is in use to identify child pornography, but not deployed to remove infringing content. (item 24)

Infringing users did not have their accounts terminated, and the defendants "made no significant effort to identify users who were using the Mega Sites or services to infringe copyrights, to prevent the uploading of infringing copies of copyrighted materials, or to identify infringing copies of copyrighted works" (item 55-56)

 

An incentivizing program was adopted encouraging the upload of "popular" files in return for payments to successful uploaders. (item 69e et al)

 

Defendants explicitly discussed evasion and infringement issues (69i-l)

 

There is a lot of noise lately about SOPA/PIPA, and while I agree that SOPA/PIPA are bad, it's really hard to draw a line and create a law that is fair, but gets the job done. Sites like thepiratebay.com, in all honesty, should be taken down. Not that I'd want it to happen, because I download shit loads of stuff off it, but I'm not going to lie and try to say it's not doing anything wrong. It's probably pretty damn hard to create a law that makes a torrent search engine illegal, but Google legal. Unfortunately or fortunately, you can't just do stuff using common sense.