Megaupload.com shut down by Feds [Archive]

Wing_Z

January 19th, 2012, 18:18

"Kim Dotcom, a.k.a. Kim Schmitz, a 37-year-old resident of Hong Kong and New Zealand... was arrested in New Zealand by New Zealand authorities."

Heh heh, Kim lives just down the road, and was a, shall we say, controversial personality around here.
His Rolls Royce carries the personalised registration: GOD
His sidekick #1 has: SATAN
and sidekick #2: JESUS
:barf:

He renamed himself dotcom at the same time as a sign went up at the gate of the mega-mansion he rents, proclaiming:
dotcom mansion

Bye Bye Kim :toilet:

AndyG43

January 20th, 2012, 00:23

In this case it's not just copyright infringement, it was used as a method of laundering money. Odds are, until SOPA is passed, it was the money laundering that got the attention of the Feds and led to the site being shut down.

My understanding was that Obama and a majority of the House were indicating they were not happy about SOPA in it's current format. Frankly it scares the bejaysus out of me.

Oh, and before anybody comments, I am not defending piracy or the fact that a lot of files on Megaupload are presumably pirated. There are other aspects to those bills that worry me, but as any discussion of that would be deemed political I will not make any further comment.

stansdds

January 20th, 2012, 00:50

My understanding was that Obama and a majority of the House were indicating they were not happy about SOPA in it's current format. Frankly it scares the bejaysus out of me.

Those that backed the bill, including Obama, are getting cold feet after seeing the public reaction. As I understand it, many of the entertainment big-wigs have told Obama that if he doesn't get SOPA passed, they will not be contributing to his reelection campaign.

I fully understand trying to stop piracy and copyright infringement, but in doing so I would not want to see the internet become an empty wasteland. SOPA is way to broad in scope and basically assumes guilt without investigation. All one would have to do is report a site as hosting copyrighted materials and the government shuts it down, then it is up to the site owner to prove innocence, which could take months. SOPA is way too broad, too vague, and open to massive abuse.

Navtech

January 20th, 2012, 00:56

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-LEb_D2SD3k&feature=player_embedded#!

wombat666

January 20th, 2012, 02:46

Yawn ....................... :sleep:

modelr

January 20th, 2012, 06:00

Yawn ....................... :sleep:

Yep, that works.

SOH is the next target, because we SHARE! They only want us to CONSUME, NOT SHARE, as in IDEAS, FIXES, thoughts, and we point to others.

If you don't think the politicians and big entertainment (the people behind this BULLS**T) can't, and especially WON'T, you are sadly mistaken, my friend.

And just speaking out against piracy isn't enough, in their eyes. "You know about piracy?? You're GUILTY!!" That's how they, and their crooked lawyers, work.

magoo

January 20th, 2012, 06:14

All one would have to do is report a site as hosting copyrighted materials and the government shuts it down, then it is up to the site owner to prove innocence, which could take months.
....Hmmmm...living in the Soviet Union or Communist China a few decades ago, all it would take was a word of suspicion from an irate and anonymous neighbour, you'd be tossed in the clink without a hearing. I wonder how many North Americans would tolerate that kind of garbage, and for how long...?

SOPA is way too broad, too vague, and open to massive abuse.
Kind of like fixing a small cut on the finger by amputating the whole arm. Imagine having our entire flightsim hobby shut down because of a third party implicating a broad violation of copyrights owned by Microsoft. That'd be any FS file altered and destributed without specific permissioin. I could be prosecuted for fiddling and air file and posting the flight model on this forum.

SOPA needs to be massively fine tuned, and levied without influence from any special interest groups. It's a real case were justice must be blind in every way. Without that, it'll just be global defiance, as usual, and a waste of tax dollars while a few high profile prosecutions are conducted and all others move off shore.

AndyG43

January 20th, 2012, 06:17

....Hmmmm...living in the Soviet Union or Communist China a few decades ago, all it would take was a word of suspicion from an irate and anonymous neighbour, you'd be tossed in the clink without a hearing. I wonder how many North Americans would tolerate that kind of garbage, and for how long...?

Weeeell, they tolerated McCarthy for a good few years!

magoo

January 20th, 2012, 06:38

Weeeell, they tolerated McCarthy for a good few years!
.....McCarthy's a really good example. Note how many promising and high profile carreers were absolutely destroyed, and then how McCarthy himself fell so hard. I wonder if anybody's ever tried to calculate the tax money wasted, the resulting lost productivety, the loss of credibility and prestige to the USA/American culture due to McCarthy's innitiatives?

Media corporations are slinging their weight around because their environment has changed, and continues to change in a manner that totally threatens their survival. That part is completey understandable. But there's no logical reason that the average Joe on the street should give up a huge degree of of media based freedom so these clowns can continue to line their pockets while serving up highly restrictive low grade entertainment.

The environment has changed ireversabley, the profit Darwin presides, SOPA or not, the global population will not give back a single inch of the new freedoms they're enjoying for the first time in history. The big question is how badly does the US Government wish to pull a McCarthy....and do they wish to create the general fear and loathing and financial waste it will generate at a time when western economies are already awash with those very negative values. How much more social straw to break the camel's back...?

Bad idea at a bad time.

Prowler1111

January 20th, 2012, 07:49

Do anybody notices the fact that it was a MONEY LAUNDRY operation??

Prowler

magoo

January 20th, 2012, 08:02

Good point, Megaupload's present "non-condition" has nothing to do with the SOPA innitiative.

AndyG43

January 20th, 2012, 11:05

Do anybody notices the fact that it was a MONEY LAUNDRY operation??

Prowler

And Al Capone was jailed for tax evasion, because that was all they could pin on him at the time. The timing is too convenient, the day after the Wiki-led blackout.

But I won't comment any more on this matter, in case I say things I regret.

airattackimages

January 20th, 2012, 11:09

I wonder if Blue Sky Scenery will reupload his thousands of scenery tiles somewhere else now. If not, I'll really be bummed out, because I just recently started collecting them. :(

Wing_Z

January 20th, 2012, 11:27

Do anybody notices the fact that it was a MONEY LAUNDRY operation??Well exactly.
Modern savvy criminals perch themselves on the fringe of populist movements for this very reason.
(You'll notice how quickly this discussion got into SOPA)
When Megaupload got shut down, Anonymous started a denial of service attack on the US Justice Dept website.
Huh?
Kim is a career criminal, convicted in Germany of the biggest insider trading fraud in their history.
Why we let him into NZ is a complete mystery.
Police found - get this, I am supposing it is not a misprint - US$175m in cash, when they raided his home.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/6293542/Police-find-gun-as-internet-millionaire-arrested
The only way I know of, to collect that much cash, is to peddle methamphetamine or similar.
It will be an interesting trial...

wombat666

January 20th, 2012, 22:42

Well exactly.
Modern savvy criminals perch themselves on the fringe of populist movements for this very reason.
(You'll notice how quickly this discussion got into SOPA)
When Megaupload got shut down, Anonymous started a denial of service attack on the US Justice Dept website.
Huh?
Kim is a career criminal, convicted in Germany of the biggest insider trading fraud in their history.
Why we let him into NZ is a complete mystery.
Police found - get this, I am supposing it is not a misprint - US$175m in cash, when they raided his home.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/6293542/Police-find-gun-as-internet-millionaire-arrested
The only way I know of, to collect that much cash, is to peddle methamphetamine or similar.
It will be an interesting trial...

We refused Mr. Kim entry and hand balled him off to you lot.....................:icon_lol:
Payback time!

OBIO

January 20th, 2012, 22:51

Great...now where am I supposed to find midget porn?

OBIO

kilo delta

January 21st, 2012, 03:22

Great...now where am I supposed to find midget porn?

OBIO

I believe that Willy Wonka may have a stash of it!:guinness:

wombat666

January 21st, 2012, 04:06

I believe that Willy Wonka may have a stash of it!:guinness:

That would be 'Willy Wanker' I believe KD.
:kilroy:

stansdds

January 21st, 2012, 04:24

Do anybody notices the fact that it was a MONEY LAUNDRY operation??

Prowler

Uhhhh... post number 2. My post.:mixedsmi:

n4gix

January 21st, 2012, 09:10

I sympathize with the undoubtedly thousands of legitimate folks who'd depended on MU for "cloud-like storage" of their stuff. I was just reading a lament from a scenery developer who'd had all of his scenery project packages stored at MU for archiveal and distribution purposes. His limited hard drive wouldn't allow him to keep the source files stored locally, and it never occurred to him to burn copies to CD and/or DVD...

...while he now admits it was a foolish and flawed strategy, that does nothing to diminish his loss of years of work. :kilroy:

Wing_Z

January 21st, 2012, 11:40

Not sure how you could "depend" on MU for your storage needs.
If I read the press releases correctly:
"Users could purchase memberships to the site to obtain faster upload and download services, the primary source of revenue.
Material that was not regularly downloaded was deleted and financial incentives were offered for popular content, according to the charges."
I suppose most scams succeed because people see what they want to see, not what is actually there...

rhumbaflappy

January 21st, 2012, 12:34

My wife often launders money... she forgets to check her pockets before the pants go in the wash. :salute:

Dick

OBIO

January 21st, 2012, 13:03

My wife often launders money... she forgets to check her pockets before the pants go in the wash. :salute:

Dick

My wife laundered my favorite lighter a couple weeks ago. She washed my smelly old jacket and did not check the pockets. Hello....she's married to a redneck hillbilly who is prone to leave lighters, sockets, screws and bolts in the pockets of his smelly old jacket...and she didn't check the pockets?

OBIO

Dangerousdave26

January 22nd, 2012, 05:25

At least yours does your Laundry...

:icon_lol:

hey_moe

January 23rd, 2012, 02:15

They should have shut this site down a long time ago. There were things going on that should have been stopped. They may have started with all good intention but went to the crapper because of greed. Example being read here >> http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-57363557-93/officials-seize-$42-million-in-megaupload-assets/?tag=mncol;subStories

SSI01

January 23rd, 2012, 05:03

I'm curious - whose money was he allegedly laundering? They made a poor choice - the key to a good money laundering operation is it being a quiet, legitimate business from top to bottom, thoroughly unremarkable and with not a low profile, but NO profile. The best ones involve an entire series of operations, each laundering the funds in turn until it becomes unbelievably complex and difficult/impossible to trace. Restaurants, convenience stores, gas stations and similar high cash flow operations are what you look for to launder the money through. They've even used dry cleaners. If you haven't seen "Casino," they describe a little Italian grocery store back in the rust belt that was the transfer point for all the money skimmed off those glitzy Vegas casinos by the mob. There wasn't anything pretentious about the building, or the people going in or out - a low profile was stressed. The wheels behind all this laundering didn't meet there all the time, only occasionally. Sounds like this Mr. Dotcom wasn't all that bright keeping such a high profile. Another thing you can't have is outward ostentation or "flash;" the more decrepit you look the better it is. Only the people who need to know you have clout, and the ability to have "bling," need to be made aware of that, not the general public.

TeaSea

January 23rd, 2012, 15:53

I've not kept up with this and do not know enough to comment either way, other than to say my MP3 player has been laundered twice.

It still works....sort of.....

Wing_Z

January 24th, 2012, 23:35

I've not kept up with this and do not know enough to comment either way, other than to say my MP3 player has been laundered twice.;) I think laundering music is illegal!
Now I have kept up with this, and I think Mr. Dotcom did what any modern-day bandit does: hide it in plain view.
As soon as the cops put the heat on, you cry "victim" and get a lot of support from people who think they support your cause, but actually are just a little confused.

Outside court, a procession of Ford vehicles awaited to collect Dotcom's supporters, including a white Ford Territory wagon with 'boss 260' imprinted on the bonnet.
Mr. Dotcom was denied bail today, and is remanded in custody until Feb 22.
I suspect he thinks this is another exciting experience, laid on for his entertainment.

SSI01

January 25th, 2012, 18:18

My wife laundered my favorite lighter a couple weeks ago. She washed my smelly old jacket and did not check the pockets. Hello....she's married to a redneck hillbilly who is prone to leave lighters, sockets, screws and bolts in the pockets of his smelly old jacket...and she didn't check the pockets?

OBIO

Coppers in states that have dealt extensively with biker gangs rub it in a little when the guy is released from jail after making bail or being otherwise sprung - these guys take a tremendous amount of pride in the ground-in oil, grease and grime in the clothes they wear - some of the turnkeys and police officers out west (and elsewhere) make sure they do a first-rate laundering job on the biker's duds before giving them back to him, sending him back out on the street spic and span. Does that count as laundering?
:kilroy:

OBIO

January 25th, 2012, 21:15

I still haven't found a source for new midget porn.

OBIO

wombat666

January 26th, 2012, 01:19

I still haven't found a source for new midget porn.

OBIO

"Google is your friend".
:kilroy:

n4gix

January 26th, 2012, 09:54

I still haven't found a source for new midget porn.

OBIO

As stated above, just those two key words via Google.com:

About 8,340,000 results<NOBR> (0.07 seconds)</NOBR>
And no, I didn't look at any of it! Be careful what you ask for, 'cause you'll probably find it! :icon_lol:

Meshman

January 26th, 2012, 10:19

Wing_Z

January 26th, 2012, 10:19

Page 1 of about 17,500,000 results<nobr style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153); font-family: arial, sans-serif; "> (0.11 seconds)
</nobr>
But porn midgets are soo... 20th Century.
However, seems you can get a Blow-up Tank for your lawn: Back on topic...

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/crime/news/article.cfm?c_id=30&objectid=10781209

OBIO

January 26th, 2012, 10:24

Have seen mentioned that there are other sites that have ceased operations or have restricted access from the U.S. of A. Appears as though the people who want to share stuff are finding it extremely difficult to find a host. One that is being mentioned as an alternative will probably implement steps to assue they don not get any visits from U.S. law enforcement types.

I would love to see a good number other sites vanish as well. All those bit torrent sites all deserve a nice painful death.

While I know that there are legitimate file sharing sites, and legitimate uses for them...so often they become nothing more than a means to committ piracy.

OBIO

AndyG43

January 26th, 2012, 11:25

I would love to see a good number other sites vanish as well. All those bit torrent sites all deserve a nice painful death.

While I know that there are legitimate file sharing sites, and legitimate uses for them...so often they become nothing more than a means to committ piracy.

OBIO

In defence of bit torrent, there are legitimate uses; for a good while that was the only distribution method for the NL Scenery project, I seem to recall it being used here in conjunction with some of the CFS3 projects and the main Orbiter packs also offer it as an alternative. The problem with the proposed 'solution' is, it shoots first & asks questions later, so if somebody say "ooh, those nasty SOHers are doing ..." the plug gets pulled - I'm sure I don't have to remind anybody that exactly those kinds of allegations were flying around last year.

wombat666

January 27th, 2012, 02:25

One important point that need to be considered, I know that sites such as Rapidshare will swiftly remove any content that has been stolen, PROVIDED the legitimate owner makes the request.
Getting the legal owners to do so can be a PITA ........ :173go1:

And an update:
.MegaUpload.com -Shut down
.FileServe.com - Shutdown soon? Not selling premium 'blocks' to several countries.
.FileJungle.com - Deleting archives. Blocked in USA.
.UploadStation.com - Blocked in USA
.FileSonic.com - Services closed
.VideoBB.com - Video services closed.
.Uploaded.to - Blocked in USA. Owners have gone missing. FBI wish to 'interview' them.
.PostFile.org - Deleting archives. Only .exe .pfd and .txt will remain.
.VideoZer.com - Shutdown soon? Blocked in USA and certain 'Allies'.
.4shared.com - Deleting copywrited material. Under FBI investigation.
.MediaFire.com - Summoned to court in 90 days to make a 'statement'. Required to 'open doors' for FBI investigation.
.Torrente.org - Shut down. Under investigaton.
.Kino.to - Closed. Owners under arrest in Europe.
.Duckload.com - Closed by owner, also under arrest.

Tako_Kichi

January 27th, 2012, 09:31

.MediaFire.com - Summoned to court in 90 days to make a 'statement'. Required to 'open doors' for FBI investigation.

Hmmm...that's one I have used in the past to upload legal files to.

wombat666

January 28th, 2012, 02:55

Hmmm...that's one I have used in the past to upload legal files to.

There we have the dilema facing all of those who have used these 'Pirate' sites for legal file sharing.
Over-bloody-kill!
:173go1:

AndyG43

January 28th, 2012, 03:12

So all those other sites having a gentle chat with the FBI, that's all money laundering as well then? :kilroy:

Dangerousdave26

January 28th, 2012, 05:09

That is hard to tell without a crystal ball but the fact still remains that distributing copy written material is illegal. It becomes hard and costly to go after all of these sites.

The normal game plan is to find the one person (in this case a site) that is breaking the most laws. You publicly execute (prosecute) that one person and the rest go running scared. Which is exactly what is happening now.

Some of these sites may not be even under investigation but they are shutting down fast. That should tell you they fear what someone may find if they look too closely.

BTW this process is what bankrupted the comedy team of Abbott and Costello.

Astoroth

January 28th, 2012, 10:45

wombat666

January 29th, 2012, 03:01

So, I have an account at Mediafire. I use it for backup of my important files, including my few payware aircaft. I got burned a couple years ago when my DVD burner went out and bought I new one, only to find that it couldn't read the disks that I burned with the old one. WTF?!? So I started uploading my files to "cloud" storage.

Now I guess I have to redownload them all, and burn them to disk before they disappear. And I guess delete the files from Mediafire before I'm accused of being a damn pirate....

Might be good insurance, but they were fully operational as of 24 hours ago.
I know, as I downloaded a completely legal Mod for rFactor, around 1GB+/-, at full speed.
However, and this just me, I would NEVER trust 'cloud storage', period.

:kilroy:

CWOJackson

January 29th, 2012, 07:04

AndyG43

January 29th, 2012, 10:29

Will Google be next?

I ask because out of curiosity, I did some searching last night. While it wasn't the usual quick Google search, in not that long of time I found three different sources for a newer FSX release. I'm fairly certain that similar searching could locate the latest movie and music releases.

I don't believe this action has accomplished anything other then perhaps making other avenues of pirating more profitable and temporarily annoying those who download pirated material.

The problem is that these proposed bills (and ACTA (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-Counterfeiting_Trade_Agreement), which is a pernicious attempt to bring these measures in by the back door) could be used against things like Google, Twitter etc. Rupert Murdoch recently made accusations of piracy against Google, which they are obviously refuting (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/financetopics/davos/9045192/Davos-2012-Googles-Schmidt-defends-company-against-piracy-accusation.html).

This is the thin end of a very big wedge. I've made it clear that I do not defend piracy; but do you guys really believe that these bills are about protecting copyright and IPR? Of course they aren't, they are about protecting the profit margins of companies like Sony & Universal (who are obviously nowhere near as poor as they would have us believe, or they wouldn't be able to manipulate the way they are); what they should be doing (should have done a long time ago) is look for ways to enter this new market, but they are so busy trying to maintain the status quo that they missed the boat way back & could well be looking at the same fate as Kodak. How often do you hear Apple complaining about piracy? If the music/film biz had talked to Napster/Gnutella, instead of attacking them, they could well be reaping the benefits that Apple are now enjoying, and Apple wuld have remained a niche computer company.

CWOJackson is right imo, what has happened over the last few days hasn't really harmed piracy, although it has removed one rather nasty set of criminals from the game. But it has clearly signalled what the game is about, and at the moment big business is dealing the cards; and will they care about publishers of PC software, if they get wrongly accused of piracy & forced out of business? Doubt it.

mrogers

January 29th, 2012, 15:22

So, I have an account at Mediafire. I use it for backup of my important files, including my few payware aircaft. I got burned a couple years ago when my DVD burner went out and bought I new one, only to find that it couldn't read the disks that I burned with the old one. WTF?!? So I started uploading my files to "cloud" storage.

Now I guess I have to redownload them all, and burn them to disk before they disappear. And I guess delete the files from Mediafire before I'm accused of being a damn pirate....

Why put your important files in 'cloud' storage? Wouldn't it make sense to just invest a few dollars on an external drive that you can simply just plug in and store your all important files especially the payware stuff?

CWOJackson

January 29th, 2012, 17:32

Astoroth

January 29th, 2012, 19:04

Why put your important files in 'cloud' storage? Wouldn't it make sense to just invest a few dollars on an external drive that you can simply just plug in and store your all important files especially the payware stuff?

For some, "investing a few dollars on an external drive" is not a big deal. For me, it's the difference between having food on the table, and not, most paydays. When the factory I worked at closed, it was me and 900 other people scrambling to find jobs in an area where 95% of the jobs are minimum wage, and not very many of those. I was lucky and found a job. I know others that worked with me that are still unemployed, 3 years later...

Allen

January 29th, 2012, 23:06

I don't like to do this but I'm going to anyway.

It funny that we have old people (sorry to some old people here since this won't apply to most of you) that have no idea how the internet works trying to regulate it at the request of more old people that don't how the internet works too. After all the man once in charge of internet regulation called it "series of tubes"

Trying to force internet regulation like this will only make it harder on us users and grow a "Black Internet"

Dangerousdave26

January 30th, 2012, 03:44

It funny that we have old people (sorry to some old people here since this won't apply to most of you) that have no idea how the internet works trying to regulate it at the request of more old people that don't how the internet works too. After all the man once in charge of internet regulation called it "series of tubes"

Trying to force internet regulation like this will only make it harder on us users and grow a "Black Internet"

Yeah the nerve of them old people. Trying to understand something they invented in the 1960's. :icon_lol:

Internets been around a long time. The issue is not old people trying to understand something but special interest groups trying to control for their own benefit certain popular aspects of society.

Wing_Z

January 30th, 2012, 10:28

Megaupload's Kim Dotcom Loses Top-Ranked Position in Call of Duty!
Read more: http://newsfeed.time.com/2012/01/26/megauploads-kim-dotcom-loses-top-ranked-position-in-call-of-duty/?xid=newsletter-weekly#ixzz1kyHz45l0

How this is worthy of a news headline completely defeats me.
But I suspect there is a generation that has grown up to accept many of Kim's values, and think he is Cool.

CWOJackson

January 30th, 2012, 11:24

Allen

January 30th, 2012, 12:27

Yeah the nerve of them old people. Trying to understand something they invented in the 1960's.
Internets been around a long time. The issue is not old people trying to understand something but special interest groups trying to control for their own benefit certain popular aspects of society.

The Internet has changed since the small one made in the 60s. Modern Internet started in the 80s with TCP/IP and most did not have any way on it tell the 90s. The number of people that had a way on the old 60s and even 80s Internet is vary small and none of the were the old geezers now "in charge" of the internet.

Where he's from they've been actively electing government officials from the "Pirate Party"; and we're not talking eye patches and peg legs.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pirate_Party

This is what happen when you piss of Anon. They take over your political system. After all the internet could be the biggest special interest group.

wombat666

January 30th, 2012, 22:05

And a 'Political Party' that will never be elected under that name.
:173go1:

wombat666

January 30th, 2012, 22:09

But I suspect there is a generation that has grown up to accept many of Kim's values, and think he is Cool.

We can't legislate against stupidity mate!
And what an attractive person Kim is, a great role model for the brats out there, not!
:kilroy:

CWOJackson

January 31st, 2012, 07:28

And a 'Political Party' that will never be elected under that name.
:173go1:

Actually, the Pirate Party won quite a few seats either despite or because of their party platform.

Wing_Z

January 31st, 2012, 11:00

NZ has a Pirate Party!
I didn't know that, probably because they polled less than the Legalise Cannabis in Aotearoa Party, last time round.
Without delving into the politics:
The Pirate Parties believe in reform of copyright and patent law, and free sharing of knowledge.
There’s no doubt intellectual property laws need shaking up, they come from a time when just being able to write was a big advantage.
And latterly patents have gone mad, there’s probably a patent held for your left foot.

But there’s a difficulty with “free” sharing: someone has to have something to share, voluntarily.
In Kim’s case, he pimps someone else’s stuff against their wishes, for his own (considerable) benefit.
He has a history of pushing what's reasonable:
- two-year suspended jail sentence in 1998
- 20-month suspended jail sentence in 2003
- a fine imposed last year in Hong Kong
He may well go to jail this time.
It’s what happens to Pirates.

Allen

January 31st, 2012, 11:27

Z if your going to do it do it right.

Pirate Party is a label adopted by political parties (http://www.sim-outhouse.com/wiki/Political_party) in different countries. Pirate Parties support civil rights (http://www.sim-outhouse.com/wiki/Civil_and_political_rights), direct democracy and participation (http://www.sim-outhouse.com/wiki/Direct_democracy), reform of copyright (http://www.sim-outhouse.com/wiki/Copyright) and patent law (http://www.sim-outhouse.com/wiki/Patent_law), free sharing of knowledge (Open Access (http://www.sim-outhouse.com/wiki/Open_Access)), data privacy (http://www.sim-outhouse.com/wiki/Data_privacy), transparency, freedom of information (http://www.sim-outhouse.com/wiki/Freedom_of_information) and free education.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pirate_Party (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pirate_Party)

Wing_Z

January 31st, 2012, 11:45

Z if your going to do it do it right.
Oh I expect you mean:
If you're going to do it, do it right.

Not sure what your point is in any of your posts so far, either.
A bit like the "Occupy (fill in the blank)" movement.
They seem to be somehow disgruntled, but when they are interviewed you get the strangest variety of responses:
Some want free cannabis, others less government, some want more government handouts, others less corporate greed.
Whatever, they are camping in our public parks and stuffing up the grass.

Don't take umbrage, but the message is a little garbled.

wombat666

January 31st, 2012, 22:13

They have as much credibility as the idiotic 'Sex Party' that appeared a few years ago.
And CWO, 'a few seats won' is an indication of the level of intelligence present at certain population levels.
:kilroy:

Allen

January 31st, 2012, 22:48

Calling the kettle black Wombat?

AndyG43

February 1st, 2012, 01:45

Wombat, in some areas they have quite a lot of credibility. Political groupings are using the label, as Allen (and Wing_Z, to an extent) said, to fight for civil rights, direct democracy & participation, reform of copyright & patent law, free sharing of knowledge, data privacy, transparency, freedom of information & free education. And that has support (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pirate_Party), they have one more than just a 'few seats'; there are 2 MEP's and numerous municipal & city councllors across Europe.

Don't get hung up on the fact that they call themselves "Pirate Party", or that some of them have more extreme views than others; that happens in all political parties, worldwide, just look at some of the coverage of the US primaries & some of the more 'interesting' candidates who put themsleves forward. What they are is a pressure group lobbying for long overdue reforms in this area; I wouldn't want them to get everything they are demanding, any more than I want Sony, Universal et al to get what they are demanding - but somewhere in the middle would be sensible
& would be more beneficial to all, but you don't get consensus if only one voice is being heard.

Kim Dotcom, or whatever he calls himself, is obviously an idiot & presumably criminal (innocent until proven guilty, remember); but that doesn't mean everybody adopting the Pirate Party badge is too.

Ferry_vO

February 1st, 2012, 01:51

Hmmm.....

http://www.jacehallshow.com/music/was-megaupload-shutdown-over-upcoming-itunes-killer-music-service/

wombat666

February 1st, 2012, 05:09

Wombat, in some areas they have quite a lot of credibility. Political groupings are using the label, as Allen (and Wing_Z, to an extent) said, to fight for civil rights, direct democracy & participation, reform of copyright & patent law, free sharing of knowledge, data privacy, transparency, freedom of information & free education. And that has support (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pirate_Party), they have one more than just a 'few seats'; there are 2 MEP's and numerous municipal & city councllors across Europe.
Don't get hung up on the fact that they call themselves "Pirate Party", or that some of them have more extreme views than others; that happens in all political parties, worldwide, just look at some of the coverage of the US primaries & some of the more 'interesting' candidates who put themsleves forward. What they are is a pressure group lobbying for long overdue reforms in this area; I wouldn't want them to get everything they are demanding, any more than I want Sony, Universal et al to get what they are demanding - but somewhere in the middle would be sensible
& would be more beneficial to all, but you don't get consensus if only one voice is being heard.

Andy, we have similar fringe parties appearing from time to time but they never really end up in a position to influence the majors.
I might be more tolerant of titles such as 'Pirate Party' if more people were inclined to NOT label the 'Sea Shepherds' [I'm a long time active member FWIW] as 'Terrorists' or 'Pirates'.

Just donning my official 'Admin Hat' I suppose I must remind everyone [including self!] NOT to go overboard on the politics.
:kilroy:

AndyG43

February 1st, 2012, 05:47

Andy, we have similar fringe parties appearing from time to time but they never really end up in a position to influence the majors.
I might be more tolerant of titles such as 'Pirate Party' if more people were inclined to NOT label the 'Sea Shepherds' [I'm a long time active member FWIW] as 'Terrorists' or 'Pirates'.

Just donning my official 'Admin Hat' I suppose I must remind everyone NOT to go overboard on the politics.
:kilroy:

Will try to restrain myself.

Don't forget that people used to say that about the Green Party movement, and that has reached a position to influence policy in a number of countries worldwide; still contains it's fair share of fruit loops, but over time those kinds go the margins of any movement.

CWOJackson

February 1st, 2012, 11:02

58000

Once the Greens were Germany's political rebels. But on Sunday they lost their title to the Pirate Party, which won seats in a regional government for the first time. The success of their data-driven message took even the party itself by surprise.

http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,787044,00.html

Wing_Z

February 1st, 2012, 11:51

Well the internet being the well-connected thing that it is... it's not too late to rescue your legal cloud-based file uploads from Megaupload.com
http://www.stuff.co.nz/technology/digital-living/6353323/Nonprofit-to-help-Megaupload-users-retrieve-data

Allen

February 1st, 2012, 12:34

http://www.clker.com/cliparts/F/X/L/d/m/h/pirate-party-flag-md.png

Im in ur political system takin ur seatz!

http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/in-ur-base

SPman

February 1st, 2012, 17:43

I suppose you've all seen this take on it...

http://powerofnarrative.blogspot.com.au/2012/01/oh.html

CWOJackson

February 10th, 2012, 17:30

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2099425/FBIs-Megaupload-bust-reduce-internet-piracy-says-study.html

It marginally slowed pirating down for a few hours while that community shifted their operations and other file sharing companies experienced a surge in customers.

Wing_Z

February 23rd, 2012, 10:48

Well they let him chill in jail for a month, to show they are serious.
He and his co-conspirators are out on bail (http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/6472867/Dotcom-welcome-home-if-he-behaves-neighbour), a provision being they have no internet access.
I do not know how you enforce that, I have internet access on my little phone...

Bodes ill for the neighbours, a bored overgrown kid at home with no online games to play.

The extradition hearings are yet to come I believe.

PeteHam

February 28th, 2012, 16:08

I've just read this online .......... :violent:

Megaupload founder Kim Dotcom and his wife need more than $200,000 a month to get by, a court has heard.

Dotcom, facing extradition to the United States, and his heavily pregnant wife Mona are seeking to have some of their seized assets to be released at a hearing at the High Court in Auckland on Wednesday.

Crown prosecutor Anne Toohey told the court that together Dotcom and his wife have requested that $220,000 a month in living costs be released.
Among the monthly costs requested are $24,000 for body guards, $29,000 for staff including nannies, a butler and Mrs Dotcom's personal assistant, $5000 for landline phone costs, $8500 for gas and power, and $6500 for tutoring the couple's four-year-old child.

Costs for the maintenance of the empty $30 million rented Dotcom Mansion in Coatesville, north of Auckland, have also been requested.

Ms Toohey said many of these costs were unreasonable, given the average annual income of a New Zealand household is about $79,000.

She said that if the funds were released, the amount would almost drain, in the space of a month, Dotcom's New Zealand Rabobank account, which contains about $300,000.
The 38-year-old Megaupload founder was granted bail last week. He is awaiting an extradition to the US, where he is facing charges of racketeering, copyright infringement and money laundering.

However, he could be returned to custody if the Crown's appeal of the decision to release him on electronically monitored bail is successful.

A decision on this is expected on Wednesday afternoon.

$220,000 a month in living costs ....... !!!!!!!!!

In ya dreams .

Pete.