Feds Shutdown Top File-Sharing Site, Megaupload Today

[Hondarobot]

I don't really have an opinion on this topic (which is rare). I don't like the precedence SOPA sets, but I don't like crooks either.

I do like Anonymous. The best thing to happen here is when Anon steps up and lets the Feds know they are watching them.

My final opinion, at the moment:

I hope posting that isn't illegal yet. . .

 

[meesterperfect]

Megaupload was great, fast and easy.
I guess more will follow into the arms of the GOV.
Thanks Obama.

 

[Rattrap]

Heh...you know, this would have fit nicely right on the end of this thread here where all the exact same arguments and debate are being made - just last month.

I am curious how this digital frontier business will pan out in the end. The ability to infinitely copy digital information with no cost in the copying itself is a fascinating turn for human civilization. One that no doubt has some kinks to work out, but fascinating all the same.

 

[TheAdmiral]

that's really a bad new, especially for the ones who owned a membership...
but internet is and will stay a world of freedom, hackers are always winners :thefinger

I was two weeks into a six month membership

Many people used Megaupload to host contents that weren't for sale anywhere.

I got alot of boxing fights from there, some even in HD. I was actually in the process of getting another one when the site was shut down

 

[squallumz]

eh, no matter, there will be others. i do worry what will be next in terms of government er, "interference."

but yes, you should support the ones you like. i buy my sasha grey dvds. i buy my smashing pumpkins albums. its the right thing to do if you truly do like them. keeps em in business so they can keep creating.

 

[Petra]

While I'm all for punishing the people who are allowing copyright infringement, I've got to say I'm not sure I like the precedent that this is setting. Megaupload wasn't used just to pirate, it was also used to transfer legit files. So what's next? WeTransfer? Because they're not monitoring every transfer made? Or how DropBox, Flicker, or whatnot?

I still think that the music, movie, and publishing industry needs to get with the times and realize that they're never going to stamp out pirating. And, because of the copyright squabbles that makes it so a movie released in the US comes 3 months after to the EU (yup, in this digital age, we still get movies 3-4 months after the US release) or that we can pay a nominal fee and watch TV shows at the same time as our US counterparts instead of having to wait 6 months to a year or more for it...THEN I think the need for downloading stolen materiel will be a hell of a lot less.

Will people still download it for free? Yup. Will it solve the problems of the porn industry? Nope. But I think it will make it so there's LESS players on the field.

But that's just my opinion on the matter and I really, really hope this particular event doesn't strengthen SOPA and PIPA because those bills are down right frightening.

 

[Roald]

While I'm all for punishing the people who are allowing copyright infringement, I've got to say I'm not sure I like the precedent that this is setting. Megaupload wasn't used just to pirate, it was also used to transfer legit files. So what's next? WeTransfer? Because they're not monitoring every transfer made? Or how DropBox, Flicker, or whatnot?

I still think that the music, movie, and publishing industry needs to get with the times and realize that they're never going to stamp out pirating. And, because of the copyright squabbles that makes it so a movie released in the US comes 3 months after to the EU (yup, in this digital age, we still get movies 3-4 months after the US release) or that we can pay a nominal fee and watch TV shows at the same time as our US counterparts instead of having to wait 6 months to a year or more for it...THEN I think the need for downloading stolen materiel will be a hell of a lot less.

Will people still download it for free? Yup. Will it solve the problems of the porn industry? Nope. But I think it will make it so there's LESS players on the field.

But that's just my opinion on the matter and I really, really hope this particular event doesn't strengthen SOPA and PIPA because those bills are down right frightening.

I dont like the fact that the feds can just kill a site like this but lets just be real here, megaupload was built to pirate content. The only reason they were doing this was to make money of other peoples work, in a legal way using the DMCA loophole. Yes some people used it for legit reasons but 99% of the people using it used it to trade copyrighted content.

 

[windowsxp02]

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/20/technology/indictment-charges-megaupload-site-with-piracy.html?_r=1
http://news.yahoo.com/apnewsbreak-feds-shut-down-file-sharing-website-193903205.html

Hopefully (RSHARE &) many others will follow! This is always awesome news, to any of us ladies in the industry, whenever piracy sites like these and illegal tube sites are shut down.

Hopefully they will go after the 100 of thousands of individuals whom downloaded the pirated material, just as they did again Napster, etc. since they reference Napster in their court documents.

Isn't net free ?

So why this hue & cry .

 

[Petra]

That's why I said, what's next? You know people aren't using wetransfer just for legit files. You KNOW people are using dropbox to host/store pirated content. Just like the newsgroups, yahoo groups, and even certain 'pages' on facebook. I'm fairly confident that these sites were built for legit purposes, but are the feds going to nuke them because people are using it 'not as intended?' That's what happens with precedents like this one.

 

[Roald]

I dont agree Petra, read into that Kim dotcom his background a bit. Criminal.

Edit: one of the main reason the site got shut down is for money laundering. Piracy just works better in the media

 

[Ace Boobtoucher]

 

[STDiva]

So let me get this straight. It's not illegal to share the files if you got them from one of your friends, but it's illegal if you share the files with people? Who's to say who your friends are or aren't? And what if you just say you're transferring the files? And if legislation is taking the illegal from other countries where it isn't illegal, who draws the line then? A line must be drawn, I think we can all agree with that. Right? Copying your files is up for you to do, if you do choose to do what you do. You are not stealing from anybody unless you're stealing it so they can't have it no longer. There is a difference and the difference is as clear as day.

 

[georges]

While I'm all for punishing the people who are allowing copyright infringement, I've got to say I'm not sure I like the precedent that this is setting. Megaupload wasn't used just to pirate, it was also used to transfer legit files. So what's next? WeTransfer? Because they're not monitoring every transfer made? Or how DropBox, Flicker, or whatnot?

I still think that the music, movie, and publishing industry needs to get with the times and realize that they're never going to stamp out pirating. And, because of the copyright squabbles that makes it so a movie released in the US comes 3 months after to the EU (yup, in this digital age, we still get movies 3-4 months after the US release) or that we can pay a nominal fee and watch TV shows at the same time as our US counterparts instead of having to wait 6 months to a year or more for it...THEN I think the need for downloading stolen materiel will be a hell of a lot less.

Will people still download it for free? Yup. Will it solve the problems of the porn industry? Nope. But I think it will make it so there's LESS players on the field.

But that's just my opinion on the matter and I really, really hope this particular event doesn't strengthen SOPA and PIPA because those bills are down right frightening.

Absolutely right Petra :yesyes::dito: The MPAA/RIAA censored and banned kazaa,emule,bareshare,limewire and then *******s appeared. The more you censor, the bigger the retaliation will be. Anonymous has just began its battle and I am sure it will end very bad for the US government because if it has been able to hack the fbi, the pipa/sopa and other agencies servers for a day, it certainly will hack them permanently.

 

[Bloodshot Scott]

I'm against the surrender of liberty, hoping it won't be abused, to catch some thieves that wouldn't have bought the product in the first place. Law enforcement already have enough tools at their disposal. Instead of more laws they should work within the confines of existing law to go after piracy.

I never understood why Napster created such a shit storm. If I taped songs off the radio and uploaded those files to my computer would that be copyright infringement? Now, thanks to the internet, I can hear music I would never have been able to hear before, either because I didn't have the money to buy the records, or because I was never exposed to those bands and wouldn't have been aware of them, or, even if I was aware of them there would be no outlet to purchase the music from. And that's just music.

Pornography is illegal in some countries. Should those countries demand that the United States execute warrants and extradite porn stars to face prosecution where it's illegal?

That's the thing. Underground artists many times would gladly give their music away to get the word out. I know if I were an artists I'd give my burned CDs to anyone and everyone. It's the oppressive major labels who are whoring out all artists. But of course I am just talking music.

And besides, everyone isn't rich. Poor people need stuff too, you know.

 

[Erika Red]

So how is you watching a video on youtube (which we have written record of you doing) Different to somebody taking a picture of you from Megaupload, for example?

Because I only watch them from the Official YouTube music channels, better quality, and yes I may have a commercial play before or an ad in the bottom, but it is all from the musician or the studio. Check it out! Many of the artists and companies have official channels to legally watch the videos from. THAT WHY ITS DIFFERENT

Also YouTube does remove copyrighted material and does a great job protecting artists and supporting them. Thats why I would use youtube, does stuff slip thru the cracks, sure it does, but if their copyright detection scripts misses something flagging it by a user will get it removed!

 

[Terry Sleeper]

The authorities are pissing in the wind.

You can't control the www.

 

[Erika Red]

YES, it is different :

If I steal a DVD in a store, I would have it without paying and the guy that's gonna come to buy it won't have it, even if he intend to pay fort it. He may havec another copy of the movie. But this particular one is no longer available. It is a real thing wich avalibility is limited.
If I illegaly download a movie there will still be the same number of copies in stores than before i DLed it. So I may enjoy the movie without paying foir it but anyone who wanna pay for it can still do.

No its still stealing - Sorry. Basically your okay with being a thief, if you can do it safely from your home. Kind of a cowardly friendlier thief.

 

[Erika Red]

This thread just killed my mood.

I typed out a big long post about how wrong it is for people to be standing up for these crooks but decided it's not worth being ridiculed AGAIN for standing up for what I believe in.

I understand, I am getting neg rep, and slammed for something I believe in, but seems that many in this thread support STEALING. It really sux knowing that, very disappointed that the class of people here are that bad. But it;s seems to be the way of life if you can steal from another, and blame it on the freedom of the web and not get caught it is ok. SAD

 

[Erika Red]

This thread just killed my mood.

I typed out a big long post about how wrong it is for people to be standing up for these crooks but decided it's not worth being ridiculed AGAIN for standing up for what I believe in.

I understand, I am getting neg rep, and slammed for something I believe in, but seems that many in this thread support STEALING. It really sux knowing that, very disappointed that the class of people here are that bad. But it;s seems to be the way of life if you can steal from another, and blame it on the freedom of the web and not get caught it is ok. SAD

 

[Frame313]

The problem I have with this situation is that the government is attacking the medium of exchange of illegal material, rather than going after the people who are the pirates. A site like megaupload or rshare or whoever would have to have people view and research every piece of data that is transferred by their site in order to weed out those that were dealing in illegal material. It would mean that every users private data would need to be reviewed before it could be shared. I find that much more disturbing than the idea of some people misusing the site for the transfer of copywritten material. Just because there are users who take advantage of the sites like these to trade illegal items, doesn't make the sites themselves illegal. If I were to take my car and go commit a hit & run, it doesn't mean that Ford is libel. I used the product illegally, I have to pay the penalty, but those people who created the product shouldn't be penalized.