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Megaupload was shut down in the last few hours by the US Department of Justice. They labelled it a "criminal enterprise" and have indicted six of its [s]conspirators[/s] employees - including its graphics designer, for some reason.

And this is without SOPA.

EDIT: Finding it hard to get hold of a decent source because Anonymous seem to have DDOS'ed them all.

This article is an explanation as to why. Commentators like this are not helping the case.

-- GSH

But ofcourse, the income of Hollywood stars is more important than that of the low income civillian.

Well, its not unreasonable that big studios want to see a return on their investments. The problem lies in the means that they are attempting to do so -- giving the movie/music studios powers to censor the internet would have far reaching consequences that would stifle freedom of speech and even fair use (and its not only US citizens that would be affected).

That said, SOPA has been shelved (indefinitely?) but its 'less crazy cousin' PROTECT IP Act (PIPA) isn't a whole lot better. From what i'm seeing, support for PIPA is starting to collapse due to the bad publicity it's getting and the trend will hopefully continue, even though as of posting, support for PIPA is still a majority.

SOPA vote is scheduled for Feb 18, I believe.

Zero Angel wrote:[snip]

I even believe they have the right to be upset about piracy. However is now the best time for the US government to spend so much time on it while the worlds economy is as lacking as it is?
If already only for all those people who now wont stay home downloading and watching video's, what will those do now? Just sit there, counting the boogers they can pick ... or ... ?

Next comes the fact the US government now influences other countries economies directly, thank you for the next bunch of unimployed people here, like we didnt have enough (at this time) ...

Red Spot wrote:But ofcourse, the income of Hollywood stars is more important than that of the low income civillian.

Athletes in specific are a stain on society with their outrageously large and undeserved salaries. Regardless if they beacons for advertising.

Pirates must expect to be subject to equally piratical actions, such as having their assets seized, they will just have to get smarter. This will be a boom for some, the US limited its reach when it rejected the concept of international law. Any Nation wishing to benefit from this can simply enact its own laws to draw in the pirate operations and their wealth. I bet entrepreneurs are applying for their Cuban visas as we speak...

The problem is that megaupload was not dedicated to piracy; it had scores of legitimate users. It also quite clearly made the effort to remove illegal content.

Then I would suggest that they probably should have donated more to US election funds...Others operating in that area will no doubt be now looking for new places to run their operations from, there's no shortage of politicians looking for "support" around the world, It shouldn't be a problem.

MrTwosheds wrote:Pirates must expect to be subject to equally piratical actions, such as having their assets seized, they will just have to get smarter. This will be a boom for some, the US limited its reach when it rejected the concept of international law. Any Nation wishing to benefit from this can simply enact its own laws to draw in the pirate operations and their wealth. I bet entrepreneurs are applying for their Cuban visas as we speak...

Giving authorities more power to bypass 'due process' is hardly a solution that I can agree with. Especially when such authorities are agencies (corporations) which are designed to protect their own profits. Combine with with the fact that the only checks and balances they have is the tort law system which means that the accuser (who may not have deep pockets) must expend more effort (sometimes an unfeasable or impossible amount of effort) to see justice.

Government agencies are hardly more trustworthy -- I should know, I worked for a municipal government in an information job, and one of the big bosses at the time wanted me to use my resources to reveal the identity of an anonymous dissenter -- keep in mind that municipal governance isnt nearly as high-stakes as governance at a national level (where there is big dollars involved), so it gave me something to extrapolate to.

Who watches the watchers? In this case the copyright agencies that are pushing these bills. Well, nobody really. The government has the people, who can see what has to go on 'in the light' (in this case the sending of bills through parliament/congress), but copyright enforcing corporations are not really enforced enough. Far better that if an organization can cut through checks and balances in order to identify/stop their target, that they be subject to checks and balances (ie: auditing, judgement) that penalize them if they abuse their power.

That would've helped.

Red Spot wrote: However is now the best time for the US government to spend so much time on it while the worlds economy is as lacking as it is?

The global economy is in the toilet right now because the various governments have been manipulating it.

You guys should really swing by timedisruptor more often. All this major corruption stuff is old news over there. We spend most of the time mocking the rhetoric and designing ever more advanced tinfoil hats.

Oh, you mean the ones with the shiny stuff on the end?

I didn't know SOPA is being voted on February 18.
Source, please?

It's not any more.