Eric W. Dolan
Eric W. Dolan has served as an editor for Raw Story since August 2010, and is based out of San Diego, California. He grew up in the suburbs of Chicago and received a Bachelor of Science from Bradley University. Eric is also the publisher and editor of PsyPost. You can follow him on Twitter @ewdolan.
THE RAW STORY
By Eric W. Dolan
Sunday, January 29, 2012 15:38 EST
Pirate Parties around the world are planning on organizing a lawsuit against the FBI over the seizure of the popular file sharing website MegaUpload.com, according to TorrentFreak.
MegaUpload, which had more than 150 million registered users, was shut down by the FBI on January 19 because of alleged copyright infringement. The site allowed registered users to upload files, which could then be downloaded by others.
“The FBI has caused incalculable damage, far in excess of the losses claimed by the content lobbies, in a fruitless attempt to prevent access to the media content hosted on Megaupload, some of which they claim to have been infringing copyright under U.S. law,” the Pirates of Catalonia, a Spanish Pirate party, said.
The site was used to illegally share TV shows, movies and other content, but it was also used for legitimate reasons, such as sharing work documents, research and other files.
“By closing the service they have impeded the access to millions of archives of both private individuals and organisations, potentially causing huge personal, economic and image damages to a vast number of people.”
“The widespread damage caused by the sudden closure of MegaUpload is unjustified and completely disproportionate to the aim intended,” the Pirates of Catalonia said.The owners of MegaUpload claimed to work with copyright enforcement agencies to remove infringing material and said they complied with Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) notices. But prosecutors said they were not diligent enough and sometimes illegally shared files themselves. The prosecutors labelled the site a “mega conspiracy” that cost copyright holders $500 million.
“In exchange for payment, the Mega Conspiracy provides fast reproduction and distribution of infringing copies of copyrighted works from its servers located around the world,” the indictment said.
Seven of MegaUpload’s founders and employees have been charged with online piracy crimes. The charges include copyright infringement as well as conspiracies to commit racketeering, copyright infringement and money laundering.
After the Swedish Piratpartiet was formed in 2006 to reform copyright laws and fight for Internet freedoms, various other Pirate parties sprung up across the world.
Pirate Parties International (PPI), a trans-national organization of Pirate parties, was formally founded in 2010 at the PPI conference in Brussels.
Feds say MegaUpload data could be deleted by Thursday
Pop star Will.i.am endorsing Megaupload
In putting the kibosh on MegaUpload, federal prosecutors arrested seven men and froze millions in assets. With their funds in limbo, MegaUpload can’t pay the costs to the companies that store its data, and a letter from the federales says that these companies, Carpathia Hosting Inc. and Cogent Communications Group Inc., can begin deleting the files stored with them as early as this Thursday.
This can’t be welcome news to the people who claim to have uploaded important and perfectly legal files to MegaUpload, and are currently in the process of trying to sue the FBI for seizing their data. To be fair, that group of affected users is spearheaded by a pirate site, which doesn’t exactly lend credence to the idea that there was a large group of users relying on MegaUpload for legit purposes.
Beyond the collateral damage to MegaUpload users, the loss of data might have a more important impact, the destruction of evidence. MegaUpload’s attorney, Ira Rothken, argues that the files stored with these third-party companies may prove valuable in his defense and that it’s in the best interest of all parties to ensure they don’t disappear. “We’re cautiously optimistic at this point that because the United States, as well as Megaupload, should have a common desire to protect consumers, that this type of agreement will get done,” he told the AP.
The FBI copied some data during its seizure, but left the bulk untouched. The government, after seizing MegaUpload’s assets, hasn’t stepped forward yet to assume the costs of keeping this data while the trail moves forward. It’s a reminder that criminal investigations haven’t caught up with the reality of today’s data centers.
Remember that in June of last year, the FBI knocked dozens of innocent sites offline when it seized servers at a hosting facility in Reston, VA. Perhaps the big takeaway is that when it comes to policing the criminal use of data, there is a good chance of collateral damage.
SEE:
EFF wants to help Megaupload users get files back from Feds
NOTE:
How many have used Amazon.com to rent movies at the low cost of $2.99 per movie; or to purchase the movie and play back whenever you please at the low prices beginning at 4.99 to 14.99? Is this piracy?! That is what Mega Upload was doing ... but, since it is not a USA based "mega link", some how it is being charged with USA anti-piracy laws. In any legitimate Internet link, some things are bound to slip though eventually, the longer a link remains open to the public and Mega Upload, an international link, with over 150 MILLION customers, was bound to have a few oversights.
In its rush to control the Internet, remove what our present administration deems "inappropriate", it is interesting that the FBI has removed a MEGA international link to protect the "Arts" business - which sounds like monkey business to most of us; since Mega Upload is similar to Amazon's ability to rent movies.
Conservative blogs are removed more frequently under the pretenses of complaints by Muslim organizations; and another blog focusing on the eligibility issues of Obama has just about had its lights turned off this past week. How long, before more and more blogs are taken down under false pretenses?! One thing is clear - Big Brother is watching you!
Do you remember the "dirty tricks" of Nixon? The Wall Street Journal reports today on Obama's Enemies List. Comparing his "LIST" to what happened to Mega Upload may seem like comparing apples with oranges, but it is my personal opinion that the two are not that different, because whether it is a tiny, personal blog or a MEGA link, one has to wonder just how far and/or fair the Internet monitoring is becoming these days .... just wondering!I-Tunes apps for .99 cents will probably be removed shortly! Angry Birds should cost more, so maybe those little birds will be next to have an FBI warning on its link.
