Megaupload / Video Shutdown, US Arrests

Well this is kind of an obscure argument and not one I'd necessarily support.. But you can argue the money they obtained for subscriptions was unlawful, that they sold subscriptions to illegally obtained content.. Then the only other piece you need for laundering is hiding where said money came from. Which isn't that hard/stretch as the above.. Lying about where the money came from during filing taxes, etc.

I don't exactly agree with it, but I can kinda grasp why they'd throw that charge on.

Question is whether it will actually stick.. I mean let's be honest.. Half the charges on them will probably be dropped, either through the lawyers work or through a plea deal. Especially in high profile cases, the DA tacks on all the charges they possibly can. Even when they're flimsy at best.

Starts on page 53 of the indictment:

Figurehead type CEO. They were trying to appear more legitimate and gain more star support.

Just found this article looking for his real name to see if he was in the indicment:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/zackomalleygreenburg/2012/01/19/swizz-beatz-does-not-own-megaupload-says-court-filing/

I retract my previous statement with a laugh.

Ouch, even Megarelease is dead. Didn't even know that site was connected. All those animes gone. :O

Anon is stupid and just setting back what people are trying to do in not letting sopa/pipa pass. They are hurting us more then helping.

Megaupload was given more then enough fair chance to clean up their act and they refused to do so. This wasnt just on a whim that it happened.

Yeah, some even got arrested overseas at the request of the Feds.

And probably long gone by now to a non-extradition country.

Frankly, I'm surprised Megaupload has lasted as long as it has lasted until now.

I support freedom of information distribution on the net ... but c'mon, it's pretty obvious that Megaupload was a bastion for illegal distribution of copyrighted television, movies, software, games, and more. One can't really blame the entertainment industry for calling for Megaupload to be reigned-in; the moguls behind the scenes at Megaupload were making extreme profit, just by hosting/distribution others' copyrighted materials.

I'm sure the entertainment industry would back-off if Megaupload paid royalties like anyone else who legally distributes copyrighted material. But that, of course, would mean you'd have to pay a subscription (like Netflix) or pay-per-download (like ITunes).

That's life. Can't get ***for free unless the ***'s creator/owner says it's ok. Only other way is to steal/pirate it ... if you do that's, it's illegal. Granted you probably won't get caught, since the FBI, in general, has much bigger fish to fry than the "average Joe" who downloads movies for personal use. But if you own/host/operate a massive hub for such activity, like Megaupload, and you PROFIT from it, that's what will put you on the FBI's radar.

Was fun while it lasted, like Napster back when I was in college and everyone had dial-up internet connections and AOL. RIP.

Pretty much. I agree with all of this. More will pop up anyways.

Hit the nail on the head Elana.
Well articulated.

To go after torrent sites that don't actually host content, but provide links to get content.

This pretty much defines everything, the shutdown of sites, SOPA/PIPA and all the efforts expended in combating piracy, etc etc..

Just as DRM only serves to hurt the legitimate owners of games, SOPA will really only serve to hurt legitimate users. You simply can't stop piracy.. The only way you could really put a dent in it, is to shut down the internet all together, but even then, people will still share files.. It'll just be curbed because then (for all practical purposes) you'd have to know someone who has the files you want.. Rather than just downloading them from some random and anonymous source over the internet.

I really wish everyone would just understand this and give up.. All the money put into stopping piracy could be put to better use.. You simply cannot do it. It's not even theoretically possible. Not unless you remove the media that piracy thrives on, which let's face it, isn't going anywhere, and if you do that, you're not stopping piracy, you're just removing the need/desire for it.

They try and throw more and more software security into things, and that just doesn't work, DRM is one of the hugest fails of software level security ever.. It prevents people who actually buy the game from playing, while the pirates have no problem at all, that ***is cracked in a day or less and they don't ever have to deal with it.

Wait what? They're even trying to arrest the GRAPHIC DESIGNER? Seriously?

Capitalism priority:

Eradicate poverty in the world < make the rich richer

He sent/received an e-mail with a link to one of the illegal files. Showed that he was a knowing participant. I can't recall anything else off the top of my head that he was involved in without checking the indictment. I found it silly as well.

sorry i couldnt stand to watch pass the first 2.3523seconds of that video

Whoever wanted to pay to be impatient, that was their own problem.

No different than people buying gil on FFXI. If people see that their time is worth more than the wait or effort, then they have no issues with spending the money. Like MegaUpload, FFXI won't last forever.

Yes it will!

/laugh

Megaupload site wants assets back, to fight charges

I noticed on the bottom of the page that Google's stocks took a really hard hit. Down 50 points (8.something%). Weighing heavily in favor of something so polar in nature is bound to have financial consequences since Google covers so much territory. Any input on that one?
Shareholders and investors alike are probably gonna hang onto their money until this thing tides over.