# MegaUpload.com Shuttered: One Month 'Black March' Media Boycott Slated For March 1st



## qubit (Jan 21, 2012)

Yesterday, the website of MegaUpload was shuttered for good by the US Department of Justice over copyright infringement aka 'piracy' and various criminal charges (see the domain seizure graphic). This was done regardless of the many non-infringing files that people were also using it for, so for anyone that had their only copy of a file on the site, this is very bad news. It's also arguably even worse news for the site's operators, as they have been arrested and face extradition from New Zealand to the USA for criminal trial, all their assets seized, including all the domain names and computing infrastructure to run them, plus many personal belongings of very high value, such as fancy cars like Maseratis and Rolls-Royces and huge 100 inch TVs to name just a few.

However, this story, isn't really about this and we have linked to reports below which cover this in great detail (hot beverage recommended). MegaUpload was one of the biggest file sharing sites out there and in fact, one of the biggest _sites_ out there, period. This means, that an awful lot of people all around the world have very much noticed its sudden demise (especially those with their only copy of a file, because they didn't bother to back it up, tsk) and are met with that highly unwelcome Department of Justice graphic, instead. Hence, the chances of an almighty backlash against this shutdown _not_ happening are slim to none. In fact, Anonymous have already hit the websites of the DOJ, RIAA, MPAA & HADOPI (French three strikes) and others in retaliation, with likely much more to come, which is good or bad, depending on one's point of view and how effective one believes it will be.



 

 




What's of much greater interest here however, is the call for a truly massive boycott of all media products, but crucially _without_ pirating them. Started yesterday by an anonymous user with a graphic at imgur.com and comments on reddit, it calls for a *'Black March'* protest for the whole of March over efforts to censor the internet with bad laws such as SOPA & PIPA and the heavy-handed closure of sites like MegaUpload, which will be made child's play with these laws in place. Ordinary citizens are encouraged not to buy any media products _whatsoever_ during this month: _"Do not buy a single record. Do not download a single song, legally or illegally. Do not go to see a single film in cinemas, or download a copy. Do not buy a DVD in the stores. Do not buy a videogame. Do not buy a single book or magazine."_ The idea is to _"leave a gaping hole in media entertainment companies' profits for the 1st quarter, an economic hit which will in turn be observed by governments worldwide as stocks and shares will blip from a large enough loss of incomes."_

And finally, the statement of intent: _*"We will not tolerate the Media Industries' lobbying for legislation which will censor the internet."*_

That's right, the bottom line - profit, lots of fat profit - is the only thing that these companies understand, so this kind of totally legal voting with one's wallet, but crucially without pirating, is the one thing that this reporter has been saying for some time to do and it's heartening to see that it's going to be used as a protest strategy. Extending this protest far beyond March would be way better and more effective, too. Watch out for the statements of denial by Big Media in the press as the protest starts, while it's in progress and afterwards when the financial accounts have been presented, complete with big holes showing in their profit margins.


*REFERENCES*

The Black March banner can be downloaded at http://imgur.com/pPDak

MegaUpload shutdown story, at TorrentFreak.

The full text of the DOJ indictment, at the Los Angeles Times. (Long attention span required)

Much more readable summary of the DOJ indictment, at TorrentFreak.

Details of the fancy goods seized can be seen at c|net.

Websites attacked by Anonymous reported by c|net here and here.

The MegaUpload DOJ takedown banner can be viewed in all its original 'glory', at the defunct website: www.megaupload.com

And finally, try viewing this happy-sounding music video/advert for MegaUpload without at least a hint of sadness or a tear in your eye (users who lost their only copy of a file will no doubt be crying their eyes out by the end of this).










*View at TechPowerUp Main Site*


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## qubit (Jan 21, 2012)

This article deserves more credit than usual, so my grateful thanks to the following tipsters: JustaTinkerer, Live OR Die & to MatTheCat for encouraging me to write this article.

Also, a special thanks to LAN_deRf_HA for posting the boycott graphic, here and for sending me the imgur.com link, which really made this article what it is.

Consider this one a team effort people!


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## entropy13 (Jan 21, 2012)

MegaUpload: What Made It a Rogue Site Worthy of Destruction? (TorrentFreak)


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## qubit (Jan 21, 2012)

entropy13 said:


> MegaUpload: What Made It a Rogue Site Worthy of Destruction? (TorrentFreak)



Thanks buddy, but I've linked to it in my story.


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## Jetster (Jan 21, 2012)

There downfall was hosting the actual files. Don't get me wrong I loved the site. I hope they have a good defense


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## GLD (Jan 21, 2012)

If you break the law...well you have no one but yourself to blame when the po-po come knocking.


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## j924 (Jan 21, 2012)

qubit said:


> _"Do not buy a single record. Do not download a single song, legally or illegally. Do not go to see a single film in cinemas, or download a copy. Do not buy a DVD in the stores. Do not buy a videogame. Do not buy a single book or magazine."_ The idea is to _"leave a gaping hole in media entertainment companies' profits for the 1st quarter, an economic hit which will in turn be observed by governments worldwide as stocks and shares will blip from a large enough loss of incomes."_


Even though I can't ever see something like this happening, if it actually did happen wouldn't it only hurt retailers?


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## trickson (Jan 21, 2012)

Anonymous WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU ????


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## Frizz (Jan 21, 2012)

Not to be a douche or anything but I am pretty sure that their business ran on pirated content anyway :S. Everyone I know who knows of Mega-upload use it to download copyrighted material. Although I don't understand why they are being shutdown when MU weren't promoting piracy and were seemingly against it example, "This file has been delete because of copyright content."


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## trickson (Jan 21, 2012)

Emule is next you watch !


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## HossHuge (Jan 21, 2012)

I'm curious as to what TechPowerup's official position is on SOPA?  Cause I feel like we are getting qubit’s position and that’s it.  

I am one of those who believe that reporters’ opinions and news should be separate.   
Otherwise, all our reporters would end up being just like Bill O’Reilly.  You tell us what to think instead of just giving us the information and letting us decide.  That's what a true journalist does.

That "*Black Monday*" thing is stupid.  Here's what's going to happen.  The people that take part in it are the people who will eventually get laid off because earnings are down.

Why don't they encouage people to write letters or call their government rep?


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## NC37 (Jan 21, 2012)

So Black March protests now...yeah, that is really sticking it to them. Hurting both the companies for SOPA and those against it. 

Now I'm all for hurting those in support of SOPA. Rip em a new one for all I care, but I'm not gonna hurt those who have been anti SOPA since day one.


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## erocker (Jan 21, 2012)

HossHuge said:


> I'm curious as to what TechPowerup's official position is on SOPA?  Cause I feel like we are getting qubit’s position and that’s it.



Yes, that is what you are getting. TPU, as far as I know has no official position on it, though they do allow qubit to make these posts, so I guess I really don't know. Aside from that, I completely agree with your points. It seems like some people really like to react before thinking it through.


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## poopface (Jan 21, 2012)

anyone who was paying attention in grade school knows this has nothing to do with free speech or censorship of the internet. the fbi mounted evidence against megaupload and a judge gave them the permission to arrest and raid/seize the domain. seriously, you kiddies are defending slugs who profited off of other people's work. you can be for free speech and intellectual property. pretty sad you kids.


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## trickson (Jan 21, 2012)

poopface said:


> anyone who was paying attention in grade school knows this has nothing to do with free speech or censorship of the internet. the fbi mounted evidence against megaupload and a judge gave them the permission to arrest and raid/seize the domain. seriously, you kiddies are defending slugs who profited off of other people's work. you can be for free speech and intellectual property. pretty sad you kids.



And they did this with out SOPA or PIPA ! So why is it they need MORE laws that they already HAVE ? Just keep adding more and more laws soon every one is lawless ! This would be my point ! See look there are laws that protect the music and the movie industry RIGHT NOW ! There are laws that protect software companies as well , So why is it they need more wider ranging blanket laws ? Is this because the laws on the books now are not working ? BULLSHIT ! Case in POINT MegaUpload ! No there are just too many laws right now and just because they make a new improved version of one they have NOW does nothing to STOP any one from doing what they want in the first place ! NO I do not support any MORE laws !


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## poopface (Jan 21, 2012)

trickson said:


> And they did this with out SOPA or PIPA ! So why is it they need MORE laws that they already HAVE ? Just keep adding more and more laws soon every one is lawless ! This would be my point ! See look there are laws that protect the music and the movie industry RIGHT NOW ! There are laws that protect software companies as well , So why is it they need more wider ranging blanket laws ? Is this because the laws on the books now are not working ? BULLSHIT ! Case in POINT MegaUpload ! No there are just too many laws right now and just because they make a new improved version of one they have NOW does nothing to STOP any one from doing what they want in the first place ! NO I do not support any MORE laws !



exactly you knob. they did it without SOPA/PIPA which just proves this has nothing to do with free speech. this is a perfectly executed media grab by the powers that be to make young internet basement dwellers look like fools when the dust settles. don't be so quick to point the finger.


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## lucifersama (Jan 21, 2012)

1 month without cinema, movies, tv series or songs? easy.
just need to rewatch what i already have on my pc.


and let me get 1 thing right, people want to protest, fight against such laws etc. without hurting any innocents? if only that dream land could be real... its impossible, if you wanna hurt an industry or twist its arm to make it back off something dumb, you will hurt people working in the industry, thats a fact, inescapable fact, you cant have a revolution that is 100% peaceful, otherwise they wont listen.


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## poopface (Jan 21, 2012)

the truth is there are powerful people out there who want to control the internet so that they can control the flow of information. so clearly those same people manufacture fake shit storms like megaupload to make the movement against net censorship look like a fraud. the problem is the anti-net cenorship group needs adult leaders, not "anonymous" basement dwellers.


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## RejZoR (Jan 21, 2012)

No buying of multimedia stuff in march 2012? Oki doki.


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## trickson (Jan 21, 2012)

poopface said:


> exactly you knob. they did it without SOPA/PIPA which just proves this has nothing to do with free speech. this is a perfectly executed media grab by the powers that be to make young internet basement dwellers look like fools when the dust settles. don't be so quick to point the finger.



Ok I do not know just who you are or what you are even talking about . First off this is about people that steal movies and music . There is a law already against this . I never said any thing about this being about free speech so you are wrong there . Now let me try to make this clear to you as it seems you are not getting my point . Just how is adding more and more and more laws going to do any thing but infringe on freedom of speech ? Soon it will have too ! Wake up you sound stupid ! Ok we all know that there are copy right laws it is on every movie we buy every music CD has it ( In small print ) . The law is clear The LAW . 
My point is when you keep adding this and that and more and more just when do you stop ? When does it become a matter of freedom of speech or expression ? When they take this right away then it is too late ! My point is I want them to stop BEFORE it gets to this point ! But you think it is fine ? Just keep adding more laws on top of the existing ones ? Like this will do the trick ? When do you draw a line and say " This FAR NO FARTHER " ? I just do not get it . People are blind to this , till it really becomes a problem . Hey I say let them pass all them laws let them take every thing they can , I will help them spend there cash I will challenge them laws I will test them in the supreme court . This is America lets not forget this one fact . We the PEOPLE have rights we have a right to speak out against the Government and we have a RIGHT to challenge the laws that the Government passes ! It is in the constitution . But you call me a Knob why ? ( I don't even know what this means ) , Nothing could be farther from the truth .  You may think that I am stupid ignorant or a noob . You have that right , See freedom of speech ! Hey it works , But what if within these back door laws being past you were brought up on criminal charges for Bulling me ? HMMM ...  Sound crazy ? Well you know what there is a LAW that is on the books right now that could just very well do this . See freedom of speech is more at risk than you want to think it is . Just because you think that you are safe , You better think again . Freedom of speech is already being tested and taken away as well . But you do not see this new law as a threat to it nor will you . But it really is , It is just one more step one more LAW away from taking it all away . Just keep telling yourself every thing is fine , Stick your head in the sand , Turn a blind eye . It has worked for you for so long you know no other way ! Me I like a good fight ! I want less government control in my LIFE ! I do not need some suit dummy telling me I can no longer have a pop or a beer ! Or bacon and eggs ! Nor do I need them invading my privately built privately made LIFE ! I do not need them telling me what is right and what is wrong to the point that they invade every thing I do online in MY PRIVATE HOME ! FUCK THAT SHIT !


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## GLD (Jan 21, 2012)

thickson

What I read from you here is a mixed message. You acknowledge copyright laws. Said (any) laws may be enforced when they are broken. MU is alleged to have broken copyright laws, and the long arm of the law has stepped in. The law is enforced and you call out for a hacker group? To do what? That doesn't make a lick of sense to me. 

My understanding of a knob is the part above a tea bag.


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## Drone (Jan 21, 2012)

lady gaga and justin bieber fans wouldn't like this


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## Vancha (Jan 21, 2012)

People couldn't even manage a day of no Wikipedia without bypassing the blackout banner. I'd love this to happen, but I'm afraid the internet's still too apathetic.


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## lucifersama (Jan 21, 2012)

wiki issue was a matter of informing ppl, once you got "informed" you dont need to visit the banner again. plus, wiki banner was not aimed on hurting the industry to make it back off, halting purchases will do that, i mean cant we take 1 month to rewatch what we have or god forbid, go outside? 
i demand lower rates for cinema ><
paying more and more for remade movies, or new movies with graphics and 0 story or lore is just not fun.


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## HammerON (Jan 21, 2012)

Never heard of them before (mega whatever) and feel that when the cops (or whoever) come to arrest you and you try and disabled your computers and then run into a safe room to hide (with a sawed-off shotgun) tells me that you were not really on the up-and-up in your business practices. Sorry for all those individuals that lost their legitimate files (or whatever). I have never pirated anything (no need when I can buy it) and it appears from what I read that sharing pirated movies and whatever else was their mainstay. They got caught...


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## semantics (Jan 21, 2012)

This is going to fail so hard

Mass effect 3
Release date(s)	NA March 6, 2012[5]
AU March 8, 2012
EU March 9, 2012[6]
JP March 15, 2012

Yeah i'd love to see people not buy or pirate that.

Street Fighter x Tekken
Diablo III (no defined release date but it is slated for QI of 2012 which would end with march)

Be just as effective as that Assassin creed 2 boycott or MW3 boycott in other words this boycott will set record sales for the series =p


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## NdMk2o1o (Jan 21, 2012)

HammerON said:


> Never heard of them before (mega whatever) and feel that when the cops (or whoever) come to arrest you and you try and disabled your computers and then run into a safe room to hide (with a sawed-off shotgun) tells me that you were not really on the up-and-up in your business practices. Sorry for all those individuals that lost their legitimate files (or whatever). I have never pirated anything (no need when I can buy it) and it appears from what I read that sharing pirated movies and whatever else was their mainstay. They got caught...



Never heard of them before so your using your vast knowledge of the site to talk absolute bollocks well done 

There are tons of sites out there like mega upload and despite what a few people think who obviously get all there facts from the media and therefore can't fathom to step out of their own little bubble and think for themselves, these sites are used by a lot of people for purely legal reasons, heck we use them in work to upload files to so we don't have to constantly upload them when they are being downloaded by different people multiple times and save money by saving bandwidth, so are they going to do this to all the other sites that offer this service? fuck you may as well take google, youtube and facebook down cause they are also used to share pirated material. Censorship at it's worse, corrupt governments and corporations using piracy as an excuse to censor.


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## HammerON (Jan 21, 2012)

So you and your company used MegaUpload's services?

Edit: Sorry for the above comment, however I understand the importance of being able to use a file sharing service. One would expect that an individual or company would do their research and make sure the file sharing company they were dealing with wasn't one that was dealing in bad practices.


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## semantics (Jan 21, 2012)

Megaupload is being taken down for many reasons, just getting to reasons dealing with copyright, there are links to megaupload itself as a company uploading pirated material in order to get traffic. There are also quite a bit dealing with their inability to swiftly comply with take down notices. The point is they are if they are to deny that they ran a business not based of piracy, that their actions/inactions do not support that narrative, which youtube can claim ionno about facebook, google as a whole can easily claim.


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## Mr McC (Jan 21, 2012)

I find US global interference to be alarming. I find corporate influence on legislative processes and the actions of the security forces within the US to be more alarming still.

I have a number of friends who used Megaupload to store legitimate, unpirated material. I have never witnessed the shutting down of a road network because a number of vehicles were speeding.

Strange that I am asked to accept just that, in digital terms, on an international level, on the simple say-so of the US of A.


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## v12dock (Jan 21, 2012)

When I got to send files across the globe I use FTP server


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## Jetster (Jan 21, 2012)

poopface said:


> anyone who was paying attention in grade school knows this has nothing to do with free speech or censorship of the internet. the fbi mounted evidence against megaupload and a judge gave them the permission to arrest and raid/seize the domain. seriously, you kiddies are defending slugs who profited off of other people's work. you can be for free speech and intellectual property. pretty sad you kids.



Alleged Slugs


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## LAN_deRf_HA (Jan 21, 2012)

It doesn't have to be perfectly targeted. All it has to do is make a big enough dent in the quarterly profits to convince those at the top that we have power. Being all "this won't work hurgblarr" is exactly why these things never work. Nobody tries because they assume failure. Don't assume failure. Come up with an impassioned plea or steal someone else's and post about March wherever you can think of. Urge others to do the same. For all the bitching we do about the various problems in government nothing ever happens because we have no collective focus, no cohesion. Just try focusing this one damn time and lets see what happens.


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## NdMk2o1o (Jan 21, 2012)

HammerON said:


> So you and your company used MegaUpload's services?
> 
> Edit: Sorry for the above comment, however I understand the importance of being able to use a file sharing service. One would expect that an individual or company would do their research and make sure the file sharing company they were dealing with wasn't one that was dealing in bad practices.



And how do you do that? they remove content when it's reported same as YouTube


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## qubit (Jan 21, 2012)

erocker said:


> Yes, that is what you are getting. TPU, as far as I know has no official position on it, though they do allow qubit to make these posts, so I guess I really don't know. Aside from that, I completely agree with your points. It seems like some people really like to react before thinking it through.



I haven't heard anything officially either. However, it's likely not too different to mine, as TPU and every other forum would be firmly in the crosshairs of any SOPA style legislation. Anyway, I'm not the only one reporting ths stuff, there's bta's report on SOPA just before mine, for example.

Anyway, I don't see why you're unhappy about how I reported this. I reported it in a neutral manner (with a fair dollop of ironic humour about people who don't make backups ) and just added my take at the end. It looks like some people want the lobotomized BBC style bland reporting, while others prefer mine. Sorry peeps, can't please everyone with such diametrically opposed viewpoints.

Also, you didn't get just a couple of paragraphs, but instead you got a well-written, detailed article with lots of further reading at the end. That's good value for the reader my friend.


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## dirtyferret (Jan 21, 2012)

stick all these anonymous & pirate a-hole kids in jail.  at least they won't be virgins anymore


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## _JP_ (Jan 21, 2012)

dirtyferret said:


> stick all these anonymous & pirate a-hole kids in jail. at least they won't be virgins anymore


There we go, a completely reasonable argument.


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## Crx15 (Jan 21, 2012)

The more i think about it , the more i realize im just against it . 

Now to state. I was fully against sopa/pipa . I was proudly part of many advocate groups and protesters marching outside Montpelier Vermont against Senators Leahy's bill . 

The point of my protesting was not so that i could "protest against the government taking away from my illegal downloads", it was because I felt they where over reaching on our freedom of speech . 
Most people are like me in the fact that where not opposed to some kind of intervention which helps tackle piracy in general . It would be silly to argue there's no problem and needs some kind of way to police it .This week proved we do already have the proper laws in place and we need no more laws to tackle this issue . 

OK, so why am i against "black March" 
 You're doing *EXACTLY*  what the u.s government just did ! You're tacking on the entire industry regardless on there stance of megaupload ,sopa/pipa , YOU'RE PUNISHING THE LEGAL DOWNLOADER'S AS WELL AS THE ILLEGAL ONES ...  You're shitting in the face of all the people who where just a week ago supporter's for "freedom of speech and expression on the internet" and saying YOUR NOW THE PROBLEM !!  this makes no sense to me to punish the entire industry when its not the collective whole who's the problem .

It doesn't take much time to figure out who the problem is and  who's  not . By making such a broad statement it will have a negative impact on the true cause at hand . People will start  waivering to the other side because it will seem as those its more about "illegal download's" then censorship .
I would be all for a boycott of certain industry's and companies , etc... And i truly think the impact would be felt harder if it was more targeted boycotting then such a broad blanket  of the entertainment industry .  Think  bank of america as a good example of   targeted protest that grew awareness to the cause.

A bit of a rant , and im sure will be torn apart , however like i said , im not opposed to a boycott but this in its current state i can't see the mass appeal much less myself getting around it . Feel free to inlighten me im certainly looking for a reason to see why this would do more  good then bad .


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## erocker (Jan 21, 2012)

qubit said:


> I haven't heard anything officially either. However, it's likely not too different to mine, as TPU and every other forum would be firmly in the crosshairs of any SOPA style legislation. Anyway, I'm not the only one reporting ths stuff, there's bta's report on SOPA just before mine, for example.
> 
> Anyway, I don't see why you're unhappy about how I reported this. I reported it in a neutral manner (with a fair dollop of ironic humour about people who don't make backups ) and just added my take at the end. It looks like some people want the lobotomized BBC style bland reporting, while others prefer mine. Sorry peeps, can't please everyone with such diametrically opposed viewpoints.
> 
> Also, you didn't get just a couple of paragraphs, but instead you got a well-written, detailed article with lots of further reading at the end. That's good value for the reader my friend.



Never said I was unhappy about it. I'd rather have good reporting than lousy opinion filled reporting, yes. But this has nothing to do with the topic at hand so I have no idea what you're going on about. Don't really care either way.


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## Deleted member 24505 (Jan 21, 2012)

Read the comments on Reddit, they were retards running it, it was inevitable they would be caught. If you are going to run a site like that, at least try and make it seem legit instead of sending emails that are interceptible stating the fact that you are doing illegal things. Idiots derserved it.


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## dirtyferret (Jan 21, 2012)

_JP_ said:


> There we go, a completely reasonable argument.



thank you, see how much better life would be with reason. 

I don't see how anyone would defend people who steal copyright material unless they themselves do it.  All the excuses I hear are complete BS.  
_
All I am hurting is a big company_ - no you are hurting the employees who end up getting layed-off or get no bonus checks.  The big company still makes their money and cuts cost (labor being their highest cost) to reach their objectives.  If you really want to hurt a big-company, go rob their executives.  At least that takes balls (rather then hiding behind a computer monitor) and it will give you some prison cred when you go the big house.
_
it costs too much to buy games_ - it's called supply and demand.  yes $60 games are outrageous but gamers are getting older and most have jobs so they can afford it.  wait for STEAM sales or join gamefly.  start a petition to stop purchasing $60 games....or leave mom's basement and flip some burgers. 

_there is no demo_ - actually music is demoed everyday on the radio and all DD providers have 10 second clips so there is no excuse there.  Movies and software all get reviewed by professionals and fan boys.  games get pirated based on popularity not lack of a demo.  Every study has proven that, demos do not increase or decrease pirating of game.  No one pirates a game that sucks even though it has no demo.  Popular games with demos get pirated all the time.  That excuses is flat out laughable not to mention every game gets reviewed at launch.


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## qubit (Jan 21, 2012)

erocker said:


> Never said I was unhappy about it. I'd rather have good reporting than lousy opinion filled reporting, yes. But this has nothing to do with the topic at hand so I have no idea what you're going on about. Don't really care either way.



So you think my reporting is lousy and opinion filled? Really? Ok, whatever.

I was responding to what you said, which responded to HossHuge's post about reporting style, so I don't see how it's irrelevent? If anyone took things off topic it's him and yourself about how I report the news and TPU's official position on this kind of topic (Black March, SOPA etc).


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## entropy13 (Jan 21, 2012)

tigger said:


> Read the comments on Reddit, they were retards running it, it was inevitable they would be caught. If you are going to run a site like that, at least try and make it seem legit instead of sending emails that are interceptible stating the fact that you are doing illegal things. Idiots derserved it.



They weren't "interceptible" emails, they were copies of the emails a Megaupload employee have and were shown to "authorities" in exchange for immunity. Or possible was threatened/blackmailed to give them those copies. We still don't know.


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## qubit (Jan 21, 2012)

entropy13 said:


> They weren't "interceptible" emails, they were copies of the emails a Megaupload employee have and were shown to "authorities" in exchange for immunity. Or possible was threatened/blackmailed to give them those copies. We still don't know.



Well, if you read TorrentFreak's summary of the indictment, they say that it refers to "an unindicted co-conspirator", which means just what you're thinking of. However, note that the indictment doesn't identify this person or the context, leaving us all guessing. Nice.

In fact, if you read that TorrentFreak summary, you'll see how that indictment states a lot of things without stating the all-important context. Bit iffy if you ask me, but then that's hardly surprising with all this copyright BS is it?


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## erocker (Jan 21, 2012)

qubit said:


> So you think my reporting is lousy and opinion filled? Really? Ok, whatever.



I never said that. Please stop being so defensive, you have no reason to be.


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## dirtyferret (Jan 21, 2012)

a really good article on why megaload was taken down
http://torrentfreak.com/megaupload-what-made-it-a-rogue-site-worthy-of-destruction-120120/

and my favorite part
_
In June 2010, it appears that MegaUpload was subjected to a something of a test by the authorities. The company was informed, pursuant to a criminal search warrant from the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, that thirty-nine infringing movies were being stored on their servers at Carpathia Hosting in the Eastern District of Virginia.

“A member of the Mega Conspiracy informed several of his co-conspirators at that time that he located the named files using internal searches of their systems. As of November 18, 2011, more than a year later, thirty-six of the thirty-nine infringing motion pictures were still being stored on the servers controlled by the Mega Conspiracy,” the indictment reads._


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## qubit (Jan 21, 2012)

erocker said:


> I never said that. Please stop being so defensive, you have no reason to be.



Ok, thankyou very much.  I think we just have epic misunderstandings one way or another  and I'm happy to be put right.


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## Deleted member 24505 (Jan 21, 2012)

Whatever, i think they deserved it, I hope they like their new friend Bubba in whatever shithole jail the Americans chuck them into.

Also, it seems to me this is just going to create more traffic for the other file hosting sites that are left, they will not be unhappy at MU's demise you can be sure of that.


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## 1freedude (Jan 21, 2012)

I haven't looked at the rest of the Internet about this situation,  but isn't the feds shutting down the site just like shutting down a bank because a drug dealer has money there?   I used megaupload... for roms for my phone.   I use the bank....to get my paycheck to pay my phone bill.

This Red March will be easy for me.   Getting others along will take some work.


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## Steven B (Jan 21, 2012)

I honestly would only boycott everything but those games.

The indictment, if many of you actually know what one is, is passed down after a secret grand jury is presented evidence. There are rules and regulations that holds the grand jury meeting, and they are almost always used for high profile cases. Evidence is given to the grand jury and this grand jury has the power to ask for testimony as well as see documents. So the purpose of the grand jury is to conduct its own investigations into matters. So if torrent freak is wondering how they got the emails, the grand jury has the power do that type of stuff, on top of that their proceeding are secret, and  member who even talks about anything that went on in the grand jury at minimum faces something like 5 years in jail. On top of that the grand jury are all citizens, and well you can't really call them the feds, they are supposedly average citizens and they usually are selected by random. If they think a crime has been committed they pass down an indictment, which really means we think you are guilty and you are going to stand trail for it. 

I read that torrent Freak article, it seems like they really did go through the indictment, we will see what happens, but i can say i went to download something from megaupload many times it it said it was gone b/c of copywrite.


----------



## Hayder_Master (Jan 21, 2012)

Megaupload & mediaFire & Zshare they are my best, fu*k law if those sites close it will be good news for me, i will think made a site for me and wanna put me in jail, thanks i am already in.


----------



## Platibus (Jan 21, 2012)

tigger said:


> Whatever, i think they deserved it, I hope they like their new friend Bubba in whatever shithole jail the Americans chuck them into.



LOL yeah, let them rot in hell for depriving a few million dollars from multimillionaire compaines whose truly talented employees recieve a minimum part of their work's profits, while the executives bathe in money. The guys in charge of Megaupload are just as bad as murderers and rapists, they're clearly damaging in a grave manner the lives of these "hard-working" people! .


----------



## GSquadron (Jan 21, 2012)

Do as they the 1st march says and than all things will get worse
They wont use only internet censor, they will hit other things


----------



## danigold (Jan 21, 2012)

Excellent article.
For my part, I will not consume anything that has to do with audiovisual content, on March and as long as I can. I will only consume articles, news, opinions, from webs like this.
Proposal is a non-violent, and certainly effective. I'm sure this is the way.
Is a good way to f**k these bas**rds, and educate ourself to don't be consumerists, and enjoy other things that don't cost money.
Regards.


----------



## RoutedScripter (Jan 21, 2012)

*Only one question*

Why not buy games ?


There should be a list which games to avoid, specifically targeting those from the origin as we speak.


----------



## LAN_deRf_HA (Jan 22, 2012)

While specifically targeting only the most blatant offenders is how it would be ideally done the nature of the human mind makes that hopelessly ineffective. We have the phrase "KISS" for a reason.


----------



## johnspack (Jan 22, 2012)

Refuse any media.  Join the boycott.  I've already started... why wait?


----------



## FordGT90Concept (Jan 22, 2012)

The evidence they provided in their indictment looks pretty damning but I do see many avenues the defense could effectively take.  It'll be interesting how the trial ends, especially if it ends in Dotcom's favor.


----------



## dirtyferret (Jan 22, 2012)

Platibus said:


> LOL yeah, let them rot in hell for depriving a few million dollars from multimillionaire compaines whose truly talented employees recieve a minimum part of their work's profits, while the executives bathe in money. The guys in charge of Megaupload are just as bad as murderers and rapists, they're clearly damaging in a grave manner the lives of these "hard-working" people!



they are not depriving the company from that money, they are depriving all the people who work for those companies of money.  they are just as guilty as people who break into your house and steal all your stuff.  Those people belong in prison as do these megaupload sum bags and anyone else who pirates copyrighted material.


----------



## dude12564 (Jan 22, 2012)

johnspack said:


> Refuse any media.  Join the boycott.  I've already started... why wait?




Same here. :]

I like your sig ("Refuse any media. Join the boycott.")

I'll try to link it to this article in my sig


----------



## johnspack (Jan 22, 2012)

Then those people need to go and work for companies that produce quality material,  instead of the garbage being fed to us.  I don't feel sorry for them.   Most media companies are crooked,  and everyone knows it.  What a crock.


----------



## Easy Rhino (Jan 22, 2012)

If u r going to use a service offered by someone you better know what kind of business model they run. Dotcom was already busted for insider trading. Now had u paid for the service then u can sue for damages if u lost stuff. Anyone who defends these owners has clearly not been paying attention.


----------



## johnspack (Jan 22, 2012)

The most amazing part..  all the money spent on sopa legislation ect,  and the major media companies about this,  probably would have fed every hungry child in north american for the next year or more.  amazing.  this is more important?


----------



## STCNE (Jan 22, 2012)

We should still be supporting indie artists, I know for a fact that a lot of the bands I listen to can't survive on their music alone and they self publish their works. The media blackout should only be for the big record labels/hollywood made content.


----------



## erocker (Jan 22, 2012)

The insulting comments that I had to clean up will end now. If anyone continues to display this kind of childish behavior will have their posting privlidges revoked.

Thank you.


----------



## w3b (Jan 22, 2012)

*Collateral Damage is a fair compromise.*



STCNE said:


> We should still be supporting indie artists, I know for a fact that a lot of the bands I listen to can't survive on their music alone and they self publish their works. The media blackout should only be for the big record labels/hollywood made content.



As stated by another poster earlier in the thread, any sort of boycott against media publishers will have some collateral damage. However, I think a little harm to them in the short term for the greater benefit of society at large globally (given how US law trickles down to other countries) for the long term is a reasonable and fair compromise.

As such; I'm taking part in this boycott (not that I haven't been for the last 3 years thanks to 2nd hand sales of items).


----------



## qubit (Jan 22, 2012)

STCNE said:


> We should still be supporting indie artists, I know for a fact that a lot of the bands I listen to can't survive on their music alone and they self publish their works. The media blackout should only be for the big record labels/hollywood made content.



You're probably right about targeting it. However, getting people to know exactly what to boycott and what not to is another matter. Especially if there's gonna be some sort of public list maintained, I can imagine how any website that does so is gonna be a target for ruthless and uncompromising censorship, the law be damned. Hence, the best option to me seems to be to just stop buying everything for one month.


----------



## pr0n Inspector (Jan 22, 2012)

If you ask me, the biggest reason that MU is the only one targeted: its owner is a convicted douche.


----------



## Frizz (Jan 22, 2012)

pr0n Inspector said:


> If you ask me, the biggest reason that MU is the only one targeted: its owner is a convicted douche.



Yeah apparently they looked like money laundering kingpins because of how they spent their money. It was also said that they were the least smartest company compared to the other file-sharing sites despite MU being one of the richest. Why? No idea but I do have a few personal assumptions one being their use of megavideo for streaming copyrighted content from their users.


----------



## Deleted member 24505 (Jan 22, 2012)

Platibus said:


> LOL yeah, let them rot in hell for depriving a few million dollars from multimillionaire compaines whose truly talented employees recieve a minimum part of their work's profits, while the executives bathe in money. The guys in charge of Megaupload are just as bad as murderers and rapists, they're clearly damaging in a grave manner the lives of these "hard-working" people! .



The people running MU were bathing in money, have you seen dotcom's house, did you see all the expensive cars they confiscated. They were obviously making lots of money by committing obviously illegal activity, they got caught, what is the problem. Anyone who defends them is probably a pirate who used MU for the purpose that they were closed down for. 

Its just bad luck for all you guys that had legit files stored on it, but there is no point crying about it now, MU is gone and the idiots running it got what they deserved.


----------



## digibucc (Jan 22, 2012)

tigger said:


> Anyone who defends them is probably a pirate who used MU for the purpose that they were closed down for.
> 
> Its just bad luck for all you guys that had legit files stored on it,



i don't care about MU, but how is this logical to you?


----------



## Deleted member 24505 (Jan 22, 2012)

digibucc said:


> i don't care about MU, but how is this logical to you?



Why Defend them, they were obviously making money by hosting/sharing pirated content. Anyone who defends them must think it is ok to share/distribute pirated material. They were not just some innocent file hosting company, that much is clear.

Also its pretty clear, it is a shame for anyone who had legit files stored there.


----------



## digibucc (Jan 22, 2012)

yeah sorry i read "defend them" and thought more ... "get upset about this" for some reason. reading fail. people who had legitimate files have a right to be upset but not defend the company's illegal practices. i agree. my bad...


----------



## WhiteLotus (Jan 22, 2012)

Poor article, and this "Black March" wont last two seconds.


----------



## 1nf3rn0x (Jan 22, 2012)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N2WqU-HvyUI&feature=g-logo&context=G237219cFOAAAAAAAYAA

!!


----------



## Deleted member 24505 (Jan 22, 2012)

digibucc said:


> yeah sorry i read "defend them" and thought more ... "get upset about this" for some reason. reading fail. people who had legitimate files have a right to be upset but not defend the company's illegal practices. i agree. my bad...



No problem and no offense taken at all


----------



## GSquadron (Jan 22, 2012)

I just got a news that tomorrow will not work google and facebook


----------



## qubit (Jan 22, 2012)

WhiteLotus said:


> Poor article



In your _very_ humble opinion of course.  I'd like to see you top it.  Now quit trolling.


----------



## WhiteLotus (Jan 22, 2012)

qubit said:


> In your _very_ humble opinion of course.  I'd like to see you top it.  Now quit trolling.



You fail to realise that even google itself is exactly the same as MegaUpload. You fail to realise that there was HUGE volumes of illegal material on MegaUpload, from childporn to who knows what.

You are so obsessed with sticking two fingers up to the government that you have no clue as to what this means. You think that because company "X" makes lots of money then they are somehow screwing the rest of us over. You fail to realise that it was you that helped them get that big in the first place, and are now throwing your rattle out of the pram because you can't get what you want.

Whilst I don't agree with SOPA etc, I do agree that something needs to be done to curb the blatant theft of property through an electronic method. If this was a raid on a DVD store and all the DVDs were stolen what would your opinion be? "Lock up the theives" or "Support the theives, go rob a DVD store"

Since you seem to be the only one on TPU that writes any opinion based news on the topic concerning piracy, and your views heavily sway to supporting piracy, then it reflects badly on TPU and quite frankly, I am of the opinion that appointing you as a news caster was a big mistake. 
No moderator, staff member, or news editor should promote or condemn anything. It is not their job to do so.


----------



## Tatty_One (Jan 22, 2012)

Please refrain from specific comments about news reporting styles, news material and personal feelings about individual news contributors, feel free to comment on specifics to THIS report posted, all non specific feedback to this item should be posted here.....

http://www.techpowerup.com/forums/showthread.php?t=69318


----------



## Platibus (Jan 22, 2012)

tigger said:


> The people running MU were bathing in money, have you seen dotcom's house, did you see all the expensive cars they confiscated. They were obviously making lots of money by committing obviously illegal activity, they got caught, what is the problem.


Yeah, I just read about that. Perhaps the claims of money laundring are true. In that case, I'll be glad to see these guys behind bars for a long time, organized crime is something I despise beyond words.


----------



## HammerON (Jan 22, 2012)

A little off topic, but according to [H] he was the number one multiplayer in MW:3:
http://www.hardocp.com/news/2012/01/22/kim_dotcom_1_on_fbi_pirate_list_modern_warfare_player


----------



## Easy Rhino (Jan 23, 2012)

Surprise surprise. This guy used legit file sharing as a front for his illegal activities. I bet a lot of people right here on TPU even contributed in a way to his ill gotten gains. People came to his defense so quickly without questioning. Pretty sad state if you ask me. I am glad megauplad  is shutdown and if you boycott buying things in March over this then you need to go outside and read a book for once because your brain ain't working right.


----------



## entropy13 (Jan 23, 2012)

Filesonic is shuttered as well. 

http://www.zdnet.com/blog/btl/filesonic-shutters-another-file-sharing-site-bites-the-dust/67670


Summary:
MegaUpload
Closed.

FileServe
Deleting multiple files. Closed affiliate program.

FileJungle
(Owned by FileServe) Deleting multiple files. Testing out blocking some USA IP addresses.

UploadStation
(Owned by FileServe) Deleting multiple files. Testing out blocking some USA IP addresses.

FileSonic
Sharing disabled. Closed affiliate program. Deleting files and accounts.

VideoBB
Closed affiliate program.

Uploaded.to
Banned USA IP addresses.

FilePost
Started suspending accounts with infringing material (doing what Hotfile did)

VideoZer
Closed affiliate program.

4shared
Deleting multiple files.


----------



## xenocide (Jan 23, 2012)

HammerON said:


> A little off topic, but according to [H] he was the number one multiplayer in MW:3:
> http://www.hardocp.com/news/2012/01/22/kim_dotcom_1_on_fbi_pirate_list_modern_warfare_player



A long time ago he apparently was a "top" Quake 2 player.  I guess he was an admin in a league he ran, and used to ban people that beat him.  Not sure if that's 100% true, but I read it on a couple Gaming\Tech-Oriented sites.

The guy was an asshole, and was probably doing tons of illegal shit.  He was leasing his house because the NZ Gov't wouldn't let him buy the land for failing his "morals" or "good character" test that they make all land purchasers take.  His charges range from Rackateering to Insider Trading.  Piracy wasn't the only motive, it's just the only one people cared about.


----------



## entropy13 (Jan 23, 2012)

> This is why megaupload was really shut down.
> 
> Quoting a user on torrentfreak
> 
> ...



"Megaupload INADVERTENTLY caused this by offering artists 90% of their earnings through the use of Megabox.com."


----------



## Drone (Jan 23, 2012)

Filehosting will be dead soon. I bet they would love to kill filesharing too. So all media and information will go through their hands.


----------



## erocker (Jan 23, 2012)

entropy13 said:


> "Megaupload INADVERTENTLY caused this by offering artists 90% of their earnings through the use of Megabox.com."


Is there any kind of concrete information with the Megabox thing? Links, sources, etc...


----------



## Solaris17 (Jan 23, 2012)

I am not any kind of happy with mega upload being down. I for one hosted legitimate files on that site. I really havent lost anything but instead its more of a hassle since some of my link sI need to go re change. The issue I have with this is that I already know this will play out for all other file sharing sites. Thats just how it works. All the FBI needs to do is run to the same judge and cry oh noes debbie does dallas is on the following sites


fileserver
mediafire
filedropper
rapidshare
fileden
filefactory
sendspace
wupload
zshare

now you can cry conspiracy nut all you want if you disagree. l but who is going to stop them? Seriously? I have a problem with how easy it is becomming to do this. I find it a problem because they dont seem to care about collatiral damage. they will take down everything as long as


Big companies make money(universal, sony, THX, lucas arts, some rapper)

average people get to play pillow fight with another inmate for a place to sleep.

Its rediculous. who seriously downloads GB movies off of file servers anyway? Shit takes forever for installers anyway. I wanted to blow my brains out getting a hak pack for nwn that weighs almost 400mb if i saw you getting an 8GB BD rip id smack you in the face.


----------



## Deleted member 24505 (Jan 23, 2012)

I would be interested to know the percentage of files hosted that are actually illegal, though i doubt it will ever be known.


----------



## entropy13 (Jan 23, 2012)

erocker said:


> Is there any kind of concrete information with the Megabox thing? Links, sources, etc...



http://torrentfreak.com/from-rogue-to-vogue-megaupload-and-kim-dotcom-111218/


> You would expect that a label representing an artist knows how that artist sounds, no? I think what really happened is that UMG realized how powerful our message was, how potent it would become, and how positively it would affect Mega’s image. From rogue to vogue. They decided to stop us at all costs, that becomes clear when you see the defense strategy of UMG in court. They have nothing and they don’t even care.
> 
> UMG knows that we are going to compete with them via our own music venture called Megabox.com, a site that will soon allow artists to sell their creations direct to consumers and allowing artists to keep 90% of earnings.
> 
> We have a solution called the Megakey that will allow artists to earn income from users who download music for free. Yes that’s right, we will pay artists even for free downloads. The Megakey business model has been tested with over a million users and it works. You can expect several Megabox announcements next year including exclusive deals with artists who are eager to depart from outdated business models.



http://torrentfreak.com/megaupload-swizz-beatz-120120/


> Beatz’s appointment connected MegaUpload to many of the biggest musicians in the business. This could have come in handy as MegaUpload founder Kim Dotcom was working on a plan to crush the major “dinosaur” labels, who he says are not giving musicians what they deserve.
> 
> Mega’s competing music venture is/was called Megabox, a site that would soon allow artists to sell their creations directly to consumers. And unlike the traditional record deals where artists get only a fraction of the revenue, with Megabox the musicians would get to keep 90% of earnings.
> 
> Needless to say, the raids and arrests today delayed this plan.





http://www.billboard.biz/bbbiz/indu...unches-megabox-online-locker-1005730552.story
http://www.prefixmag.com/news/megaupload-launches-music-service-megabox/60024/
http://www.digitalmusicnews.com/permalink/2011/111221airvinyl


----------



## m1dg3t (Jan 23, 2012)

I hate censorship, greedy capitalist pig's. What's a few file's between friend's? We still pay for 99% of it


----------



## pr0n Inspector (Jan 23, 2012)

Solaris17 said:


> I am not any kind of happy with mega upload being down. I for one hosted legitimate files on that site. I really havent lost anything but instead its more of a hassle since some of my link sI need to go re change. The issue I have with this is that I already know this will play out for all other file sharing sites. Thats just how it works. All the FBI needs to do is run to the same judge and cry oh noes debbie does dallas is on the following sites
> 
> 
> fileserver
> ...




That is exactly how theses sites make money. Try to make you pay for premium account. And yes, MANY people use these sites to upload and download huge HDrip movies and games. Pirate sites are littered with hundreds of links and there are even automatic downloaders out there. I'd wager that most of the paying users are pirates. Like Usenet.


----------



## xenocide (Jan 23, 2012)

That Megabox idea sounds exactly like the solution to Piracy woes from an artists perspective--too bad artists aren't the ones hunting down Pirates, it's the stupid record labels...


----------



## entropy13 (Jan 23, 2012)

Judge Delays Megaupload Bail Decision, More Site Operators Arrested



> In a New Zealand court today, a judge delayed the decision to grant or deny bail to Kim Dotcom, the larger than life founder of Megaupload.com. The prosecutor said that since multi-millionaire Dotcom had multiple identities, four dozen credit cards and a history of “fleeing criminal charges” he represented a flight risk “on the extreme end of the scale”. In the meantime, two other site operators were arrested in Europe.
> 
> Last Friday, the founder of MegaUpload, Kim Dotcom, was denied bail in an extradition hearing in New Zealand.
> 
> ...





> On the other side of the world, two other Megaupload operatives have been arrested in Europe. Although currently unnamed, they are believed to be Julius Bencko, 35, Mega’s graphics designer from Slovakia and Andrus Nomm, 32, programmer and head of the development from Estonia.



Even the graphics designer has been arrested!



> In the meantime, an immigration scandal is forming around Dotcom’s New Zealand residency. This week authorities there confirmed that it had taken Dotcom’s colorful past into consideration before giving him permanent residency in 2010 – but only after he’d invested NZ$10 million in government bonds.



Opps NZ government.


----------



## Drone (Jan 23, 2012)

*Petition Seeks Probe of MPAA 'Bribery' Over SOPA*



> A petition to investigate alleged bribery of politicians by the Motion Picture Association of America was created Saturday at the activist website "We the People" by a Texas man.



....



> *"A so-called 'blackout' is yet another gimmick, albeit a dangerous one, designed to punish elected and administration officials who are working diligently to protect American jobs from foreign criminals," he added.*


 So said Chris Dodd, MPAA CEO







http://www.pcworld.com/article/248552/petition_seeks_probe_of_mpaa_bribery_over_sopa.html#tk.hp_new



> He accused the technology companies behind the protest of "resorting to stunts that punish their users or turn them into their corporate pawns." He declared that the protest "is an irresponsible response and a disservice to people who rely on them for information and use their services. It is also an abuse of power given the freedoms these companies enjoy in the marketplace today."


----------



## Easy Rhino (Jan 23, 2012)

Back in my day, if we wanted to transport unlicensed music to our friends we used FTPS. Setting up an FTP server takes all of 5 minutes and you have complete control over who has access. Why anyone thought putting their warez into an online service was a good idea is beyond me.


----------



## qubit (Jan 23, 2012)

Easy Rhino said:


> Why anyone thought putting their warez into an online service was a good idea is beyond me.



Duh! +1


----------



## pr0n Inspector (Jan 23, 2012)

Easy Rhino said:


> Back in my day, if we wanted to transport unlicensed music to our friends we used FTPS. Setting up an FTP server takes all of 5 minutes and you have complete control over who has access. Why anyone thought putting their warez into an online service was a good idea is beyond me.



1. Not everyone has or want to maintain a server.
2. Some people make money on file sharing sites. That's right,  you can actually earn money or at least points (which can be used to buy premium codes) by sharing files. In this case every download counts.
3. Usenet binary groups. It's where most wares came from and it's also a bunch of servers that you have no control over.


----------



## Easy Rhino (Jan 23, 2012)

pr0n Inspector said:


> 1. Not everyone has or want to maintain a server.
> 2. Some people make money on file sharing sites. That's right,  you can actually earn money or at least points (which can be used to buy premium codes) by sharing files. In this case every download counts.
> 3. Usenet binary groups. It's where most wares came from and it's also a bunch of servers that you have no control over.



1. It is easy.
2. Make money of legal file sharing is fine. How many of those people are out there. 
3. I use Usenet for DOWNLOADING not for sharing. FTPS is excellent for sharing.


----------



## Solaris17 (Jan 23, 2012)

Easy Rhino said:


> 1. It is easy.
> 2. Make money of legal file sharing is fine. How many of those people are out there.
> 3. I use Usenet for DOWNLOADING not for sharing. FTPS is excellent for sharing.



so you were in high school using FTP servers with all your friends? or school in general? I call BS Thats would be like no bro dont hand me that floppy i dont want to get busted by the feds. instead lets all go home and ill set up a VPN because were 17 and totally think like that.

As for usenet and news groups in general I dont condone that. It makes 0 sense when trying to argue mega upload. people that use usenet and other groups for "downloading" wether it be for a corporation or a web site is still stealing. You wouldnt be downloading it if you already owned the software right?


----------



## Easy Rhino (Jan 23, 2012)

Solaris17 said:


> so you were in high school using FTP servers with all your friends? or school in general? I call BS Thats would be like no bro dont hand me that floppy i dont want to get busted by the feds. instead lets all go home and ill set up a VPN because were 17 and totally think like that.
> 
> As for usenet and news groups in general I dont condone that. It makes 0 sense when trying to argue mega upload. people that use usenet and other groups for "downloading" wether it be for a corporation or a web site is still stealing. You wouldnt be downloading it if you already owned the software right?



Hate to sound old or elitist but we did things differently 15 years ago because we had to. Bootlegging was underground and sharing music and games was tough when most still had 56k connections. Ftps was the most secur and most reliable way of sharing before xdcc bots came on the scene.

I'm not saying that piracy is fine if you only download, I am just saying that if you are going to do it don't put it up using an online service and expect it to be around when the Feds bust the service. I hope people ditch online services and go underground. The scene was far better controlled then.


----------



## Drone (Jan 25, 2012)

Drone said:


> http://www.pcworld.com/article/248552/petition_seeks_probe_of_mpaa_bribery_over_sopa.html#tk.hp_new



http://venturebeat.com/2012/01/24/wales-versus-dodd/

*Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales: MPAA chairman Christopher Dodd should be fired*

Lol !


----------



## johnspack (Jan 26, 2012)

There is nothing of value to download,  or purchase.  Starve the media.  Make them work for our dollars.  Refuse all Media.  Join the Boycott!


----------



## erocker (Jan 26, 2012)

Solaris17 said:


> so you were in high school using FTP servers with all your friends?



We weren't using FTP servers but we were using some pretty bad drugs, hanging out in the park, going to punk shows.. It was way better than doing anything on the internet. CD-R's didn't really come to be yet so we were just dubbing tapes. Nobody cared.


----------



## qubit (Jan 26, 2012)

erocker said:


> We weren't using FTP servers but we were using some pretty bad drugs, hanging out in the park, going to punk shows.. It was way better than doing anything on the internet. CD-R's didn't really come to be yet so we were just dubbing tapes. Nobody cared.



tsk erocker, you were a bad boy.


----------



## erocker (Jan 26, 2012)

qubit said:


> tsk erocker, you were a bad boy.



Yes I was. I didn't steal from others though.


----------



## qubit (Feb 22, 2012)

Just bumping this thread as a reminder of this boycott.

Wear the avatar and boycott Big Media in March!


----------



## erocker (Feb 22, 2012)

I certainly will not.


----------



## qubit (Feb 22, 2012)

erocker said:


> I certainly will not.



I perfectly respect that. 

And I expect everyone else to respect others' right to boycott or not to boycott.


----------



## Goodman (Feb 22, 2012)

I wonder how long it will take them to come after individual after they "finish" taking down P2P sites?

Don't care much of what the US does in it own country but when they go put their noses in other country that is when it's going to far & they wonder after that why some country hate them , don't they ever learned?


----------



## alexsubri (Feb 22, 2012)

I wonder what right does USSA have to go to another country and shut them down? How would we like it if China shut down our ISPs/.com's?


----------



## Oxford (Feb 23, 2012)

Two lessons from the Megaupload seizure



			
				Greenwald said:
			
		

> SOPA opponents were confused and even shocked when they learned that the very power they feared the most in that bill — the power of the U.S. Government to seize and shut down websites based solely on accusations, with no trial — is a power the U.S. Government already possesses and, obviously, is willing and able to exercise even against the world’s largest sites.
> 
> They have this power thanks to the the 2008 PRO-IP Act pushed by the same industry servants in Congress behind SOPA as well as by forfeiture laws used to seize the property of accused-but-not-convicted drug dealers.
> 
> ...





			
				Glenn Greenwald said:
			
		

> It’s behavior like Chris Dodd’s that makes it rational not only to be cynical about our political culture, but outright jaded. What makes Dodd’s shilling for this censorship law so galling is that, during the 2008 presidential campaign, he postured as the candidate who would devote himself first and foremost to defending core Constitutional freedoms and civil liberties.
> 
> Now, a mere three years later, he is peddling his influence in Washington — assembled during his 35 years in Congress — on behalf of a bill that, as several law professors in _The Stanford Law Review_ recently wrote, “not only violates basic principles of due process by depriving persons of property without a fair hearing and a reasonable opportunity to be heard, it also constitutes an unconstitutional abridgment of the freedom of speech protected by the First Amendment” (Constitutional law professor Laurence Tribe has argued the same).
> 
> ...


----------



## Oxford (Feb 25, 2012)

alexsubri said:


> I wonder what right does USSA have to go to another country and shut them down? How would we like it if China shut down our ISPs/.com's?



UK Judge Rules Pirate Bay Guilty of Thoughtcrime


If You Thought SOPA Was Bad, Just Wait Until You Meet ACTA



			
				forbes said:
			
		

> Few people have heard of ACTA, or the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, but the provisions in the agreement appear quite similar to – and more expansive than – anything we saw in SOPA. Worse, the agreement spans virtually all of the countries in the developed world, including all of the EU, the United States, Switzerland and Japan.
> 
> Many of these countries have already signed or ratified it, and the cogs are still turning, with the final real fight playing out in the EU parliament.
> 
> ...





			
				forbes said:
			
		

> • ACTA contains global IP provisions as restrictive or worse than anything contained in SOPA and PIPA.
> 
> • ACTA spans virtually all of the developed world, threatening the freedom of the internet as well as access to medication and food. The threat is every bit as real for those countries not involved in the process as the signatories themselves.
> 
> ...


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## STCNE (Feb 25, 2012)

This boycott is kinda funny, I've been boycotting big media for over a year now. Honestly, if the stuff was any good they wouldn't need SOPA in the first place. They're trying to nuke the indie market and silence reviewers if anything.

 We need to make sure not to boycott artists without RIAA/MPAA accociation, some of the indie guys are struggling enough as it is, a boycott may be the kiss of death for them leaving us with nothing but hollywood's garbage.


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## Oxford (Feb 25, 2012)

According to DailyTech, independent artists are already having their work stolen by the RIAA, because the way they got the law to be written -- an independent has to sue to prove that it's their work.



			
				Jason Mick said:
			
		

> VI. Selective Enforcement -- How Corporate Interest Write Their Own Rules
> 
> Such selective and nonsensical enforcement is common in Washington, D.C. these days.  With over $1.9B USD in 2009 [source] funneled in special interest "lobbying dollars" (bribes) to federal politicians, the mess in Washington D.C. is very reflective of the "do as I say not as I do" nature of the federal government's new rulers -- special interests, including corporations.
> 
> ...


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## johnspack (Feb 25, 2012)

We also should remember that torrents ect can be used for legal purposes.  My fav flight sim is made by 777 Studios,  a very small operation that just barely stays afloat.  They rely on torrents to distribute the sim demo,  to generate more business.  This whole torrent thing is stupid.....


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## Oxford (Feb 25, 2012)

Just embrace monopolistic IP serfdom and you'll feel much better.


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## ViperXTR (Mar 1, 2012)

March 1


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## erocker (Mar 1, 2012)

Funny.. I'm going to see a movie in between my appointments today.


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## brandonwh64 (Mar 1, 2012)

erocker said:


> Funny.. I'm going to see a movie in between my appointments today.



The Vow?


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## erocker (Mar 1, 2012)

Not likely. I won't know until I get there.


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## brandonwh64 (Mar 1, 2012)

erocker said:


> Not likely. I won't know until I get there.



lol I was messing with ya. Act of Valor is suppose to be awesome!


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