Before I get to the point of this article, just a quick update:
A new indictment was filed in the Eastern District of Virginia against Megaupload, the file-sharing site founded by Kim Dotcom, which was seized by US authorities back in January. Dotcom along with other Megaupload employees were charged with engaging in a racketeering conspiracy, conspiring to commit copyright infringement, conspiring to commit money laundering, and two substantive counts of criminal copyright infringement, and are now waiting to be extradited in the US.
According to a report from the Wall Street Journal, the new charges state that “Megaupload reproduced content from third-party websites, including Google Inc.’s YouTube, with the intent of making it available for reproduction.”
Even before Megaupload was shutdown by the Feds, the web was abuzz with talks about copyright and the bills they wanted to be passed unto laws in order to protect copyrighted materials. Lawmakers came up with the Protect IP Act, a proposed law with the stated goal of giving the U.S. government and copyright holders additional tools to curb access to “rogue websites dedicated to infringing or counterfeit goods,” especially those registered outside the U.S. but it was faced with a lot of controversies regarding digital rights and the methods used to enforce laws and regulations regarding copyrighted content on the web, the Stop Online Piracy Act which was said to be the revamped version of the Protect IP Act, and the “The Online Protection and Enforcement of Digital Trade” or OPEN Act which would enhance ITC’s Section 337 powers to deal with infringing goods, whether physical or virtual, being sold to U.S. consumers from foreign Web sites.
But all of those were met with much antagonism and criticism that during the hearing for SOPA and PIPA, some websites shutdown their operation as a form of protest and even civilians showed their support when they posted articles on Facebook or shared links in other social media regarding the hazards of SOPA and PIPA to their internet life if those bills were passed into laws. Both bills were put on hold.
Still, though the bills weren’t passed into law, that didn’t stop the authorities from shutting down Megaupload which in turn made other file-sharing sites abandon their operation like Btjunkie. In short, the Feds do not need any other law to take down sites which begs the questions, why lobby for SOPA, PIPA and any other bills if the Feds are just going to do what they want? Which sites are safe from investigation or shutdown? Does the Megaupload shutdown mean that other file-sharing sites are safe or they’re standing on thin ice?
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Ian Ferguson - HP Moonshot - theCUBE
Before I get to the point of this article, just a quick update:
A new indictment was filed in the Eastern District of Virginia against Megaupload, the file-sharing site founded by Kim Dotcom, which was seized by US authorities back in January. Dotcom along with other Megaupload employees were charged with engaging in a racketeering conspiracy, conspiring to commit copyright infringement, conspiring to commit money laundering, and two substantive counts of criminal copyright infringement, and are now waiting to be extradited in the US.
According to a report from the Wall Street Journal, the new charges state that “Megaupload reproduced content from third-party websites, including Google Inc.’s YouTube, with the intent of making it available for reproduction.”
Even before Megaupload was shutdown by the Feds, the web was abuzz with talks about copyright and the bills they wanted to be passed unto laws in order to protect copyrighted materials. Lawmakers came up with the Protect IP Act, a proposed law with the stated goal of giving the U.S. government and copyright holders additional tools to curb access to “rogue websites dedicated to infringing or counterfeit goods,” especially those registered outside the U.S. but it was faced with a lot of controversies regarding digital rights and the methods used to enforce laws and regulations regarding copyrighted content on the web, the Stop Online Piracy Act which was said to be the revamped version of the Protect IP Act, and the “The Online Protection and Enforcement of Digital Trade” or OPEN Act which would enhance ITC’s Section 337 powers to deal with infringing goods, whether physical or virtual, being sold to U.S. consumers from foreign Web sites.
But all of those were met with much antagonism and criticism that during the hearing for SOPA and PIPA, some websites shutdown their operation as a form of protest and even civilians showed their support when they posted articles on Facebook or shared links in other social media regarding the hazards of SOPA and PIPA to their internet life if those bills were passed into laws. Both bills were put on hold.
Still, though the bills weren’t passed into law, that didn’t stop the authorities from shutting down Megaupload which in turn made other file-sharing sites abandon their operation like Btjunkie. In short, the Feds do not need any other law to take down sites which begs the questions, why lobby for SOPA, PIPA and any other bills if the Feds are just going to do what they want? Which sites are safe from investigation or shutdown? Does the Megaupload shutdown mean that other file-sharing sites are safe or they’re standing on thin ice?
