Megaupload shut down by the government.

[Humpy]

MegaUpload via MegaVideo was filled with hundreds if not thousands of pirated TV shows episodes and movies, I should know, since I use to watch them on it. This is a sad day?

MegaVideo is a pirate site? I thought it was just like another Hulu or Youtube. This is a confusing internet.

 

[DCal430]

I really hope they reopen Mega Video and get the content that was on their back up. , A lot of the anime I was catching up on was on their too.

 

[DCal430]

You know some of the shit that is pirated on their isn't even for sale to the public anymore. How the hell is someone suppose to watch it, without pirating since you won't release the DVD or anything. Stupid.

 

[Humpy]

I've watched BBC stuff like Top Gear on MegaVideo. Since the show was originally free over the air and was streaming instead of some kind of download I never really thought about its legality.

 

[DCal430]

I've watched BBC stuff like Top Gear on MegaVideo. Since the show was originally free over the air and was streaming instead of some kind of download I never really thought about its legality.

See in their mind you are a their, and MegaVideo is enabling your thievery.
The show maker thinks you should pay like $2 an episode to watch the show on a site like Amazon, outrageous.

That is what is stupid, a lot of the shows that are being targeted were shown for free on OTA TV. Why don't these big media companies host these shows on their own website, with ads, and people will go there are watch it. If these pirates are making so much money, why aren't you letting us watch it with ads on your site.

I even pay for Hulu Plus, because I don't mind paying something, but don't gouge people for this stuff.

 

[LiuKangBakinPie]

The whole basis of this industry, that today is screaming about losing control over immaterial rights, is that they circumvented immaterial rights.

They copied (or put in their terminology: "stole") other peoples creative works, without paying for it. They did it in order to make a huge profit. Today, they're all successful and most of the studios are on the Fortune 500 list of the richest companies in the world. Congratulations - it's all based on being
able to re-use other peoples creative works. And today they hold the rights to what other people create. If you want to get something released, you have to abide to their rules. The ones they created after circumventing
other peoples rules.

The reason the Industry are always complaining about "pirates" today is simple. They have done what the Industry did. Circumvented the rules the Industry and created their own. They crushed their monopoly by giving people something more efficient.

 

[paperfist]

What's really sicking is how one sided things are becoming.

"costing copyright holders more than $500m (£320m) in lost revenue."

What about all the money the government is costing me?

 

[theevilsharpie]

They copied (or put in their terminology: "stole") other peoples creative works, without paying for it. They did it in order to make a huge profit. Today, they're all successful and most of the studios are on the Fortune 500 list of the richest companies in the world. Congratulations - it's all based on being able to re-use other peoples creative works. And today they hold the rights to what other people create. If you want to get something released, you have to abide to their rules. The ones they created after circumventing other peoples rules.

Err... what?

 

[LiuKangBakinPie]

What's really sicking is how one sided things are becoming.

"costing copyright holders more than $500m (£320m) in lost revenue."

What about all the money the government is costing me?

Err... what?

It cost them nothing. Most of the stuff they use they pirated from generations where patents and copyright laws were close to non existent.

Look how Hollywood became Hollywood and why its in California. Because Thoma Edison had the rights for motion pictures so it was close to impossible financially to create a motion picture in the North American East Coast. So what they did was moved to Cali to avoid the patent rights and started to pirate other peoples work by turning it into movies making billions. Now someone else is playing them at their own game with new rules and they run kicking and screaming in fear of losing control

 

[thecoolnessrune]

Legitimate MP3 sales with no DRM have existed for years now. What more should they do?

What more should they do? Give me lossless of course. Thats the #1 reason I have yet to purchase any online music from those websites. (Only physical media or mostly reclaimed music from hdtracks.com).

I pay what I feel is a decent price for most of my CDs (I've paid considerably more for physical media I thought was worth it, $50 in some cases per CD for imports). For most current music, the $5-8 I spend for lesser known artists to the $15 I spend for most popular artists is fine with me. But I will not spend what is essentially this same price or *more* for inferior MP3s.

When I get the same quality I get from the CD, DVD-A, SA-CD or whatever particular media that it is also available on, then I'll say they are doing enough.

 

[Doppel]

We all know the loss numbers are meaningless about impact of piracy.

Anyway, I am sure youtube is responsible for a ghastly amount of copyright infringement. There is virtually no song a person cannot go to right this second and listen to. Taking it down could have a bigger impact on reducing copyright infringement, but it would also seriously rally everybody into a go to hell response to the government as well.

 

[RampantAndroid]

We all know the loss numbers are meaningless about impact of piracy.

Anyway, I am sure youtube is responsible for a ghastly amount of copyright infringement. There is virtually no song a person cannot go to right this second and listen to. Taking it down could have a bigger impact on reducing copyright infringement, but it would also seriously rally everybody into a go to hell response to the government as well.

Part of me wants to say Anonymous is a bunch of scumbags. Then there's the part of me seeing that they're doing some good, or at least somewhat well meaning.

But hey: If SOPA/PIPA passes, you can go to jail for downloading something from megaupload too! I hope to hell the karma comes back and deals with Lamar Smith.

 

[LiuKangBakinPie]

About 70 police, some armed, raided 10 properties and also arrested the website's chief marketing officer, Finn Batato, 38, chief technical officer and co-founder Mathias Ortmann, 40, both also from Germany, and Dutch national Bram van der Kolk, 29, who is also a New Zealand resident.

New Zealand police seized millions of dollars worth of assets, which included luxury cars such as a Rolls Royce Phantom Drophead Coupe, from the group, dubbed the "Mega Conspiracy" by prosecutors. They also seized more than NZ$10 million ($8 million) from financial institutions.

8mil seized pheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeew

Other material found uploaded included child pornography and terrorism propaganda videos, according to the indictment. The U.S. government's investigation began in March 2010.

 

[alent1234]

Then they should stop complaining. If people are buying, then they're making money. You can't win them all.

you must be pretty young

decades ago the record companies made money by selling you the same music on different formats every few years. LP, 8 track, tape, CD. that all ended with the mp3.

the movie companies caught a break with the vhs to dvd switch over but for 95% of people there is no reason to buy the same movies on blu ray a second time

so they are trying to scam you into paying for a digital copy or like disney, they are selling streaming rights

 

[LiuKangBakinPie]

you must be pretty young

decades ago the record companies made money by selling you the same music on different formats every few years. LP, 8 track, tape, CD. that all ended with the mp3.

the movie companies caught a break with the vhs to dvd switch over but for 95% of people there is no reason to buy the same movies on blu ray a second time

so they are trying to scam you into paying for a digital copy or like disney, they are selling streaming rights

Just look how Disney and others use other peoples work to make movies and money. Good example Fantasia. Pirated work

 

[Bignate603]

Just look how Disney and others use other peoples work to make movies and money. Good example Fantasia. Pirated work

You mean the classical music which was so old it was completely within the public domain?

You can't pirate something that is fully in the public domain. If you wanted to go use it you could, the same as what they did.

 

[lxskllr]

Other material found uploaded included child pornography and terrorism propaganda videos, according to the indictment. The U.S. government's investigation began in March 2010.

Imagine that. Would somebody think of the children??? And terrorists! They're terrorists!!!

They used both boogiemen at one time. They must certainly be proud.

 

[LiuKangBakinPie]

You mean the classical music which was so old it was completely within the public domain?

You can't pirate something that is fully in the public domain. If you wanted to go use it you could, the same as what they did.

There was also no copyright to speak of, so the studios could copy old stories and make movies out of them.

They copied (or put in their terminology: "stole") other peoples creative works,
without paying for it.. What's the difference between that and a place like Piratebay? They make about 200 more money than piratebay.

 

[alent1234]

copyright has been around for hundreds of years in some countries and since the late 1800's in others

the reason copyright came about was because people were using the printing press to illegally copy books others wrote and sell them

 

[ViviTheMage]

Isn't this like blaming a luggage company because someone used their luggage to smuggle drugs?

yes, and from the article, they were really good at responding/removing copy written material.

 

[WelshBloke]

What's really sicking is how one sided things are becoming.

"costing copyright holders more than $500m (£320m) in lost revenue."

What about all the money the government is costing me?

Next time they do that if they dont declare an extra $500 million on their company tax for the following year they should fire the board. I mean after all if the site that was costing them $500m is shut down whats their excuse now

 

[lxskllr]

copyright has been around for hundreds of years in some countries and since the late 1800's in others

the reason copyright came about was because people were using the printing press to illegally copy books others wrote and sell them

Copyright made sense in centuries past. People were given a VERY limited exclusive right to publish to encourage creation of new works. It was never intended on being perpetual, and in fact is against USA law. What ISN'T against the law is extending copyright every time one of the puppetmasters has a work ready to go into public domain. They're getting perpetual copyright on the installment plan...

 

[LiuKangBakinPie]

R.I.P Megaupload

Let us have 72 minutes of silence, followed by a 30 minute waiting period before we can continue our mourning.

 

[Modelworks]

I wonder how long it will take them to go after the other sites that do the same thing. Like it or not people have no right to any of the content they are pirating, the entitlement generation likes to think they have a right to download anything they like if it isn't sold on their terms, but the facts are , it isn't theirs and they have no right to it. My view would be if someone knowingly pirated material and had a clear pattern of doing it, they should be prosecuted to the fullest extent.

 

[Red Storm]

R.I.P Megaupload

Let us have 72 minutes of silence, followed by a 30 minute waiting period before we can continue our mourning.

Premium Members may proceed straight to mourning.