I don't think this analogy holds water. Even for a meth lab or a sweatshop you would need a warrant to enter the offenders property and shut it down - a warrant granted via a proceeding which requires proof to a court. (IANAL - I may be off a bit here, but you get the point). In this case, no such proceedings took place.
Oh absolutely - I agree that you need court approval to do that. But I was under the impression that they got an indictment for him and court approval to go after him and his assets? If that's not correct, then I agree it would be / should be out of bounds.
You are correct - there was an indictment, my bad. It still seems "dangerous" to me, inasmuch as user-generated content has also been taken down and digitally disappeared. This is the other part of Greenwald's argument - that some copyright infringement should not necessitate complete takedowns (which is the line the DMCA originally walked but that PRO-IP and SOPA/PIPA are fighting to shift again). Imagine you upload videos of your kids playing to youtube, but then the site gets shutdown and your video is no longer available because some kid uploaded a mastercard commercial. Not only does this seem excessive on a grand scale, it's neutering the best part of the internet - unencumbered and incredibly quick sharing of data. To be truthful, this is what fundamentally sets me opposed to massive corporations "protecting IP" - they have very little interest in the IP protection and a very strong interest in being the sole producers of IP, period. The classic "buggy whip mentality".
I can see this - but I don't think I have any particular right to share my information through YouTube. It's hard to compare a digital to non-digital world, but it's like having a pawn shop that's trafficking in drugs. The feds will shut down the whole pawn shop, which takes away my ability to sell legitimate things there - but ultimately, that's the fault of the pawn shop and I didn't have any sort of inherent right to sell my stuff through there. Similarly, Youtube is great for me as an indvidual. But if they are actively engaging in illegal activity and get shut down (with a legitimate indictment, etc), then I don't think I should have some underlying right to share my content there. My content is still mine - I just have to find a company that is operating legitimately that gives me the ability to distribute it. If there's profit to be made in offering that service, someone will do it. The problem with Megaupload is that they were knowingly and intentionally making their money off of trading in illegal stuff - similar to what Napster was doing. I just have no sympathy for groups like that. If Youtube - which makes a legitimate attempt to distribute content fairly and remove illegal content - were shut down, I see more of a problem. And that's a big problem with SOPA/PIPA because it makes doing that easier - but the current system that was used to take down Megaupload seems pretty reasonable to me.
IF anything the megaupload indictment hurt SOPA more than helped it. It is a glaring example of why you don't need to take away rights to protect content. The current system seems to be working. Do your investigation and convince a grand jury.
Again, there is another side of the coin here - legitimate uses of megaupload have been stopped as well. While Major is correct in that they followed the law, the law is excessive - imagine shutting down verizon's cell phone service because someone is using an illegally obtained ring tone.
Why not use a service that is 100% legal? Mega was so blatant they deserved to get shut down -- particularly when they have server banks all over of the US. If you're going to run a service that illegal you better have all your servers 'offshore'. Any movie or tv show was always available on their service and if you didn't have ad blocks up and a good antivirus you were asking for malware. Good riddance. /SOPA sucks.
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/ybEWPbo-OPQ" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Tried to embed this video, for some reason it didn't show up: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ybEWPbo-OPQ
I would be a fervent supporter of Ron Paul if he wasn't so fossilized in this idea that 'capitalism' has any concern at all for freedom.
If you thought SOPA was bad, ACTA (a treaty negotiated, by and large, in secret) is far worse, and far more global. In fact it's so bad, the EU ACTA chief has resigned, saying: I've written on here about ACTA before, but if you've missed the previous commentary, a cliff notes version (from wikipedia) is quoted below: There is far more information on this disgusting conglomeration of corporate and governmental greed on ye olde internet - or what's left of it anyhow.
An excellent breakdown of ACTA and what you can do. Cute excerpt: Obama has been an absolute disaster for government transparency. Period.
Welcome to the New World Order. George Orwell nailed it, he just had no idea the internet would be the delivery device for Big Brother. Rock on Clutchfans.
Obama admin claims they "cannot" comment. Amusing. So the chief executive cannot comment on possible criminal actions of a former congressman-turned-lobbyist who all but admitted to bribing congressional support with "campaign donations" BUT he can call Bradley Manning guilty without trial and execute perceived terrorists without answering to any law. The world is totally ****ing ridiculous.
Turns out Dodd also held secret meetings with all sorts of Canadian officials prior to the introduction of the "Canadian DMCA". Democracy and capitalism. Quite the combination.
If it was built with fascism, it will operate with fascism. Very little fuss is being made about the fact that these changes are being forced thorugh despite popular resistance. It's a swift reminder of what Huxley said, that in the past leadership was able to exert influence through the use of physical warfare, but now the war has shifted to the mental and the chemical side. rhad, I remember your post about Huxley and Orwell. I actually went on to read every major work any of them have written, watched the movies and the few interviews as well. Thanks again.
