Hard News by Russell Brown

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Hard News: The Mega Conspiracy

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  • Sacha, in reply to Craig Ranapia,

    jump the curb

    Peripheral, but I'm struck by how this US usage has replaced the previously common "kerb" in a few published articles in NZ lately. Nothing personal, just a culture shift reflecting that broader dominance of another country's thinking. Much like the IP discourse.

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report

  • Russell Brown,

    Exactly how much the hip hop producer Swizz Beatz was really the CEO of Megaupload is unclear, but it seems he's not the only one in that world to think Megaupload was not a bad thing.

    A Techdirt story compiled his tweets thus:

    1st of all I am soooo proud of my brother @THEREALSWIZZZ 4 being apart of creating something (MEGAUPLOAD) that could create the most powerful way 4 artist 2 get 90% off of every dollar despite the music being downloaded 4 free...

    With labels and companies doin' deals with Spotify and many other companies like it who doesn't give us shit continue 2 do what they do and blatantly show us how much they value the artist with doing deals of such disrespect and lack of value 4 our content...

    I am proud 2 stand next 2 my brother @THEREALSWIZZZ and fight the good fight...Our freedom is truly being fucked with in a very significant way and I strongly suggest 2 all artist especially the 1's Swizz repped 4 comes out & reps 4 him!!!

    Fuck that I say it again...I'M PROUD OF MY BROTHER @THEREALSWIZZZ #GREATMIND!!

    That's an interesting point. Spotify is legit and earns artists fuck-all. Megaupload is dodgy and earns (some) artists decent money.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report

  • anth, in reply to Matthew Poole,

    That the shotgun was in a safe is irrelevant, as its very presence in a panic room would be prima facie evidence that it was owned for self-defence and that’s not considered a lawful purpose.

    On the other hand I believe that gun owners are required to keep their weapons secure, and presumably the safe room is the most secure part of the house.

    If there had been a home invasion and he’d sat in that room until the police arrived they’d probably have praised him for being a responsible gun owner who neither took the law into his own hands nor let the evil-doers get hold of the gun. That didn’t happen of course, all we know is that the gun wasn’t used.

    Well, in a way there was a home invasion and he sat in the panic room until the police arrived. It wasn’t quite as I meant in the previous paragraph though.

    Since Nov 2006 • 77 posts Report

  • Sacha, in reply to Russell Brown,

    Spotify is legit and earns artists fuck-all. Megaupload is dodgy and earns (some) artists decent money.

    Makes sense who the entrenched middlemen would go after first.

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report

  • Craig Ranapia, in reply to Sacha,

    The OED would suggest that they're two perfectly acceptable alternate spellings, both of which have ample precedent in English prose - though you're quite correct that the k- usage is more common in the UK. But hell, when reading Australian newspapers I still mentally insert a vowel into 'Labor' - and there's a fascinating back story there. :)

    North Shore, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 12370 posts Report

  • BenWilson, in reply to anth,

    That didn’t happen of course, all we know is that the gun wasn’t used.

    It was also a sawn off shotgun, not commonly used for anything except scaring people at close range. Owning that is nearly the only thing I would hold against Mr Dotcom. Except the matter of befriending Mr Banks (I wonder if Banksy told him he should really keep the gun under his bed).

    Banksy conveniently can't remember anything about the time he drove out to Coatesville in his overcompensating red Ferrari, and had dinner with Dotcom. These things happen when you're mayor.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 10657 posts Report

  • Sacha, in reply to Craig Ranapia,

    True. I was talking about actual usage in NZ.

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report

  • bob daktari,

    the effects of this action are starting to kick in online (via Anonymous ) - assume SOUP is SOPA

    MegaUpload - Closed.
    - FileServe - Closing does not sell premium.
    - FileJungle - Deleting files. Locked in the U.S..
    - UploadStation - Locked in the U.S..
    - FileSonic - the news is arbitrary (under FBI investigation).
    - VideoBB - Closed! would disappear soon.
    - Uploaded - Banned U.S. and the FBI went after the owners who are gone.
    - FilePost - Deleting all material (so will leave executables, pdfs, txts)
    - Videoz - closed and locked in the countries affiliated with the USA.
    - 4shared - Deleting files with copyright and waits in line at the FBI.
    - MediaFire - Called to testify in the next 90 days and it will open doors pro FBI
    -Org torrent - could vanish with everything within 30 days "he is under criminal investigation"
    - Network Share mIRC - awaiting the decision of the case to continue or terminate Torrente everything.
    - Koshiki - operating 100% Japan will not join the SOUP / PIPA
    - Shienko Box - 100% working china / korea will not join the SOUP / PIPA
    - ShareX BR - group UOL / BOL / iG say they will join the SOUP / PIPA


    would be amusing (well I think so) to see all these services continue but just ban all US users - time to taste the joys of geoblock...

    the ongoing ramifications of the web & our useage of will be interesting to see - file under another potential (cost effective and efficient + revenue earning) distribution model being killed (attempted) off rather than employed by content owners

    auckland • Since Dec 2006 • 540 posts Report

  • merc,

    500k on fireworks, 90k on a hospital, donation style that Banks did not forget.

    Since Dec 2006 • 2471 posts Report

  • Bart Janssen, in reply to Graeme Edgeler,

    So, when someone says "those are drugs", the police should wait until after trial before seizing the wads of cash when they raid a drug house? And the drug-sellers should be able to continue selling their drugs until tests are back and confirmed by a court that those were indeed illegal drugs?

    Wrong analogy.

    So the police have evidence that a couple of safe deposit boxes in a bank contain illegal goods. They then shut down the bank and all it's websites and branches.

    The bank remains closed until the case comes to court?

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 4461 posts Report

  • Craig Ranapia, in reply to Bart Janssen,

    So the police have evidence that a couple of safe deposit boxes in a bank contain illegal goods. They then shut down the bank and all it’s websites and branches.

    The bank remains closed until the case comes to court?

    Um, yes. I saw someone on line describe SOPA/PIPA as being like reacting to a cockroach in the kitchen by burning the house down with your whole family inside. Everyone’s dead, you don’t have a house anymore… and the roaches have moved next door. Score!

    That really seems to be the default level of bat-shittery from “the industry” where copywrong is concerned, and it’s just not helpful.

    North Shore, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 12370 posts Report

  • bob daktari,

    its like closing auckland airport because someone was found trying to import illegal drugs into the country

    auckland • Since Dec 2006 • 540 posts Report

  • Keir Leslie,

    Um, you know, if a bank was alleged to have indulged in money laundering, it sure as hell would be frozen when the police moved against them. No two ways about it.

    Since Jul 2008 • 1452 posts Report

  • Russell Brown, in reply to Keir Leslie,

    Um, you know, if a bank was alleged to have indulged in money laundering, it sure as hell would be frozen when the police moved against them. No two ways about it.

    This is just wrong.

    A UK FSA study found evidence of money laundering -- or at least unacceptably poor controls -- at multiple banks last year. The Bank of Scotland was fined in a separate case. None of them had their entire businesses frozen.

    Neither did Citigroup, despite repeated scandals over years.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report

  • Kumara Republic, in reply to bob daktari,

    its like closing auckland airport because someone was found trying to import illegal drugs into the country

    Funnily enough, Stuff's Henry Cooke retweeted a similar argument.

    The southernmost capital … • Since Nov 2006 • 5446 posts Report

  • Keir Leslie,

    Sorry, let me rephrase that. If it were alleged that one of a bank's major income streams was illegal, that it was engaged in large scale money laundering --- on a level beyond merely `errors', and an officer of the bank had convictions for insider trading, then it would almost certainly be frozen.

    Since Jul 2008 • 1452 posts Report

  • Rich of Observationz, in reply to Keir Leslie,

    BCCI - only time it's happened, to my knowledge. I'm not sure if BCCI had any business that *wasn't* criminal, at least in the eyes of some jurisdiction. They were also eventually insolvent.

    Back in Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 5550 posts Report

  • Russell Brown, in reply to Rich of Observationz,

    BCCI – only time it’s happened, to my knowledge. I’m not sure if BCCI had any business that *wasn’t* criminal, at least in the eyes of some jurisdiction. They were also eventually insolvent.

    Ah yes. That's the exception I was trying to think of.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report

  • Russell Brown,

    Meanwhile, also via Techdirt, Universal Music's raving mad list of "rogue" websites (that is, sites their agencies are forbidden to engage with) including Soundcloud and most of the hip hop blog ecosystem.

    They're only shooting themselves in the foot here, but it is worth noting that this is precisely the kind of list -- even the same "rogue" terminology -- that they'd be able to have actioned under SOPA. That would then be everyone's problem.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report

  • 3410,

    Oh. I initially thought you mean this BCCI. :P

    Auckland • Since Jan 2007 • 2618 posts Report

  • Sofie Bribiesca, in reply to bob daktari,

    here and there. • Since Nov 2007 • 6796 posts Report

  • 3410,

    Universal Music's raving mad list of "rogue" websites (that is, sites their agencies are forbidden to engage with) including Soundcloud and most of the hip hop blog ecosystem.

    Though not Google (surprise, surprise).

    Auckland • Since Jan 2007 • 2618 posts Report

  • Keir Leslie,

    Yeah: it turns out most banks are so heavily regulated, it is almost impossible to be massively illegal and still a bank. So it's a flawed metaphor.

    Since Jul 2008 • 1452 posts Report

  • Sofie Bribiesca, in reply to Russell Brown,

    Ah yes. That’s the exception I was trying to think of.

    All over, they launder
    Ah, the hypocrisy of Democracy.

    here and there. • Since Nov 2007 • 6796 posts Report

  • Dylan Reeve, in reply to Keir Leslie,

    Sorry, let me rephrase that. If it were alleged that one of a bank’s major income streams was illegal, that it was engaged in large scale money laundering — on a level beyond merely `errors’, and an officer of the bank had convictions for insider trading, then it would almost certainly be frozen.

    Maybe, but I'm not sure that's a fair comparison.

    The activities of MegaUpload are much more akin to safe deposit boxes, or storage lockers.

    It would be fascinating to find out what percentage of MU's business was infringing. I certainly know plenty of people who used it legitimately.

    By the way, here is a copyright file that I am sharing without authorisation from my Dropbox account... Hope you guys have copies of all your files from Dropbox!

    http://dl.dropbox.com/u/7783561/Umg.png

    Auckland • Since Aug 2008 • 311 posts Report

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