Hard News by Russell Brown

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Hard News: The Mega Conspiracy

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  • Kumara Republic, in reply to nzlemming,

    Kim Dotcom granted bail “after new evidence came to light.”

    As I said on Geekzone, I shall laugh myself silly if he now buggers off to Germany ;-)

    Given his line of work, he's probably going to be a bit stir-crazy even without a jail sentence...

    Judge Dawson granted bail to his Coatesville house with the conditions that he did not have access the internet, no helicopter be allowed to travel to the property, that he would not travel more than 80km from the property and that he give police 24 hours notice of any appointment that required him to leave the property, except for medical emergencies.

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

  • Steve Barnes,

    Just dug this up from Music Business News, January 28, 2012

    The dramatic shut-down of Megaupload and arrest of its founder Kim “Dotcom” last week may not have entirely been about piracy, according reports in a variety of publications, including TechCrunch and Time magazine...
    ...many sources speculate it was actually the impending launch of Megabox that added the most fuel to the fire, as Dotcom himself had described the service as a major iTunes competitor.

    And This from Techeye.net

    According to AP, US prosecutors blocked access to Megaupload and charged seven men, saying the site facilitated millions of illegal downloads of movies, music and other content. Notice the word facilitated which comes straight from the vocabulary of Big Content.

    So who are the Mega Conspirators again?.
    Good luck Kimbo, I, for one, will be looking forward to your next party.
    ;-)

    Peria • Since Dec 2006 • 5521 posts Report Reply

  • nzlemming, in reply to Steve Barnes,

    This one has been floating round for a few weeks, but I don't put anything in it. They hadn't properly launched Megabox yet and had only started talking about it in November IIRC. If this investigation has been in train for 2 years (and the indictment shows a hell of a lot of research that I doubt even the FBI could pull off in the weeks between Thanskgiving and Xmas), then the timing is purely coincidental.

    That the language proposed by Big Content is turning up in legal documents is hardly a surprise. They've been trying to frame this in terms favourable to them all along. (I also think you'll find the word "facilitated" in many other prosecutions launched by the USG, so that's no biggie either)

    Waikanae • Since Nov 2006 • 2937 posts Report Reply

  • Simon Grigg, in reply to nzlemming,

    They hadn't properly launched Megabox yet and had only started talking about it in November IIRC.

    Coupled with the fact that Megabox was not really offering anything more than that offered by iTunes and a 1000 other sites.

    These wacky conspiracy theories have yet to explain exactly why the music industry saw Megabox as a threat.

    I doubt it had even noticed...

    Just another klong... • Since Nov 2006 • 3284 posts Report Reply

  • nzlemming, in reply to Simon Grigg,

    These wacky conspiracy theories have yet to explain exactly why the music industry saw Megabox as a threat.

    Probably "journalists" carried away by the numbers being tossed around by the USG - 50m daily users seems a lot ;-)

    Waikanae • Since Nov 2006 • 2937 posts Report Reply

  • Simon Grigg, in reply to nzlemming,

    50m daily users seems a lot

    I understand the impending third tranche of charges against Kim firmly places him on the Grassy Knoll and as team leader onboard United 93.

    Just another klong... • Since Nov 2006 • 3284 posts Report Reply

  • Sacha, in reply to Simon Grigg,

    knew I'd seen him somewhere before.. #DrEvil

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report Reply

  • nzlemming, in reply to Simon Grigg,

    I understand the impending third tranche of charges against Kim firmly places him on the Grassy Knoll and as team leader onboard United 93

    ROFL

    Waikanae • Since Nov 2006 • 2937 posts Report Reply

  • Steve Barnes,

    Conspiracy pah. This is a conspiracy Maersk line covers costs with strike surcharge

    Global shipping line Maersk yesterday announced a penalty charge for freight crossing Auckland’s wharves, as more than 300 port workers began a three-week strike… …Ports of Auckland chief executive Tony Gibson said the surcharge was not unexpected

    well quell surpreeze, Mr Gitsome used to work for Maersk.

    Mr Gibson has had 30 years experience in shipping and logistics, first with Seabridge in Wellington, and then with Nedlloyd and P&O Nedlloyd. He worked in various roles in Africa, Asia and Europe, including as European Director of Customer Operations, Rotterdam, before being appointed Managing Director, New Zealand and Pacific Islands in 2002. Following a takeover by Maersk, Mr Gibson served as Managing Director of Maersk, New Zealand for three years.

    Peria • Since Dec 2006 • 5521 posts Report Reply

  • Rich of Observationz,

    I'm hoping Mike Myers can be persuaded to play the title role in "Dotcom, The Movie".

    Back in Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 5550 posts Report Reply

  • Ian Dalziel, in reply to Steve Barnes,

    They call me Mr Quay...

    well quell surpreeze, Mr Gitsome used to work for Maersk.

    Quite, his background is in the freight side, not the port side...
    Auckland has a cuckoo in the nest, he is there to dismantle the old Wharf culture and hand it to the shippers on a platter (or in a container), Aucklanders (the owners) will be the ultimate losers, both in cashflow and karma...

    One rates a city by how it treats its workers!

    Christchurch • Since Dec 2006 • 7953 posts Report Reply

  • merc,

    One runs a city by rating it's workers ;-)

    Since Dec 2006 • 2471 posts Report Reply

  • Kumara Republic, in reply to Ian Dalziel,

    I wonder if Gibson will survive a port-of-convenience declaration by the ITF. Furthermore, wasn't he a Rodney Hide appointee?

    And if it hasn’t been posted about yet… believe it or not, truckies, trade unionists, financial advisers, and AKL CBD business interests have effectively called for co-determination.

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

  • DexterX,

    The Kim Dot Com interview on TV3 with John Campbell was good viewing - I hope he sticks around and goes hard, fights the thing and wins.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 1224 posts Report Reply

  • DexterX,

    Groan - Sally Ridge may have an FBI/Mr Freeze complex in taking a Kim Dot Com approach to Parore - perhaps Adam Parore he will be remanded, not into custody, but into the black caps line up.

    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/personalities/news/article.cfm?c_id=72&objectid=10789949

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 1224 posts Report Reply

  • nzlemming,

    Interesting post from Glyn Moody on Techdirt: 'We, The Web Kids': Manifesto For An Anti-ACTA Generation

    One of the striking features of the demonstrations against ACTA that took place across Europe over the last few weeks was the youth of the participants. That's not to say that only young people are concerned about ACTA, but it's an indication that they take its assault on the Internet very personally -- unlike, perhaps, older and more dispassionate critics.

    [...]

    We grew up with the Internet and on the Internet. This is what makes us different; this is what makes the crucial, although surprising from your point of view, difference: we do not ‘surf’ and the internet to us is not a ‘place’ or ‘virtual space’. The Internet to us is not something external to reality but a part of it: an invisible yet constantly present layer intertwined with the physical environment. We do not use the Internet, we live on the Internet and along it. If we were to tell our bildnungsroman to you, the analog, we could say there was a natural Internet aspect to every single experience that has shaped us. We made friends and enemies online, we prepared cribs for tests online, we planned parties and studying sessions online, we fell in love and broke up online. The Web to us is not a technology which we had to learn and which we managed to get a grip of. The Web is a process, happening continuously and continuously transforming before our eyes; with us and through us. Technologies appear and then dissolve in the peripheries, websites are built, they bloom and then pass away, but the Web continues, because we are the Web; we, communicating with one another in a way that comes naturally to us, more intense and more efficient than ever before in the history of mankind.

    Waikanae • Since Nov 2006 • 2937 posts Report Reply

  • merc,

    Since Dec 2006 • 2471 posts Report Reply

  • nzlemming, in reply to merc,

    Faaaaaaaaaark.

    Waikanae • Since Nov 2006 • 2937 posts Report Reply

  • Steve Barnes,

    Leitch said he was asked to open his computer bag, then his laptop and enter his password.

    "There were a lot of emails regarding the trip.

    Are they allowed to do that?
    I guess they can do as they like, if you kick up a fuss you don't get in so you have no comeback.
    It does raise the question though. Was this just an overly obnoxious Customs person overstepping the mark or is there pressure on them to do the bidding of the FBI?

    Peria • Since Dec 2006 • 5521 posts Report Reply

  • merc,

    This is what happens when you sign on in blood with the Coalition Of The Willing.

    Since Dec 2006 • 2471 posts Report Reply

  • Kumara Republic,

    What we suspected all along...

    US eyes NZ copyright laws

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

  • Sacha, in reply to Kumara Republic,

    and another helping of misdirection that this would be in the interests of artists rather than the rights-holding corporations whose sun is setting.

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report Reply

  • 3410,

    another helping of misdirection that this would be in the interests of artists rather than the rights-holding corporations whose sun is setting.

    I think the message is clear: Extend copyright now or else Ray Columbus will starve, 51 years after his death.

    Auckland • Since Jan 2007 • 2618 posts Report Reply

  • Russell Brown, in reply to 3410,

    I think the message is clear: Extend copyright now or else Ray Columbus will starve, 51 years after his death.

    Boom!

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

  • Simon Grigg, in reply to Russell Brown,

    Boom!

    And correct me if I'm wrong, but Ray's big hits, the ones they still play, were all written by other people.

    Just another klong... • Since Nov 2006 • 3284 posts Report Reply

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