7 ms·

Given his past and the megaupload business model, you have to fuck up pretty badly to turn Kim into this much of a hero. If Hollywood had chased a civil case a

by ktizo 14y ago

Given his past and the megaupload business model, you have to fuck up pretty badly to turn Kim into this much of a hero. If Hollywood had chased a civil case against him, they would have almost certainly won it and shut down his business, which would have then paved the way for them to pursue a criminal investigation (although I am far from convinced that he has done anything explicitly illegal as opposed to merely unlawful). This way round it looks as though they could lose badly on all counts and make themselves look like malicious and incompetent fools in the process while simultaneously souring US relationships with their political allies. Perhaps they are just malicious and incompetent fools however. It would certainly seem to be the simplest explanation for the current situation.

aninteger 14y ago
Hollywood should do what Hollywood does best. I'm still waiting for the movie "based on a true story".
- ktizo 14y ago
  Is that the version where Kim is a muslim cleric who is trying to destroy America from a secret volcano in Iceland?
  - accountswu 14y ago
    And Biden is going to save America from Barrack Hussein? :) http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2012/07/kim-dotcom-says-megaupload-shutdown-was-joe-bidens-idea/ http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2012/07/kim-dotcom-says-m...
shin_lao 14y ago
What he does is probably illegal, according to copyright laws, but is it that immoral? The problem to me is the amount of physical violence he endured, compared to the amount of physical violence he caused. It's as if the police would beat down someone who didn't tip a street performer.
- ktizo 14y ago
  What he does is probably illegal, according to copyright laws My understanding is that what some of the users were doing was possibly illegal under US law, but probably unlawful most everywhere else, and that what he was doing was possibly unlawful but not illegal pretty much everywhere, including in the US. Knowingly facilitating copyright infringement is a charge that can be leveled at every industry that provides consumer equipment or services that copy or transmit data, from ISP's through to the manufacturers of video recorders.
  - billpatrianakos 14y ago
    That's too simplistic. Lets take the example of a gun. The gun industry makes a product that can be used for intentional harm or for protection. One company sells a 35mm handgun to the general public and another sells assault rifles to the general public. A reasonable person knows an assault rifle is not for protection (and don't get pedantic and say "well depends where you live", etc. because you know what I mean). That's like what MegaUpload is. Dropbox and Box.net are file locker services. MegaUpload was very obviously a file sharing service - one that was very much all about sharing movies, music, and software with no regard to copyright law. Dropbox and Box.net are the handguns to MegaUpload's assault rifle when you put it into my above example.
    - Iscariott 14y ago
      That's a great analogy.
      - vacri 14y ago
        The problem with this analogy is that it's actually the wrong way around. The problem firearms are the handguns - the US has 17k murders per year, 13k of them are with firearms, 11k of those are with handguns. Much as people like debating about rifles, it's handguns that do the work.
        billpatrianakos 14y ago
Cushman 14y ago
I'm a pretty savvy internet user, and I'll confess to having used Mega for the odd video when nothing else was working, but I've never heard much about Kim before this case. Now he's a folk hero. Considering the weakness of Mega's position, this case couldn't have gone much worse for the copyright industry.
- stesch 14y ago
  People from Germany have heard a lot from him and we can't understand why anybody would think he is a hero or some innocent victim.
  - vecinu 14y ago
    I believe only people ignorant of his attitude or past can consider him anything close to a 'hero'.
  - Cushman 14y ago
    Oh, I don't doubt he's earned the bad reputation-- just goes to highlight the degree to which they bungled the arrest and prosecution.
  - redthrowaway 14y ago
    The enemy of my enemy... K.C's appeal comes from the fact that he quite rightly criticizes the incompetent and heavy-handed actions of some very unlikeable people - DC insiders and lobbyists. His portrayal of events is, if perhaps exaggerated, certainly plausible and more possessing of verisimilitude than the official party line. As with Assange his appeal comes, not from a reasoned appraisal of the totality of his person, but rather from a shared dislike of his powerful enemies.
- ArcticCelt 14y ago
  What's impressive is that he went from relative obscurity to been known not only from the startup crowd like here but also from the more mainstream tech crowd that populate sites like reddit. They maybe managed to shutdown and destroy his business but they also involuntarily made sure that his next business venture will have an enormous amount of free publicity by been talked about on all tech blogs and social news web sites.
tomjen3 14y ago
He has played the media at least as well as his lawyers have done in court, but you also have to factor in that people are pretty fucking tired of the copyright industry being so heavy handed. Breaking copyright is so normal, at least among those younger than 40 that almost any reponse would be seen as too heavy handed. Choppers and armed police, however are completely of the scale.
- J3L2404 14y ago
  >Choppers and armed police, however are completely of the scale. But wasn't that NZ's decision. I think a good deal of people believe it was US troops.
  - tomjen3 14y ago
    I don't really see NZ being cast as villians here. At most as the people oppressed by the US (who are the real villans). But US troops on foreign soil is properly over what they would accept.
    - J3L2404 14y ago
      NZ is being oppressed by the US? Like the whole pirate revolution fantasy, there is no basis in reality. IP is not going away anytime soon, at least in free countries. The pirate party would have to be, at least in the US, one of the two major parties and even then it would be difficult. Either people can choose how to license their work or there are no licenses. I don't see a middle ground.
      - cabalamat 14y ago
        > NZ is being oppressed by the US? Of course it is. What is the Trans-Pacific Partnership if it isn't the latest attempt to bludgeon other countries in toeing the USA's (i.e. the MAFIAA's) line in IP? > Like the whole pirate revolution fantasy, there is no basis in reality. There are currently Pirates elected in 7 countries, which is good going for a movement that's only been in existance for 6 years. Other politicians, for example in the EU, are already modifying their policies to take account of the Pirates' popularity, which they wouldn't be doing if it was just a "fantasy". > IP is not going away anytime soon, at least in free countries. IP in its present form is clearly going away. Consider shows like Game of Thrones which more people downloaded than legally watched. While IP law will change slower than IP reality (because law is a trailing indicator), it too is likely to change as Pirates win power in Europe. > The pirate party would have to be, at least in the US, one of the two major parties and even then it would be difficult. The Pirate Party wouldn't have to win in the US at all. If it gains power in Europe, it'll have the clout of the world's largest economy behind it, and the USA will no longer be able to impose its IP laws on the rest of the world. Nor will the USA be able to prevent unauthorised copying via websites in other countries, unless it disconnects its internet from the rest of the world's, which isn't practical. > Either people can choose how to license their work or there are no licenses. Once a work is published, it will increasingly be out of the control of the creator. Savvy creators, such as Amanda Palmer or Cory Doctorow, already realise that and have adapted to the new reality. Those who refuse to adapt will go excinct. The exception to this is works that are programs, which will be able to use DRM systems running on the internet, such as Valve's Steam.
nottombrown 14y ago
Whatever PR firm has been advising him has been doing a superb job. See the framing of his newfound love of social media: "Asked why he had become so active online, Mr. Dotcom said he was using the most efficient way to respond to all the good-will messages he had received."
makomk 14y ago
Well, the FBI hasn't been entirely honest about Megaupload's business model. They claimed that it was based around paying people to upload copyright-infringing model when actually it relyed on reducing the amount they had to pay out by enforcing the clause that allowed them to reject payouts if they suspected copyright infringement.

by ktizo 14y ago

aninteger 14y ago

Hollywood should do what Hollywood does best. I'm still waiting for the movie "based on a true story".

ktizo 14y ago
Is that the version where Kim is a muslim cleric who is trying to destroy America from a secret volcano in Iceland?
- accountswu 14y ago
  And Biden is going to save America from Barrack Hussein? :) http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2012/07/kim-dotcom-says-megaupload-shutdown-was-joe-bidens-idea/ http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2012/07/kim-dotcom-says-m...

shin_lao 14y ago

What he does is probably illegal, according to copyright laws, but is it that immoral? The problem to me is the amount of physical violence he endured, compared to the amount of physical violence he caused. It's as if the police would beat down someone who didn't tip a street performer.

ktizo 14y ago
What he does is probably illegal, according to copyright laws My understanding is that what some of the users were doing was possibly illegal under US law, but probably unlawful most everywhere else, and that what he was doing was possibly unlawful but not illegal pretty much everywhere, including in the US. Knowingly facilitating copyright infringement is a charge that can be leveled at every industry that provides consumer equipment or services that copy or transmit data, from ISP's through to the manufacturers of video recorders.
- billpatrianakos 14y ago
  That's too simplistic. Lets take the example of a gun. The gun industry makes a product that can be used for intentional harm or for protection. One company sells a 35mm handgun to the general public and another sells assault rifles to the general public. A reasonable person knows an assault rifle is not for protection (and don't get pedantic and say "well depends where you live", etc. because you know what I mean). That's like what MegaUpload is. Dropbox and Box.net are file locker services. MegaUpload was very obviously a file sharing service - one that was very much all about sharing movies, music, and software with no regard to copyright law. Dropbox and Box.net are the handguns to MegaUpload's assault rifle when you put it into my above example.
  - Iscariott 14y ago
    That's a great analogy.
    - vacri 14y ago
      The problem with this analogy is that it's actually the wrong way around. The problem firearms are the handguns - the US has 17k murders per year, 13k of them are with firearms, 11k of those are with handguns. Much as people like debating about rifles, it's handguns that do the work.
      - billpatrianakos 14y ago

Cushman 14y ago

I'm a pretty savvy internet user, and I'll confess to having used Mega for the odd video when nothing else was working, but I've never heard much about Kim before this case. Now he's a folk hero. Considering the weakness of Mega's position, this case couldn't have gone much worse for the copyright industry.

stesch 14y ago
People from Germany have heard a lot from him and we can't understand why anybody would think he is a hero or some innocent victim.
- vecinu 14y ago
  I believe only people ignorant of his attitude or past can consider him anything close to a 'hero'.
- Cushman 14y ago
  Oh, I don't doubt he's earned the bad reputation-- just goes to highlight the degree to which they bungled the arrest and prosecution.
- redthrowaway 14y ago
  The enemy of my enemy... K.C's appeal comes from the fact that he quite rightly criticizes the incompetent and heavy-handed actions of some very unlikeable people - DC insiders and lobbyists. His portrayal of events is, if perhaps exaggerated, certainly plausible and more possessing of verisimilitude than the official party line. As with Assange his appeal comes, not from a reasoned appraisal of the totality of his person, but rather from a shared dislike of his powerful enemies.
ArcticCelt 14y ago
What's impressive is that he went from relative obscurity to been known not only from the startup crowd like here but also from the more mainstream tech crowd that populate sites like reddit. They maybe managed to shutdown and destroy his business but they also involuntarily made sure that his next business venture will have an enormous amount of free publicity by been talked about on all tech blogs and social news web sites.

tomjen3 14y ago

He has played the media at least as well as his lawyers have done in court, but you also have to factor in that people are pretty fucking tired of the copyright industry being so heavy handed. Breaking copyright is so normal, at least among those younger than 40 that almost any reponse would be seen as too heavy handed. Choppers and armed police, however are completely of the scale.

J3L2404 14y ago
>Choppers and armed police, however are completely of the scale. But wasn't that NZ's decision. I think a good deal of people believe it was US troops.
- tomjen3 14y ago
  I don't really see NZ being cast as villians here. At most as the people oppressed by the US (who are the real villans). But US troops on foreign soil is properly over what they would accept.
  - J3L2404 14y ago
    NZ is being oppressed by the US? Like the whole pirate revolution fantasy, there is no basis in reality. IP is not going away anytime soon, at least in free countries. The pirate party would have to be, at least in the US, one of the two major parties and even then it would be difficult. Either people can choose how to license their work or there are no licenses. I don't see a middle ground.
    - cabalamat 14y ago
      > NZ is being oppressed by the US? Of course it is. What is the Trans-Pacific Partnership if it isn't the latest attempt to bludgeon other countries in toeing the USA's (i.e. the MAFIAA's) line in IP? > Like the whole pirate revolution fantasy, there is no basis in reality. There are currently Pirates elected in 7 countries, which is good going for a movement that's only been in existance for 6 years. Other politicians, for example in the EU, are already modifying their policies to take account of the Pirates' popularity, which they wouldn't be doing if it was just a "fantasy". > IP is not going away anytime soon, at least in free countries. IP in its present form is clearly going away. Consider shows like Game of Thrones which more people downloaded than legally watched. While IP law will change slower than IP reality (because law is a trailing indicator), it too is likely to change as Pirates win power in Europe. > The pirate party would have to be, at least in the US, one of the two major parties and even then it would be difficult. The Pirate Party wouldn't have to win in the US at all. If it gains power in Europe, it'll have the clout of the world's largest economy behind it, and the USA will no longer be able to impose its IP laws on the rest of the world. Nor will the USA be able to prevent unauthorised copying via websites in other countries, unless it disconnects its internet from the rest of the world's, which isn't practical. > Either people can choose how to license their work or there are no licenses. Once a work is published, it will increasingly be out of the control of the creator. Savvy creators, such as Amanda Palmer or Cory Doctorow, already realise that and have adapted to the new reality. Those who refuse to adapt will go excinct. The exception to this is works that are programs, which will be able to use DRM systems running on the internet, such as Valve's Steam.

nottombrown 14y ago

Whatever PR firm has been advising him has been doing a superb job. See the framing of his newfound love of social media: "Asked why he had become so active online, Mr. Dotcom said he was using the most efficient way to respond to all the good-will messages he had received."

makomk 14y ago

Well, the FBI hasn't been entirely honest about Megaupload's business model. They claimed that it was based around paying people to upload copyright-infringing model when actually it relyed on reducing the amount they had to pay out by enforcing the clause that allowed them to reject payouts if they suspected copyright infringement.