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He's a hero because he let people warez and they lost their favorite source for warez when his system was shut down. Everything else -- the FBI fuckups, the le

He's a hero because he let people warez and they lost their favorite source for warez when his system was shut down. Everything else -- the FBI fuckups, the legitimate users losing data, and so on -- is a secondary justification for supporting a warez site. Those issues can be opposed on their own without making the warezer-in-chief into a hero.

icebraining 14y ago
That's certainly an important part, but I think it ignores the natural tendency for considering "the enemy of my enemy, my friend". He is (not by choice, but still) fighting the US government, particularly in an area where many perceive the latter to be bound by lobbies. That's enough to make him seem like a knight in shiny armor. Personally, I'd like for both to lose ;)
- stfu 14y ago
  Plus the difference is, that he is putting himself out there and for the first time giving a face to the "fight".
epoxyhockey 14y ago
Actually, from my perspective (and from someone who only knew about megaupload through their music video), he is a hero because he's actually fighting the egregious injustices brought on by the US. I could not have cared less about the man until I read about how little due process had been involved leading up to the raid on his home. There is something fundamentally wrong when one of the most powerful countries in the world can't use due process to arrest someone violating a copyright law.
s_henry_paulson 14y ago
No, he's a hero because he's standing up to illegal practices by the US government and entertainment industry that can go as far as strong-arming another nation into breaking their own laws at their behest. Of course there is pirated stuff on MegaUpload, there's pirated stuff on every cloud hosting service.. every single one of them. Anecdotally, I use Google Docs and Dropbox to share music with people, should the government raid them and take all of their servers? Whether or not you feel this is a piracy hub is beside the point, because if there was a reason to shut the site down, the people responsible should be able to present evidence of criminal activity in order to justify their actions. The fact that they undertook a military raid, and tried to collect evidence after the fact is a clear sign that they did not have a strong case to begin with. More than anything he's becoming a hero because the RIAA and MPAA have been using lawsuits to demand hundreds of thousands of dollars from middle-class parents, the elderly, and many others who are often innocent of crimes they are accused of. This has become a rallying point for many to stand up to these organizations tactics, because it's only been a one-sided battle using questionable practices for the past decade.
- J3L2404 14y ago
  The US military was not involved, contrary to popular belief.

icebraining 14y ago

That's certainly an important part, but I think it ignores the natural tendency for considering "the enemy of my enemy, my friend". He is (not by choice, but still) fighting the US government, particularly in an area where many perceive the latter to be bound by lobbies. That's enough to make him seem like a knight in shiny armor. Personally, I'd like for both to lose ;)

stfu 14y ago
Plus the difference is, that he is putting himself out there and for the first time giving a face to the "fight".

epoxyhockey 14y ago

Actually, from my perspective (and from someone who only knew about megaupload through their music video), he is a hero because he's actually fighting the egregious injustices brought on by the US. I could not have cared less about the man until I read about how little due process had been involved leading up to the raid on his home. There is something fundamentally wrong when one of the most powerful countries in the world can't use due process to arrest someone violating a copyright law.

s_henry_paulson 14y ago

No, he's a hero because he's standing up to illegal practices by the US government and entertainment industry that can go as far as strong-arming another nation into breaking their own laws at their behest. Of course there is pirated stuff on MegaUpload, there's pirated stuff on every cloud hosting service.. every single one of them. Anecdotally, I use Google Docs and Dropbox to share music with people, should the government raid them and take all of their servers? Whether or not you feel this is a piracy hub is beside the point, because if there was a reason to shut the site down, the people responsible should be able to present evidence of criminal activity in order to justify their actions. The fact that they undertook a military raid, and tried to collect evidence after the fact is a clear sign that they did not have a strong case to begin with. More than anything he's becoming a hero because the RIAA and MPAA have been using lawsuits to demand hundreds of thousands of dollars from middle-class parents, the elderly, and many others who are often innocent of crimes they are accused of. This has become a rallying point for many to stand up to these organizations tactics, because it's only been a one-sided battle using questionable practices for the past decade.

J3L2404 14y ago
The US military was not involved, contrary to popular belief.