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You think it’s OK to liken the arrest of a repeat offender to the genocide of millions of innocent men, women, and children? In the video, I didn’t see physica

You think it’s OK to liken the arrest of a repeat offender to the genocide of millions of innocent men, women, and children? In the video, I didn’t see physical force used. Neither did I read of anything like it in any of the reports of the arrest. What part of the operation is violent to you? Schmitz was found with a sawed off shotgun, and the police had to cut him out of his panic room, so he could obviously be dangerous.

arethuza 13y ago
"What part of the operation is violent to you?" Pretty much all of it?
- Samuel_Michon 13y ago
  http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/violence http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/violence
  - nknighthb 13y ago
    I can only assume you are confused by the meaning of "force". The actual application of physical force is not necessary for an action to be forceful and violent.
smackfu 13y ago
Dwelling on whether it's violent or not seems silly. It was excessive. And the problem with using excessive measures is that it makes the line between non-violence and violence as simple as one guy with a gun being surprised and accidentally pulling the trigger.
glesica 13y ago
First they used the massive, militarized police force peacefully and I didn't complain because no one was injured. Then they used the massive, militarized police force to hurt people and I didn't complain because no one was killed. Then the massive, militarized police force started killing people, and it was too late to complain. Something doesn't have to be as bad as Nazi Germany to have lessons learned from Nazi Germany usefully applied to it. No one said "OMG Kim Dotcom is exactly like Anne Frank!". The police raid was clear overkill and many people are, rightfully, bothered by the militarization of police forces. It is important to object, even in defense of a fairly shady character like Dotcom because eventually that apparatus will be turned on others and it will be too late to stop it. Really, we should have been complaining a long time ago when the police (at least in the US) started treating the inner city like a war zone.
- Samuel_Michon 13y ago
  I perceived fsckin’s comment as disapproving of Schmitz’s arrest and/or prosecution. In other words: ‘First they came for the pirate/embezzler/blackhat and I didn’t speak out’. That’s a line of reasoning I object to, and the original quote is far too serious for that. Your comment is about the militarization of police forces, which I agree, is scary and should be objected to, even if it were only used against the scum of the earth.
  - will_brown 13y ago
    I can not help but read your comments throughout this post and note the obvious bias. But what makes Kim scum of the Earth vis-a-vis this case? What makes megaupload any different than Google Drive or Dropbox, where people are illegally sharing file? Ironically, it is my understanding that megauploads actually gave copyright holders far greater control of protecting their content than Dropbox and Google Drive - giving them administrative access to remove content themselves and not be subject to serving copyright violations. Just curious what your underlying issue is with this guy, because it simply can not be that third parties used megauploads to illegally share copyrighted files.
    - Samuel_Michon 13y ago
      > I can not help but read your comments throughout this post and note the obvious bias. I plead guilty. I do not like Kim Dotcom and what he does. My impression of him is that he’s an egotistical sociopathic opportunistic hedonistic grandstanding thug without moral compass. Megaupload is only a small part of what gave me that impression, I’ve been reading about his ‘endeavors’ for over a decade. As for Megaupload, in the articles I’ve read over the years, he hasn’t done much to combat piracy on his network, some go as far as suggesting he encouraged it. He also claims patents over web tech like two factor authentication. He also posed on photos with all the firearms he has, which surely must’ve made the NZ authorities queasy about peacefully apprehending him.
      - will_brown 13y ago
jjh42 13y ago
The video includes a court room clip of a police officer stating that force was used. Mr Dotcom also laid complaints with the police that excessive and unnecessary force was used.
- Samuel_Michon 13y ago
  Given that police officers had to break into his panic room (in which a firearm was present) to get him out, I don’t see how he could say such a thing with a straight face. I don’t perceive him as a victim, even though his marketing team does a great job at making it seem as if he is. The video in the linked article has a lot of production value.

arethuza 13y ago

"What part of the operation is violent to you?" Pretty much all of it?

Samuel_Michon 13y ago
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/violence http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/violence
- nknighthb 13y ago
  I can only assume you are confused by the meaning of "force". The actual application of physical force is not necessary for an action to be forceful and violent.

smackfu 13y ago

Dwelling on whether it's violent or not seems silly. It was excessive. And the problem with using excessive measures is that it makes the line between non-violence and violence as simple as one guy with a gun being surprised and accidentally pulling the trigger.

glesica 13y ago

First they used the massive, militarized police force peacefully and I didn't complain because no one was injured. Then they used the massive, militarized police force to hurt people and I didn't complain because no one was killed. Then the massive, militarized police force started killing people, and it was too late to complain. Something doesn't have to be as bad as Nazi Germany to have lessons learned from Nazi Germany usefully applied to it. No one said "OMG Kim Dotcom is exactly like Anne Frank!". The police raid was clear overkill and many people are, rightfully, bothered by the militarization of police forces. It is important to object, even in defense of a fairly shady character like Dotcom because eventually that apparatus will be turned on others and it will be too late to stop it. Really, we should have been complaining a long time ago when the police (at least in the US) started treating the inner city like a war zone.

Samuel_Michon 13y ago
I perceived fsckin’s comment as disapproving of Schmitz’s arrest and/or prosecution. In other words: ‘First they came for the pirate/embezzler/blackhat and I didn’t speak out’. That’s a line of reasoning I object to, and the original quote is far too serious for that. Your comment is about the militarization of police forces, which I agree, is scary and should be objected to, even if it were only used against the scum of the earth.
- will_brown 13y ago
  I can not help but read your comments throughout this post and note the obvious bias. But what makes Kim scum of the Earth vis-a-vis this case? What makes megaupload any different than Google Drive or Dropbox, where people are illegally sharing file? Ironically, it is my understanding that megauploads actually gave copyright holders far greater control of protecting their content than Dropbox and Google Drive - giving them administrative access to remove content themselves and not be subject to serving copyright violations. Just curious what your underlying issue is with this guy, because it simply can not be that third parties used megauploads to illegally share copyrighted files.
  - Samuel_Michon 13y ago
    > I can not help but read your comments throughout this post and note the obvious bias. I plead guilty. I do not like Kim Dotcom and what he does. My impression of him is that he’s an egotistical sociopathic opportunistic hedonistic grandstanding thug without moral compass. Megaupload is only a small part of what gave me that impression, I’ve been reading about his ‘endeavors’ for over a decade. As for Megaupload, in the articles I’ve read over the years, he hasn’t done much to combat piracy on his network, some go as far as suggesting he encouraged it. He also claims patents over web tech like two factor authentication. He also posed on photos with all the firearms he has, which surely must’ve made the NZ authorities queasy about peacefully apprehending him.
    - will_brown 13y ago

jjh42 13y ago

The video includes a court room clip of a police officer stating that force was used. Mr Dotcom also laid complaints with the police that excessive and unnecessary force was used.

Samuel_Michon 13y ago
Given that police officers had to break into his panic room (in which a firearm was present) to get him out, I don’t see how he could say such a thing with a straight face. I don’t perceive him as a victim, even though his marketing team does a great job at making it seem as if he is. The video in the linked article has a lot of production value.