First BitTorrent Arrest in Hong Kong

prostoalex writes "Associated Press says a 38-year-old was arrested in Hong Kong for uploading Daredevil, Red Planet and Miss Congeniality via a BitTorrent client. Hong Kong laws provide for a maximum of 4 years in prison and $6,400 fine for every copy distributed without copyright owner's permission."

Not related to copyright

[Anonymous Coward]

Rather, they prosecute bad taste in Hong Kong.

Dammit!

[FyRE666]

I'd nearly finished that download too! Why don't the authorities pick on the torrents with a lot of seeds to give people a chance?...

Hong Kong /= Copyright Enforcement

[sofakingon]

Since when does Hong Kong care about copyright/patent enforcement? The last time I was there I could have gotten a (counterfeit) North Face coat, Rolex watch, and Prada bag, and for about $100US. What gives? 3 movies? I mean, seriously...

Re:Not related to copyright

[Anonymous Coward]

... however, the judge may throw out the case, according to the recently passed "Jennifer Garner Hotness" clause. The clause would also cover "13 Going on 30" and "Elektra" uploads.

The penalty wasn't severe enough...

[nganju]

The punishment for distributing Miss Congeniality, legally or illegally, should be death.

Re:Wow!

[Necrobruiser]

We don't have, nor should we expect, the right to pirate movies.

But I love Pirate movies! The Curse of the Black Pearl was awesome!

Looks like its just 4 years then.

[TheLittleJetson]

...$6,400 fine for every copy distributed without copyright owner's permission.

Luckily, there were no downloads of these fine films.

Daredevil

[mabu]

If you're distributing Daredevil you deserve to be arrested, piracy or not.

One of those things

[mordx]

The truth is that the Hong Kong street vendors selling pirated copies of movies, software, etc are taking a beating from the people choosing to use P2P methods of obtaining their media. A group of street vendors has taken it upon themselves to turn in every BT user they can identify in the hopes that people will quit using P2P and go back to the street vendors. The cops are rather upset about it to as they get kickbacks from the street vendors which have gotten smaller as well.

iWon news

[Steffan]

Ironic the link is posted on 'iWon' news. Well, he's certainly going to get a prize...

I wonder....

[John Pfeiffer]

I wonder which this guy feels dumber about, getting arrested for using bittorrent, or getting arrested for distributing crap.

And, I take it that figure is in USD, correct? 'cause I could probably find that much in HKD in my COUCH. :P

Re:Wow!

[flyingsquid]

But I love Pirate movies!

Hey, anyone want to go see a pirate movie?

...it's rated ARRRRRR.

Re:Not related to copyright

[Otter]

Miss Congeniality, huh? He picked the wrong Sandra Bullock movie to prepare himself for life as a cyberfugitive...

Re:Choice of movies

[sconeu]

<RANT mode="mpaa">
What do you mean? This guy is singlehandedly responsible for over ONE BILLION DOLLARS (pinky-to-mouth) of our losses for the year!
</RANT>

Re:Don't call it a "BitTorrent Arrest"

[X86Daddy]

Don't call it a "BitTorrent Arrest" -- some of my best friends use BitTorrent for perfectly legitimate reasons... It's really an arrest for piracy.

Don't call it a "Piracy Arrest" -- some of my best friends board aquatic vessels and kill everyone aboard to steal the posessions for perfectly legitimate reasons... It's really an arrest for violating one-sided copyright laws.

Fair punishment

[Anonymous Coward]

Seems like a fair punishment.

Those were horrible movies and unleashed pain and suffering to those who downloaded them.

Re:Is proof even necessary?

[Macadamizer]

I realize the perp is in Hong Kong. I thought that it might be a useful tidbit of info to outline what U.S. law says about this. That's why I prefaced my remark by saying "Under U.S. copyright law."

However, I guess my thought was wrong. I am so sorry.

But hey, at least I learned that I am a douche bag, so it wasn't a complete waste of time...

Re:Fortunately

[Anonymous Coward]

You're not using RIAA-approved math.

He owned an ethernet cable. Ethernet cables can carry full digital copies of almost any move made, and even some that haven't been made yet.

Ethernet cables can carry up to an average of 10 GB/s.

He will live another 75 years or so.

One high-definition movie can be compressed to roughly 1 GB.

Each movie is copied an average of 100 times by other pirates.

Each movie costs the motion picture industry USD25.

Therefore, he is clearly capable of causing at least $59,130,000,000,000 worth of damages (roughly $59 trillion). Maybe more (if he owns TWO cables for instance).

How can we sit around and let people like this walk the streets at night? Can you imagine the financial damage he could do?

Thank God that the police are watching out for us like this.

Uh

[vitaflo]

Associated Press says a 38-year-old was arrested in Hong Kong for uploading Daredevil, Red Planet and Miss Congeniality via a BitTorrent client.

He should have been arrested for his taste in movies.

Re:Remember, kids ....

[Anonymous Coward]

I seen it in a documentary on BBC2....

Re:Not related to copyright

[un1xl0ser]

I wouldn't be able to fucking look at my friends in the face if I was arrested for movies that bad.

I hope they don't release his identity, it should be considered cruel and unusual punishment.