Crackdown on BT Users in Hong Kong

griffinn writes "100 BitTorrent users in Hong Kong are about to receive legal threats from the MPIA (Hong Kong's equivalent of the MPAA), BusinessWeek reports. The users were randomly selected from more than 6000 IP addresses collected by investigators. Customs officials are also following through on their previous arrest of a 38-year-old man who allegedly uploaded three movies." From the article: "If convicted, the suspect faces up to four years in prison and a fine of 50,000 Hong Kong dollars ($6,400) for every illegal copy."

I'm Spartacus!

[CrosbieFitch]

If you ask me, the other 5900 BitTorrent users should come forward and say "I'M SPARTACUS!"

China

[Changa_MC]

I say, it's about time China recieved the same lack of freedoms that we have right here in the good old US of A.

Maybe they can plead down...

[yotto]

...to something like Manslaughter or Murder 3.

no way!!

[flyingsquid]

People are pirating entertainment in Southeast Asia?

BT doesn't always mean BitTorrent

[Anonymous Coward]

Am I the only one who glanced at the headline and wondered why Hong Kong was cracking down on Blue Tooth users?

Poor Chan

[digitaldc]

So sad, I wonder if there was another reason for arresting this man?
He should have done what everyone else does in China, just go to the local street market and buy the pirated copy.
They should also reduce the sentence due to the bad selection of movies he made (Daredevil, Red Planet, Miss Congeniality), he deserves no more than a slap on the wrist and good movie guide.

Re:smartness

[over_exposed]

Are you really concerned about how well the presumed guilty file-swappers will fit in... in PRISON? I don't ever recall someone getting let out of a jail sentence because "the other prisoners would think they're pussies."

Re:smartness

[Spy der Mann]

Kinda a waste of jail space, I think.

Meanwhile, in a HK prison...

(translated from chinese for your convenience)

"What ya guys here for?" asked a rather strong looking villain.

"I murdered ten people", said one, chewing a gum.
"I raped a girl", said another.
"I tried to steal a bank, and killed a hostage. That was my mistake."
"And you?"
(timid looking nerd guy) "I downloaded a movie with bittorrent..."

(The criminals gasp in shock and fear)

Re:So... this is China sucking up to US Senators?

[Trigun]

Personally, if that was the upper limit of the punishment, I'd go for the caning over three years in prison. Hell, I'd set up weekly appointments for canings just so I can keep torrenting. (yes, I just verbed that word. Grammar Nazis ho!)

Re:So... this is China sucking up to US Senators?

[Anonymous Coward]

Hell, I'd set up weekly appointments for canings just so I can keep torrenting.

Go ahead and admit it. You're not really interested in the torrents, are you?

Daredevil, Red Planet and Miss Congeniality

[Anonymous Coward]

Spreading this crap is more deserving of a littering charge than piracy.

Re:China

[aleatory_story]

What's up with this Anonymous Coward battle going on? Someone send for a butcher.

Re:China

[meringuoid]

I have to wonder about this.

You'd expect that if there was one place in the world you could do your thing safe from persecution by corporate cartels, it would be in a communist country.

I realise that the Party in China is rather lax and generally much too soft on counterrevolutionary and imperialist elements, but this is bloody ridiculous...

When I win the lottery...

[abulafia]

The users were randomly selected from more than 6000 IP addresses collected by investigators.

Neat.

Instead of lotteries being a tax on the numerically challenged funnelled through the state to gambling operations, they're now becoming a direct tax for the benefit of copyright holders.

You, too can become a winner!

$6400 is cheap...

[gillbates]

Considering that in the U.S., the RIAA wants you to pay $150,000 per song.

For all of the oppression done by the communist party, the RIAA still has them beat.