MegaUpload Dares RIAA To Sue Them 255
Dangerous_Minds writes "Yesterday, there were reports that the RIAA and MPAA were working with Mastercard to cut off payments to so-called 'rogue-websites' like MegaUpload. Today, a spokesperson from MegaUpload issued a response to the RIAA on ZeroPaid. Bonnie Lam of MegaUpload said, 'the vast majority of our revenue is coming from advertising.' She also said, 'Megaupload is a legitimate business operating within the boundaries of the law. In five years of operation we have not been sued by a single content owner. If the RIAA or MPAA would have legal grounds they would have taken us to court by now. We suggest that they attack us within the legal system and stop labeling us until they have something to show.'"
Re:Interesting story behind MegaUpload (Score:5, Interesting)
There are millions of people who would sign up for that sort of deal.
Actually (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Interesting story behind MegaUpload (Score:5, Interesting)
Wikileaks (Score:5, Interesting)
I feel like once they did this for WikiLeaks, the floodgates opened and now Mastercard is going to be under pressure to cancel accounts left and right. Heck, why isn't Mastercard closing the accounts for the Ku Klux Klan? How come you can still donate using Mastercard?
Needs A New Tag (Score:5, Interesting)
Slashdot needs a new tag for stories like this?
I nominate "bitchslap".
Re:Wikileaks (Score:4, Interesting)
They shouldn't be closing accounts for the KKK. As much as I despise the KKK, they currently are acting within the 1st amendment of the constitution, and imho, businesses like Mastercard shouldn't discriminate against companies whose politics they disagree with, like the KKK or Wikileaks. It sets a bad precedent, and while legal, isn't cricket.
Re:Why should the RIAA even bother with a response (Score:5, Interesting)
Umm, MC isn't halting payments - at least not yet according to the umm articles linked. Mega was mentioned as one of the services in particular that the *IAA would want this halted with - supposedly since I haven't found them mentioned in my searches. Mega is simply stating that IF this were done it a) wouldn't impact them overly much and b) if they are doing something illegal why not come after them directly?
Frankly it's a disturbing prospect that someone could knock down a company by simply trying to strangle funding in this manner - we shoudl all be concerned. I also wonder if Mega has considered that they might also go after the advertisers payments in some way also.
I don't see good coming of this at all IF indeed the *IAAs have found a way to twist the arms of funding supplies like this.
Re:Not about copyright infringement (Score:4, Interesting)
Mod parent UP!
I can speak for the music industry as a sound engineer and touring musician. The RIAA cannot bitch about the theft of the fake art they manufacture and promote. Produce and promote real talent and people will pay for it voluntarily, guaranteed.
For every successful band there's a dozen equally good candidates that the MIAA quash so they can produce and promote one band to capture the same market all the others would have shared. Then they take all the profits and pay the artists only slightly more than each of the dozen would have made. It is literally the mandate of the RIAA to cripple artistic development so that they make sure their offerings are only as good as will galvanize the market to their brand at the least expense. Just ask any failed musician with a huge advance they have to pay back because their A&R guy fucked them.
Napster was so popular because it was a fascinating new avenue available to people, not knowing the harm it caused. Now that it's apparent the damage piracy causes to musical development and diversity, people will pony up for artists they respect. I wish those most affected by the early days of piracy would step up and challenge both piracy and the industry's response to it. As poorly accepted as Metallica's "Beer GOOD, Napster BAD" impression of anti-piracy was, it was bang on. If say, Chris Cornell and Billy Corgan now stepped up to reinforce that argument for the sake of emerging artists, the message would be much better received.
Re:Interesting story behind MegaUpload (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Interesting story behind MegaUpload (Score:3, Interesting)
The philosophy behind this is that people are getting their freedom taken away, not their human rights or dignities. Also, "weekend off" sentences are not standard -it depends on the senteb=nce, the jurisdiction, the time served and the offence committed. And there still is a big difference between a Spanish or even a Belgian jail and, say a Norwegian or Dutch one -with the latter being the more "comfortable".
Note: any TV's, Okama gamespheres and the like have to be rented, and are more expensive than the money you'd get for "working": making paper bags or clothespins or so. So it's only "nice" if you can afford "nice".
But hey, if i see documentaries about the US prison system, I guess even a pauper with no tv is a million times better off here. It's because our society doesn't see prison as punishment only, but also as a re-education system to get people integrated in society again. At least, that's the theory. In practice, prison is still the place most criminals meet and build their structures, Usual Suspects style.