Alleged Operator of Demonoid Released From Jail

An anonymous reader writes "Last August, BitTorrent tracker Demonoid was taken down by law enforcement in the Ukraine. This followed raids in Mexico to arrest the people who ran the site. Panama is somehow involved, too. However, a recent review filed by the U.S. Trade Representative reveals that the criminal case against the main (alleged) operator of Demonoid has stalled, and the person has been released from imprisonment. 'For how long the alleged Demonoid operator was imprisoned is not mentioned. However, the criminal case is ongoing according to the copyright holders, who further mention that it's now proceeding in Ukraine. Demonoid, meanwhile, has moved to Hong Kong where it found a new hosting company and a new .HK domain name. Whether the BitTorrent tracker will ever return to its full glory has yet to be seen.'"

Re:It's just "Ukraine"

[Zontar_Thing_From_Ve]

It's just "Ukraine" not "the Ukraine." (Perhaps you're thinking of "the U.K.")

The rule is that when it was part of the Soviet Union and a specific region, it was OK to call it "The Ukraine" but since independence the country has been quite clear in its official documents, embassy names, etc. that in the English language it is now simply known as Ukraine. Rules for other languages such as French may be different.

I got into an argument once via email with a Ukrainian woman in Kiev who insisted that because some English grammar book written in the 1980s (she actually quoted me the page and relevant section) said that it was "The Ukraine" that apparently this meant that until the end of time the country is to be called The Ukraine in the English speaking world. I thought it was a really odd argument to make as most Ukrainians will insist on not using the "The" when referring to their country if they can speak English, but it just goes to show you how old habits die hard.

Re:There is no "the" in front of Ukraine

[SJHillman]

I live in United States of America. We were formerly run by what is now United Kingdom, which is part of European Union.

"Ukraine" used to mean "borderland" or "homeland", which is one of the reasons using it with the article is so commonplace. To say using "the" is wrong in every single circumstance is wrong, you insensitive the clod.

Ukrainian Justice

[Zontar_Thing_From_Ve]

I can speak Russian rather well (not really good at Ukrainian though) and I've spent a decent amount of time in Ukraine and I have a few friends who live there. I can tell you that justice goes to the highest bidder there at the local level. If the US government wants to bribe a judge, they can get whatever verdict they want. Or if they can convince President Yanukovich that he'll get something back in exchange for sending an "evil pirate" to jail, then his office will just tell the judge what to do. However, if the US just expects the local justice system to act like it would in a western country and they don't bribe or tell the Pres what to do, then anyone facing charges can just bribe the judge himself and get off. It will be interesting to see the outcome, but whatever the verdict is, I have no doubts that it will be completely dishonest and someone will have bribed or cajoled their way into it.