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.'"
Interesting story behind MegaUpload (Score:5, Informative)
The whole article is interesting read, but here are some interesting bits:
Kim ‘Kimble’ Schmitz [wikipedia.org] is a quite unbelievable character. Born in 1974 in Germany, he grew to become a computer hacker, successful businessman and convicted criminal. In 1998 Schmitz received two years’ probation for hacking into corporate networks and abusing telephone services but the draw of big money was just around the corner.
In 2001 Schmitz pulled off a huge stock market bluff which netted him a small fortune. After buying shares worth hundreds of thousands of dollars in the almost bankrupt LetsBuyIt.com, he announced that he would invest 50 million euros in the company, but in reality he didn’t have the money. His declaration led to the biggest single-day rise on the German stock market which allowed Schmitz to sell his shares and pocket $1.5 million profit. He was arrested for insider-trading in 2002, sentenced to a term of 20 months and given a 100,000 euro fine.
Also in 2001, one of Schmitz’s companies loaned another one 280,000 euros and conveniently both went bust shortly after. Schmitz later pleaded guilty to embezzlement and received another two years probation.
According to a recent report from New Zealand, Schmitz is currently under investigation for using multiple names to register three luxury cars including a Rolls-Royce Phantom convertible. The cars are adorned with personal plates – GOD, WANTED and GUILTY.
The vehicles are registered to an address in Coatesville, New Zealand, which turns out to be a very special venue indeed – Schmitz’s newly-acquired mansion and the country’s most expensive house, a snip at just over $20 million USD.
An investigative piece found Schmitz in Hong Kong business records with the new name "Kim Tim Jim Vestor", allegedly having a Finnish passport, acting as director of several "Mega-" companies, among them Megaupload Ltd. and Megarotic Ltd.
As of 2008, Kim currently lives on the top floor of the Grand Hyatt in Hong Kong with his wife and child. He goes by an alias of “Kim Vestor.” http://www.gfy.com/showthread.php?p=15096149 [gfy.com]
Re:Interesting story behind MegaUpload (Score:5, Interesting)
There are millions of people who would sign up for that sort of deal.
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You're thinking of American prison. In Europe, they don't feel the need to provide their criminals with sex slaves.
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I thought that depended on the country?
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Re:Interesting story behind MegaUpload (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Interesting story behind MegaUpload (Score:5, Insightful)
...and most Americans seem proud of the violent, racist prison system they have.
That's better?
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Followed by the WAR ON WAR.
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That's beginning to sound eerily like a bad series of porno flicks.
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It is. The whole "War on X" meme exists because it gets people excited enough to stop thinking. Of course, it's getting just as tired and cliched as most porn movies; still, it will get milked as long as people keep buying it.
Re:Interesting story behind MegaUpload (Score:5, Insightful)
No our prison system is indeed violent and racist to what can be categorized as an astonishing degree.
Our prisons are violent relative to others in first world nations with more reported incidents per capita.
Our prisons do indeed have gangs split on racial lines and are havens to a certain extent for racism.
Re:Interesting story behind MegaUpload (Score:5, Insightful)
Maybe we should put fewer criminals in prison and more law-abiding citizens. I'm sure they'd be much nicer places.
Just a thought.
That's how we manufacture the criminals needed to keep our prison system going.
Re:Interesting story behind MegaUpload (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Interesting story behind MegaUpload (Score:5, Interesting)
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Think of it - counties fight to get a new jail because it means jobs.
Re:Interesting story behind MegaUpload (Score:5, Insightful)
The US prison system makes very little effort to rehabilitate; contrary to popular myth. Its well known for making prisoners more violent and more proficient criminals. Furthermore, it creates a clearing house of criminal contacts for criminal activity on the outside.
And it gets even worse. The US system is set up to punish criminals for the rest of their life helping to ensure that once you enter the criminal system you have very little chance of ever making it out. Worse, they illegally strip their Constitutional rights so as to ensure they have no say in changing the system for the better; even after they've paid their price.
As first world industrialized countries go, the US prison system is one of the absolutely worst on the planet. And the US prison systems is the largest growing US government service to date. The US prison system houses more people than some countries have in total population - and growing. The US prison system has a huge chunk of those are there for minor drug charges where they are trained to be become better, more violent criminals on the inside and continuously punished on the outside so as to ensure they are forced to re-enter the prison system at a later date. The US prison system has one of the highest reviticism rates of any first world, industrialized countries. Many argue the high reviticism rate is by design.
Notice the steep rise in incarcerations after declaring the war on drugs. [wikipedia.org] Anyone in support of the war on drugs is willfully supporting murder, sex trades, slavery, and yes, even terrorism (much comes from the middle east - like Afghanistan), and turning some of the most worthless humans ever born into some of the most powerful humans on the planet - while taking it out on the US' (and other countries') civilian populations. By every measure and every statistic, the war on drugs has been lost almost as soon as it started. And every year, the US tax payer pays billions to fuel paramilitary training and growth of our police forces while create a professional, criminal, industry on the other side, while paying billions more to imprison the very "criminals" which the first billions created.
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The US prison system makes very little effort to rehabilitate; contrary to popular myth. Its well known for making prisoners more violent and more proficient criminals.
Contrary to popular myth? I thought that's exactly what the popular myth was: US prisons are university for career criminals.
Of course the privatized prison system profits from having more criminals to lock up, so to the prison system, it's a system that works very well. Only it's society that pays the cost.
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Citation? I personally know multiple people with varying criminal records who spent time in Federal penitentiaries. Their stays ranged from a year or two in a minimum security prison to multiple years in a maximum security prison where all the really bad criminals go. The stories I hear do not corroborate your claim: perhaps you have links to
Re:Interesting story behind MegaUpload (Score:5, Insightful)
"Lots of people don't like their tax money is used like that, but that's the way it is - being in jail in most of Europe is like taking a relaxing holiday."
You're overstating this ability particular with regards to your earlier comments about TVs and game consoles- tax payers do NOT pay for these, the criminals are made to pay for these themselves if they choose to.
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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 m
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Have you seen most European jails? They aren't bad at all. Usually after a while you get a TV and maybe a game console in your room (and lots of other things if you want to order them), theres lots of activity every day, you can go on weekend holidays and the food is even better than what is offered to school kids. Lots of people don't like their tax money is used like that, but that's the way it is - being in jail in most of Europe is like taking a relaxing holiday.
OK. Have you BEEN in a European jail? First of all, "Europe" is quite a large place, and a German jail is different from a Greek jail, but even German jails are not luxury hotels.
"Lots of activity" just means you'll be required to work. "Food is better than what is offered to school kids" is rubbish, plain and simple. Your social contact is extremely limited, and what contact you do have is with other criminals, who - surprise surprise - aren't going to be angels, even if the wardens will generally take car
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Aye well many Americans claim the US prison system isn't hard enough on the inmates.
Re:Interesting story behind MegaUpload (Score:5, Insightful)
And no matter how hard it is, these same idiots will keep claiming the prison system isn't hard enough. Isn't it time we start ignoring people who don't make any sense.
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Isn't it time we start ignoring people who don't make any sense.
Ideally, yes. Unfortunately, they are allowed to vote, so that the people who *do* listen to them can get elected.
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Part of that is the high amount of false convictions to begin with.
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Something tells me that violent natured games are a hard sell in jail...
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Along with free dental and health care. Oh, yeah, and all the ass-pounding and salad-tossing you can take.
You have reminded me of one of the great mysteries I never want to solve... The funniest HBO documentary I ever watched was about prison. In it, one inmate, a professional "Ho", explains how he conducts his business with the "fresh fish"......
I'll paraphrase:
"I take em in the utility closet. I make em toss my salad. Having yo salad tossed means having to asshole eatin out. I let them choose between jelly and syrup. I prefer syrup".
Having related that story I will agree with you. 1.5 million dollars, o
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It's what one street-walker did to a priest in Italy.
(okay, she was having an epileptic seizure at the time, but you get my point)
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$1.5 million profit. $100,000 Euro fine and 20 months free room and board.
There are millions of people who would sign up for that sort of deal.
If Germany has anything like the Proceeds of Crime act then its likely the fine was on top of seizing the profit from this.
The "Proceeds of Crime Act" is a joke. When's the last time a white-collar criminal actually paid all the money back?
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Sounds like a self-important megalomaniac fraudulent asshole, but damn if he doesn't have style.
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Sounds like an upstanding citizen to me. Ultimately most of these sites are for profit. The users may feel they are striking a blow for freedom but the sites are largely run by people trying to make a buck.
If someone can make a buck by striking a blow for freedom that'd be an instance of the system working the way it should. I like that better than the obscene profits and amounts of political power which tend to reward those who help bring tyranny.
Unfortunately there's little reason to doubt that someone in Congress is thinking of the optimal way to ban sites like this. Or one of the agencies under the executive branch is looking for a way to do that without involving Congress.
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Actually (Score:5, Interesting)
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But remember, Napster was encouraging piracy. MegaUpload and friends claim that they would never do such a thing.
Re:Actually (Score:4, Insightful)
in order to find megaupload liable for infringement the court would be overturning the entire DMCA notice and take down system, and going back to hosts liable for user content. The entire internet industry would flip out over this and laws would be passed very quickly.
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Rapidshare have always responded swiftly to my DMCA requests.
Most of the file sharing sites are the same.
That has to give them at least some protection...
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There are some very basic concepts out there when it comes to Internet Service Providers. For many people, an ISP is just an Internet Access Provider to connect people to the Internet, but the reality is that any company that provides a service on the Internet is an ISP. Now, there are some basic things that go back to the early days, before AOL was even really on the Internet, and only had a connection to send e-mail to/from the Internet. First off, if an ISP does not filter content in any way, th
File sharers use Visa (Score:3)
What's in your wallet?
Not a safe move. (Score:5, Insightful)
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No just rich.
Being in the right helps and sometimes it even wins against any amount of money, but short of those situations rich always wins, at least in the US.
We have the best legal system money has bought.
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Is this cause or reality? I mean most people with the deepest pockets take more time to protect themselves, meaning they are less apt to get sued.
On the converse, less people without deep pockets spend the money to protect themselves and they usually have a smaller grasp of the laws. I don't know how many "artists" I know who think simply mailing an envelope with their songs in it has the same effect as a registered copyright on file at the copyright office if someone takes their songs. And even after maili
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What's even more appalling is that when we all get together for a class action lawsuit to "even out the odds" we end up waiting a few years for a complimentary fucking pack of doodads or 30-day of free service from the company that screwed us all over.
There really isn't protection in numbers either.....
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Assuming, of course, that those suing aren't being taken to the cleaners by ambulance chasing lawyers who they look up in the yellow pages.
Like everything else, this is hardly a simple problem.
SB
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?
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The ruling class doesn't mind racism. "When white working people and black working people are fighting each other, they're not fighting us."
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Pretty much.
The only good war is the class war.
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:Wikileaks (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Wikileaks (Score:5, Insightful)
When I was a kid, I was taught that the Government existed, in America, as a reflection of the people, and the Constitution and Bill of Rights were a reflection of those goals.
If the Government is malevolent, cruel, vile, and evil, maybe that's not the Government's fault.
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When I was a kid, I was taught that the Government existed, in America, as a reflection of the people, and the Constitution and Bill of Rights were a reflection of those goals.
They want to make the people feel somewhat in control so that they keep wasting their votes on the same two parties over and over and act like nothing is wrong. It's such a shame that the government was given so much power, and that many people don't see a problem with this. The government, for the most part, doesn't even have to listen to them.
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"The government, for the most part, doesn't even have to listen to them."
Nor does a large corporation for that matter... Maybe there is an issue with size, at what point does an organization become so large and powerful that it's detrimental to society?
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at what point does an organization become so large and powerful that it's detrimental to society?
Probably big enough so that it's able to cut off a major source of funding for someone or something or effortlessly censor vast amounts of speech.
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Well, seeing how an organization exists in the first place because at least one person thought he could accomplish more together with someone else than on his own, I'd say that organization of any size is potentially dangerous. However, we humans can't live without them, so that leaves the option of trying to leash and regulate them to limit the harm they can do. Democracy is
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Yes. People hide their own dishonesty from themselves though, pushing away and obscuring the results so that it looks like something else. Give almost anyone the opportunity, and they'll be a tyrant. On the other hand, maybe it's too much to expect for people to resist the temptation. Other countries that like to congratulate themselves for being less evil than America are sometimes mistaking virtue for differing circumstances I think.
Re:Wikileaks (Score:5, Insightful)
But that's the point, they have set the precedent with Wikileaks. If they close some accounts despite their legality, we must assume they actively support those they don't shut down.
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You're welcome to make that assumption, but jumping to that conclusion doesn't make you right. Most companies react to legal notices, bad press, or public pressure purely for financial reasons. To say that they "actively support" the others is simply being naive.
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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.
But they chose to set that precedent anyway. And then it makes me wonder why they like racism so much more than free press.
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Mastercard has 1st amendment rights, too. One of those is the right to disassociate themselves from speech they don't approve of. If they think whatever hit they'd take by cutting off the KKK is worth it, that's their call.
1st amendment protections only mean you get to say whatever you want. It's not a magic shield that should render you immune from criticism or consequences. After all, those criticisms and consequences are just other people exercising exactly the same rights.
Exactly. That's why it's important that we do criticize MasterCard for their support of racism and disapproval of free press. They have the right to their opinion, but we have the right to ours. And we have the right to make sure customers are aware of MasterCard's opinion on racism and free press.
As a practical note, Mastercard can't afford to cut off very many organizations - pretty much what a government asks them too. If they open it up any wider, then they face constant pressures to cut off ever more organizations, as we see here from the RIAA.
That's why it would have been smarter of them to not cut off anyone unless compelled to do so by a court order. Now they're opening themselves up to criticism that they disapprove of free press, and approve of rac
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According to upcoming wikileaks documents, they already have.
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urinated, swallowed, or both?
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And.. are these swallows unladen?
Slashdot has been getting harder lately..
-RG.
Re:Wikileaks (Score:5, Informative)
You're assuming that they're being pressured by some political agency.
Don't. They are the, single biggest financial organization in the world next to the Federal Reserve. Not even the World Bank is as big as MC.
MC can look every single world leader directly in the eye, whip out their privates right in front of the cameras, and urinate directly into those eyes, one at a time, and nobody would DARE do or say anything. More than a few would swallow.
They're doing this because they found a way to make it profitable.
Mastercard: - Net assets: 7.47 Billion
- Net income: 1.46 Billion
- Criticism by world leaders:
Sued for anti-trust by the EU in 2009 and forced to reduce its fees to 0.2% of purchase
Criticised this year by members of the European Parliament for cutting of payments to Wikileaks.
Federal Reserve:
Total Assets: 2.34 Trillion
Total Liabilities: 1.348 Trillion
Net Equity: 56.78 Billion
Also holds about 6.4 Trillion dollars worth off securities of the balance sheet.
Mastercard is a piddly little company. I'd be surprised if it was even in the biggest 100 financial institutions in the world. Infact it's not even a money lender. It's just one of the large world-wide transaction processing networks. Although by no-means the largest or globally accepted.
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Quick and dirty search:
Products: (Mastercard) Payment systems (Visa)Payment systems
Revenue: US$5
You are joking.... right? (Score:2)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mastercard [wikipedia.org]
Revenue US$5.10 Billion (FY 2009)[1]
Operating income US$2.26 Billion (FY 2009)
Net income US$1.46 Billion (FY 2009)[1]
Total assets US$7.47 Billion (FY 2009)[2]
Total equity US$3.50 Billion (FY 2009)[2]
Employees 5,000 (2008)
Seriously? Thats pretty damn small....
world bank financial statement, as of June 30, 2009
http://siteresources.worldbank.org/EXTAR2009/Resources/6223977-1253132981998/6440371-1253209164289/Financial_Statements.pdf [worldbank.org]
total assets- 2
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Needs A New Tag (Score:5, Interesting)
Slashdot needs a new tag for stories like this?
I nominate "bitchslap".
riaa/mpaa have no balls (Score:5, Insightful)
Oh really? (Score:4, Insightful)
A quick check of Megaupload's website shows that their prices are about the same as all the other companies this same business. If the "vast majority" of their revenue comes from advertising then why aren't their prices significantly lower, undercutting the competition and bringing in even more customers? I have a feeling someone at MegaUpload has a big ego and is saying things they may regret later.
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Not about copyright infringement (Score:5, Insightful)
This is not about copyright infringement this is about media company's attacking the internet. They want you to be watching TV, going to the movies and renting DVD they don't want you entertaining yourself on the internet.
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.
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I can speak for the music industry as a sound engineer and touring musician.
No, you can not. You can only speak for yourself. You presume yourself right into being an asshole. This is the propaganda technique of the "Appeal to Authority".
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.
It is the purpose of the majority of businesses to expend as little money as they can to return as much profit as possible. It does not preclude the creation of art outside of their system. This is a red herring. The *AA are the ones who benefit most from strong copyright laws, because it enables them to make the most profit from their noninvolveme
my question (Score:2)
Does the MPAA/RIAA fall under the Legislative, Judicial or the Executive branch of government?
Or are they just buyers of "bought dogs"?
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Hand Bag Sex Port?
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It is spamming and it's a bot.
What you do is closer to trolling. Although I am quite sure this bot deserves it, it will probably not return here to check for reactions. Thus the only thing you accomplish is getting frustrated and irritating us.
Besides that I am unsure what a skin color has to do with trolling.
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.
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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.
Wellll... I am just as concerned about the intent behind this as the next person. I would not be so worried though.
MC eliminating those customers is not the easiest thing to do in the world. There have been known problems with scammers and con artists putting up merchant account after merchant account with fake documentation, fake websites, etc. We are all running around Slashdot upset about MC claiming they are going to fix the holes, but seriously people, it's not like there are just a few! :) MC and
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Is it only for piracy?
If so, then it sounds to me that the **aas wouldn't have much problem going after them directly. I'm sort of thinking there is something more legitimate about megaupload that scares **AAs into taking back room negotiations over law and order.
Re:Why should the RIAA even bother with a response (Score:5, Insightful)
Megauploads is for one thing: piracy.
Odd. I thought it was for uploading files. I guess the only purpose of a knife is too kill people, then.
I thought everyone wanted these big corporations to start acting ethically.
You act like everyone believes that copyright infringement is 'wrong'. This is not so.
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Odd. I thought it was for uploading files. I guess the only purpose of a knife is too kill people, then.
In this case, it's more like a knife that thousands use to kill people, and one token person standing there with a loaf of bread in their other hand. Putting aside legal defences of "it's not our fault if people misuse it", do you *honestly* believe the reality is other than Megaupload being overwhelmingly used for piracy?
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In this case, it's more like a knife that thousands use to kill people, and one token person standing there with a loaf of bread in their other hand.
It wasn't made for that purpose. While that would be unfortunate, it really isn't the fault of the tool. Also, there's no accurate way to measure exactly how often that it's used for piracy. At least, I'm fairly certain of that. There's no magical way to be aware of every single file on the website and be able to tell if it's illegal or not.
"it's not our fault if people misuse it"
It isn't their fault.
do you *honestly* believe the reality is other than Megaupload being overwhelmingly used for piracy?
Did you read what he said? He said it was only used for piracy.
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Here's a thought... if one can so easily affect their business model as to cause a significant adverse effect on their ability to run a business, and the person can do it without breaking the law in any way, then maybe they should rethink their business model.
Losing Mastercard would create chaos for any retailer. Maybe stores that accept Mastercard should rethink their business model, since letting just anyone inside can result in anarchy. Maybe Mastercard itself should rethink its business model, since millions of people could start dropping their cards in the street, with $0 liability.
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Maybe Mastercard itself should rethink its business model, since millions of people could start dropping their cards in the street, with $0 liability.
The $0 liability doesn't count if you are careless with the card, much less if you deliberately lose it. Obviously they would have to prove it though.
Re:Why should the RIAA even bother with a response (Score:5, Insightful)
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Losing Mastercard would create chaos for any retailer.
If you've ever been in a small town store, they usually only accept 1 type of credit card (and it probably isn't mastercard).
I was a bit surprised the first time it happened to me, but the more I traveled, the more I realized it's pretty much business as usual for the large portion of the country that isn't a big city/town or its suburbs.
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If you've ever been in a small town store, they usually only accept 1 type of credit card (and it probably isn't mastercard).
I have never, ever seen a credit card terminal where they could only process one type of card. Virtually every processor will take both MC and Visa, usually also Discover for some reason. And I have definitely been to all kinds of shithole podunk towns. Sometimes they don't take credit cards at all, though. Often, they don't take American Express, just like Visa said...
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Absolutely. This is like Spy vs Spy.
Pass the popcorn and strap yourselves in. There might be some collateral damage.
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Why's that? Do you have some reason for saying that or are you just trolling?
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