Ty wrote:
Reading the Internet commentary about this has made me feel a little sick. All this talk about waging war on behalf of fallen Megaupload, all the Anonymous shit and the fear that Megaupload is the first "victim" of SOPA...
Get your shit straight people.
The raid on Megaupload and Kim Dotcom was the result of an operation that has been going on for a considerable amount of time. It's not like taking down Youtube because a kid posted a video of them singing Lady Gaga into a hairbrush. Megaupload is a site that allows the free sharing of files, sure, but it has also enabled piracy on a huge scale and the operators have done little to nothing to curb it. Why?
This is why.Money. Dotcom is a huge racketeer, he has made millions and millions from essentially selling material that isn't his. He is a criminal even so far that he has a massive lair situated on a volcano in Auckland. Megaupload isn't a victim of SOPA, it's not a victim at all. Of course this is up to the courts to decide and it will be interesting to see how it all plays out. My point is that Megaupload has done more than enough to earn the wrath of the law and Dotcom isn't an innocent multi-millionaire victim.
This isn't about SOPA though, and all these Internet vigilantes have the completely wrong idea. I've seen so many posts about how people will have to "download everything they can before SOPA is passed". That is the completely wrong end of the stick and is awful for all those who oppose SOPA on rational grounds. People aren't opposed to SOPA because it takes away peoples' "right" to download shit for free over the Internet. It is about granting overbearing powers to copyright holders, copyright laws themselves, fair use, corporate censorship, freedom of information, free speech, unjust penalties to name a few - and on a global scale with the US creating a law that is going to impact countries around the world. I'd
like it if SOPA dealt with piracy, the fact that it doesn't is another reason to oppose it.
People are so willing to showcase their ignorance on the Internet, I'd appreciate if those assuming they're on my side/that I'm on their side would actually learn a thing or two about the situation first.
Also a tip, (not that I think anyone here is dumb enough to fall for it,) but with Megaupload down a lot of opportunists have created sites and advertised them around saying that they are back doors into Megaupload or Megaupload recovery sites. I'd say most of them just spread viruses and try to steal your personal information. Interestingly it showcases another weakness in granting powers to take down websites.