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DOTCOM saga - updates
IainB:
@40hz: I suspect that you might have summarised the situation pretty accurately. It will be interesting to see how close your prediction is as events unfold.
40hz:
Yeah. Unfortunately in this case the game has completely shifted. It's no longer about copyrights and IP laws. It's now about the "powers that be" saving face. And that's a very dangerous game to be caught up in.
It's also usually not a game you can win unless you can topple a throne or two in the process.
Long-term, I'm not too bullish on Kim's chances of survival unless he agrees to work something out. There's a saying that the deadliest enemy you can have is somebody who wronged you first - and knows it. And Kim certainly has one (or more) of those right now.
By the same token there's wisdom in the old saw that begins with "he who fights, then runs away..."
I think I'll end up respecting Kim no matter which way he plays this one.
wraith808:
I think I'll end up respecting Kim no matter which way he plays this one.
-40hz (November 17, 2012, 08:46 AM)
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I'm already respecting him for making it this far...
40hz:
I think I'll end up respecting Kim no matter which way he plays this one.
-40hz (November 17, 2012, 08:46 AM)
--- End quote ---
I'm already respecting him for making it this far...
-wraith808 (November 17, 2012, 09:55 AM)
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Oui, je suis d'accord avec vous! :Thmbsup:
IainB:
Worth a read:
Megaupload Search Warrant Requests Ignored Massive Non-Infringing Use
As a direct result of the Megaupload raid many legitimate users of the site lost access to their personal files. To find out why the Government put the interests of copyright holders before those of the public, one user convinced the court to unseal the seizure warrant matarials. Surprisingly, however, there is absolutely no mention of Megaupload’s legal use in the released records. In a response Megaupload founder Kim Dotcom says the whole case is a tragic copyright comedy...
(Read the rest at the link.)
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Looking at it in practical terms, how might you go about this Dotcom raid if you were the US authorities pursuing the matter?
Some people - not me you understand - might suggest that you could perhaps take the following approach:
* Objective:
Stated objective - To nail and bring to justice a commercial group suspected of copyright crime.
Primary objective 1: To destroy their business enterprise rather than succeed in them being found guilty (guilt being likely to be too difficult to substantiate).
Primary objective 2: To communicate the message that so-called "copyright crime" could be met with penalties worse than death and is just not worth it.
* Constraints:
All strategic instructions and directions are to come from the **AA.
The police/SS authorities are to be responsible for devising/executing the strategy for surveillance, SWAT and seizure in their respective territories.
* Problem:
Authority to proceed needs to be based on evidence that a serious large-scale money-laundering/Mafia-type crime has been committed, however accusations are weak on substantive evidential proof.
* Solution:
* Make the proof up! For example, including fitting-up the suspects by getting them to behave like they committed a crime, by telling them to follow the directions from the FBI, during surveillance. Don't mention that you did that in the seizure warrant or subsequent charges/accusations. It'll leak out later.
* So as to avoid the thing going to trial, arrange to make the raid illegal by default, so that charges will reluctantly have to be dropped - "It was a 'genuine mistake' yer honour".
* Collaborate closely with the police/SS authorities and keep stressing the threats/risks so as to wind them up into a feva and testosterone/adrenaline-fuelled feel-good state of high alertness.
* Communicate using FEAR: Act like terrorists so as to make an example that will literally terrify other suspected/potential copyright "criminals" (that's potentially every consumer on the planet). Let the dogs of war loose - make it a no-holds-barred, fun-filled SWAT-fest-with-prejudice exercise! Make it seriously over-the-top excessive violence at all times. (Don't waste all that testosterone/adrenaline!)
"That's the way to do it!" (- Punch, in Punch and Judy).
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* Wiretapping the suspects illegally (without warrant).
* After seizure, don't mention the humungus amount of legitimate property held on the servers. If there's any liability for damages or consequential losses from any of this, it's an externality that the State will be obliged to foot the bill for.
* Effectively commit a crime (you're doing all this illegally, don't forget) against tens of thousands of people's property - and probably that of the suspects' themselves - by unwarranted and deliberate excessive use of force and seizure, seizing all servers and property (content/data), in order to destroy the suspect's business. Just Go For It and never mind the collateral damage - this is a SWAT-fest, don't forget!
* Encourage the police to commit borderline/actual perjury in court, when giving their testimony. They are to just do their job the best they can.
* Remember to ensure that you do all this illegally - because the warrants were invalid (both in the US and New Zealand, and maybe elsewhere too).
No, promising as this might seem, I really do think that it would be highly inadvisable to follow such an approach as is being suggested above by these people.
I mean, if you did actually do all that has been suggested, then wouldn't it rather look like as well as actually be an illegal action committed by police/SS authorities internationally?
I could be wrong, of course, but that could arguably be a close fit with the definition of a monumental State clusterfark. And then the State would also have the devil of a job trying to pay for and clear up the mess and discombobulation afterwards. Think of the cost in lost votes!
Oh, but wait...maybe that explains why the DOJ dragged their feet so much over releasing the sealed seizure warrant documents...
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