One day after the extensive Internet blackout protest of SOPA and PIPA, the Department of Justice announced that it had charged the owner of the file-sharing site Megaupload with online copyright infringement.
Within hours of the shutdown, the hacker group Anonymous hit several federal and entertainment industry Websites with DDoS (distributed denial of service) attacks. The sites remained offline for the rest of the day.
All this is fuel for a fire that was already raging. SOPA supporters are using the Megaupload takedown as an example of why the legislation is necessary. Anonymous and other anti-SOPA groups are using it as proof that the legislation isn’t necessary.
To start at the top, on Jan. 5, a grand jury indicted seven people and two corporations: Megaupload Limited and Vestor Limited. The charges included engaging in racketeering conspiracy, conspiring to commit copyright infringement, conspiring to commit money laundering, and criminal copyright infringement.
The leader of Megaupload is identified as Kim Dotcom (born Kim Schmitz, aka Kim Tim Jim Vestor). Others charged in the indictment
include Megaupload CMO Finn Batato, graphic designer Julius Bencko, business development head Sven Echternach, the CTO and cofounder Mathias Ortmann, software development head Andrus Nomm, and Bram van der Kolk, who is in charge of the network infrastructure for the Megaupload Websites.
More than 20 search warrants were executed in the United States and eight other countries. About $50 million of assets, targeted sites where Megaupload has servers, and 18 domain names were seized.
If convicted, those involved face up to 50 years in prison on all charges.
After the indictment, Anonymous went to work. A tweet posted by the hacker group said: "The government takes down #Megaupload? 15 minutes later #Anonymous takes down government & record label sites. #ExpectUs"
Belgian Anti-Piracy Federation (Anti-piracy.be/nl/)
Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA.org)
Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI.gov)
HADOPI (HADOPI.fr)
US Copyright Office (Copyright.gov)
Universal Music France (UniversalMusic.fr)
Senator Christopher Dodd (ChrisDodd.com)
Vivendi France (Vivendi.fr)
The White House (Whitehouse.gov)
BMI (BMI.com)
Warner Music Group (WMG.com)
Even though many members of Congress have changed their minds about SOPA, Anonymous contends that the raid on Megaupload "proved that the feds don’t need SOPA or its sister legislation, PIPA, in order to pose a blow to the Web." In a later tweet, Anonymous stated: "Let's just say, for #SOPA supporters their #SOPAblackout is today."
What is striking about the Megaupload takedown is not that it happened. The sites involved should have expected it. But the targets of Anonymous were either oblivious to any threat or unprepared. What is most surprising is that some of these government sites have been targeted by hackers before, and the owners do not seem to have learned their lessons very well. What steps did they take, if any, to prevent the DDoS attacks?
Meanwhile, you can bet that the DOJ and the FBI will not take the retaliation by Anonymous lightly. As much as Anonymous has been in its sights before, yesterday’s events have ensured that the DOJ will now do whatever it can to take Anonymous down.
— Karla Marciszewski is a 19-year veteran of IT in county government, beginning her career in mainframe operations. She has held several positions and now works in IT security.
That's exactly my point - users don't have legal rights - they have, at best, contractual obligations. When I put data on facebook, they have the data - if I trust them, I can do so, but I have no recourse if they publish it, other than to check the user agreement, and verify that I waived my right to sue even in cases of gross negligence. So what 'rights' were removed when the host was taken down?
If it's a free service, there may be no legally binding contract at all - that is just saying that the users trust the site. (I don't know, but it's hard to enforce anything when the user has no ability to negotiate the contract, and I don't think any consideration was exchanged. IANAL either, but I can't imagine a suit succeeding in winning damages on the basis of not having a service provided for free.)
I'm not sure it's so simple, David, and of course Joe has written today about materials that he and his collaborators placed on Megaupload and can't currently access. Suspect behavior by the host doesn't seem to me automatically to remove users' rights (I am NOT a lawyer!).
I disagree - the fact that something legal is done does not justify assuming that I can rely on the servers. (I think the issue is with the law being badly created, not with the enforcement nor the people who are losing their data. This means that the only ones responsible are congress - and the american people who elected them, or failed to vote.)
If you drive to the bank, park legally, withdraw $100, walk out, and buy drugs with they money you withdrew, you broke the law. Was it "entirely illegal"? No, but knowing that you were doing so, I wouldn't ask you to take a package to the post office for me, because I realize that my package delivery relies on your ability to do the drug deal without being caught.
This is substantially the same thing - people knew that megauploads was infringing, but used their servers. They can be blamed, not for doing anything illegal, but for being reckless about who they entrust - not illegal, but not deserving of pity either.
In a later tweet, Anonymous stated: "Let's just say, for #SOPA supporters their #SOPAblackout is today."
The government just doesn't get it. This was like a spoiled kid throwing a fit after their mom told them they couldn't have a candy bar in the food store.
If tech is disinclined to fix what is broke, they'd better believe that sooner or later someone will come to fix it for them. And fix them while they're at it. The shutdown of MegaUpload and the arrest of Kim Dotcom and associates looks like a powerful signal that the lawless era of the Internet is coming to an end. Anyway have a lovely day.
"All it takes is someone with some skills, dedication and time to find them. There is a reason why they say the only secure network is one in a locked room with no access to the room and no connectivity outside the room. But that is also a worthless network."
Sadly thats not even secure. Do some research on TEMPEST. You'd need that locked room to be a highly sophisticated Faraday's Cage.
Granted, the average Joe does not have to worry about this, unless they are members of the tinfoil hat brigade.
You're right about the panic button being hit. My son told me that a number of sites have shut down their US operations and some that have servers in foreign countries have now blocked traffic from the US.
Now those I would be suspicious of having illegal content. If they were legitimate, why the rush to shut down or block traffic?
I hate to burst your bubble, but the government DOES monitor all your communications - at least email and some wireless communications. Granted they are looking for specific key words and phrases, but they are monitored, non-the-less. And they didn't need your OK to do it.
I don't remember the clipper chip... could you tell me what it was?
Sharing 1 or 2 songs doesn't raise an eyebrow... but people who have downloaded thousands of songs/movies from these site? They get hit with BIG fines the minimum of which is $250,000 and could do time in prison.
I agree with you, though. I think it's the copyright owners job to montor for copyrighted material then there should be a process which they have to follow to file a complaint.
Everyone is entitled to due process... where was the due process for the Megauploads people? where was the assumption of innocence?
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