[pp.int.general] Other (no sot good) reaction to MU joint complaint campaign

[Andrew Norton]

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On 1/31/2012 11:17 AM, Christian Hufgard wrote:
> Hi Richard,
> 
> On 31.01.2012 11:34, Richard Stallman wrote:
>>     > This is why the government should aim to minimize that harm.
>>     > Even if some of it is inevitable, not all of it is.
>>
>>     And the company does not have any responsibility?
>>
>> The company has no responsibility over how the FBI handles the
>> shutdown of its servers, because it has no control over that.
>> Megaupload can't do anything now to help those users get their data
>> back.  Only the state can do that.
> 
> That's right. But they might have behaved a little less criminal before
> the raid. Other sharehosters like rapidshare were not raided. And people
> often tend to forget, that it was not just MegaUpload that caused the raid.

Are the rapidshare directors in an easy extradition country? Had they
just announced a service that would severely undercut some of the music
industry's 'power', has rapidshare been in the news a lot the previous
2-3 weeks because of improper takedowns by a major player in the music
industry? Had rapidshare just managed to get endorsements from a bunch
of big-name American music stars, AND appointed one (and husband of
another) to be CEO?

Did you forget that three of the top four positions in the US Department
of Justice are held by former record industry lawyers?

There's a bit more to it all than you're making out.

> 
>> If you are talking about _financial responsibility_, that is a
>> different question.  If the state chooses to handle the shutdown in a
>> way that unnecessarily harms innocent parties, I think the state
>> should be responsible for that much.
> 
> Well, maybe they do not see and innocent customer?

But, that's the problem, they're proceeding from a presumption of guilt.
In case you'd forgotten, that's what we call *WRONG*. It is non-judicial
punishment and not allowed.

> 
>> There are two acts here that may rightfully make someone responsible
>> for harming those people.  The first was Megaupload's alleged
>> sollicitation of unauthorized uploads.  The second was the FBI's
>> handling of the shutdown in a more damaging way than necessary.  If
>> Megaupload turns out to be guilty, it will be responsible for the
>> first.  The second is a separate issue and only the FBI is properly
>> responsible for that.
>>
>> The FBI could easily run the servers for a week, modified so that
>> people can only get what they themselves uploaded.  This would greatly
>> reduce the harm done to innocent parties, and the FBI would be able to
>> argue that it had done the best possible to protect them.  Then, if
>> Megaupload is found guilty, all the financial responsibility ought to
>> be Megaupload's.
> 
> I do not know how MegaUpload (and the affiliated pages) works.

And yet you've been quick to make statements saying 'they're guilty' and
'they did xyz' and 'others weren't raided, so they must have been really
bad' and yet, you've just admitted YOU DO NOT KNOW HOW IT WORKS.

PLEASE, for the sake of my inbox if nothing else, Christian, go find out
HOW before writing any more emails, ok?

> Do they
> have a simple admin interface where you can set all downloads from
> public to "owner only"?  What happens if somebody is on vacation for a
> week? And who pays the money for running the servers? All bank accounts
> have been frozen.
> 
>> If Megaupload is found innocent, whether because of legal arguments
>> such as we have seen or because the facts are not as the FBI presented
>> them to the media, all the responsibility for damages will fall on the
>> state, so the state would be wise to take action now to reduce that
>> future liability.
> 
> I totally agree.
> 
> Christian

Andrew (K`Tetch)
- -- 
Andrew Norton
http://ktetch.blogspot.com
Tel: +1(352)6-KTETCH [+1-352-658-3824]
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