Danger lurks for every Megaupload users, PLEASE READ!

[Spiky Caterpillar]

Okay, chill. This video is bullshit. 99.9 percent of it.

First of all, the part about "anyone who's ever downloaded anything copyrighted from MU is now screwed". WRONG. MU doesn't store IP information about everyone who downloads... at least not for more than a couple of days. Why should they? They earn nothing from people downloading media stored on their servers, they only need that information for the few hours they keep you out to after you've downloaded something to promote their paid services. So there's no way to track you as a downloader unless you've used the service less than a few days ago - if that long.

Secondly, the uploader part. Just. The. Same. If you haven't paid MU for premium services, they won't keep any IP information. Why should they clog their servers with useless data?

I don't think we can count on Megaupload having deleted all sensitive information from their servers - half a billion IP addresses + timestamps would add up to a paltry four gigs uncompressed. Quite a bit larger if they store a more useful quantity of information, but still well within what *I* could afford to archive if I wanted it. They don't have much benefit from keeping logs around indefinitely, since the logs help incriminate them. They're more likely to store uploader logs for long periods of time than downloader logs, because uploaders are rarer and they're more likely to want to take action of their own about any specific uploader. In particular, tracking sharing of premium accounts is easier if you have long-term logs. They DO probably store some affiliate-related logs for long periods of time for accounting and weaseling purposes. (The indictment references them disqualifying the winner of one of their contests for bulk automated downloads, which is a lot easier to check if they've got thorough logging.)

Thirdly, the "slave labor" part. Even BIGGER bullshit! US prisons are already so full that they can hardly afford to throw people in jail who've done real crimes, and now someone starts a plot to enslave 25% of internet users, which nicely calculates into half a billion people? Where would all these people live? It's not feasible, and that's even BEFORE you take the massive problems with international relations into account. What country has the reputation of being Copyright Infringement Country Number One in the world? China! I can't see China extraditing any single citizen into the U.S., and I can't see the U.S. being able to pressure China into doing that - China has the ability to crash the U.S. economy if they want to.

Really, that guy wears a tinfoil hat the size of the Tokyo Tower. Don't believe a single word of that crap.

Agreed wholeheartedly. I don't see foreign governments extraditing casual downloaders to the US en masse. Even if they only arrested everyone who'd downloaded warez from Megaupload in the US, that would likely trigger rioting and enough political backlash to put US Pirate Party representatives in several legislatures. Full-on enslavement of millions of Americans for one of the pettiest crimes on the books, and I'd expect to see open rebellion.

Now, they may try to arrest a handful of people and penalize them disproportionately to Send A Message. But thousands or millions? Very no. They want warez downloaders _afraid_, not politicized.

[papillon]

I still think it's unfair for someone who doesn't even live in US. :/

like I said, there are problems with the specific case. it didn't, by almost any definition, take place on US soil, and it involved acts that probably aren't illegal in the UK, which is why there's a big fuss about the extradition. it's a mess.

However, it's a very specific case against a specific guy who ran a big website and made a pile of money. It has nothing to do with locking up every kid who's ever downloaded a dodgy file.

[Blue Lemma]

We should get a gang name...

How about The Lemma Softies?

Calm down, everyone... There is no way everyone who downloaded questionable content from Megaupload is getting prosecuted. That would be ridiculous.

Back during World War 2, when the United States was sending Japanese-Americans to internment camps, there were places in Hawaii they didn't do this. Why? Because the Japanese-American population there was so high that doing so would have shut entire communities (and American companies relying on them ) down. It just isn't feasible. I think this situation is a bit like that. Just not feasible and would do more harm to everyone involved than good. (See http://gizmodo.com/5877750/megaupload-a ... an-dropbox )

What would be next? Prosecute everyone who watches copyright-infringing material on YouTube? Because your browser probably caches it, meaning you have an actual copy. The only danger for the general public and situation that sits very unwell with me is selective enforcement - as in, prosecute only your critics so that you can silence them and others like them.

[Blane Doyle]

I don't listen to this man any longer. As of today, i have lost all respect for him.

He has blocked multiple users for disagreeing with his scare tactics, or simply by stating a slightly different opinion, me and two friends of mine included. (he even told me to remix his video if I hated him that much... and I never said I did, only that I was starting to lose respect for scaring so many people)

Is his information about the companies correct? Oh, yes. Very much so.

His information about the USERS? Pure assumption. Nothing but guess work and trying to scare people.

Is there a chance he is right? Yes. Does that mean he is? No.

If he was, people who used the site for personal use only, and for legal reasons, would also be in trouble. Besides, remember Limewire and Napster? Did everyone who ever used it get prosecuted? Nope.

This information needs to be spread, but not like this. And certainly not from someone who censors others while trying to fight censorship. That is a mite too hypocritical for my tastes.