Megaupload Faces New Charges in US Case
Megaupload's founder, Kim Dotcom
In addition to a new series of criminal copyright infringement counts, the infamous case against file-sharing site Megaupload has also received wire fraud counts by US prosecutors, BBC reports.
New details have been brought to the attention of the press, as officials filed an ample superceding indictment against the company and its founder Kim Dotcom.
Prosecutors are claiming that the damages presumably caused by the Megaupload team round up to a total figure of 0m (£320m). The company has defended itself by stating that it was diligent in dealing with pirated material.
The Department of Justice has built its entire case on the far-fetched premise that Megaupload has deliberately pursued the repeated distribution of copyrighted works.
The company has been accused of reproducing materials from other Internet venues, including YouTube, and making them available on its websites.
As concerns the new wire fraud charges, in an attempt to substantiate their allegations the plaintiffs clinged to communications between Megaupload and copyright holders.
Justice Department officials claim the emails at issue reveal that the defendants were untruthful about the status of specific infringing content that copyright holders requested to be removed.
The document also points to one account holder that uploaded over 16,000 files to Megaupload sites, generating over 34 million page views over a six years’ time span.
Although the user highlighted in the investigation received multiple requests for removal, records indicate no deletions of any files he had uploaded.
User ‘VV’ reportedly collected ,400 through a Megaupload rewards program over the course of two years.
The indictment also alleges that the website had less registered users as officially declared, and that of the 66 million registered accounts, only 5.4 million had ever used the service for the uploading of files.
Earlier this month, a court’s decision denied Mr. Dotcom’s right to bail in New Zealand. The founder of Megaupload has denied the charges and stated that he would oppose any extradition application by the US.
US Studios Reach Deal with China to Curb Piracy, Snatch More Cash
U.S. movie studios claim the recent agreement made with China to increase the distribution of films in the country will also prove efficient against online piracy
According to a recent CNet post, US studio executives are hopeful that their newly sealed deal with China, which enables film companies to distribute more Hollywood productions in that country, will help to bring down Web piracy.
China’s government now allows for a greater volume of US movies to be screened in that country each year, as pointed out by the White House and the six major Hollywood film studios.
Based on a recently signed agreement between the two nations, US filmmakers are also due to receive a greater share of box-office revenues for each screening. Because of the implications it has on online piracy, this however is only a marginal technology story.
The tech sector has long reprimanded Hollywood for their lack of implication in making films and TV shows more accessible and more affordable in China. As emphasized by the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) – the studios’ watchdog – the newly signed deal supposedly envisions positive changes in this respect.
As an added perk, US film companies will benefit from an important increase in profit on ticket revenues, from an initial 13 percent to 25 percent. This rounds up to a nice overall amount, considering China will now cater to the distribution of 50 percent more Hollywood releases in its theaters.
Whether the aforementioned agreement will also require China to carry out specific measures against Web piracy is still unsure. The MPAA has long perceived China as one of the countries with a high-risk for intellectual property theft.
An MPAA spokesperson said the studios are optimistic that the new agreement will encourage theater attendance rates in China while discouraging illegal download over the Internet.
The battle against piracy outside US borders is a top priority for filmmakers. The stringent manner in which the US is currently handling the case of MegaUpload’s founder, Kim Dotcom, further reinforces this tendency. In their efforts to extradite and bring Dotcom and his associates to justice, the US government went as far as calling MegaUpload a criminal enterprise.
DotCom continues to plead innocent and is expected to fight the extradition.
The Kelly Slater mind games are back
Kelly Slater is not sure if he is going to run a full-time surf job at the 2012 ASP World Tour. Or perhaps those are his well-known mind games. Isn't "12" a nice number?
"There have been years when this approach has been a little frustrating but it’s also sort of a wildcard way of deciding," Slater said. "I've had good success on the Goldy and this year should be fun again. I can't wait to be there. I'm undecided as to whether I'll apply full-time. That's probably no secret. I'll go by feel and whatever feels right internally, I'll stick with that."
At least, we know what he feels for the upcoming Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast, to be surfed from February 25 through March 7, in Australia. Slater wants to win it, again, just like he did it in 2006, 2008 and 2011.
Kelly Slater is 40 years old, but opponents might expect the same old Floridian. "I have a few nagging injuries but overall I'm pretty good. I hurt my ribs pretty badly a couple weeks back but they should be okay by Snapper time. I do feel a little bit of issue there, but I'm planning on being healthier and stronger in the coming years".
Sweden Advances New Bill to Crush FileSharing Users
The Swedish government is seeking new ways to support police and prosecutors in their fight against illegal file sharing over the Internet. As we’ve come to know the habits of the industry we’re not surprised that one of the main priorities is not to encourage new business models but to strengthen cooperation with Internet service providers to help reveal the identity of individual computer users.
Henrik Rasmussen, a prosecutor who specializes in copyright infringement crimes, shared his opinion on the matter in an interview for the TT news agency:
“I would no longer need to make a preliminary assessment of the penalties associated with the crimes I’m investigating. If I have an IP-address, I can request information about who the customer is, regardless of how serious the crime is,” said Rasmussen.
“Previously, I’ve only been able to request information if I judged the crime to be over a certain level,” he pointed out.
Current law forbids ISPs from disclosing subscriber information to a third party unless the alleged crime under investigation is punishable by jail or a suspended sentence.
However, the constant efforts made by the govt to simplify the pursuit of filesharers has led it to a new bill, as The Local informs, which not only targets illegal file sharing, but also aims to reduce bullying and “grooming” over the World Wide Web. Internet bullying and other forms of online harassment are escalating problems in Sweden, as is grooming, whereby adults attempt to lure in children for sexual purposes on chat rooms. The issue here is that copyright holders and politicians have become extremely good at using such pretexts (not that those dangers are not real) likely to appeal to common people’s common sense to implement systems trough which they merely want to protect their interests
If the bill passes, police and prosecutors will have easier access to information on users suspected of illegal file sharing, irrespective of the gravity of the crime in question, Sveriges Radio (SR) reports. Collaboration with internet service providers will be strengthened, and the latter will be bound to communicate to the police any IP-addresses requested.
When it comes to alleged violations of copyright laws, copyright holders are entitled to solicit information about alleged file sharers from a court in a civil law trial. However, if the bill were to become law, police and prosecutors would be able to avoid that last step by going directly to ISPs to get the information they need on the internet users under investigation.
“We’re still not going to be able to carry out search warrants for minor crimes,” said Rasmussen.
“But it will be easier for us to round up suspects and in cases where we will have other evidence than a raid. We can also conduct interrogations and it has happened that people who are summoned to an interrogation and faced with certain facts have admitted to the crime. That’s something me may used to a greater extent.”
Although the bill concerns all acts of illegal file sharing, Rasmussen believes that it will not really affect Swedish internet users who occasionally download a pirated movie.
“Sure, they would be worried to the extent that there is a real possibility that they can be identified if the bill is passed,” he told TT.
“But our experience is that the organizations that track copyright infringement crimes aren’t interested in those who download one movie or a couple of songs.”
Bulgaria Stops Endorsing ACTA
Bulgaria no longer adheres to the terms of the international anti-piracy agreement it signed four weeks ago following a wave of protests under the view that the Internet surveillance and jail terms it draws up violate human rights.
Bulgaria refuses to endorse the Anti- Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, known as ACTA, in any way, and will not participate in it until there is a clear European Union position on the pact, which aims to subdue online theft of copyrighted content, Economy and Energy Minister Traicho Traikov told reporters in Sofia on Tuesday, adding that he expects full support by the Cabinet on this decision.
“I’m a pessimist when it comes to regulating an industry, which hasn’t adapted to the digital age, through sanctions rather than market means,” Traikov explained. “Authors’ copyrights should not be placed above human rights.”
The campaign against Internet surveillance, jail terms, and a number of other radical measures foreseen in the accord to discourage free online music, movies and books, is in full swing all around Europe. Thousands of ACTA contestants took to the streets in Sofia and other European cities including Berlin, Warsaw and Paris on Feb. 11 to make their voice heard.
Intellectual Property
The U.S., Australia, Japan, Canada, Korea, Japan, New Zealand, Morocco, and Singapore all signed the accord, which delineates civil and criminal measures that signatory countries commit to carry out against threats to intellectual property rights. It brings forth strategies aimed at strengthening cooperation among customs authorities and conjures up an international body to monitor implementation of the agreement.
Bulgaria’s signed the agreement with 21 other EU countries on Jan. 26 in Tokyo. According to Traikov, Germany, Slovakia and Estonia are among the EU members that refused to sign the pact, whereas Poland and the Czech Republic have removed their endorsement.
Traikov places Bulgaria’s change of attitude upon the lack of unanimity on the matter in the EU. He assures everyone that Bulgaria will take no action about implementing ACTA, including endorsement, until all EU states have reached a consensus.
German Justice Minister Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger has postponed the signing of the planned international agreement until the European Commission clarifies the legal implications of ACTA, the Passauer Neue Presse newspaper reported yesterday.
Massive street protests have been reported last week in several countries across Europe including Germany, Romania, Spain and Poland. People demand transparency and their righteous say in the matter, things which are no more than natural attributes of the so-called democracies held as supreme in these countries and do not want to tolerate the fact that the agreement which will violate their privacy and fundamental right to freedom of speech was signed by officials in some countries without public debate.
Miraflores debuts the ISA World StandUp Paddle Championship
More than 140 surfers will be battling for gold in the first edition of the ISA World StandUp Paddle (SUP) and Paddleboard Championship, which takes on the beaches of Miraflores, Lima, Peru.
The home to the famous Waikiki Surf Club and the cradle of modern Peruvian surfing is a great venue and will certainly be the perfect stage for a beatiful wave competition.
"StandUp Paddle surfing and racing are truly global sports and the ISA wants to support them with this yearly competition. The event also includes Paddleboarding, a classic discipline practiced by paddling prone over a board", said ISA President, Fernando Aguerre.
The ISA World SUP and Paddleboard Championship is surfed in an Olympic-style model. Teams compete for medals and the honor of representing their countries. Each SUPer defends his flag.
Coalition of US Publishers Tries to Kill FileSharing Sites
An affiliation of US publishing groups has filed legal action in Ireland in a bid to close file-sharing sites they blame of copyright infringement. The venues targeted are a music-sharing site and two websites accused of sharing copyrighted ebooks, The Guardian reports.
UK’s Serious Organized Crime Agency seized the domain of one popular music site, thereby enacting their statement that they would treat illegal file-sharing websites as organized crime threats.
On Tuesday, the court had Ireland-based websites Library.nu and ifile.it shut down, after two major publishing groups have accused them of earning illicit profits in excess of m a year.
The action against alleged file-sharers took place in the context of fresh opposition to polemical anti-piracy legislation in Europe. Internet advocacy groups are currently heavily disputing Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA), which has so far been signed by 22 EU member states, including the UK.
The Association of American Publishers (AAP) and the International Publishers Association (IPA) suggested that Library.nu is responsible for releasing over 400,000 copyrighted ebooks for free.
“While this action is a significant step in shutting down two major rogue websites stealing content from publishers and others, it also captures the enormous investment of time and cost required for rights-holders to protect their work,” said Tom Allen, president and chief executive of AAP. “For every rogue site that is taken down, there are hundreds more demanding similar effort. I can’t think of a more timely example of the need for additional tools to expedite such action.”
The taking down of the music website RnBXclusive by the police and the issuing of a warning to the site’s users informing about the risks of illegal downloading prompted the internet advocacy organization, Open Rights Group, to request an urgent meeting with SOCA representatives.
SOCA’s message was taken down on Wednesday upon expiry of a targeted 32-hour interdiction aimed at “jolting” copyright infringers.
On Thursday, SOCA confirmed that the crackdown also targeted three other websites. Police reports reveal that one of the anonymous websites voluntary closed down, another was considering shutting, and another insisted it only distributed “legal” material.
Peter Bradwell, campaigner at Open Rights Group, pointed out that “this is a matter concerning considerable power over access to information, amongst other things.”
Court Allows Release on Bail for Megaupload Co-Founder
The co-founder of Megaupload has been released on bail by a court in New Zealand, TorrentFreak informs. Mathias Ortmann is obliged to adhere to a series of strict conditions, including no Internet access. The US government will handle extradition of the Megaupload team based on a United Nations treaty. Also, it appears that last month’s raids were remotely supervised by the FBI itself.
Following his arrest almost four weeks ago, the co-founder of the former Megaupload file-hosting service has finally been conceded bail.
Mathias Ortmann was expected to be freed following a January 26th hearing, but the order was delayed due to inconsistencies in Ortmann’s finance reports.
The FBI suspects Ortmann earned around .5 m. from Megaupload between 2005 and 2010, and an additional m. in 2011. His accounts, however, showed an unjustified excess of .5 m.
Mathias Ortmann was set free on Thursday and is to join his co-accused Bram van der Kolk and Finn Batato at the former’s Auckland home. All three are bound to strict bail conditions, including a complete ban on Internet access.
The only member of the Megaupload team to remain detained following the raids in January is Kim Dotcom, founder of the now-defunct file-hosting service, who is due to appear in court next week.
US authorities have told the press that they intend to use a United Nations treaty aimed at fighting international organized crime to extradite all the New Zealand-based Megaupload members to the US.
While a lawyer working for the United States government disclosed that the extradition treaty does not cover copyright offenses specifically, he also pointed out that the country’s Extradition Act does list certain offenses involving trans-national crime.
In New Zealand, the law deems crimes that carry a four-year prison sentence as extraditable. Under the country’s Copyright Act, distributing proprietary work in violation of copyright law carries a five-year maximum sentence. However, due to its groundbreaking status, the extradition campaign for the Megaupload defendants is likely to be both complicated and prolonged, and could even go all the way to the Supreme Court for resolution.
On a separate note, US authorities have complimented local police on the raids they carried out last month, as revealed in the latest issue of New Zealand Police’s ‘Ten One’ magazine. Detective Superintendent Mike Pannett, who reportedly monitored events from the FBI’s command center in Washington, stated the FBI and the US Department of Justice, together with other international enforcement partners, are very content with the efforts of the local police during the New Zealand operation.
As revealed last week, the police mobilized dozens of officers – some from elite anti-terrorist divisions – to handle the arrest of the operators of Megaupload back in January.
Next, before you know, it will probably be ‘Shoot on sight!’ orders against filesharers.
Short film fights nuclear plant in Jeffreys Bay
"Surfing for Change: J Bay Nuclear Plant" is a new short movie exploring the dangers of a planned nuclear power plant in the pristine shores of Jeffrey's Bay, South Africa. Watch it here.
SurferToday.com had already reported the early studies, here. This time, youth environmental activist, pro-surfer and filmmaker Kyle Thiermann calls attention to the potential for environmental disaster if Eskom, South Africa’s national power company, locates the nuclear plant in the waters of one of the most famous surfing destinations in the world.
The documentary features renowned environmental leader Van Jones, 11-time Surfing World champion Kelly Slater, Foster Gamble and local surfing activists. Everybody remembers what happened in the wake of the March 2011 Fukushima nuclear meltdown.
Today, surfing in Fukushima is the memory of a dream. There were stunning right-handers being ridden right in front of the nuclear station, every day, and in many other secret spots around the facility.
Second Anti-Piracy Meeting Held in Secret Has the Media Guessing
The issue of illegal file sharing on the Internet through avenues such as BitTorrent has brought together the content and telecommunication industries for a second closed door meeting under the supervision of the Federal Government.
The object of the first meeting in the series, held by the Attorney-General’s Department on 23 September last year, was to encourage the interlocutors – several major American ISPs and representatives of the film, television and music industries – to come up with a viable solution on the issue of online copyright infringement.
According to The Financial Review, the Department had held a second meeting on the issue on Wednesday last week in Sydney. However, the topics discussed at the meeting have yet to be communicated to the press.
The majority of the organizations who took part at the September meeting were from content industry organizations, including the Asia-Pacific branch of the Motion Picture Association, the Australian Federation Against Copyright Theft, Foxtel, the Australian Home Entertainment Distributor’s Association, the Media, Entertainment & Arts Alliance, News Limited, Music Industry Piracy Investigations, the Australian Recording Industry Association, the Interactive Gaming and Entertainment Association, the Australian Publishers Association and the Australian Performing Right Association.
On behalf of the ISPs’ only Telstra, Optus, the Communications Alliance (which represents telcos), the Internet Industry Association and networking vendor Ericsson attended, adding up to a total of 25 industry representatives. It is still unclear whether iiNet showed up.
Delimiter today filed a Freedom of Information request with the Attorney-General’s Department inquiring the details behind the new meeting held last week, from the total number of attendees to the nature of the documentation issued at the meeting.
The paper trail from the last meeting on the issue points to an attempted by the Attorney-General’s Department to conceal the discussion on the day under the guise of the so-called “six strikes” policy aimed at bringing down online copyright infringement established between the content and ISP industries in the US this year.
The agreement had major US ISPs – including AT&T, Verizon, Comcast, Cablevision, and Time Warner Cable forward copyright infringement notices from content owners to alleged Internet pirates. After a number of such notices, ISPs have acceded to enforce punitive measures, for example, temporary reductions in Internet speeds or redirections to different pages.
Already in effect in countries such as New Zealand and France, the so-called “strikes” system has been presented as a potential solution to the issue of online piracy, one that would see blacklisted internet users disconnected upon proof of copyright infringement online.
So far, the ISP industry has been reluctant to adopt such a system in Australia. However, a number of ISPs (Exetel being one of them) have already implemented a system where one provider is entitled to redirect customers to another ISP upon receipt of a certain number of complaints.
In November, many of Australia’s prominent ISPs showed their support towards a proposal that would see Australians issued with warning and educational notices following evidence of copyright infringement from the content industry. This opened the door for ISPs to disclose user details to content holders should the online piracy acts continue.
(via Delimiter)