soooo...megaupload

[DJ_MikeyRevile]

Bloated figures, YES, false claims, YES, bad methods, YES.

But let's be clear. They WERE stealing intellectual property from people, regardless of where those people are from. And made MILLIONS doing it. I think they should treat the people at megaupload like they treat people when they find them peddling burned dvd's.

Now, the opinion that copying is not stealing is something I FIRMLY believe in private, however, on a large scale and at a charge, this IS stealing. You make money by having people subscribe to your website, the advertisements posted by directing LARGE amounts of people to said website and then even Google makes money off it.

Now I'm not saying that it is America's place to shut down websites that host Copyrighted material, however, these weren't Bollywood movies, they were Hollywood movies from Hollywood, USA. While one reaction is to step ahead of the game and stop the movie theater madness, and streamline their products to the masses, they don't HAVE to. It is perfectly within their legal right to go after a company EVEN IF FOREIGN if they steal American copyright property AND host themselves within the US. So, in short, YES, I think it is perfectly acceptable that they used existing laws to take down a large-scale operation that primarily housed American content with SOME of the business being hosted in America.


I also don't want to get flamed, so I'll say right off that SOPA and PIPA are terrible terrible bills, but they have the right idea. Not that they have a great method, but that they need to step in to either encourage Hollywood to start doing it right or discourage piracy on the large scale.

Mega upload has not stolen an ounce of intellectual property... they get paid by users to use there website to upload stolen intellectual property, there is a huge difference. Im not going to bash on you for hinting at supporting sopa and pipa, ill just explain to you in short something you clearly don't understand. Most people who pirate, pirate to try it, watch it, listen to it then go on to purchase it. the people who are hell bent on getting something for free with out any cost will be the people that find alternatives to getting it. there is no stopping it and the last thing we want as a country at this givin time to to create this type of censorship/foreign policy. Ruining businesses around the world because come CEO thinks they may have posted a link infringing on there copyright policy is a horrible thing to allow, it wont just create a dull, less creative and innovative internet.. it will create political conflict as well. There should be no exception to these bills, piracy is not that huge of a problem and the money that these Corporations say there losing, never owned the money to begin with.

[Penis シ]

I never said that megaupload pirated it themselves, I said they profited from the piracy.

The indictment alleged that megaupload.com and a shell company associated with the website, Vestor Limited, caused an estimated half-billion dollars in copyright losses and made an estimated $175 million in proceeds. The website was established in 2005 and at one point ranked as the 13th most-visited website on the Internet.

Do I think they stole 500 million in damages, no. Fact is, due to their harboring, they made 175 MILLION dollars. When a movie theater makes 175 million, they pay the movie companies that let them show the movies. When someone off the street sells you a burned dvd for 10 dollars, they don't give a CENT to the companies that funded the production and marketed said movie.

I'm ALL about content creators selling straight to consumers, example: Louis C.K.

Yet, even if they don't, they have every right to go after someone like this. And, yes, I understand that. Mikey, I swear to God, don't imply I'm stupid. I understand that a LOT of people try before they buy. And that's why movies need to be cheaper. But it's up to the company to do that or fail, not some company to reap the profits from someone else's material.

[DJ_MikeyRevile]

I never said that megaupload pirated it themselves, I said they profited from the piracy.



Do I think they stole 500 million in damages, no. Fact is, due to their harboring, they made 175 MILLION dollars. When a movie theater makes 175 million, they pay the movie companies that let them show the movies. When someone off the street sells you a burned dvd for 10 dollars, they don't give a CENT to the companies that funded the production and marketed said movie.

I'm ALL about content creators selling straight to consumers, example: Louis C.K.

Yet, even if they don't, they have every right to go after someone like this. And, yes, I understand that. Mikey, I swear to God, don't imply I'm stupid. I understand that a LOT of people try before they buy. And that's why movies need to be cheaper. But it's up to the company to do that or fail, not some company to reap the profits from someone else's material.

so you say that megaupload dosnt provide priated material, but in turn provides pirated material. again people like you me and everyone else, upload there content onto the site, then another person comes and DLs it. there making money off subscriptions to there site, they are not selling any pirated material. there selling faster upload speeds ect.


also, again.. there was no loss, why? because they never earned that "500" million dollars to begin with, that number and any number from 1$ and up is a projected amount they assume they would of made if pirating did not exist. Here, to shed some light.. Avatar made a box office income of $2,782,275,172.00 so its safe to say they couyld of made a BILLION MORE if it werent for pirating!!! so they argue that bills like sopa and pipa need to be passed. 2 billion dollars isnt enough for these scum bag CEO's whom are only in it for them selves? its saddning that you would defend the very same people trying to strip your rights away as we speak.

[Penis シ]

No. They don't upload the pirated material. Instead they harbor it.

If that happens on Youtube, they take the content down. Megaupload facilitated it on a large scale and made money off the process. Whether of not it was ad-based money or subscriptions to faster download speeds and unlimited content, they did NOT own the material to sell it. If you stream something from Netflix, it's because they made a deal to distribute it, and AGAIN Megaupload did no such thing. Instead they skated by thinking they were invincible because they were outside US jurisdiction. What the government did was perfectly within its rights and proper. If I sell burned DVD's and cigarettes, you can't say that since I didn't make ALL of my money from the DVDs that I wasn't worth arresting. Of course, they knew what was happening and they facilitated it. That's the bottom line.

I'd also point out that

again people like you me and everyone else, upload there content onto the site, then another person comes and DLs it.

Is a fallacy in your argument. If it was your material or my material, there is nothing wrong with it. But if it is pirated, it is NOT yours or mine. Owning a DVD does not mean you own the rights to distribute the DVD, you only have the right to unlimited personal viewing. When people upload copy written material, they are BREAKING THE LAW.

[maynard]

I guess the only difference is that drug dealers and murders actually hurt people as where internet pirates hurt NO ONE. last I checked, metallica is still beyond fucking rich, and every other new pop star is Uber rich... not 2 mention all the movies they keep making seem 2 all be turning a profit...

Internet piracy hurts no 1, comparing it 2 drug dealers and or murderers of all things is just retarded.

[Penis シ]

No maynard, people are still losing jobs over it and that's STILL a huge problem in the US. In 2010, MGM filed for bankruptcy. So did Blockbuster. There are a few other big dogs facing the gun as well. They aren't the problem, it's the little guys that are having the issues. There are SEVERAL smaller production companies and film companies that don't release block busters, but still put out work that are facing losing their jobs and while this may not be the sole issue they have, it's certainly part of the problem.

Check out that video that I added at the end of the post on the second page.

[maynard]

blockbuster went under cause no one wants 2 rent movies... or let me re-phrase, no 1 wants 2 leave their home for a movie. with shit like netflix and other various in home movie services. even if internet piracy didn't exist, block buster still would have gone under.

[Penis シ]

And that's because they were behind the times, now explain mgm.

[maynard]

Lol well why use it as an example, if you know internet piracy has fuck all 2 do with blockbuster? why even bring it up? honestly. and why did you ask me 2 watch a video that basically just explains 2 people how 2 download and watch torented videos Lol? that was completely pointless.

[Penis シ]

MGM is Metro Goldwyn Mayer. They make the James Bond movies. Also popular for The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, Clerks 2, Stargate, and Jeepers Creepers. They're making films again after a MASSIVE restructuring. In which a LOT of people lost their jobs and they're at a much slower production pace.

I'm not saying Blockbuster wouldn't have gone out of business anyway, but they DID have an online service that was cheaper than Netflix's. They WERE slow to the game, but if you're going to temporarily rent a movie or watch the same one online for free, which would you choose? You can't say that it didn't hurt THEIR business too because Netflix didn't take it ALL away.

The video, was an independent film maker that was noting how much her SMALL movie was pirated and downloaded. She has another video where she rattles off figures that are ASTOUNDING. And that's for some small movie that wasn't marketed to televisions everywhere.