Thursday, 19 January 2012 21:31

MegaUploads Gets Taken Down, But Which Side Benefits Most?

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90There is an old saying that nothing is coincidental. When something happens at that can affect another outcome it has happened for a reason. A good case in point is the recent “take down” of the site MegaUploads. This site has been accused of copyright infringement (criminal copyright infringement no less) and a few other very serious crimes.  The story has been all over the internet and many are standing up and saying that this one issue is proof that SOPA is not needed and that the current laws are good enough… um are we so sure that this is what this little event truly shows, or is meant to show?

What got me thinking was when I started looking into the amount of man hours, and money that went into the case built to bring MegaUploads down. It was a few hundred to gather the information and evidence. Now SOPA opponents will look at this and say that this is proof that the current system works. SOPA supporters will not point to the time and money wasted to bring these foreign criminals to justice.  They will then go on to say that SOPA or PIPA will allow them to remove them from the Internet and stop the flow of funds to them.

Both of these arguments are a load of Dingo’s Kidneys whether you are for or against SOPA. The problem with this event is that it only plays into the fear mongering that is going on in Washington. Of course the MPAA, RIAA and even the FBI had to know that someone would retaliate for the takedown and Anonymous was right there. As of this writing the MPAA, RIAA, Universal Music, the DoJ and even the FBI websites are all offline.

So we have a site that has gotten a name for pirated music, movies, and other software taken down by a large effort of the FBI and other global law enforcement agencies, the day AFTER a planned internet outage in opposition of SOPA. The same day Anonymous goes into revenge mode and attacks (justified I would say, but it will still have a negative impact). From here forward the power and the ball is back into the hands of the companies that want SOPA or PIPA to pass. They can now push a bill forward that grants them limited power (it is easier to amend a bill than to pass a new one) to control the internet.

Guys, I hate to say it but this news item was carefully timed and meant to play into SOPA supporters hands. I would not be surprised to see the fear mongering start and press releases to come out talking about how SOPA could have prevented all of this and saved money.

I am not surprised to see this happen the day after the blackout… It means there is a lot more work to do to prevent SOPA, PIPA or another corporate motivated bill from getting pushed through Congress and becoming law.

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Read 2919 times Last modified on Thursday, 19 January 2012 21:39

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