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Patriot Act Used to Enforce Copyright Law?

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the no-big-shocker-there dept.

iter8 writes " The Stargate SG-1 Information Archive is reporting that the Feds filed charges against Adam McGaughey, creator of SG1Archive.com. The website is a fan site for the television show Stargate SG-1. The charges allege that Adam used the website to engage in Criminal Copyright Infringement and Trafficking in Counterfeit Services. Two interesting things about the charges are that they were apparently set in motion by a complaint by our friends at the MPAA and the FBI invoked a provision of the USA Patriot Act to obtain financial records from his ISP. Is copyright infringment now a terrorist act?"

9 of 725 comments (clear)

  1. Very Interesting, But Quite Old by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Did anyone notice this bit on the SG-1 Archives forum post about this:

    Posted: Mar 30 2004, 11:46 PM

    Surely this is interesting and all, but VERY outdated. I would think there is quite likely some more current information available. What has happened in the last four months?

  2. MPAA == Unscupulous Liars by ObsessiveMathsFreak · · Score: 4, Interesting

    It's very clear from the article that the MPAA committed outright fraud and lied to the FBI.
    They also abused laws and I would not be surprised if they were the ones that damaged the equipment.

    Perhaps the FBI are in leauge with them. How else could such gross incompetance be explained.

    The MPAA should face charges of conspiracy to pervert the course of justice and the FBI should be put under review.

    Oh wait. This was a little guy and the MPAA has a lot of money. Ergo, the law does not apply. They probobly threatened the guy with legal action when he asked for his stuff back.

    Expect such underhanded dealings when the MPAA drags 12 year olds/protestors/Apple/Independant Movie makers into court.

    --
    May the Maths Be with you!
  3. Funding a terrorist organization by dykofone · · Score: 5, Interesting
    If you would like to contribute to the SG1Archive.com Legal Defense Fund, please make a paypal donation by clicking the button below.

    The FBI claimed that SG1Archive was part of an international conspiracy, raided his home, and used the Patriot Act to obtain his financial records. Man, I'd hate to see what they do to the people that fund this kind of site...

    Kidding aside, I'm kind of curious as to what happened. This is definitely a biased article, but what were the official charges brought against him, where do the chargest stand now, and why did the MPAA get the feds instead of just sue?

  4. Here comes a rant by grunt107 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    How many times will the misuse of this 'Patriot' act occur before we get enough politicians to support its repeal (I would say rework but IMO the partisanship in America will prevent that)?

    Proof that this act was dangerous came in the 1st weeks when the Vegas strip-club owner got arrested. This act has also been used against kiddie-porn and drug traffickers. Although I like the fact that these bastards get caught, the ends do not justify the means.

    This case proves that government and business have gotten to intermingled and inbred, and every politician aligned with these afronts needs voted out. Normally, I would say the erroneous affadavit would lead to his acquittal but I cannot predict our justice system anymore.

    As soon as this guy can afford it, a massive counter-suit against the MPAA, MGM, and the government needs to be filed.

  5. YOU are FUDding here! (mod me up) by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Check out the DATE on that archive snapshot!

    The guy was asked KINDLY by the MPAA to take down the episodes (which were of very crappy quality to begin with) and he DID so. That was in 2002, if I remember correctly. I've followed the site's development over the years and they haven't done anything illegal since then. Apart from posting a few spoilers here and there for overseas fans.

    So it's you who's spreading FUD here.

    1. Re:YOU are FUDding here! (mod me up) by Erasmus+Darwin · · Score: 4, Interesting
      "The guy was asked KINDLY by the MPAA to take down the episodes (which were of very crappy quality to begin with) and he DID so."

      From what I've heard, he just made the episodes a little less public. Apparently, the archive of episodes was still being hosted and still being updated with newly aired episodes. The only catch is that the files weren't linked off of his site. Instead, the files used a predictable naming scheme, and details on how to find the files was given out via word-of-mouth.

  6. Re:Not the point! Think about INDUCE. by hkmwbz · · Score: 3, Interesting
    "If he was stealing TV shows"
    Are you saying that he took away SG from the copyright holders so they could no longer sell or distribute it? Interesting. How does one go about doing this with digital media? I had the impression that making a copy of something didn't destroy the original. But hey, if he stole it, then it must have been removed from the copyright holder's possession somehow. Can't wait for you to explain to me how he did it.
    --
    Clever signature text goes here.
  7. Re:FUD ALERT by rpg25 · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Actually, I don't agree with this claim; whining on /. about this case may be very important. Here's why:

    If we're going to write to our Representatives and Senators about problems with the Patriot Act, we need to have a good understanding of the issues.

    I haven't been able to discern the details yet, but if it is true that the Patriot Act was used to bust this guy, then it's an important thing for us to know about. Why? Because it gives us a concrete example to cite when we write our Senators and Representatives to say that the Patriot Act is being abused for non-counterterrorism purposes.

    Note that there are a load of "if's" in the above! All we have so far is one person's assertion that the Patriot Act was abused to bust him. We need to get some kind of corroboration before using this example in letters. Letters citing this case could blow up in our faces if it turns out there was no Patriot Act abuse.

  8. Re:Article Text by tabrnaker · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Don't worry. All that terrorist talk is your government terrorizing you so that you'll blindly let in more laws like the Patriot Act. They could tell you what ever you want and if you can't read/understand arabic you're out of luck. Good thing about those color codes for your alert levels, sure makes playing the stock market easier.