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US Government: There's Child Porn On the Megaupload Servers Judge!
Fluffeh writes "In the ongoing Megaupload saga, Carpathia, the company that hosted Megaupload, is in a tough pickle. The EFF wants the data to remain on the servers so that users can get legitimate data back, the MPAA doesn't want the servers back, because it will lead to piracy. Megaupload wants to buy the servers to get all the data, but isn't allowed to as that would have the servers leaving the court's jurisdiction. The U.S .Government won't pay Carpathia for the time that the servers are sitting idle and has a new song in its repertoire by announcing yesterday that the servers 'may contain child pornography,' which would render them 'contraband' and limit Carpathia's options for dealing with them."
Isn't collective punishment a crime against humanity? Might as well shut down the entire internet because there is CP on there. Might as well shut off the phone system because pedos use it. Might as well place everyone in the country under house arrest because pedos.
Christ, get me out of this shithole banana republic.
Jesus fucking christ the US government and its excuse for a "justice" system is evil. Evil fucking pieces of shit.
Give me Classic Slashdot or give me death!
The US justice system is known to be the wost in the entire world. The UN even rates Cuban and Iranian courts as more fair than the US.
"May contain" is insufficient. If the government has confiscated these servers, then they have the ability to determine for certain whether the servers do, in fact, contain child pornography. If we're playing the wild conjecture game, then servers may also contain the date of the Messiah's return; or the true location of Amelia Earhart; or the cure for cancer; or the recipe for the best chicken pot pie ever. Let's not limit ourselves to a ham-handed grope for an excuse by law enforcement. To law enforcement: If there is child porn on the servers, copy the files to an evidence drive, delete the originals, then allow access to the legally permissible files. Genius. If a drug operation is detected at 123 Main Street, you get to secure that house, not the entire county.
The US government wouldn't try to use communism as a boogyman. Terrorist! Get with the times!
MMO Quests are like orgasms:
You may solo them, I prefer them in a group.
This us an example of why I think cloud computing and in particular cloud storage is risky. At any time some government somewhere may decide to seize the servers for some reason that has nothing to do with you. Then where's your data?
Or they may go out of business-- not just the people you thought you were dealing with but possibly subs in some unknown country.
We're watching Carpathia being placed in this chokehold to send a message here to other data centers: This could be you.
So there "might" be CP on the Megaupload servers. OK, hard to disprove an allegation like that, especially because some of the material on the servers is likely to be encrypted. But there "might" also be CP on one or more of NASA's servers, or on LoC or CIA servers. Also hard to disprove. And there is an even greater likelihood that CP exists on servers belonging to the FBI or TSA.
Clearly, all servers connected to the internet should be impounded, until they can be proven free of CP.
Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. - Voltaire
... were the data on the Megaupload servers being stored unencrypted?
If I were offering a service like Megaupload, I'd encrypt all the data, give the uploader the key, and then forget what it was. I'd build a decrypter into the client-side download engine, so anyone downloading the files can type in the key (into their browser) so they get the original plaintext.
That way the hosting service has plausible deniability, and can say something like "We're offering a secure service to our users -- we encrypt your data to give you the assurance that we, ourselves, aren't snooping on you." They're still subject to DMCA takedowns, if someone comes to them with a URL and key, but not subject to fishing expeditions like this one ("show me everything on your servers, hey look kiddie porn").
All the serious kiddie porn folks are probably off on Freenet anyway...
This is a great full-proof way of destroying any information based business: claim there is a possibility they got child porn.
YouTube could have child porn: Let's take down YouTube!
Facebook profiles could have child porn! Lets take down Facebook!
Apple engineers could keep a stock of child porn on their secret labs: Let's raid the Apple headquarters and confiscate all their equipment!
Any computer could be used to store and view child porn! We must confiscate ALL computers!
The Internet could be used to send child porn! We must turn off the Internet, go back to a time where television and newspapers rule the world, to protect us from child porn.
Really, who needs SOPA PIPA ACTA when you can just claim "child porn" and get a free pass to do whatever the hell you want to do.
- government cannot limit freedom of individuals under a pretext to prevent crime
in principle I agree.
but in the real world, please name ONE country that acts properly, here. go ahead, I'll wait. go show me one that will not trample on citizens' rights in the name of 'fighting bad guys', whatever bad guys are defined as, locally.
this is human. this is not american. humans are evil stupid bad creatures and this is the government we ALL get. ALL of us.
we have failed to create truly fair and just governments or countries.
there is no where to move to; its a world wide phenom.
just stop trying to say its the US. its EVERYONE. every leader thinks this way. you disagree?
--
"It is now safe to switch off your computer."
Child Porn is indeed one of the root passwords to the U.S. constitution, along with "terrorist". We will soon have "intellectual piracy" on the list.
But invoke any one and apparently the rule of law becomes the wrong kind of blind.