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US Gov't Says They Can Still Freeze Megaupload Assets If the Case Is Dismissed
The Megaupload case continues, and on Friday attorneys for the U.S. government made some interesting claims. They were in court to argue against a request to dismiss the indictment against Megaupload that was raised on the grounds that Megaupload has no U.S. address. After a debate about jurisdiction and precedent, this happened:
"The government also argued that it could keep Megaupload in legal limbo indefinitely. 'None of the cases impose a time limit on service,' the government's attorney told the judge. Therefore, the government believes it can leave the indictment hanging over the company's head, and keep its assets frozen, indefinitely. Not only that, but the government believes it can continue to freeze Megaupload's assets and paralyze its operations even if the judge grants the motion to dismiss. That's because in the government's view, the assets are the proceeds of criminal activity and the prosecution against founder Kim Dotcom will still be pending. The fact that the assets are in the name of Megaupload rather than its founder is of no consequence, the government claimed."
Telling the court that you're going to circumvent the law in the case you lose probably isn't going to be so swell.
should be brought to justice... This is insane and a clear message from the government to everyone: You have NO rights at all! Time to fight terrorism people and it starts at home.
Guilty until proven innocent?
Who needs things like laws and due process when the government can just shut down your business without them?
Fuck yeah.
"The fact that the assets are in the name of Megaupload rather than its founder is of no consequence, the government claimed," will probably not work. Golly, I've been waiting a long, long time to make an IANAL comment on Slashdot.
Japanese scientist: Technically, sir, tomatoes are fags. Military scientist: He means fruits.
What the US govt got from this? Does the piracy declined?
who do we vote for that has
1. a realistic chance of winning, and by realistic I mean you could find a bookie to give you 100-1 odds of it happening
2. and will not only stop these kinds of abuses once in office but use the full force of the government to destroy the lives of those officials from the previous administration responsible for them
Face it. This is no longer a country of laws. The powers that be do what they want, how they want, whenever they want. Get used to it.
So if the court finds that what Megaupload did wasn't illegal, the US Government can say "don't care lol" and just sit on the money because fuck the law. Sounds awesome. How do I open my own USA?
Get used to it.
If you wanna bend over and get it, that's your choice
But do not bet on it that many will follow you
Muchas Gracias, Señor Edward Snowden !
Pretty much just exploding termites.
I think I saw that in a Loony Toons episode once.
Someone flopped a steamer in the gene pool.
This happens with citizens all the time.
http://reason.com/archives/2010/01/26/the-forfeiture-racket/singlepage (Behind a paywall, bu the first paragraph will give you the gist.)
You get arrested for a crime. Your assets are seized. Charges are dropped or you are found not guilty. They don't give you your assets back.
Except for ending slavery, the Nazis, communism, & securing American independence, war has never solved anything.
no shit he said that we can SEE THE POST, care to post more than 2 words genius fucknuts?
Doesn't this violate the Speedy Trial Clause?
- "Nobody came out that night, not one was ever seen. But Old Man Stauf is waiting there, crazy sick and mean!"
Declare the assets breaking the law and seize them. Since assets have no rights they can keep them indefinitely. Highly unConsitutional but it hasn't stopped them yet.
This story is tagged "piracy". One can only assume it's referring to the opinions of the US Attorney...
Not only that, but the government believes it can continue to freeze Megaupload's assets and paralyze its operations even if the judge grants the motion to dismiss.
The message they are sending seems to be: If you do something that might piss off a powerful enough lobby in the United States, even if the legal system sides with you, get your money out of the country.
That doesn't seem like a very smart message to send.
Stop-Prism.org: Opt Out of Surveillance
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/when-government-is-the-looter/2012/05/18/gIQAUIKVZU_story.html
It's much worse than what I've said. Some people commit a crime on your property and they seize your property.
Except for ending slavery, the Nazis, communism, & securing American independence, war has never solved anything.
Comment removed based on user account deletion
Sometimes, i have the feeling that the government is one big, stupid, nasty, bulling, KID.
Then i wake up, and realize that it is not just a feeling...
US Constitution, Amendment V:
No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.
An executive branch agency just deciding to keep your property because they don't like the outcome of their attempt to indict you is not the "due process of law". In fact, it's quite the opposite: it's grand larceny.
While I hold no illusions about the US government's willingness to break the law and violate the constitution whenever they find it convenient to do so, the constitution remains the entirety of the legal basis for its existence. When the government violates the constitution, it does not act as the agent of the people, but as usurpers of the people's sovereign power.
-jcr
The only title of honor that a tyrant can grant is "Enemy of the State."
If they don't follow the law then they're not the government they're just a gang.
Like the thugs in any 3rd world hole - they're already making threats of what they'll do regardless of what the court rules.
Pack them up and send them off to North Korea where they belong.
The 'Judge' is in all likelihood ... an appointee of an appointee of an appointee ... ad infinitum.
In this case, Constitution Rights, Civil Rights, International Rights, the US Rights of Prisoners of War and the Rights of any State of the United States of America ... do NOT apply.
Added to this the ... 'Judge' is fully aware that his Supreme Boss, President Barak Hussein Obama II has through Executive Order Claimed the Rights to Kill and Murder, Render and Torture, and human being on planet Earth so long as the said President is 'Pleasured' by such.
Ergo, the case is closed, solved and no trial needed whatsoever.
May the President Barak Hussein Obama II rest in peace.
LoL
Don't target services to U.S. citizens and deny them access to the services. And whatever you do, do not be linked in anyway with any U.S. business. U.S.A. is getting way to crazy, they don't respect the law if it doesn't fit them, but if it does, doesn't matter if it is U.S. law they are are imposing on non-us citizens and businesses.
Biden brought the Hollywood money back in the day, and that got him the VP slot and his **AA bosses some seats in the Justice Department, including Mr. MacBride who's working Kim Dotcom today. Despite the whole "supporting your vice president" thing, that's a liability moving into new elections. I don't want to think the O-man needs to or wants to make these sacrifices as an incumbent. He's a constitutional scholar and I think, a geek like us. At least I hope so.
BTW: I really hate the politicization of /. during crazy season. And yet here I am contributing to it.
Help stamp out iliturcy.
As a non US citizen the moral of the story is this. Do not host or use cloud services based in the USA ! And while on the subject, control of the domain name system should be removed from the USA. The US government is increasingly showing why they rest of the world cannot trust them.
The government used the "there are no temporal limitations on" (insert some named power) argument with the PPACA. In that case the government argued that there were no temporal limitations on the commerce clause, which the Court did not entertain. Regardless of where you fall on the healthcare bill, these sort of arguments are inane and I find it very troubling that they are being used at all.
ALL the branches of the US government have become corrupt outlaws who have no clue as to what the Bill of Rights means. It's behavior for the last 8 years is a dictionary example of "power corrupts", made worse by the insufferable arrogance they display.
Running with Linux for over 20 years!
It's one thing to uplift the platform and get the president elected. It's a whole other thing to be a fucktard at re-election time.
Help stamp out iliturcy.
The US is the reason why we can't have nice things...
The US government accused Kim Dotcom of racketeering. And now they say they themselves are the real racketeers. Oh the irony.
In light of this, if I had a business that I thought might conceivably run afoul of the "authorities", I would simply ensure I didn't HAVE any assets anywhere where the government could "freeze" them. That was their first mistake. They need to find a place where the local government can't or won't be pressured by the officials of the US government, or the people who own them, (the rich and powerful).
I wonder if people realized that we could turn the tables on the rich, simply by refusing to accept US dollars anymore as payment, and started trading in something else. If all workers did this, we could take the power back in a minute. Imagine...
Of course, commerce would come, oh... not to a grinding or screeching halt, but it would act like it just plowed into the side of a mountain. A mountain of reinforced concrete. We'd have to replace it with something, and THAT could be a problem. I don't think there's a viable alternative. Before anyone responds "BITCOINS!!!" forget it. I mean REAL money, not monopoly money. Cold, hard, cash. Unfortunately, cash is only as good as the ability of the producer of it to prevent forgery, and maintain a degree of scarcity, while at the same time ensuring a sufficient quantity to lubricate transactions...
Now that I think about it, everyone refusing to accept dollars right this moment, at any given moment, would be kind of like hijacking a plane by having men outside cut the wings off, thinking you can then fly it to Rio. Doesn't work that way, it just falls screaming out of the sky.
But anyway, all the government has done, or is doing with this is assuring more people will secure their money beyond the reach of the US government. So this really is just a stupid thing for them to do, to protect the interests of the rich, super rich, and filthy rich.
(Because no middle-class or lower person really worries about whether or not the MPAA or RIAA, etc., is making enough money unless they work for it, and probably not even then.)
... I am the law...
I love stacking my barbecues in the shed at the end of summer - you can't beat a bit of grill on grill action.
the reality is that united state of arses want to control and gulp down the global business.
it is a state sponsored mafia which hits anyone who does not pay them their self purported 'cut' one way or other.
the situation is well clear in many incidences, many world leaders are powerless suckers who cannot stand against the system.
Welcome to the promised land... Now renamed "Democratic People's Republic of America" Hail "Injustice" Department.
And the school bully can still kick anybodies ass after he has been to the principles offices and been told not to.
Until the American People stop it, it will go further. People now bitch and moan a bit. At one point they will want to do something about it and it will be too late to do this in a civil matter.
At some point you would want your rights back. This can happen peacefully, or this can happen by a lot of bloodshed.
No idea what will trigger it or when it will happen. There will be an enormous outcry and people will finally go to the streets.
It has happened already so many times, I won';t even try to come up with examples.
As an aside: /. quote I see is NOBODY EXPECTS THE SPANISH INQUISITION!
Don't fight for your country, if your country does not fight for you.
Who needs hammers if all that's required is your name on the wrong list? He won't be able to fly, get a government or bank job and will probably be unable to get a job flipping burgers starting Monday if they'd take him seriously.
I was promised a flying car. Where is my flying car?
People must fight back, this is insane!
US Gov't should be frozen. And then executed.
Yeah, nice comeback asshole.
It confused me too when I metamoderated 20 minutes ago and this was one of the 10 comments in the list, so I just skipped it. In context it's clear to anyone with a clue that his comment is in the second set of quotes. He messed up the quote tags and deserves to have an AC comment on his post, because messing up HTML tags like that is pretty much the same as having raped your kid sister, right?
I'm sick of shit filled, mother-fucking cunts like you who jump in to correct other people but don't spend more than 2 second to realise that they isn't anything much to correct, instead they jump in with insults, and what they say isn't worth as much as the toilet paper they wipe their ideas onto.
I don't know why I am wasting my time responding to someone who has the mental acuity of a blood-soaked, herpes infected tampon. Just go fist yourself while holding a steak knife already.
When the powers that be want you taken out, you'll be taken out.
Actually they're saying that indefinite asset seizure -by the government during an investigation in order to prevent criminal activity- is within the law. You are assuming this case is a dispute between some hollywood bigwig and a person - ie. a civil case - but it's not. It's the government "researching" (so to speak) whether this guy was committing criminal activities directed against the community as a whole (like, say a murder investigation). As a general rule, if you're under criminal investigation, the government is pretty much at liberty to do a whole lot of things to you and you have no recourse.
(to make this more clear, compare it to the police -and thus the government- taking a gun away from a shooter - it is obviously not theft. The question you should be asking is why this is a criminal investigation. But they certainly seem to have support from congress for making it a criminal case ...)
The exact argument made : ...)
1) because the law empowering them to seize those assets exists and does not mention a time limit, nor the necessity of there being a case afterwards (of course they have to return the assets if they decide not to sue, but until then
2) there have been tons of court cases about this, in all cases judgement was in their favor
So, to be realistic, this is a fucking strong argument.
Vote Romney or Obama and expect more of the same. Unfortunately, there are no other choices.with our sick system.
The die was cast in the 80's
The rich, with their 11 Trillion hidden offshore are rubbing their hands while pulling the system down.
They will wait until the collapse of the world economy and then swoop in to buy what they don't already own.
People don't know what slavery is. You only have a taste with the usury you are are experiencing now.
Don't come back with I'm doing OK,.I made mine the old fashion way I earned it, in the market.
I don't give a Shit, Good for you, Do you want me to blow you because you got lucky? Most got screwed.
The market is a zero-sum game and a big Group hug and fuck you very much.
Joe douche-bag is three paychecks from poverty, Can you survive a year, or three with what you have?
National Lampoon magazine in the 70's had an US Government yard sale including Yellowstone park, Mt Rushmore, the Constitution...
What was Comedy, will soon be reality
Like anarchy? Move to Somalia.
The western system will grind you to dust if it gets you into its gears but it is still a million times better even for the pile of dust then the pure anarchy of the libertarian.
MMO Quests are like orgasms:
You may solo them, I prefer them in a group.
The judge is not going to like this and act harshly against this.
The government basically said that this court case is just for show. Either this judge is in their pocket or they just told the judge to flex his muscles.
Either way: this has the potential to explode.
Well, I think the more news I hear about DoJ, the more I want another huge terrorist attack, but this time, the target should be the white house and pentagon.. I would be glad for terrorism for the first time in my life if it would happen.
Only a terrorist can win another terrorist.
...why I should care for American copyright laws? Ahh, forget it. I would ignore them anyways.
Get rid of the party system. Get rid of popularity contests and get rid of single sentence referendums.
The entire problem is that the running of a country, a society, a culture is FAR to complex to leave to religious lunatics and sound bite issue describers.
Religious lunatics? You don't have to believe in a talking bush to believe. Socialist, Capitalist, Communists and Libertarians and god knows what other feeble dregs exist, they ALL believe in the doctrine of their chosen fate.
An excellent example of this was in The Netherlands when right during a parliamentary investigation into the effects of privatization during the last two decades and wide spread condemnation of the miserable results of privatization in healthcare and public transport, the VVD and CDA were caught advocating taking it even FURTHER while a few doors away the disastrous effects were being discussed.
These two parties BELIEVE in the free market and facts be damned.
Not that it is just a failing of the right. The bleeding hearts keep ignoring clear evidence of troubles with immigration. Belgian TV has aired a docu showing a hidden camera following a woman through several areas, recording the harassment by immigrants. The left media is AMAZINGLY silent on this, not even mentioning it. News that youth unemployment among immigrants is sky high could not be ignored but the list of causes was mysteriously short in the left wing media.
They BELIEVE that nothing can be going wrong with the idea of a multi-cultural society and will do EVERYTHING to ignore it. And the right? The VVD (right wing) had a minister say Holland needed MORE Moroccan immigrants to start new businesses to boost the economy... guess who let immigration get out of control in the first place? The right, to import cheap labor to break the unions and lower salaries.
When the boss of the dutch state bank was questioned about the bank crisis, he kept referring to the people who didn't see it coming (himself included) as the experts and those who did see it coming as doomsayers. He couldn't grasp that HE was no expert, that he and everyone close to him that he hired was wrong and incompetent and the people he was still dismissing as quacks, were the ones who really understand economics.
------
It is NOT right vs left
BOTH sides, ALL sides, are WRONG.
Really running a country (and the US that claims to be capitalist but has tons of socialist programs is a prime example) is the job of balancing a pendulum upside down. You can't do it if you are convinced that the counter movement that needs to be done is "wrong". You just need to do it. That means sometimes you need to do a "leftie" policy and sometimes "right" and sometimes a weird mix or something else altogether.
And neither can you do it with simple referendums. LA has these. Do you think cannabis should be legal for the ill? DOES NOT WORK.
Because it doesn't then give a full policy such as "what defines ill". "who is going to grow it". "when does someone become better again". "when does medinal use become recreational use" "who pays for it" "who pays for it when people abuse it".
Nor does it answer questions about heroine which started out as a drug and can still be used for medical purposes if it did not carry the drugs stigma. It is a very effective pain killer and for terminal patients, the addiction is not an issue.
A real policy on drugs needs to be extremely broad and you cannot run it on ideals of people who smoke and drink who think abusing substances is against the word of god.
You would need a body of wise men who have NO opinion of their own, who can look at what society needs and wants (and wants and needs can easily contradict each other) and then create a policy that is mostly in line with this.
It would require looking at public transport not as a restriction of the freedom of car travel or the environment or road congestion but ALL of them at once without to much bias but with a very heavy dose of reality. the s
MMO Quests are like orgasms:
You may solo them, I prefer them in a group.
Can someone explain me, how it was legal for USA to shutdown servers not placed on US's soil? Seriously, can be the latest behaviour of US govnmt. (at all fields) called as democratic?
...and the US now uses extrajudicial killings to murder them as well. Go USA!
Do you think this makes sense, or can you see any flaws in it?
Are you an "agent provocateur", or do you just have an aggression disorder, or what??
Everybody knows that governments are MUCH, much better trained and organized at inciting effective violence than civilians.
And it only takes a handful provocators in a peaceful demonstration for the government to start throwing the tear gas grenades.
This is how you REALLY do it: If you dare to read it (it can be found on-line and downloaded legally).
Gene Sharp - From Dictatorship to Democracy: A Conceptual Framework for Liberation
http://www.aeinstein.org
"That's not me, that's my company!" is always bullshit.
It only makes sense for real people to have rights and responsibilities.
Hopefully people uploading code and projects to forums have learnt their lesson... but I still see people using cyberlockers.
For all those projects that were on megaupload, all those links are dead. I'd like to know, how many forums that enforce copyright link to megaupload. This might help get some stats.
Does the court even acknowledge that this content was on the Megaupload servers? Does the court even know WHY people on forums like xdadevs were using megaupload?
The syntax for "linkto: megaupload.com/*" ?
A blog I run for the wealth
So the US Government states publicly that they are not subject to the rule of law.
A government that violates the constitution isn't legitimate. Why does it still hold power? Are there no more Americans that believe in the US constitution?
I mean the part about Iran
Score:5, Insightful
Ah....The land of the free....
We don't need a law to rule over people, we just say there is a law and under threat of it, we can take anything we want from anybody, at any time, as much as we want, without any bound what-so-ever. I am certain this is exactly what the founders had in mind.
"The government also argued that it could keep Megaupload in legal limbo indefinitely."
Translation: We're big so we can do what ever we please and damn the courts, the people and what is right.
When they behave like they are now behaving.
This is why some of us will never ever give up our weapons.
“The Constitution guarantees due process, not judicial process,” said Attorney-General Eric Holder... ( http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/holder-defends-obamas-view-of-due-process/article534036/ ) - granted this was in response to Obama's "Hit List" (i.e. the ability for the Executive Branch to execute American citizens who they deem to be a national threat without legal process).
However it pretty much shows the mindset you'll get on Pennsylvania Ave and the Robert Kennedy Building.
As long as there is a process - they feel they are within the constitution.
"Omnis tuus capsa sunt inesse nos"
"I do solemnly swear that I will ... to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States."
Sadly, due process is not the only part that is still a work in progress.
(Wasn't the quote that 'the Constitution is way overated'?)
Well our current President has one done something I didn't think was possible.
He made me wish for our last President.
There are principles that run deeper that the constitution that would be violated if law enforcement could behave that way. Perpetual punishment by seizure of property with no trial is pretty weird and something that only old Joe Stalin would approve of.
They always dance around jurisdiction when electronic communication is concerned. Must content comply with laws in the place it was created or the place where it is sent? If it is copied or stolen can the creator of the content be held responsible if the content lands in a place not intended by the creator? Or is merely passing through a wire or the air ways with no local viewers enough to justify local law enforcement being allowed to butt in? It turns out that these are issues common to numerous cases and it all boils down to a form of censorship. To deprive people of the flow of information just because a government considers it pornographic, obscene, dangerous, or even a threat to public safety is not acceptable simply because governments will tend to classify anything they don't like in a category they are allowed to control. Freedom of speech is like pregnancy. You are or are not pregnant. There is no little bit. Speech is free or controlled. It can not be a little bit controlled or a little bit free.
People don't get up and act until they feel enough pain that the risk is worth the effort.
The injustices of this trial don't impact the majority of Americans *at all.* In fact, most of them don't even know it is going on, and don't care. So why would they protest?
It is popular to post the word "revolution" on slashdot, but nothing of the sort is even remotely close. Too many Americans are far too comfortable to ever reach that level of anger.
I will add that the people who post this word seem to have the odd expectation that other people should fight their battles for them. If YOU aren't even motivated enough to do anything other than post anonymously on a blog, why do you expect that anyone ELSE is going to stick their neck out to further your political agenda?
go fuck your$elf.
If they're saying they can freeze the company's assest because somebody involved with the company allegedly committed a crime, does that mean the next time somebody at Sony, Microsoft, Apple, or the RIAA commits a crime that makes money for the company, they'll freeze the entire company's assets?
The Speedy Trial Clause of the Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution can be use to get the gov. off their asses.
Living in Somalia's anarchy
This is nothing new it is just in an area /. readers care about.
When the war on drugs did this and more, nobody said a dam thing. Who cares about them, they are sub human they are not me... and they are guilty until proven innocent.
Far worse is done on the drug war but take away some movie piracy from the consumers and another minority starts talking revolution... The majority will see you as fanatics and out of touch-- they don't care about you or the stuff you care about and you are probably guilty of piracy and therefore less of a person and deserve what you get!
BTW, they've taken property without due process and KEPT it after losing in court on the primary charges for decades. One has to sue and spend at least $20k after winning just to get the stolen property back again. That is, if they even bother to charge you with a crime and just don't take your stuff under the claim that it was bought with drug money - they don't need to convict you of anything; the property was bought with drug money because they said so. You prove otherwise.
This is nothing new. wake up. Same old "1st they came for the jews" applies here and any situation where short sighted selfishness eventually blows back on you.
Democracy Now! - uncensored, anti-establishment news
But what about peoples right to a speedy and fair trial?
Cant DotCom just have their lawyers request that as part of the paperwork they file in their defense? Isn't letting the case be open forever illegal?
Abraham Lincoln was re-elected under the National Union Party when the pro-war Democrats forged an alliance with pro-war Republicans.
hour of the pig quite good v funny
I donated and phone-banked for Obama in 2008. But his record on Constitutional issues is uniformly abysmal. I am now convinced that he has no moral principles at all.
He's a typical major politician from Chicago, the unabashed pinnacle of US big-city machine politics since the end of Tammany Hall. Chicago was "The City That Works" because ANYBODY could buy the government functions at well-known and affordable prices.
Those of us with ANY experience with Chicago politics knew this even before he won the Democratic nomination - and told everyone whose ear we could bend. We're not surprised at all with how things are going, even now. This is EXACTLY what we expected.
(What will be interesting is whether Tampa and the Republican machine will make the same mistakes with this year's Republican convention that Chicago and the Democrat machine made with the Democratic convention in '68.)
Bantam Dominique roosters crow a four-note song. Once you've heard it as "Happy BIRTHday" you can't NOT hear it that way
The US Treasury i.e. US Government, like all government 'Banks' can freeze, i.e. confiscate without due cause, assets of any human being or institution (i.e. Company), if their assets are within the said National Boarders, at any time at the choosing of the said National Government.
Hummmmmm.
So, what we need is ... 'Banks Without Boarders'!
Voilà :)
LoL
has to the the most fucked up, ignorant and self-important government on the planet at this point in time. Why do other countries and (most of all) the American citizens put up with something so blatantly obscene ?
The U.S. government agencies have had no problems to declare themselves above the law in past. The problem with that, of course, is that the law is supposed to be the government's control mechanism. If every agency decides it can take the law into its own hands, that's basically the operating level of corrupt African government official nepotism.
When will the U.S. regain the ambition of being a democratically controlled first-world nation? Human rights are optional. Laws are optional. Accountability is optional.
Would any of the people commenting on the widespread corruption of the US gov't, and the apparent apathy of the citizenry, care to offer practical advice on how to change things?
Vote? Yeah, that really helps when both candidates are just flipsides of the same messed up coin, products of the same system, never keep campaign promises, and the entire electoral process is either corrupt or obsolete (electoral college)?
Demonstrate? Yeah, that really made a huge difference during OWS. The only difference it made is in the minds of those who demonstrated, who felt like they did something meaningful. No real change.
Strike? That's a leverage tactic for affecting change in the workplace, not so much gov't.
Seriously, I'm not trolling. I really want to know what average US citizen can do to help change things for the better, even in small ways.
Was the complaint originally from the principals or an anonymous do gooders tip? I am not familiar with mega upload. If they were selling copyrighted material then I hope they do prosecute them and shutdown their bank account. So much fake, bootlegged, counterfeit, copied crap physically coming through our customs now...maybe we should have some form of cyber customs for the Internet also? No probably would not work, but what might work better is companies and individuals protecting their own material..strong arm if necessary. Yes physically break arms and fingers THEN I bet they would leave what is not theirs alone
We surrendered that kind of freedom YEARS ago.
Grar II
We don't need no stinking courts, we're the Obama Justice Department, we are a law unto ourselves.
Because it seems that as soon as you have to affect any way any African or any Chinese, the US falls into schizophrenic incoherence and whimsical abuse.
If you take the time to read the Ars article it makes perfect sense.
Megaupload is arguing that it cannot face criminal charges in the US because it technically does not exist in the US. However, that it did conduct business in the US suggests there is a flaw in US criminal procedure regulations which needs to be resolved; because obviously Congress would not want a foreign company to be able to flagrantly break the law in the US. That said, it may be difficult for the Federal Government to cure the issue.
Ultimately, as the US government pointed out, it doesn't matter. Because if Megaupload doesn't exist in the US as an entity that can be charged, then it can't exist as a corporation thats separating the assets of the conspiracy from the individuals being charged. Remember the motion to dismiss is only for the charges against Megaupload, it is not trying to dismiss the claims against the five other members of the conspiracy.
So if they succeed in getting the charges dropped against the corporation, great, but the assets which are still part of the alleged conspiracy the other five are involved in, the assets will still be frozen until the issue is resolved. Ironically, if Dotcom is not extradited to the US, the assets will remain frozen indefinitely, as we do not proceed against people in absentia. If he wants his money back, he has to come here and face the charges.
That only matters if you have respect for the court and the law, but obama does not. Actually that is not quite true, Obama respects the court and the law when they agree with him otherwise he has contempt for both.