Alleged Operator of Demonoid Released From Jail

An anonymous reader writes "Last August, BitTorrent tracker Demonoid was taken down by law enforcement in the Ukraine. This followed raids in Mexico to arrest the people who ran the site. Panama is somehow involved, too. However, a recent review filed by the U.S. Trade Representative reveals that the criminal case against the main (alleged) operator of Demonoid has stalled, and the person has been released from imprisonment. 'For how long the alleged Demonoid operator was imprisoned is not mentioned. However, the criminal case is ongoing according to the copyright holders, who further mention that it's now proceeding in Ukraine. Demonoid, meanwhile, has moved to Hong Kong where it found a new hosting company and a new .HK domain name. Whether the BitTorrent tracker will ever return to its full glory has yet to be seen.'"

Comments

It's just "Ukraine"

[Bobb Sledd]

It's just "Ukraine" not "the Ukraine." (Perhaps you're thinking of "the U.K.")

Re:It's just "Ukraine"

[Zontar_Thing_From_Ve]

It's just "Ukraine" not "the Ukraine." (Perhaps you're thinking of "the U.K.")

The rule is that when it was part of the Soviet Union and a specific region, it was OK to call it "The Ukraine" but since independence the country has been quite clear in its official documents, embassy names, etc. that in the English language it is now simply known as Ukraine. Rules for other languages such as French may be different.

I got into an argument once via email with a Ukrainian woman in Kiev who insisted that because some English grammar book written in the 1980s (she actually quoted me the page and relevant section) said that it was "The Ukraine" that apparently this meant that until the end of time the country is to be called The Ukraine in the English speaking world. I thought it was a really odd argument to make as most Ukrainians will insist on not using the "The" when referring to their country if they can speak English, but it just goes to show you how old habits die hard.

Comment removed

[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

the ukraine is weak

[Joe_Dragon]

the ukraine is weak

Re:There is no "the" in front of Ukraine

[SJHillman]

I live in United States of America. We were formerly run by what is now United Kingdom, which is part of European Union.

"Ukraine" used to mean "borderland" or "homeland", which is one of the reasons using it with the article is so commonplace. To say using "the" is wrong in every single circumstance is wrong, you insensitive the clod.

No point in using demonoid...

[Anonymous Coward]

The owner relinquished all of the seeder IP addresses, etc.

Why go to a tracker site that will rat you out?

Re:No point in using demonoid...

[Charliemopps]

The seeders IP address were public knowledge. The entire point of the tracker is to release the seeders IP addresses. I have no problem with this. If there are users on there that want to hide what they are doing there are much better ways to go about it. If you're involved in this sort of thing, you've got to assume the industry is going to find out the IP address you hosted from. Best make sure that IP address doesn't lead back to you.

Ukrainian Justice

[Zontar_Thing_From_Ve]

I can speak Russian rather well (not really good at Ukrainian though) and I've spent a decent amount of time in Ukraine and I have a few friends who live there. I can tell you that justice goes to the highest bidder there at the local level. If the US government wants to bribe a judge, they can get whatever verdict they want. Or if they can convince President Yanukovich that he'll get something back in exchange for sending an "evil pirate" to jail, then his office will just tell the judge what to do. However, if the US just expects the local justice system to act like it would in a western country and they don't bribe or tell the Pres what to do, then anyone facing charges can just bribe the judge himself and get off. It will be interesting to see the outcome, but whatever the verdict is, I have no doubts that it will be completely dishonest and someone will have bribed or cajoled their way into it.

Re:Ukrainian Justice

[Anonymous Coward]

So the Ukrainian judiciary system is not that much different from the West's. Both follow the golden rule: he who has the gold makes the rules.

Re:Ukrainian Justice

[fredprado]

Although I do not doubt that you are correct about Ukranian justice, I must argue that, at least regarding high profile cases, Western justice is not very far from that. The pirate bay farse of a judgement proves how far western justice can bend to political interest, for example.

Re:There is no "the" in front of Ukraine

[LordSnooty]

Definitely the most important feature of the story and worth some discussion. The other side of the story, the whole lock someone up for an indeterminate amount of time with no idea of whether the broke a law or not part is just utterly played out.

There's always copycat demonoid.mk

[Cito]

http://demonoid.mk/

works pretty good, although I don't like the interface, it has all the goodies, usually released on demonoid.mk / kat.ph / thepiratebay.se all at same time.

id much rather the original demonoid though

THE?

[Anonymous Coward]

So the big part of this story is whether on not there should be a The in front of Ukraine? Nothing about the legality of what's been happening or whether Demoniod will return?

Re:Welcome

[X0563511]

403 - Forbidden

So useful.

Re:There is no "the" in front of Ukraine

[Anonymous Coward]

In Soviet Ukraine, insensitivity clods YOU.

So...

[tompaulco]

So they tell you where to find stuff. They don't even host the stuff themselves. What did they book them on? Aiding and abetting? Why isn't the Google CEO in jail?

Re:Welcome

[jamstar7]

Sucker must be behind the Great Firewall.