Alleged KickassTorrents Owner Considers 'Voluntary Surrender' To the US (torrentfreak.com)

An anonymous reader quotes a report from TorrentFreak: Earlier this year a Polish court ruled that Artem Vaulin, the alleged owner of the defunct torrent site KickassTorrents, can be extradited to the United States. The decision came as a disappointment to the defense team, which quickly announced an appeal. Vaulin has since been released on bail and currently resides in a Warsaw apartment. His release has made it easier to communicate with his attorneys in the United States, who have started negotiations with the U.S. Government. While the extradition appeal is still ongoing, it now appears that under the right conditions Vaulin might consider traveling to the United States voluntarily, so he can "resolve" the pending charges. This is what the defense team states in a motion for a status conference (pdf), which was submitted earlier this week.

Comments

Extradition

[sexconker]

Why the fuck would a sovereign nation extradite someone to the US over something as victimless as hosting a website?

Oh right. The corporations own the US and the US owns the world.

Re:Extradition

[zerofluidone]

While it may feel like the right thing to do is to admit guilt and take whatever punishment is given, it is much better to continuously say nothing and make the people of the legal system work when they destroy your life - hopefully with a good lawyer if you're the kind that can afford your rights. There are not usually any good outcomes of "manning up" and taking responsibility when you just make it easy for people with political motives to hammer your life to dust. One of my biggest regrets in life is not having representation at least twice in my life because I thought the outcome would be better if I handled things on my own - or just stayed quiet. Big mistakes. He should get a lawyer before he lands and should expect to be isolated for months upon arrival. The real terrorists are the people who bought Congress.

Re:Extradition

[HBI]

He lives in a country that has been partitioned, invaded, and raped blind by every one of its neighbors over the past 250 years or so.

Its only reliable ally is the United States.

If you were going to run a torrent site, I would have recommended living pretty much anywhere but Poland.

Re: Extradition

[ooloorie]

First, copyright law was imposed on the world largely because Europeans wanted that, so don't blame US corporations for that.

Now, the guy violated laws that both the US and European nations agreed to by treaty; what exactly do you want to happen?

Might makes right, and money BUYS might.

[Anonymous Coward]

Having dealt with the government myself, I would urge Mr. Vaulin to do his utmost to disappear. Trusting the US to honor a deal would be extremely unwise, and I speak from experience which was both very unpleasant and very costly in the terms which matter most : years of a human life taken away for what in my case was a trivial offense. The adversarial nature of the US court system makes a result which is very perverted indeed all too possible. The court system is not about justice, it is about power, and that's the sad truth.

This fight against torrent websites proves one thing and one thing only, and that is that with enough money it is possible to get the US Justice Department to expend resources on a situation that is utterly insignificant to 99.9% of the American people. This exposes the true nature of how government works in the US. It's not really "of the people, by the people, for the people", it's a tool for the elite and all the rest of the population is along for the ride. Revolutions have started for less, in other countries, in the past. But the current average American is too fat and lazy to consider anything of the sort, so the shitshow continues.

Re: If he goes to the USA he will be screwed.

[Motherfucking Shit]

Nah, that's what Dmitry Sklyarov was for.

Re:F the US

[Zontar The Mindless]

Imagine if insulting the president was against the law, similar to the lese majeste law in Thailand...

Thanks, I'd rather not.

And I think I'd prefer if you didn't go giving anyone any ideas, either.

I still don't get it

[Cytotoxic]

I still don't understand the legal theory that says that foreign citizens operating entirely outside of the US can be held accountable to US law.

We have seen this with gambling sites, file sharing sites, etc. I get applying US law if a foreign national defrauds a US citizen from their hideout in another country. Or going after the leadership of criminal conspiracies that operate inside the US but have their top people overseas - a buddy of mine investigates medical fraud cases that are run by an organized crime ring in Cuba of all places.

But this is different. A web site that hosts links to files hosted elsewhere and is itself hosted in another country by people who are subject to the laws of other nations? Can China come after the editors and owners of Slashdot for its users violating Chinese speech laws? They seem to take those more seriously than the US takes copyright law.

This whole thing is nuts. Or maybe I'm missing something.

Re: I still don't get it

[ooloorie]

"I still don't understand the legal theory that says that foreign citizens operating entirely outside of the US can be held accountable to US law"

If a citizen of country X harms a citizen or entity of country Y while in territory Z, any of X, Y, and Z might have or claim jurisdiction. Who actually handles the case is usually determined by treaties, foremost extradition treaties. This is hardly unique to the US. Europe claims extraterritorial jurisdiction all the time as well.

The US/Europe distinction you're trying to make is probably invalid anyway, since a lot of the plaintiffs are probably partly European owned, and the underlying copyright laws were originally created based on pressure by European publishers. This isn't the US throwing it's weight around, it's the US operating according to international treaties based on long standing European practice and political pressures.

Re:I still don't get it

[MrEdofCourse]

Can China come after the editors and owners of Slashdot for its users violating Chinese speech laws?

I'm not a lawyer, but my understanding here is that in order to get an extradition the law that the person broke must also be illegal in the country you're extraditing from (and have a treaty with). So no, China could not do that.