Kim Dotcom: US Govt Is Protecting An Outdated Monopolistic Business Model
Here’s a key excerpt from this very interesting article:
Dotcom told us that in recent years Megaupload had spent millions of dollars seeking out the very best legal advice and the conclusions drawn were clear – providing the site did its part in tackling infringement it would be protected under the DMCA and could not be held liable for the actions of its users.
Towards achieving this protection, Dotcom told us that the company had developed relationships with 180 takedown partners – companies authorized to directly remove infringing links from Megaupload’s systems – and between them they had taken down in excess of 15 million links. Those companies included the major studios of the MPAA who, incidentally, in 7 years of the company’s existence had never tried to sue Megaupload for copyright infringement.
On the advice of Megaupload’s legal team, the company believed it had the same rights as YouTube in its case against entertainment giant Viacom. In that 2010 case U.S. District Judge Louis L. Stanton said service providers can not be held liable for infringement as long as they remove links upon copyright holder request – even if the provider knows that parts of their service are being used to host illicit content.
“[YouTube] won their lawsuit and I’m sitting in jail, my house is being raided, all my assets are frozen without a trial, without a hearing. This is completely insane, is what it is,” said Dotcom of his predicament.
[…]
“If you read the indictment and if you hear what the Prosecution has said in court, at least $500 million of damage were just music files and just within a two-week time period. So they are actually talking about $13 billion US damage within a year just for music downloads. The entire US music industry is less than $20 billion,” he explained.
Google will join SOPA / PIPA protest. Using their popular home page as a bearer of bad news, Google will join in the protests along side Wikipedia, Reddit and thousands of other websites tomorrow, January 18th. While Google will not be performing a full blackout like many others, they will be using their home page to protest the proposed bills.
Google will Protest SOPA Using Popular Home Page (via censorus)
Stopped they must be; on this all depends. Reddit announces a site-wide blackout planned for January 18th to raise awareness of the dangers that the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA, in the House) and Protect IP Act (PIPA, in the Senate) pose on the Internet as Americans know it.
We’re as addicted to reddit as the rest of you. Many of you stand with us against PIPA/SOPA, but we know support for a blackout isn’t unanimous. We’re not taking this action lightly. We wouldn’t do this if we didn’t believe this legislation and the forces behind it were a serious threat to reddit and the Internet as we know it. Blacking out reddit is a hard choice, but we feel focusing on a day of action is the best way we can amplify the voice of the community.
Here’s to hoping that other major online corportations, such as Google and Facebook, take note and promote awareness of these proposed bills.
