Megaupload Dead

[FiftyDollarCurse]

Did I get that right?

The shutting down of MegaUpload has nothing to do with SOPA or the reaction to it.

[elmagicochrisg]

Did I get that right?

The shutting down of MegaUpload has nothing to do with SOPA or the reaction to it.

Of course not...

[MrPopo]

Did I get that right?

The shutting down of MegaUpload has nothing to do with SOPA or the reaction to it.

Of course not...

It's funny because it's rampant speculation.

[Breetai]

So how many people lamenting these services are doing so because they were transferring legitimate files?

If I already own the game, but want a copy of it and find it much less time consuming to download it than burn it... or if I am hundreds/thousands of kilometres away from where my physical copy is located, I find downloading it to be useful.

Is that not legit?

Canadian copyright law, from my understanding, allows this. There is court precedent from this dating back to the VHS/BETA/Cassette copying days. It was deemed legal to do it with personal copies. This translated to uploading media you own being legal, but downloading material you do not own to be illegal. I am not sure about US law (although I recall it being illegal, but I could be wrong), and, frankly, I am annoyed that I am being forced to care. This is another example of the US imposing their own laws/rules on other nations.

Parker and Stone's farce movie, Team America, made the same point. I don't think they were completely off base.

The shutting down of MegaUpload has nothing to do with SOPA or the reaction to it.

Not officially.

[Flake]

The more I find out about Dotcom or Kimble or whatever name the Megaupload CEO goes by currently, the more I laugh. There are people recounting playing Quake 2 with him back in the day and how he would DDoS people who beat him too often.

[Segatari2002]

So how many people lamenting these services are doing so because they were transferring legitimate files?

If I already own the game, but want a copy of it and find it much less time consuming to download it than burn it... or if I am hundreds/thousands of kilometres away from where my physical copy is located, I find downloading it to be useful.

Is that not legit?

I don't think so. But when someone who doesn't own the game downloads it, I imagine that is illegal. Unfortunately this may boil down to a case of the few were actually breaking the rules, have inadvertently screwed the rest of the users.

[DinnerX]

So how many people lamenting these services are doing so because they were transferring legitimate files?

If I already own the game, but want a copy of it and find it much less time consuming to download it than burn it... or if I am hundreds/thousands of kilometres away from where my physical copy is located, I find downloading it to be useful.

Is that not legit?

As far as I know, downloading a game you already own is technically illegal if the place you're downloading it from is not authorized to distribute it.

[BurningDoom]

So how many people lamenting these services are doing so because they were transferring legitimate files?

If I already own the game, but want a copy of it and find it much less time consuming to download it than burn it... or if I am hundreds/thousands of kilometres away from where my physical copy is located, I find downloading it to be useful.

Is that not legit?

I don't think so. But when someone who doesn't own the game downloads it, I imagine that is illegal. Unfortunately this may boil down to a case of the few were actually breaking the rules, have inadvertently screwed the rest of the users.

The few? Come on, don't kid yourself. Most people downloaded those games because they DIDN'T own them.

[Zing]

A lot of discussion concerning this focuses on what the law is, rather than what the law should be. There is a lot of "it is illegal…" without concern for why it is illegal, or if it should be illegal.

I'm not saying these forums, or any video game forums, should break down into debate over constitutional law or something. It's just my observation. It's has a similar feeling of the parent who answers a child's "why?" with "because I said so".

Is it of a net benefit to our society to pursue these charges and take down a massive, long-standing public service? Is it an efficient use of law enforcement, the court system, and their related bureaucracies?

[AmishSamurai]

From what I remember, the DMCA signed under Clinton states it's legal to possess a rom or iso file if you own the game in question.