ol' Dotcom is now free

[Fulgrim]

They probably let him go because they after realizing from a legal standpoint they couldn't get him, even with their dirty tactics used to seize the majority of his servers, they just bled him until his wallet ran out. They probably think his business aspects have all but vanished, but i've got a feeling ol' Kim will be back, just like a bad case of thrush. 

 

Kim Dotcom has come out the other side of his bail hearing a free man, with everyone satisfied that he hadn’t been in breach of his terms. Shortly after he posted on his Twitter account that the hearing was “just like the entire #Megaupload case. Nonsense!”

During the trial Dotcom, real name Kim Schmitz, was asked about many facets of his life, including the fact that he’s earned a purported $40 (£20) million since his original arrest back in 2012 on various charges related to the file locker site MegaUpload. Dotcom didn’t deny any of this, nor his multi-million dollar investments in his Internet political party, or the advertising of his Good Times album, but said that all of it went into a family trust which also paid related bills.

 

 

 

Following the trial, Dotcom posted images of him ‘making beats’ with Skrillex

 

 

 

He did however state that he was no longer a beneficiary of the family trust, having signed over control to his ex-wife Mona recently. Presumably that is to protect his family finances and part of the reason he recently claimed to be “broke,” and in need of a new lawyer (which he achieved by the time of the bail hearing).

In a somewhat bizarre line of questioning, Dotcom was quizzed on the amount of time he spent playing videogames, as if that would somehow influence his ability to flee the country or breach other bail conditions.

He was also questioned about his affiliation with a Europe based co-accused in the MegaUpload trial, someone that Dotcom is forbidden from communicating with. He denied any such discussions with this person and said that he and everyone involved in his case had been very careful not to breach bail conditions.

 

Source

 

[xox]

I maintain the standpoint that he was a criminal, he knew of the risks with the illegal material on his servers, so he should be held accountable for his actions

[qwertywarrior]

is that his wife in the pic ?

[The Crazed Child]

is that his wife in the pic ?

topkek

[Fulgrim]

I maintain the standpoint that he was a criminal, he knew of the risks with the illegal material on his servers, so he should be held accountable for his actions

r u avin a giggle der m8

 

He basically provided file hosting services. If something that is copyright protected got uploaded, you could simply report the item, causing them to check the said file if it's in breach of any copyright law, and if so it got removed. If a company sent Kim a letter/email about copyrighted files on his servers, same thing. He'd have them checked and subsequently removed if they breached any kind of law.

He is not a criminal, simply a businessman which some pirates used as it was a bit of a loophole in a sense for them to use. They could upload their warez, and if they got taken down, simply set up a new account and reupload. He himself did nothing wrong, but rather people using his services did wrong.

 

He has simply been used as a public scapegoat, dubbed some kind of king of internet piracy and people are daft enough to believe he himself has actually broken any kind of law.

[Sauron]

I haven't followed the case much but... how does Skrillex have anything to do with it? ^^

[Fulgrim]

I haven't followed the case much but... how does Skrillex have anything to do with it? ^^

Kim wanted to make some wub wubs with him after walking free from court a free man.

[Sauron]

@Fulgrim @tomlambert01 it depends if we consider accepting a very likely risk of someone exploiting the service for illegal activities to be criminal. There's no doubt that Kim knew this was almost certainly going to happen, and decided not to use specific protections as that would make usability of the service plummet. That said, one could argue that if that makes him guilty the whole internet should shut down because it's open to abuse.

[Fulgrim]

@Fulgrim @tomlambert01 it depends if we consider accepting a very likely risk of someone exploiting the service for illegal activities to be criminal. There's no doubt that Kim knew this was almost certainly going to happen, and decided not to use specific protections as that would make usability of the service plummet. That said, one could argue that if that makes him guilty the whole internet should shut down because it's open to abuse.

There was a system in place FYI, to get copyrighted material taken down.

 

The liability was upon the uploader, not the host. And as the host Kim had a system in place specifically for illegal content to be removed. So yes he knew it was gonna happen and he did do something about it. But the corporations wanted to ring him dry in the courts until he's broke, which is what they have achieved.

Some people just look at his business with the kind of logic, like owning a car means it's your fault if someone breaks into it.

[Sauron]

There was a system in place FYI, to get copyrighted material taken down.

 

The liability was upon the uploader, not the host. And as the host Kim had a system in place specifically for illegal content to be removed. So yes he knew it was gonna happen and he did do something about it. But the corporations wanted to ring him dry in the courts until he's broke, which is what they have achieved.

Some people just look at his business with the kind of logic, like owning a car means it's your fault if someone breaks into it.

 

What I meant is that there was no system actively checking every single file uploaded for illegal stuff, that would have taken a lot more resources and time to do, but it MIGHT have prevented most of the pirating from happening.

[smjpl]

I maintain the standpoint that he was a criminal, he knew of the risks with the illegal material on his servers, so he should be held accountable for his actions

 

I have no doubt that was his business model and therefore I understand why you are saying that, but this is the problem with laws; bending the law isn't illegal. The only reason people are up in arms over this is because it is blatant (or you could say transparent). Lots of other companies do similar things but just inn a much less transparent way. Is he doing anything more illegal than any other company using similar tactics? Probably not so why scapegoat him? Is it just the fact that he didn't play ball when it came time to settle the "okay we'll let you away with it this time" debts? Who knows but I don't agree with going after Kim  and not going after other companies who use exactly the same tactics.

[Fulgrim]

What I meant is that there was no system actively checking every single file uploaded for illegal stuff, that would have taken a lot more resources and time to do, but it MIGHT have prevented most of the pirating from happening.

You heard of the data protection act mate?

[LAwLz]

It's good to see that he was found not guilty. We have safe harbor laws for a reason. Saying that Kim should have been found guilty is like saying Linus should be found guilty if I decided to upload something copyrighted to LinusTechTips.

The ones uploading the illegal files are the ones who should be held responsible, not the owner of the service being misused. Same logic as hardware stores not having to be held responsible for people using crowbars they sell for illegal things.

[Psykomantis00]

I maintain the standpoint that he was a criminal, he knew of the risks with the illegal material on his servers, so he should be held accountable for his actions

 

Another person added to the list of LTT idiots. 

[LePawel]

I maintain the standpoint that he was a criminal, he knew of the risks with the illegal material on his servers, so he should be held accountable for his actions

Based on this bullshit all cloud services should be closed as well.

[Mooshi]

Skrillex is really freaking tiny. 

[Fulgrim]

Skrillex is really freaking tiny. 

Or Kim is the Finnish BFG.

[Sauron]

You heard of the data protection act mate?

 

Actually no, I don't live in the US ^^

[Valentyn]

Based on this bullshit all cloud services should be closed as well.

 

This just in, Apple, Google, Microsoft, Dropbox and other cloud services currently had all servers seized by US government for Piracy, and CEO's being taken to court after being Raided by Special Police services.

 

Users of those services have permanently lost off their data, never to receive it again.

[xox]

r u avin a giggle der m8

 

He basically provided file hosting services. If something that is copyright protected got uploaded, you could simply report the item, causing them to check the said file if it's in breach of any copyright law, and if so it got removed. If a company sent Kim a letter/email about copyrighted filed on his servers, same thing. He'd have them checked and subsequently removed if they breached any kind of law.

He is not a criminal, simply a businessman which some pirates used as it was a bit of a loophole in a sense for them to use. They could upload their warez, and if they got taken down, simply set up a new account and reupload. He himself did nothing wrong, but rather people using his services did wrong.

 

He has simply been used as a public scapegoat, dubbed some kind of king of internet piracy and people are daft enough to believe he himself has actually broken any kind of law.

It was quite clear that he knew that megaupload was used for piracy: it takes an idiot not to know that.

Since he knew and was doing very little about the whole thing, he is actually condoning piracy of millions of items.

Plus, he was the manager of the business and whenever they do something wrong, they are responsible. A big paycheck comes with great responsibility.

 

Furthermore, the hard drives were his asset, and if you have illegal things on your property, it is your responsiility to deal with them.

It's like you have a weed farm in your attic, know it's there and don't do anything about it because you didn't put it there. There is still a fucking weed farm in your attic, just because you chose to ignore it, doesn't make it right and not an offense. He is an adult, and is completely responsible for his property and what happens on his property.

[Fulgrim]

It was quite clear that he knew that megaupload was used for piracy: it takes an idiot not to know that.

Since he knew and was doing very little about the whole thing, he is actually condoning piracy of millions of items.

Plus, he was the manager of the business and whenever they do something wrong, they are responsible. A big paycheck comes with great responsibility.

 

Furthermore, the hard drives were his asset, and if you have illegal things on your property, it is your responsiility to deal with them.

It's like you have a weed farm in your attic, know it's there and don't do anything about it because you didn't put it there. There is still a fucking weed farm in your attic, just because you chose to ignore it, doesn't make it right and not an offense. He is an adult, and is completely responsible for his property and what happens on his property.

He had a system in place to get illegal content taken down. Either via reporting a file to get it checked and dealt with, or via a takedown notice from whatever copyright firm found a file that was in breach of the law. And in the ToS you agree to when creating account, it puts liability on the uploader when they upload content. Kim did nothing wrong.

 

Kim is not a criminal, but simply a businessman who was working well within the boundaries of the law. I don't get why you fail to comprehend this. 

 

 

Using your way of thinking; if i own a car and someone breaks into it, is it my fault for buying a vehicle which has the potential to be exploited, or rather the bugger who broke into my car?

[xox]

He had a system in place to get illegal content taken down. Either via reporting a file to get it checked and dealt with, or via a takedown notice from whatever copyright firm found a file that was in breach of the law. And in the ToS you agree to when creating account, it puts liability on the uploader when they upload content. Kim did nothing wrong.

 

Kim is not a criminal, but simply a businessman who was working well within the boundaries of the law. I don't get why you fail to comprehend this. 

Back to the weed farm analogy:

1. The weed farm is still in your attic.
2. If someone complains about the smell of the weed farm, you have decided you will take it down eventually.
3. Someone complains and you remove the farm. However, the farm was in there in the first place and the law does not forget stuff like that. If you mugged someone 5 years ago, you can still be found guilty for it now, it may be ages ago since it happened, but it still happened, so you are responsible.

Another analogy:

1. Weed farm in your attic
2. The person who installed it, well, you know him, so you asked him to sign that if it was found, it was their responsibility
3. It gets found out, so their responsibility, right?
4. Well no, you knew about the weed farm so therefore, you're aiding and abetting the crime as well as perverting the course of justice, so you are guilty.
5. Also, it was on your property, so it's your fault in the eyes of the law.

And it was arguable that his business model was that pirates would use the service; no-one doubts that he knew of the material on his website [on his property] and how exactly his website was being exploited.

Since he knew that it was being used wrongly, and that it was becoming too much of a liability, he should have stopped it or sold it as fast as possible. Liabilities are not worth keeping in the world of business.

He kept with it though, he knew the risks and it ruined his life. That's what happens when you are a negligent manager.

 

Weed farm again (EDIT)

1. People are starting to find out about the farm
2. Nobody will tell, but it's only a matter of time
3. THIS IS THE POINT WHEN YOU SHOULD GET RID OF THE FUCKING FARM, TOO MUCH LIABILITY
4. You stay on with the farm
5. Someone tells the popo
6. Farm gets found out, you act all innocent and pretend it's not your liability, it's someone else's

[RH00D]

is that his wife in the pic ?

Nah this was his wife.

 

[Fulgrim]

 

Back to the weed farm analogy:

1. The weed farm is still in your attic.
2. If someone complains about the smell of the weed farm, you will take it down eventually.
3. Someone complains and you removed the farm. However, the farm was in there in the first place and the law does not forget stuff like that. If you mugged someone 5 years ago, you can still be found guilty for it now, it may be ages ago since it happened, but it still happened, so you are responsible.

Another analogy:

1. Weed farm in your attic
2. The person who installed it, well, you know him, so you asked him to sign that if it was found, it was their responsibility
3. It gets found out, so their responsibility, right?
4. Well no, you knew about the weed farm so therefore, you're aiding and abetting the crime as well as perverting the course of justice, so you are guilty.
5. Also, it was on your property, so it's your fault in the eyes of the law.

And it was arguable that his business model was that pirates would use the service; no-one doubts that he knew of the material on his website [on his property] and how exactly his website was being exploited.

Since he knew that it was being used wrongly, and that it was becoming too much of a liability, he should have stopped it or sold it as fast as possible. Liabilities are not worth keeping in the world of business.

He kept with it though, he knew the risks and it ruined his life. That's what happens when you are a negligent manager.

 

Weed farm again (EDIT)

1. People are starting to find out about the farm
2. Nobody will tell, but it's only a matter of time
3. THIS IS THE POINT WHEN YOU SHOULD GET RID OF THE FUCKING FARM, TOO MUCH LIABILITY
4. You stay on with the farm
5. Someone tells the popo
6. Farm gets found out, you act all innocent and pretend it's not your liability, it's someone else's

 

 

The fact is that when files in breach of copyright were found they were dealt with accordingly. It's not like the people uploading the illegal content told him they were doing it. 

 

As i already stated, the system was exploitable in a way but it had setups in place to deal with such matters, so he was doing his job right, and keeping within the boundaries of the law.

[qwertywarrior]

Nah this was his wife.

 

 

this was before the surgery