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franzk
Is this the real reason why Megaupload was shut down?

[plus.google.com]

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In December of 2011, just weeks before the takedown, Digital Music News reported on something new that the creators of #Megaupload were about to unroll. Something that would rock the music industry to its core. (http://goo.gl/A7wUZ)

I present to you... MegaBox. MegaBox was going to be an alternative music store that was entirely cloud-based and offered artists a better money-making opportunity than they would get with any record label.

"UMG knows that we are going to compete with them via our own music venture called Megabox.com, a site that will soon allow artists to sell their creations directly to consumers while allowing artists to keep 90 percent of earnings," MegaUpload founder Kim 'Dotcom' Schmitz told Torrentfreak

Not only did they plan on allowing artists to keep 90% of their earnings on songs that they sold, they wanted to pay them for songs they let users download for free.

"We have a solution called the Megakey that will allow artists to earn income from users who download music for free," Dotcom outlined. "Yes that's right, we will pay artists even for free downloads. The Megakey business model has been tested with over a million users and it works."

How come I am not surprised at all?

I pity the poor FBI agents who joined the agency thinking they'd protect their country. They end up doing dirty tricks for Hollywood's big firms...



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2012-02-04 17:08 by dcba.

Read the book "WAR IS A RACKET" written by Major General Smedley Butler USMC in 1935. He told us 70 years ago about these tactics. His views developed from 33 years of serving as what he called “a gangster for capitalism.”

Ike (Dwight Eisenhower) warned us 50 years ago about the danger of military industrial complex abusing its position to make money.... war and politics... it is all about money, not taking care of the people who pay taxes.

Info on Major General Smedley Butler [rationalrevolution.net]

War is a Racket [www.amazon.com]

Ike's warning...







This post was NOT politics... I am not taking sides,
I posted info becasue maybe someone may not be aware of either of these men's warnings, which we all ignored, and continue to ignore..... war is a racket, and it appears the FBI is now part of the same racket.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2012-02-04 18:43 by Max'sKansasCity.

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marcovandereijk
According to on line reports, here's thee toll as of today:

MegaUpload - Closed
FileServe - Closed
FileJungle - Deleting files. Locked in the U.S..
UploadStation - Locked in the U.S..
FileSonic - Closed
VideoBB - Closed
Uploaded - Closed
FilePost - Deleting all material
4shared - Deleting files with copyright
MediaFire - Called to testify in the next 90 days and it will open doors to FBI

They're going insane!

Depositfiles not closed

Megaupload: I may lose everything I uploaded to website

Millions of people who used the website Megaupload to share photos and videos with friends face having it all deleted.

Prosecutors in America closed the site two weeks ago and say it was helping people illegally download films and TV shows.

Will Shenton from Bedford used Megaupload to store music he made when he used to DJ.

He's told Newsbeat's technology reporter Dan Whitworth that he would be devastated if it was all deleted.

[www.bbc.co.uk]


"As we say in England, it can get a bit trainspottery"

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treaclefingers

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Chris Fountain

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marcovandereijk
Clearly a campaign is started to influence people's perception about the owners of Megaupload.
By showing their wealth we are led to belief they must be crooks. I don't really care about
that. They are business men, they take risks, implore new technologies, find a way to fulfill
others needs. That's worth a reward.

Second, I don't believe the artists are really suffering from what is shared on the internet.
There are even studies that point in the other directio: the more people share on the internet,
the better the artist is selling tickets for concerts and stuff (Report: Ups and downs.

Third, about the metaphore used about the "open shop", after the wind blew the door away:
what the FBI does here is not only destroy the shop with the open door, but shut down the complete
mall so all the good shops are closed as well. They shoot with a shotgun at a gnat in a
kindergarten.

Fourth, a government that is afraid of their people communicating with each other is not
worth to rule the country.

I could not agree more!! Great Post!!!

I don't think this issue is as black and white as you make it. Firstly, if the crimes are actually money laundering and racketeering, I doubt you'd really be throwing your support behind that.

Your second point has merit, but measuring this is difficult. Strictly speaking, I believe artists should be compensated for their work, not ripped off. This has been an issue at least since the development of recording tapes. It's just gotten way bigger since it's possible to swap digital files in seconds. Not sure how you properly address this, but I think it will be virtually impossible for them to stop this behaviour as it is so pervasive.

Third, your analogy may have merit, but it is difficult to know at this point to what extent the criminality pervades the company. I feel bad for customers that used paid services for simply transferring their own files/for business. That said, I wonder what percentage of the business Mega Upload did would be considered legitimate. I suspect that it would not be a large percentage.

Finally, this is not about communicating with each other, it is about sharing files that have rights attached to them....to colour it any other way is being deceitful.

I don't support censorship, and I think the danger with these moves is that we move closer to censorship. However, strictly speaking, this 'police action' isn't about censorship, but about theft.

Treaclefingers, I think you articlulate the issue very well here and I agree with you.

Most of these guys have criminal minds AND past convictions. Fraud, embezzlement, insider trading and hacking. Not the kind of businessmen I want anything to do with.

peace

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Naturalust

Quote
treaclefingers

Quote
Chris Fountain

Quote
marcovandereijk
Clearly a campaign is started to influence people's perception about the owners of Megaupload.
By showing their wealth we are led to belief they must be crooks. I don't really care about
that. They are business men, they take risks, implore new technologies, find a way to fulfill
others needs. That's worth a reward.

Second, I don't believe the artists are really suffering from what is shared on the internet.
There are even studies that point in the other directio: the more people share on the internet,
the better the artist is selling tickets for concerts and stuff (Report: Ups and downs.

Third, about the metaphore used about the "open shop", after the wind blew the door away:
what the FBI does here is not only destroy the shop with the open door, but shut down the complete
mall so all the good shops are closed as well. They shoot with a shotgun at a gnat in a
kindergarten.

Fourth, a government that is afraid of their people communicating with each other is not
worth to rule the country.

I could not agree more!! Great Post!!!

I don't think this issue is as black and white as you make it. Firstly, if the crimes are actually money laundering and racketeering, I doubt you'd really be throwing your support behind that.

Your second point has merit, but measuring this is difficult. Strictly speaking, I believe artists should be compensated for their work, not ripped off. This has been an issue at least since the development of recording tapes. It's just gotten way bigger since it's possible to swap digital files in seconds. Not sure how you properly address this, but I think it will be virtually impossible for them to stop this behaviour as it is so pervasive.

Third, your analogy may have merit, but it is difficult to know at this point to what extent the criminality pervades the company. I feel bad for customers that used paid services for simply transferring their own files/for business. That said, I wonder what percentage of the business Mega Upload did would be considered legitimate. I suspect that it would not be a large percentage.

Finally, this is not about communicating with each other, it is about sharing files that have rights attached to them....to colour it any other way is being deceitful.

I don't support censorship, and I think the danger with these moves is that we move closer to censorship. However, strictly speaking, this 'police action' isn't about censorship, but about theft.

Treaclefingers, I think you articlulate the issue very well here and I agree with you.

Most of these guys have criminal minds AND past convictions. Fraud, embezzlement, insider trading and hacking. Not the kind of businessmen I want anything to do with.

peace

Thank you Senor Lust...it was a brief moment of lucidity that I assure you has long past. I only even vaguely recall typing it.

I can only imagine after seeing a photo of Mr. DotCom why the guy settled in New Zealand....legal prostitution and all. Somewhere where his Megafunds could buy him a Mega good time , or something..... peace

Theres alot of talk here is why the New Zealand Police Department went a bit over the top with sending over 70 officers with shooters and helicopters etc to arrest one man.I think the police here were trying to show off to the FBI agents that come here.Its like WOW!..American FBI agents in our city lets try and impress then.Normally they would probably sort it with a couple of officers.

London Street Kid
THE STONES RULE..OK!

Geez a Job I can do that!

I just noticed BT Junkie has closed.

BY THE TIME THE NEXT TOUR BOOTS ARE OUT WE MIGHT BE BACK TO DISC TRADING !


sc uk

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StreetKidStonesRule
Theres alot of talk here is why the New Zealand Police Department went a bit over the top with sending over 70 officers with shooters and helicopters etc to arrest one man.I think the police here were trying to show off to the FBI agents that come here.Its like WOW!..American FBI agents in our city lets try and impress then.Normally they would probably sort it with a couple of officers.

Well he did have a panic room and a sawed off shotgun. Took them a few hours to cut him out...

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whitem8

Quote
StreetKidStonesRule
Theres alot of talk here is why the New Zealand Police Department went a bit over the top with sending over 70 officers with shooters and helicopters etc to arrest one man.I think the police here were trying to show off to the FBI agents that come here.Its like WOW!..American FBI agents in our city lets try and impress then.Normally they would probably sort it with a couple of officers.

Well he did have a panic room and a sawed off shotgun. Took them a few hours to cut him out...

New Zealand Police and the public were starstruck seeing FBI agents on their turf..the Police here were just showing off it was so obvious.

London Street Kid
THE STONES RULE..OK!

Geez a Job I can do that!

I wonder if Rapidshare is next??

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whitem8
I wonder if Rapidshare is next??

I hope not. I think they made their deals already.

check out this fancy Gov't sign posted at their URL. Wow peace


[www.megaupload.com]

If the music industry is attacking those sharing sites because the lack of morality of the owners
of those sites, well let them check on their own morality first: On the morality of record companies

I want to get lost in your rock 'n roll and drift away

Speaking of their supposed fkg morality... I read that Sony music raised prices on Whitney Houston's music on their web site 30 minutes after she died.

[venturebeat.com]


As much criticism as record labels receive for how they treat artists, Sony Music might take the cake. The company pulled the ultimate in shameful activities this weekend by raising the price on Whitney Houston’s Ultimate Collection album on iTunes and Amazon within 30 minutes of her death on Saturday.

Music mega-star Whitney Houston died on Saturday at the age of 48. And when a high-profile artist passes away, fans often look to re-experience their music, which causesdigital and physical sales soar. Most recently, Michael Jackson’s catalog considerably jumped on the charts after his death.

But instead of reverence in the wake of Houston’s passing, Sony chose to raise the price of one of her most popular hits collections. The Ultimate Collection album in the U.K. jumped in price by more than 60 percent from £4.99 to £7.99 within 30 minutes of Houston’s death, according to Digital Spy. The album price fell back down to £4.99 some time during the weekend, but it’s unclear when it happened.

Fans originally blamed Apple for the price hike on iTunes, but The Guardian is reporting that Apple automatically raised the price after Sony Music “lifted the wholesale price” of the album.

Houston’s Ultimate Collection was originally released in 2007 and was the second top-selling album on iTunes on Monday morning in the U.K., according to The Guardian. In the U.S., Houston’s 2000 Greatest Hits collection is currently sitting in the number two slot on iTunes album sales chart, while Houston’s “I Will Always Love You,” her most popular song ever, is currently sitting at the number one position for individual song sales.

Houston’s catalog is expected to dominate the music charts during the next week, according to the Official Charts Company.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2012-02-14 11:16 by Max'sKansasCity.

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colonial
Not to many people in New Zealand are to concerned about what Kim Dotcom done really.He's probably more popular than our Prime Minister especially after paying for 500 thousand dollars worth of fireworks for Auckland's New Year celebrations.His generosity is well published in the media but not so much how he got his money that part is sort of sweeped under the carpet.

Kim.com was given bail yesterday after spending four weeks in jail on the condition he doesn't have helicopers landing on his property and use the internet

so what about all of us who paid for a year membership? Any way to get that cash back? Perhaps file a credit card dispute???

Now they're gunning for Hotfile:
[www.bbc.co.uk]


"As we say in England, it can get a bit trainspottery"

Whilst it was handy that Urbansteel and others uploaded bootlegs to Megaupload, these days all the interesting stuff is usually to be found on YouTube, like the Stones in Leeds 1971 etc.