This might make for an interesting topic

I will vouch that I've only used it for legit purposes for work, etc….but let's not kid ourselves; it's a great way to share ANY content, legal or otherwise.

Definitely think Jag's point is spot on, though.  So any mechanism/tool that COULD be used to commit a crime should be outlawed?  That's insanity.

hutch wrote:
There is a difference between being against SOPA and what is  going on with shutting down Megaupload….


Azaghal himself says he really doesn't know what people use Megaupload for.. he knows anecdotally that some people use it legit… thats about all he knows..

I never said I didn't know that people don't use it illegally. Of course they do. People use many things for illegal purposes but those things are not outlawed. Look at Jaguar's excellent analogy above for instance.


By shutting MU down when they did, the government/entertainment industry are trying to send the message that they need no such legislation. SOPA or no SOPA, they apparently plan to go after and dismantle whatever sites they please. And the need for an Anonymous to counter this is essential.

So you guys who seem to acquire hundreds of new albums a year are doing it legally? How much do you spend annually on recorded music?

hope they are not after mediafire next….

nkotb wrote:
I will vouch that I've only used it for legit purposes for work, etc….but let's not kid ourselves; it's a great way to share ANY content, legal or otherwise.

Definitely think Jag's point is spot on, though.  So any mechanism/tool that COULD be used to commit a crime should be outlawed?  That's insanity.

hutch wrote:
There is a difference between being against SOPA and what is  going on with shutting down Megaupload….


Azaghal himself says he really doesn't know what people use Megaupload for.. he knows anecdotally that some people use it legit… thats about all he knows..

we know megaupload is used to share movies, music, books…  the point isn't that it should be outlawed because it could be used to break the law but because the people who run it don't care at all that it is as far as the DOJ or FBI or whoever determined..


personally my feeling- and its as valid as Azaghals anecdotal evidence- is that most people are using megaupload to illegally download music and movies…. I have no problem ,if this is the case, with it being shut down…

If 90% of people are using Megaupload to break the law and Megaupload doesn't do anything to discourage it then why should it not be shutdown? Because 10% use it to share their pictures or papers?

In the end it doesn't even matter what the percentages are.. if the FBI determines Megaupload is breaking the law then it should be shut down and I'm not sure why people immediately assume - without any facts- that Megaupload is doing nothing wrong (I suspect because its very convenient)


Moreover, there is nothing cool about taking down websites such as the DOJ.

James wrote:
So you guys who seem to acquire hundreds of new albums a year are doing it legally? How much do you spend annually on recorded music?

waffles/what.cd for the win!!

Still missin' oink.  :P

James wrote:
So you guys who seem to acquire hundreds of new albums a year are doing it legally? How much do you spend annually on recorded music?

Of course, I can only speak for myself but know many others who could easily wear my gazing shoes:

- priority addictions. (I don't drink as much beer as you.  ;) )

- lucky enough to have very obscure tastes that often allows for finding tons of good totally legal files to be downloaded for free. It takes work to find them but there are plenty out there and they are completely legal and given away by the bands and or labels. Yeah, there's a lot of crap but there's loads of good stuff too once you know how to find them.

- owning an internet radio station, I get files and CDs sent to me for free.

With all that said, even in a good year, it never reaches into the 'hundreds… a year.'


Hutch, you're lost in the glitter.

Jaguar wrote:

James wrote:
So you guys who seem to acquire hundreds of new albums a year are doing it legally? How much do you spend annually on recorded music?

Of course, I can only speak for myself but know many others who could easily wear my gazing shoes:

- priority addictions. (I don't drink as much beer as you.  ;) )

- lucky enough to have very obscure tastes that often allows for finding tons of good totally legal files to be downloaded for free. It takes work to find them but there are plenty out there and they are completely legal and given away by the bands and or labels. Yeah, there's a lot of crap but there's loads of good stuff too once you know how to find them.

- owning an internet radio station, I get files and CDs sent to me for free.

link to said internet radio station?

For the radio station:
Air Atlantic Underground Radio

You can find some legal music files here, given with full permission from the artists:
Air Atlantic Underground

hutch wrote:

nkotb wrote:
I will vouch that I've only used it for legit purposes for work, etc….but let's not kid ourselves; it's a great way to share ANY content, legal or otherwise.

Definitely think Jag's point is spot on, though.  So any mechanism/tool that COULD be used to commit a crime should be outlawed?  That's insanity.

hutch wrote:
There is a difference between being against SOPA and what is  going on with shutting down Megaupload….


Azaghal himself says he really doesn't know what people use Megaupload for.. he knows anecdotally that some people use it legit… thats about all he knows..

we know megaupload is used to share movies, music, books…  the point isn't that it should be outlawed because it could be used to break the law but because the people who run it don't care at all that it is as far as the DOJ or FBI or whoever determined..


personally my feeling- and its as valid as Azaghals anecdotal evidence- is that most people are using megaupload to illegally download music and movies…. I have no problem ,if this is the case, with it being shut down…

If 90% of people are using Megaupload to break the law and Megaupload doesn't do anything to discourage it then why should it not be shutdown? Because 10% use it to share their pictures or papers?

In the end it doesn't even matter what the percentages are.. if the FBI determines Megaupload is breaking the law then it should be shut down and I'm not sure why people immediately assume - without any facts- that Megaupload is doing nothing wrong (I suspect because its very convenient)


Moreover, there is nothing cool about taking down websites such as the DOJ.

Your first point is like saying Youtube should be shut down because people often upload unauthorized movies and music videos. Youtube (and Megaupload as well; MU operators remove links at the request of copyright holders all the time) is a massive site that would need its own private police force if it were to completely avoid copyright infringement.

Your second point; I've definitely seen a disclaimer on there that discourages copyrighted material and as I said above, they often do pull copyrighted shit.

Your third point: did it ever occur to you that the FBI are being pressured to go after these sites by the MPAA/RIAA? Why would you quickly take their word at face value the way you did above?

Your fourth point: if in fact there is evidence that these private orgs are pushing the FBI/DOJ to go after these sites then yes, killing the FBI and DOJ sites is very cool and they deserve what they get.

See, I told you this could be an interesting topic.

hutch wrote:
must be a very slow day if this is "interesting"

Sometimes you've just got to route for the cowboy in the black hat.

What next? Will the developers of Bit Torrent, undoubtedly the most efficient file delivery system we have be arrested?

Yada wrote:

James wrote:
So you guys who seem to acquire hundreds of new albums a year are doing it legally? How much do you spend annually on recorded music?

waffles/what.cd for the win!!

Still missin' oink.  :P

I use these, as well as Indietorrents regularly and if they go down, sure I would be annoyed but it would not bug me as much as the Megaupload thing.

Nowadays, almost all of the smaller labels and bands use some sort of file storage to send out their press kits. It affords them to send out more than their tiny budgets would otherwise allow which limits who they can outreach to via snail mail.

Before Pirate Bay was taken down, Labrador Records always used them for their various artists sampler compilations. These weren't press kits but a free sampler they would give to the public to help sell full albums by these artists. You'd get these newsletters in your email box with a link to Pirate Bay which was the only way to get them. Totally legal. Use to drive me nuts though because, not using bit torrents myself, I would always have to fumble through the whole process just to get the sampler. Since Pirate Bay is now gone, the Labrador Records samplers have gone with them.

They may be gone, but you're still nuts.  ;D

Jaguar wrote:
Nowadays, almost all of the smaller labels and bands use some sort of file storage to send out their press kits. It affords them to send out more than their tiny budgets would otherwise allow which limits who they can outreach to via snail mail.

Before Pirate Bay was taken down, Labrador Records always used them for their various artists sampler compilations. These weren't press kits but a free sampler they would give to the public to help sell full albums by these artists. You'd get these newsletters in your email box with a link to Pirate Bay which was the only way to get them. Totally legal. Use to drive me nuts though because, not using bit torrents myself, I would always have to fumble through the whole process just to get the sampler. Since Pirate Bay is now gone, the Labrador Records samplers have gone with them.

Okay BEER NUT! Guess it takes one to know one.  ;)

azaghal1981 wrote:

hutch wrote:

nkotb wrote:
I will vouch that I've only used it for legit purposes for work, etc….but let's not kid ourselves; it's a great way to share ANY content, legal or otherwise.

Definitely think Jag's point is spot on, though.  So any mechanism/tool that COULD be used to commit a crime should be outlawed?  That's insanity.

hutch wrote:
There is a difference between being against SOPA and what is  going on with shutting down Megaupload….


Azaghal himself says he really doesn't know what people use Megaupload for.. he knows anecdotally that some people use it legit… thats about all he knows..

we know megaupload is used to share movies, music, books…  the point isn't that it should be outlawed because it could be used to break the law but because the people who run it don't care at all that it is as far as the DOJ or FBI or whoever determined..


personally my feeling- and its as valid as Azaghals anecdotal evidence- is that most people are using megaupload to illegally download music and movies…. I have no problem ,if this is the case, with it being shut down…

If 90% of people are using Megaupload to break the law and Megaupload doesn't do anything to discourage it then why should it not be shutdown? Because 10% use it to share their pictures or papers?

In the end it doesn't even matter what the percentages are.. if the FBI determines Megaupload is breaking the law then it should be shut down and I'm not sure why people immediately assume - without any facts- that Megaupload is doing nothing wrong (I suspect because its very convenient)


Moreover, there is nothing cool about taking down websites such as the DOJ.

Your first point is like saying Youtube should be shut down because people often upload unauthorized movies and music videos. Youtube (and Megaupload as well; MU operators remove links at the request of copyright holders all the time) is a massive site that would need its own private police force if it were to completely avoid copyright infringement.

Your second point; I've definitely seen a disclaimer on there that discourages copyrighted material and as I said above, they often do pull copyrighted shit.

Your third point: did it ever occur to you that the FBI are being pressured to go after these sites by the MPAA/RIAA? Why would you quickly take their word at face value the way you did above?

Your fourth point: if in fact there is evidence that these private orgs are pushing the FBI/DOJ to go after these sites then yes, killing the FBI and DOJ sites is very cool and they deserve what they get.

And your point is that people who produce music should have no protection at all.. a website can post a "disclaimer" and then do nothing about it..anything goes… allow people's livelihood to be stolen from them and too friggin' bad!


come on .. this isn't realistic… stop acting like a 12 year old..

Where did I say that?


Right after that post, I mentioned that I would understand if sites that were completely dedicated to piracy were forced offline. Unlike Piratebay/What/Waffles/Indietorrents/Passthepopcorn, Megaupload provide a perfectly legitimate service.

Is this point really that hard to get through?

P.S. They're back.

P.P.S. Jaguar, The Pirate Bay is still up.

Is this really true? There doesn't seem to be a lack of bands because of it. And if a band can't support themselves via the music business, they can always get day jobs.

hutch wrote:

And your point is that people who produce music should have no protection at all.. a website can post a "disclaimer" and then do nothing about it..anything goes… allow people's livelihood to be stolen from them and too friggin' bad!

come on .. this isn't realistic… stop acting like a 12 year old..