Man arrested for running a linking site

[Berthenk]

Why don´t they just continue with this line and start suing ISP´s too? They do the exactly the same!

 

[Foxi4]

Scare tactics. They'll let him go eventually, he hasn't done anything at all. They're just asssuming that if they press charges againts him, he'll stop the activity himself... even if the charges are baseless. I wouldn't worry about the lad - he'll be fine.

 

[steveo1978]

wether he is making money or not , all he was doing was telling you where you can find the information...... Kinda like a library

No more like a dude charging to show where the crack dealer is.

 

[FireGrey]

I believe all TV and Movies should be free.

 

[Clydefrosch]

lol, because its totally legit and not in any way supportive of copyright infringement, to build up a whole collection of links to obvious illegal things.

while he may or may not have been uploading anything or something to the places he linked to, i've always believed it should be punishable to create these linking websites.
if i send stupid kids towards the drug dealing junkie, i'm pretty sure i'd be punishable to some extend

 

[Vinnymac]

The government needs to understand the difference between an internet link and an actual copyrighted file. You can't just arrest someone for something they didn't even do.

Actually you can. People get arrested for things they don't do all the time in the US. They also get executed for them. Welcome to the crappy world we live in.

I understand what Clydefrosch is saying, but at the same time the extent at which they are punished is what truly matters. Even though I understand they are in the wrong, should a drug dealer be punished more than a person who tries to get others to do drugs? Even KIDS try to get KIDS to do drugs. Should we just start throwing all of our kids in jails? Doesn't really work.

Same with the links. If I am a person who links to bad content, is that person hosting the bad content going to be judged the same in the US? No. Especially if that content is off shore. And because the government can't always stop a server some place random off the grid, they will attack the little people within reach.

This is exactly why when I ran nds-roms.com I would host everything in tiny places tucked all over the world.
Watch a video of C4Eva, you'll never see his face, that is where GeoHot went wrong, never should of made himself publicly aware. If you want to be risky, gonna have to hide your identity.

 

[SifJar]

I believe all TV and Movies should be free.

Yeah that's a great idea. Tell you what, I'll spend a few million making a movie, and you can watch it and not give me a penny. Sound good? How about the other way round? Oh, you don't want to spend millions on something you won't get ANYTHING from? Huh, that's strange... [/sarcasm]

I really don't understand why you people are so outraged over this. Yeah, he didn't personally host it himself. What difference does it make? Let's say I (hypothetically) knew of a drug dealer operating in my local area. And I refer customers to him. Tell everyone I know to go buy drugs from him. Tell anyone I hear wants drugs to get them from him. I'm perfectly innocent, am I? Open your eyes. What he was doing was clearly wrong. Just because someone else is doing something wrong, doesn't mean you should advertise their wrong doing and encourage others to partake in it.

EDIT: Just realised Clydefrosch made the same argument as me. Guess I should read every post before replying.

 

[Vinnymac]

SifJar: It is the same thing that I mentioned though.

It doesn't matter that he got arrested. What matters is what is done to him. Is that person just as in the wrong as the drug dealer? And if someone told you, you'd get paid well if all you had to do was draw peoples attention to a "service". (especially a low income person), of course you would be doing it. It can all be justifiable. I just think that the person who is linking should not be punished as badly as the distributor.

And let us face it, anyone is allowed on the internet, even the most uneducated types. So who knows what conditions this guy was in, could have needed the money badly, and realized it wasn't that hard to figure out. Plus he didn't know of it being illegal. If his hosts were allowing it, then who is to say he ever had a clue it would come to an arrest. You can make people out to be criminals just as easy as you can make them out to be innocent, the truth is too hard to rip out of people so we try to Judge em.

(mostly hypothetical)

 

[SifJar]

I would never refer people to a drug dealer.

And no, maybe they aren't as much in the wrong, but they are still in the wrong. And chances are the actual distributor is more careful than the linker. So they'll penalise the linker. If less people are linked to the content, it's less of an issue.

 

[Vinnymac]

But that is the problem. A distributor will always find people who will make them money. The problems is the government does the easy thing. Instead of stopping the "problem" they go after the little dents that they can just pop out and forget about. Sadly the dents will always come back in this case.

 

[retKHAAAN]

this isn't a question about right or wrong. It's a question of legal or illegal.

*edit*
Has anyone actually read the documents? Probably not as the most outraged tend to ignore the details...

The man was not arrested for linking to TV shows. He was arrested for collecting over $90,000 in ad revenue while linking to live sporting events and pay-per-views. LIVE events. For crying out loud...he was linking to live feeds of FOX News and collecting ad revenue.

It doesn't help that Comcast is his ISP and that he pissed off the NFL, NBA, NHL, MLB, UFC, etc...

 

[air2004]

I have read the documents , and the gist of it is this ....... hey people , so your looking for info on how to mod your wii , ps3 , xbox ect. , well this is where you can find that info ( name any site here ) (while I tell you were you can find it ) I'm gonna allow one of my friends to tell you about other things ( name an advertisement here ) and my friend is gonna pay me to allow him to talk to you ....... what law did I break here ?

 

[retKHAAAN]

The charge:

(a) Criminal Infringement.—
(1) In general.— Any person who willfully infringes a copyright shall be punished as provided under section 2319 of title 18, if the infringement was committed—
(A) for purposes of commercial advantage or private financial gain;

The punishment:

(b) Any person who commits an offense under section 506 (a)(1)(A) of title 17—
(1) shall be imprisoned not more than 5 years, or fined in the amount set forth in this title, or both, if the offense consists of the reproduction or distribution, including by electronic means, during any 180-day period, of at least 10 copies or phonorecords, of 1 or more copyrighted works, which have a total retail value of more than $2,500;
(2) shall be imprisoned not more than 10 years, or fined in the amount set forth in this title, or both, if the offense is a felony and is a second or subsequent offense under subsection (a)

I've bolded and underlined the pertinent parts.

Notice that it says "reproduction OR distribution"?
Dude was distributing links to copyrighted content for the purpose of making money.
...and yes, the guy who holds your hand and drives you to the drug dealer's house can be charged for dealing...
...the guy who was loading the bags full of money when his partner shot and killed the teller can be charged with murder...
That is the way it works. Like it or not.

 

[air2004]

then shut down the librarys , and kill the internet........ because they both help you do illegal things ( yes I know there is a difference ) but what it boils down to is this , If I was in NY I could watch the game on tv for free , but because I'm where I live and I ask this guy, how can I watch this game without traveling to ny , and he says , well old8oy will let you log into his computer so you can see it .......what did this guy do wrong ? all he did was tell me what I wanted to know ...... isnt that what the library does ? if I go the library so I can learn how to build a bomb , then did something with said bomb ( and the library may have some advertising there , in this day and age the probably do ) should we hold the library responsible for my actions ? because after all they made money on the advertising

 

[retKHAAAN]

think you're a little twisted up there guy.

he isn't telling you where it is. he's taking you to it.

comparing libraries is a poor analogy because they are non-profit and publicly funded.

This man got arrested because he did it for monetary gain.

As far as the whole "old8oy will let you watch it on his computer" thing...that would be illegal by itself. individual stations are licensed to broadcast specific programs at specific times. circumventing licensing and distribution rights is illegal.

 

[air2004]

So my gps provider should be arrested along with me , after all they took me to the drug dealer , and the library for be arrested for helping me build the bomb ......not sure how non-profit plays into this , non profits are some of the best funded companys ......non profit and not for profit is just part of the IRS code , please dont think because of the their name that they dont make money........if so , then you probably believe that the federal reserve is part of the US government or even owned by it ......... http://www.globalres...xt=va&aid=10489

 

[Rydian]

all he was doing was telling you where you can find the information...... Kinda like a library

He was knowingly giving access to illegal materials. If your local library had materials on where in the city to find illegal drugs it'd certainly catch the attention of law enforcement, you know. And we know that most of these sites that do links just do it to profit (since they're not paying the large hosting fees for the materials the returns from ads in comparison are larger than you might think).

Why don´t they just continue with this line and start suing ISP´s too? They do the exactly the same!

What ISPs do you know of that knowingly give you links to pirated materials? I've never heard of any in the US or UK that do it, at least.

I believe all TV and Movies should be free.

How are artists supposed to make a living?

Even KIDS try to get KIDS to do drugs. Should we just start throwing all of our kids in jails? Doesn't really work.

Contributing to the delinquency of a minor is illegal in many places, however kids are often exempt from some of the lighter laws due to being juveniles and all that jazz, so this depends on their age and intent.

*nitpick*

 

[ProtoKun7]

Ace, you can't talk about that site by name, at least, I don't think so.

Meh, practically everyone knows what it means.

 

[haflore]

Ace, you can't talk about that site by name, at least, I don't think so.

Meh, practically everyone knows what it means.

Even so, I've seen posts edited/removed for naming that one.

Edit: I should have mentioned, he was using the full name at the time.

 

[Necron]

Erm...doesn't this mean that the likes of Google and Yahoo are deep in trouble lol

In fact, in Spain they are pursuing liking sites, and they even talked about google being a very big linking site.
People these days.