The Nerve! Police Return Seized Hardware to Victorious BitTorrent Admin, Trashed
42 replies, posted
[url=http://torrentfreak.com/police-return-seized-hardware-to-victorious-bittorrent-admin-trashed-110313/]Source[/url]
[release][B]Last month the second case against a UK-based BitTorrent site came to an end. Two administrators of FileSoup – the longest standing BitTorrent community – had their case dropped by the authorities and were free men once again. This week, personal belongings that were seized during the house raids were released and returned, but what should have been a celebration turned out to be a great disappointment.[/B]
When FileSoup administrator Geeker had his home [url=http://torrentfreak.com/oldest-bittorrent-site-targeted-by-police-owner-arrested-090804/]raided[/url] in the summer of 2009, police and the Federation Against Copyright Theft (FACT) literally trashed his place. In a previous interview Geeker vividly recalled the events.
“I got back home just before 8pm to find my belongings had been turned upside down, the dining room was a like a whirlwind had gone through..[]..they’d turfed out all the drawers of the desk, chucked back what was of no interest to them, left a pile of paperwork scattered across my desk and table with wires everywhere, talk about a nightmare!”
The police officers and ‘agents’ of the MPAA-funded FACT tagged everything with a chip in it, and bagged them as evidence. In the following weeks some items were returned, including a mobile phone, sat nav and video camera, but most of the hardware was kept under lock and key.
As Geeker and fellow FileSoup administrator Snookered were [url=http://torrentfreak.com/court-drops-filesoup-bittorrent-case-administrators-walk-free-110224/]released[/url] from all charges by the Crown Prosecution Service last month, their belongings were finally returned this week. This final step in the dreadful legal proceedings should have been a day to celebrate, but the police once again trashed the party.
From the looks of it the police and FACT did not return all of the seized property, and the hardware that was given back appears to be completely trashed.
“Initially it looks like only a couple of things such as power supply units might be missing, but, as you will no doubt appreciate, there is a heck of a lot of stuff to check, it’s going to take me some time to go through it all,” Geeker [url=http://filesoup.com/forum/news_updates-f9-arrested_now_on_bail_guilty_until_i_prove_im_innocent-t32425-p-220.html#entry197100]explains[/url].
“What concerns me the most about my property, is the condition it is now in… the way it was seized and bagged and how it was probably handled and transported to goodness knows where, the thought just horrifies me,” he adds.
The pictures below document the disaster. A 40 minute audio clip of the agents returning Geeker’s property is [url=http://www.talkshoe.com/talkshoe/web/audioPop.jsp?episodeId=463422&cmd=apop]available here[/url].
[quote][img]http://torrentfreak.com/images/filesoup3.jpg[/img]
Properly bagged?[/quote]
[quote][img]http://torrentfreak.com/images/filesoup1.jpg[/img]
Dug up from a mine?[/quote]
[quote][img]http://torrentfreak.com/images/filesoup2.jpg[/img]
Damaged and missing parts[/quote]
To say that the evidence was not properly stored and shipped would be a huge understatement. It looks like the computers have been taken apart, dragged through the mud, with no real attempt to reassemble them or clean things up.
According to Geeker none of his systems will boot up, which may not come as a big surprise considering the photos. The big question is why?
It almost appears as if a frustrated FACT employee trashed the hardware on purpose before it was sent back. How else could it turn into such a mess, and why take the computers apart piece by piece in the first place? What were they looking for? Warez?
Geeker is clearly not happy with how his property was handled, and he encourages everyone to help him get the story out.
“Please do me a favour everyone… tell everybody you know about this, blog about it, tweet about it, facebook and myspace or wherever else you feel it might do some good, let the whole bloody world know exactly what these evil gits have done …and will probably keep on doing if something isn’t done to stop this kind of crap from happening and people and their property being treated like this!,” he said.
Geeker has contacted his lawyer to see what the best response to this mess is.[/release]
Poor guy... trashing one's equipment like that is low! I mean look at those comps! :argh:
He should sue them for property damage.
Thats awful, I agree with Mr. Someguy because its gonna cost him to repair or buy new systems to replace those.
That's bullshit. Good for him for taking a stand and telling people to get the word out.
I'm like 95% sure that doing that to his stuff is completely illegal and they have to repay him for it.
It's sad but this isn't any news. Since the very first warez induced hardware holdups, many times the hardware was either mishandled or purposely damaged.
[QUOTE=sp00ks;28616561]I'm like 95% sure that doing that to his stuff is completely illegal and they have to repay him for it.[/QUOTE]
As if the groups sponsored by the MPAA give a fuck about how legal an action is.
Get sueing!
The RIAA, MPAA, and all the companies similar to them are the things detracting from the electronic media industry; not piracy.
[QUOTE=Miskav;28616597]As if the groups sponsored by the MPAA give a fuck about how legal an action is.[/QUOTE]
As if the judges gives fuck about what someone think is legal or not.
[QUOTE=Mr. Someguy;28616161]He should sue them for property damage.[/QUOTE]
Absolutely, after what he's been through there's justification for plenty of litigation.
[QUOTE=sp00ks;28616824]As if the judges gives fuck about what someone think is legal or not.[/QUOTE]
Good luck proving them anything.
[QUOTE=sp00ks;28616824]As if the judges gives fuck about what someone think is legal or not.[/QUOTE]
Good luck having a case against the MPAA or any of their groups on something like this.
Money is more powerful than you think.
He's a BitTorrent admin, and his name is Geeker?
Makes sense i guess.
I don't really blame them, these computers look like they were seized in 1998, and it would be hard to keep track of everything for that long.
[QUOTE=Mingebox;28617058]I don't really blame them, these computers look like they were seized in 1998, and it would be hard to keep track of everything for that long.[/QUOTE]
Just because he didn't buy his computer from Alienware for six hundred dollars more than it's worth so it doesn't have a case made out of carbon fiber doesn't mean it isn't a good computer.
[QUOTE=Mingebox;28617058]I don't really blame them, these computers look like they were seized in 1998, and it would be hard to keep track of everything for that long.[/QUOTE]
[Quote]When FileSoup administrator Geeker had his home raided in the summer of 2009,[/Quote]
Where is bad reading when you need it?
[QUOTE=Miskav;28617076]Where is bad reading when you need it?[/QUOTE]
Ironic, because the bad reading is on your part.
"look like" not were.
Wow, that computer case is fucking ugly
[QUOTE=Glorbo;28617595]Wow, that computer case is fucking ugly[/QUOTE]
A case is just an enclosure to hold components. Why not go cheap on the case to save money for better performance?
[QUOTE=Glorbo;28617595]Wow, that computer case is fucking ugly[/QUOTE]
Not all computers who are used as a seedboxes need to look good, y'know...
[QUOTE=Used Car Salesman;28617698]A case is just an enclosure to hold components. Why not go cheap on the case to save money for better performance?[/QUOTE]
It's also worth noting that this computer can be quite old one, with just parts getting upgraded and swapped out from it. My current case is ~5 years old.
Most cops are the worst people at seizing personal goods, a Cop broke my airsoft gun and said, "Hah, well you aren't using this one anymore!" My friend recorded it and I brought it up in small claims court for improper handling of my personal belongings during a search. Got reimbursed for the price of the gun. This guy shouldn't have a problem getting paid in full for the damages, hell he may even get paid more because this sounds incredibly personal.
If I were a lawmaker, I would attempt to make this "piracy" and "copyright infringement" minor offenses that don't constitute search and seizure.
[QUOTE=ilikeminifridge;28622734]If I were a lawmaker, I would attempt to make this "piracy" and "copyright infringement" minor offenses that don't constitute search and seizure.[/QUOTE]
And then you would be assassinated by a hit-man hired by the RIAA....
Wow I hope that this guy goes and sue the fuck out of the authorities for damages to his personal equipment. To top that off he should also sue so that they get a contractor to help out in cleaning the mess up they made. Hell I wonder if the MPAA or the RIAA sent out one of their own agents to fuck shit up, if that is the case he should sue the companies as well. Damnit I wish money wasn't this much a of a bitch. Hell this shouldn't have happened in the first place trashing the fuck out of his house in fact it should be illegal.
Law$uit.
Yes I know that they are dealing in euros, but my only keyboard that types Roman characters happened to have been made in America. (If anyone knows where I can find some sort of multiple character set keyboard, please PM me. I'm getting tired of having a Cyrillic and Roman keyboard when I can have a keyboard that does both.)
Computer abuse of discretion in the matter of the present invention is distinct from the other side of the road.
[QUOTE=certified;28624851]Law$uit.
Yes I know that they are dealing in euros, but my only keyboard that types Roman characters happened to have been made in America. (If anyone knows where I can find some sort of multiple character set keyboard, please PM me. I'm getting tired of having a Cyrillic and Roman keyboard when I can have a keyboard that does both.)[/QUOTE]
You could always use the character map. € is alt+0128.
gon go kill some bitches
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