New York man faces five years in jail for linking to online videos - Polidicks

[url=http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/03/10/new-york-man-faces-five-years-in-jail-for-linking-to-online-videos/]Source[/url] [quote]You may want to think twice the next time you share a link to your favorite video. In a case against a New York website owner, [b]the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is claiming that merely linking to copyrighted material is a crime.[/b] DHS, along with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), seized Brian McCarthy's domain, channelsurfing.net, in late January. The site has now been replaced with a government warning: "This domain has been seized by ICE - Homeland Security Investigations, Special Agent in Charge, New York Office." "It is unlawful to reproduce copyrighted material, such as movies, music, software or games, without authorization... First-time offenders convicted of a criminal felony copyright law will face up to five years in federal prison, restitution, forfeiture and fine." The advocacy group Demand Progress has claimed that McCarthy never reproduced copyrighted material, and that his website simply linked to other sites. A criminal complaint obtained by the group seems to acknowledge that agents knew that McCarthy was running a "linking website." "Based on my participation in the investigation leading to the February 2011 Seizure, I know that Channelsurfing.net was a 'linking' website," special agent Daniel Brazier wrote in the complaint. "Based on my training and experience, I know that 'linking' websites generally collect and catalog links to files on third party websites that contain illegal copies of copyrighted content, including sporting events and Pay-Per-View events," he added. The special agent detailed 17 copyrighted sports programs he was able to watch when he "clicked on links" at channelsurfing.net. While the criminal complaint alleges that McCarthy did engage in the "reproduction and distribution" of copyrighted material, it is never clear that he actually reproduced any of the specified broadcasts. "[b]Under that sort of thinking, everyone who's sent around a link to a copyrighted YouTube video is a criminal[/b]," Demand Progress warned, calling the prosecution a "radical shift" in the way the government polices the Internet. The Phoenix Independent Examiner's Chris Greenwood expressed concern about what the case meant for freedom of expression on the Internet. "You see, when you shut down the last truly free medium that absolutely anyone can use to call for justice, freedom, or democracy where they don’t exist, you leave the communication to the wealthy, who can afford the ad space in print media and air time on television and radio," he wrote. "Bryan McCarthy is being used as an example," Greenwood added. "Someone who possesses no copyright material, broadcasts no copyrighted material and duplicates no copyrighted material is being held by authorities because he has a site that indicates to people that there are people who are possessing, duplicating and reproducing potentially copyrighted material for others to watch."[/quote] What the fuck is this shit? OH SHIT IM GOING TO JAIL FOR LINKING THIS

Makes me want to turn my monitor towards the wall before I go to sleep at night so the government can't see what I'm doing.

Where's the facepalm emote when you need it [editline]Edit[/editline] Here it is [img]http://www.facepunch.com/fp/emoot/ughh.gif[/img]

[QUOTE=ilolled;28592358]Makes me want to turn my monitor towards the wall before I go to sleep at night so the government can't see what I'm doing.[/QUOTE] I have a laptop. All they will see is a dirty keyboard when I close the lid muhahahhahaha.

They waste time on stupid shit like getting a guy in jail for five years for listing a link that leads to a fucking website he doesn't even own instead of dealing with more serious problems.

This is getting stupid now.

[quote]In a case against a New York website owner, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is claiming that merely linking to copyrighted material is a crime.[/quote] Terrible precedent, this needs to be shot down ASAP.

[url=http://comingsoon.vevo.com/]Come at me bro![/url]

He was linking people to illegally obtained copyrighted material.....

[QUOTE=Sobotnik;28592394]I have a laptop. All they will see is a dirty keyboard when I close the lid muhahahhahaha.[/QUOTE] [img]http://www.theartistsdepot.com/images/Site_Ready/inksNstamps/jarNlid.jpg[/img] Close the lid so they can see your dirty keyboard muahaha.

Ah, so this explains where a lot of the money is going. Convicting people for absolutely stupid bullshit. Federal prison just for this? Jesus Christ. This clearly proves the judicial system is broken.

[QUOTE=Chickens!;28592425][url=http://comingsoon.vevo.com/]Come at me bro![/url][/QUOTE] ....you mean their official website? This "come at me bro" bullshit really needs to end. It died with the Playstation lawsuits and now its gonna stay dead with this kind of stuff.

[QUOTE=Master117;28592441]Ah, so this explains where a lot of the money is going. Convicting people for absolutely stupid bullshit. Federal prison just for this? Jesus Christ. This clearly proves the judicial system is broken.[/QUOTE] It really goes to show how far governments will go to protect the interests of companies that give them a lot of money.

How can they get away with something as stupid as this? [QUOTE=Ninja Duck;28592398]They waste time on stupid shit like getting a guy in jail for five years for listing a link that leads to a fucking website he doesn't even own instead of dealing with more serious problems.[/QUOTE] They go for the crumbs rather than the whole cookie.

[QUOTE=Zeke129;28592456]It really goes to show how far governments will go to protect the interests of companies that give them a lot of money.[/QUOTE] Now if only that money went into public welfare programs.

Meanwhile, all the content that was linked will remain up on the internet.

Funny thing is the money being used fighting cancer instead of putting a guy in jail for doing something we all probably did without thinking about (hope no cops heard me say this)

They put more money and effort in arresting people for bullshit than catching actual criminals

[QUOTE=Zeke129;28592456]It really goes to show how far governments will go to protect the interests of companies that give them a lot of money.[/QUOTE] We should get a government in power that only cares about the nation and increasing its power rather than giving rich people what they want.

So, how about putting videos on Facebook? Thats the same fucking thing... Its times like these where i wish copyrighting would just grow the fuck up and buy some common sense.

if i was in new york i'd be pretty pissed off that my tax payer money is going towards this but then again i'm pissed off for a lot of reasons

Wow, wtf?

If they looked at my Facebook I would have around 7 life sentences. :v:

[QUOTE=Sobotnik;28592545]We should get a government in power that only cares about the nation and increasing its power rather than giving rich people what they want.[/QUOTE] Then vote for one.

I like how Homeland Security is in charge of this, like linking people to videos is a threat to the safety of Americans.

[QUOTE=Zeke129;28592456]It really goes to show how far governments will go to protect the interests of companies that give them a lot of money.[/QUOTE] Exactly. It makes me absolutely sick. The government should follow the will of the people, not the will of the corporations. It's absolutely disgusting in every sense of the word. Government does not regulate corporations. Corporations regulate the government. It's blatantly obvious.

I would be [b]incredibly[/b] surprised if this goes anywhere. The implications are simply too enormous. Just for a quick taste, it would basically make Google one of the biggest copyright infringers in the world today, because they provide links to potentially illegal content. Even if they play with the wording so that it only affects sites that are "tailored explicitly for the sharing of said referrals" (which would exclude general search engines like Google), the implications are still incredibly far-reaching. I honestly don't see it going anywhere.

[QUOTE=Sobotnik;28592545]We should get a government in power that only cares about the nation and increasing its power rather than giving rich people what they want.[/QUOTE] No, a single-party Authoritarian state will not work out here. You sure do love bringing this up, don't you?

Youtube is DHS honeypot

So if this is what its gone to then its time to shut down youtube, google, netflix, justintv, ustream, hulu