Law Student Raided By Police For File-Sharing Articles

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A 19 year old law student arrested for simply writing articles about file sharing? Wow. Makes you appreciate living in the Unites States a little more, doesn't it? :eek:

Anti-piracy group RettighedsAlliancen say they have been busy recently tracking down piracy ‘masterminds’. After busting who they claim is the leader of a huge movie piracy group, last week they had the police detain a less likely target – a 19-year-old law student who runs a file-sharing blog. RettighedsAlliancen say that guides on his site showed readers how to break the law, an act serious enough to involve the police.
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Law school at 19? He's either pretty damn smart, or their law school works differently than ours.
 
Appreciate living in the US? You have Apple showing up with the cops at a house. Yeah, much different.
 
They basically get to keep his computer because someone made a flimsy accusation.
 
I know the anti piracy groups are a bunch of morons, but why do the police even take their accusations seriously.
 
shifty68 said:
I know the anti piracy groups are a bunch of morons, but why do the police even take their accusations seriously.
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Because the police are part of government, and thus not immune from politics.

Media industry = $$$ = gets what they want. And even if they know the raid won't hold water, it:
1) Fosters fear in the populace that they'll go after anyone.
2) By confiscating his computer they may get him on some other charge.
 
Well, hell. By the time they do get around to catching all the Terrorists, there won't be any room for them in Jail.

And the XXAA's will probably talk them into keeping the file sharers in jail, and letting the Terrorists go. They gotta have priorities ya know.
 
Steve said:
.............. Makes you appreciate living in the Unites States a little more, doesn't it? :eek:
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Don't worry.... There are plenty of "lobbyists" in Washington right now, pushing for the very same laws and regulations here.... It's just a matter of time... I give it a year, two MAX before posting (blog, twitter, FB) anything that's even remotely connected to file sharing will be braking the law... Mark my words...:eek:
 
TwistedAegis said:
Yes, in the US instead the cops will just break your wrist and knee for a $0.20 beer debt at the corner store.

http://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/loca...an-Assaulted-by-SFPD-Over-Beer-134272733.html

Or pepper spray cop. But one thing about the article does make me glad to live in the US...that dudes hair. Good lord.
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71k? thats not enough to cover the years in joint pain he'll have the rest of his life. plus, joints take longer to heal and he may be out for a year or 2.
 
"Simply writing"? I don't think so. I'm sure he was more involved than that. How do you write articles on something you don't have first hand knowledge of? He was participating in it. Simple as that.
 
plunger said:
"Simply writing"? I don't think so. I'm sure he was more involved than that. How do you write articles on something you don't have first hand knowledge of? He was participating in it. Simple as that.
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TwistedAegis' Guide on Killing a Man:

1. Stab him in the heart.
2. Shoot him in the head.


Clearly, I am the Zodiac killer...catch me if you can!
 
plunger said:
"Simply writing"? I don't think so. I'm sure he was more involved than that. How do you write articles on something you don't have first hand knowledge of? He was participating in it. Simple as that.
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I can write an article on ancient Greek history. I'm not a time traveller and I'm not 2,500 years old. If you can figure out how I can manage this feat, I will give you the secret to eternal life.
 
LeninGHOLA said:
I can write an article on ancient Greek history. I'm not a time traveller and I'm not 2,500 years old. If you can figure out how I can manage this feat, I will give you the secret to eternal life.
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Astral projection, duh. Now hand over the goods.
 
plunger said:
Your 2 idiotic articles are fiction :rolleyes:
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I guarantee my results are nearly 100% effective.


The TwistedAegis Guide to Killing a Man is for entertainment purposes only. Do not try this at home. The TAGtKaM is not responsible for personal injury, harm or legal inquiries that may result from following the guide. Do not follow the guide. Not for children under the age of 12.
 
Look, there is a difference between just blogging and what this kid was doing. I too am a law school student and have an IP-law blog. I talk about the law and tech. He instructed others how to break it. That's called induced infringement and has been illegal, and the source of significant litigation, for decades.
 
demandprogress.org seems to be doing a lot to fight "anti-anti-piracy"... they make some pretty good arguments and simply take petitions an email them to congress, its also good way to keep up with the new bills the XXAA doesnt want you to know about ...

There was one one bill that took the anti-piracy industry 3 months to get 100k petitions, and it took demand progress.org 3 days to get 100k petitions
 
Modred189 said:
Look, there is a difference between just blogging and what this kid was doing. I too am a law school student and have an IP-law blog. I talk about the law and tech. He instructed others how to break it. That's called induced infringement and has been illegal, and the source of significant litigation, for decades.
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Isn't that basically what Paladin Press makes their business out of?
 
Steve said:
Makes you appreciate living in the Unites States a little more, doesn't it? :eek:
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Makes me fret about the future of the United States...this is exactly where the **AA wants to go! Apple already has Dial-A-SWAT at their disposal; it's just a matter of time before everyone does, unless we start speaking out against such injustices.
 
They day I will get mad is the day I can't fast forward through commercials on my PVR, like how they do it on DVDs.
 
Ididar said:
Appreciate living in the US? You have Apple showing up with the cops at a house. Yeah, much different.
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Yeah what a joke, shit like that already happens here. Plus, I don't think Danish police pepper spray 84 year old ladies and kick pregnant women in the stomach like our increasingly militarized police do.
 
Reus said:
Yeah what a joke, shit like that already happens here. Plus, I don't think Danish police pepper spray 84 year old ladies and kick pregnant women in the stomach like our increasingly militarized police do.
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Those two idiots put themselves at risk. If they would have stayed in kitchen....
 
TwistedAegis said:
Isn't that basically what Paladin Press makes their business out of?
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Haha. Never heard of them before, but their website is hilarious.
Anyway, not not the same. I don't think there is anything analogous to induced infringement in the world of assault.
 
Reus said:
Yeah what a joke, shit like that already happens here. Plus, I don't think Danish police pepper spray 84 year old ladies and kick pregnant women in the stomach like our increasingly militarized police do.
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And I have to agree with plunger ^
If the police tell you, legally, to move, and you physically resist you should expect them to use physical force to get your butt in gear.
 
plunger said:
"Simply writing"? I don't think so. I'm sure he was more involved than that. How do you write articles on something you don't have first hand knowledge of? He was participating in it. Simple as that.
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I don't have any torrent software on my PC, nor do I access other PCs to operate such software remotely. Yet, I know how to do so, I know how to setup an offshore account so that I could "seed" torrents in another country where such activity is not illegal.

I asked because it is interesting. I do not have such an account at this time, but if I was going to be serious about using torrents I'm sure that is the way I would want to go about it. Would I even be breaking any laws then? I don't think so... Now, if I transfered files from that offshore account to my PC here in the states, I would be breaking laws, but, I don't think people get charged/fined for downloading, do they? I'm not sure about that, but I think that mostly people who get in trouble only for "uploading" (seeding)?

How do I know that without being a criminal, you ask? I simply asked people how. One does not have to be a criminal in order to research crime (though it could certainly help, I assume).
 
Modred189 said:
Look, there is a difference between just blogging and what this kid was doing. I too am a law school student and have an IP-law blog. I talk about the law and tech. He instructed others how to break it. That's called induced infringement and has been illegal, and the source of significant litigation, for decades.
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Ah law school, where I cared about something other than billable hours. Enjoy it while you can. In my opinion, copyright inducement has always been a slippery slope, in that I can show you how to do something and your actions may be covered under fair use, but I might still be liable for inducement. Moreover, inducement is so broad that it has little meaning. Does my DOS manual that explains the use of the copy command induce infringement? Obviously, there are extremes in factual situations, but arguably the inducement law is broad enough to cover both my examples and what's going on here.

I primarily work in patent litigation, but it concerns me that fighting infringement is quickly moving from civil redress into SWAT-style, jail time criminal actions. Why are legal and equitable remedies not enough for this kind of behavior?
 
PurduEE said:
Ah law school, where I cared about something other than billable hours. Enjoy it while you can. In my opinion, copyright inducement has always been a slippery slope, in that I can show you how to do something and your actions may be covered under fair use, but I might still be liable for inducement. Moreover, inducement is so broad that it has little meaning. Does my DOS manual that explains the use of the copy command induce infringement? Obviously, there are extremes in factual situations, but arguably the inducement law is broad enough to cover both my examples and what's going on here.

I primarily work in patent litigation, but it concerns me that fighting infringement is quickly moving from civil redress into SWAT-style, jail time criminal actions. Why are legal and equitable remedies not enough for this kind of behavior?
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Yea, almost done. 1 semester to go before, actually, I too head into patent litigation (pharmaceuticals), with a little trademark and less (C) on the side. But that being said, I agree, I'm not sure that criminal-law like approaches make much sense here. It was in Denmark, so I'm not sure what their standards are regarding this kind of thing. I understand the need to act fast to secure evidence, but still. They don't really do this here in the US, afaik, since spoliation would get (c) holders their damages anyway?
 
Modred189 said:
Yea, almost done. 1 semester to go before, actually, I too head into patent litigation (pharmaceuticals), with a little trademark and less (C) on the side. But that being said, I agree, I'm not sure that criminal-law like approaches make much sense here. It was in Denmark, so I'm not sure what their standards are regarding this kind of thing. I understand the need to act fast to secure evidence, but still. They don't really do this here in the US, afaik, since spoliation would get (c) holders their damages anyway?
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Yep, a spoliation inference would get you pretty much whatever you need. Pharma litigation should be fun - I've never been part of one, but it's a good field since ANDA applications essentially operate like DJ actions, so you're litigating a lot.
 
Modred189 said:
And I have to agree with plunger ^
If the police tell you, legally, to move, and you physically resist you should expect them to use physical force to get your butt in gear.
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I would argue you need a proportional response. Passive resistance - basically not moving - is much different than a physical altercation and fighting back. When you have ludicrious double-speak coming from people like the UC Davis police chief/captain who literally said, "Linking arms in a human chain is a violent act" that is a scary, scary thought IMO. Jabbing kids in the kidneys with batons, lifting their heads up to spray pepper spray into their face/mouth, because they're sitting in the little used quad at a college campus? I don't agree with much of OWS at all, but the bullshit goon squad tactics being used against them across the country, and the general overreaction and militization of our police is incredibly concerning to me.
 
PurduEE said:
Yep, a spoliation inference would get you pretty much whatever you need. Pharma litigation should be fun - I've never been part of one, but it's a good field since ANDA applications essentially operate like DJ actions, so you're litigating a lot.
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Actually, you got it. HatchWaxman, here I come!

TwistedAegis said:
I would argue you need a proportional response. Passive resistance - basically not moving - is much different than a physical altercation and fighting back. When you have ludicrious double-speak coming from people like the UC Davis police chief/captain who literally said, "Linking arms in a human chain is a violent act" that is a scary, scary thought IMO. Jabbing kids in the kidneys with batons, lifting their heads up to spray pepper spray into their face/mouth, because they're sitting in the little used quad at a college campus? I don't agree with much of OWS at all, but the bullshit goon squad tactics being used against them across the country, and the general overreaction and militization of our police is incredibly concerning to me.
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Actually, i think this was pretty legit. Think of it this way, when I was in under graduate school, we stormed the field after a big win. It was a peaceful gathering (no one on the goalposts etc), yet after ~20 minutes, and several warnings to leave, they started in with the spray. And let me tell you, while it sucks, for sure, it's not THAT bad. within an hour I was fine, and only the people who caught a blast full in the face had issues for more than that, and were fine the next day. No one complained then. You know why? Because it makes sense. if the police tell you to leave, and you physically resist (like by linking arms and refusing to budge), then the police have the right to use similar force to get you to move.

Here's the question: How would you have gotten them to move? Pulling them was not working because of their linked arms. What's between pepper spray and pulling?
 
BTW, while it hurts a bit, it tastes like oranges. It's rather pleasant.
 
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