The reasons these charges are very important is that it allows the DoJ (and by extension the MPAA and RIAA) to seize any and all assets that might be used in the commission of these crimes. With Megaupload and Kim Dotcom that included almost everything. Dotcom had to fight just to get living expenses and even then they would not release enough money to give a proper defense. It turned the situation into a siege instead of an actual case. Fortunately in the case of Dotcom and Megaupload that is enough of a celebrity factor to bring in good attorneys  which has helped to hinder the US DoJ’s case.

In other instances where conspiracy is being thrown around in an almost boilerplate fashion the victim was far less lucky. It also did not hurt that the case was heard in the UK, which has always been sympathetic to the US when it comes to extending laws that do not apply to their citizens (when it comes to copyright… patent law seems to be another matter).  In this case the unlucky victim was given 2 years for hosting links that pointed to content that the MPAA claimed infringed on copyright.

The MPAA, DoJ, and the rest of the copyright industry are far from finished. In fact they have launched a new onslaught against the Newsgroups. According to some information we have some postings are being hit with DMCA takedown notices within an hour of being posted. It is an unprecedented focus for the entertainment and software industry. It also means that they could be employing new tactics to keep track of titles as they are posted. In the past some of the methods used were a little on the unethical side, but that has never bothered the MPAA in the past so there is no reason to feel it will bother them now. One thing that was conveyed to us very clearly was that the industry is now showing a greater interest in TV programs that are posted, this does seem to be a new direction and rather unusual considering many of these programs will end up on Netflix, Hulu, or even the websites of the networks in question. Now we know that it is all about the advertisement money that the networks get from either the original showing or from ads placed on their sites, but it is still an odd move.

We expect the MPAA, RIAA and others to expand their war on the internet as 2013 comes to a close for multiple reasons. The first is, of course, to remove sites and material that eats into their profits, but also to show just how bad things are as we move into 2013 with the potential of newly elected officials and former Senator Dodd being able to interact directly with members of Congress once again. It is shaping up to be a very busy and potentially ugly year for anyone that makes money hosting files (even legal ones) or that allows links to be posted by their members. The MPAA is using this as their proof that you are earning money through copyright infringement and if there is more than one person that works on the site… well that is Conspiracy to boot. Be careful out there.

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