Piracy or Privacy Breaches: Which is Worse?

By Jeralyn, Section Media
Posted on Thu Feb 09, 2012 at 08:35:12 PM EST
Tags: MegaUpload (all tags)

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A New Zealand law professor asks which is worse, internet piracy or the privacy breaches of social networks and Google. He compares the MegaUpload alleged copyright violations to the practices of Google and Facebook and concludes the social network privacy intrusions are worse:

The law in both instances determined who gets to profit from the use of information and who does not and in both cases corporate power was able to trump the rights of individuals.

...Google is subject to an array of privacy and other laws. However, with the exception of fair trading laws in the United States, privacy laws globally are considerably weaker that the regimes that protect the rights of intellectual property owners.

[More..]

In related news, Bram van der Kolk, was finally released from jail yesterday. In an interview, he says he's going to continue to fight extradition and believes he will win. ""We have a very strong case, I'm very confident."

Bram van der Kolk and Finn Batato were granted bail on January 26. Batato has yet to be released. The holdup has been finding acceptable (to authorities) places to live while on electronic monitoring.

And is anyone surprised that file-sharing hasn't decreased since the Megaupload takedown? The activity just moved off-shore, to places like Europe and sites like Putlocker.

Deepfield Networks analyzed the change by looking at the six companies that provide the storage facilities for 80 percent of all the file-sharing traffic on the 'net. (There are hundreds of search-and-index sites for both legal and illegal downloads, but most of the files themselves are housed on disk in data centers run by six major co-location and hosting service companies.

With the shift toward Putlocker, NovaMov and MediaFire, far more of those files are being shared across greater distances than before, because the big three download providers store their data primarily in Europe.

PC Magazine has more.

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Piracy or Privacy Breaches: Which is Worse? | 5 comments (5 topical)

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In my mind? (5.00 / 2) (#1)
by sj on Thu Feb 09, 2012 at 09:19:52 PM EST

Definitely the privacy breaches are worse.

Logical fallacy (none / 0) (#2)
by diogenes on Thu Feb 09, 2012 at 10:34:27 PM EST

"...concludes the social network privacy intrusions are worse"

Is he implying that because driving 90 MPH in a 55 zone is more dangerous than driving 80 MPH in a 55 zone that the 80 MPH driver shouldn't be prosecuted?
Some of us would throw the book at both the privacy breachers and the intellectual pirates.

Neglect (none / 0) (#3)
by koshembos on Fri Feb 10, 2012 at 06:26:25 AM EST

We have yet to adapt to managing society's needs for privacy, IP and entertainment needs within the new technology. Until we'll find ways to guard and share so rights of many are protected, all the handwringing is a waste of time.

Sadly, most of the research into privacy and security in the US is driven by military needs; that doesn't help anyone but does monopolizes most of the blanket.

We also need social and business changes that are not forthcoming for many reasons.

Meanwhile chaos prevails.

Can we copyright... (none / 0) (#4)
by kdog on Fri Feb 10, 2012 at 10:22:06 AM EST

our personal information? That way if Google or Facebook or Acme Corp. sell it, we can sue for the cashish they made off of our "identifying property".

Imagine that...copyright your social security number, and when the grifters of the world pass it around you get a check in the mail.

: Maybe if you make it into a song or something! (none / 0) (#5)
by DFLer on Sat Feb 11, 2012 at 10:52:49 AM EST

Check out "Copyright Basics" brochure from the US Copyright Office.
link to pdf
US Cooyright Office site