[Infowarrior] - DOJ's Truly Disgusting Argument For Denying A Megaupload User Access To His Legal Content

[Richard Forno]

The DOJ's Truly Disgusting Argument For Denying A Megaupload User Access To His Legal Content

from the hey,-not-our-machines... dept

http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20120612/03274619284/dojs-truly-disgusting-argument-denying-megaupload-user-access-to-his-legal-content.shtml

In the ongoing saga of what happens to all the data stored on the Megaupload servers, the Department of Justice has now filed a truly revolting argument in seeking to end the efforts by a Megaupload user, Kyle Goodwin (who uploaded and stored sports videos that he shot), to regain access to the content he uploaded. 

As we've noted, there's been a lot of finger pointing going on here, with a bunch of highly questionable actions on the part of the government, including its repeated suggestion that all of this data -- which, remember, they seemed to think was evidence of a crime -- should simply be deleted. But what's so sneaky and duplicitous about the DOJ's argument here? They're saying that because they never actually seized the servers in question, this has absolutely nothing to do with them -- and that Goodwin would be better off suing Megaupload or Carpathia (the hosting company) or simply paying Carpathia to access the servers. Basically, it says that no one's stopping him... other than the fact that all the servers are offline thanks to the feds' own actions (but, please, they'd prefer you not remember that part). They actually seem to feign surprise that their own actions of seizing Megaupload's domains and all of the company's (and its exec team's) money, and arresting the entire senior management team... might lead to the site being shut down entirely. 

Basically, it's as if the government walked into a china shop, smashed up every last piece, and then walked out. When the owner then sought restitution from the government, the government suddenly insists that since it didn't take any of the broken pieces out of the shop, there's no cause for action against the government. And all the smashed up little pieces are still there, so why would anyone complain? 

Oh, and just to add totally obnoxious insult to injury, the DOJ also says that even if the court decides that there's some merit in the arguments laid out by Goodwin, even that doesn't matter, because it'll just cop out and declare "sovereign immunity" and avoid having to pay out. The whole thing is a fairly disgusting display by the DOJ showing just how far it will go to lock someone up once it's determined to. They will cause all sorts of collateral damage, and when someone calls them on it, they'll just point the finger elsewhere... all while demanding even more power to censor with impunity.


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Just because i'm near the punchbowl doesn't mean I'm also drinking from it.