this post was submitted on 15 Aug 2024
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The internet entrepreneur faces several criminal charges in the US, including copyright infringement.

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[–] darkevilmac@lemmy.zip 65 points 3 months ago (4 children)

It's hard to feel any sympathy for the guy at this point, he went from odd eccentric file sharing site founder, to adware distributor, all the way to misinformation spreading conspiracy theorist.

[–] SkaveRat@discuss.tchncs.de 33 points 3 months ago (2 children)

from odd eccentric file sharing site founder

no. he basically started with credit card fraud and "sueing people who fileshare". Together with a lawer he basically invented the practice of "see which IPs share copyrighted data, request the user data from the ISP and send out C&D extiotion letters to the ISP customers"

[–] Blue_Morpho@lemmy.world 14 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Could you provide more info? Yes he and every hosting provider did that because they were forced to by Hollywood. They and all other hosting providers/isps certainly don't want to do it because it costs money to track the infringers and then they lose a customer.

[–] SkaveRat@discuss.tchncs.de 35 points 3 months ago (1 children)

He and his lawyer started doing that in the late 90s. When the labels just started knowing what the heck this newfangled internet even is.

In den späten 90er Jahren, kurz nachdem er wegen Kreditkartenmissbrauch verhaftet worden war, wurden in Hackerkreisen Stimmen laut, dass Kimble auch seine Freunde an die Softwareindustrie gegen Entgelt ausgeliefert habe. Der damalige berüchtigte Schwarzkopierer-Jäger und Anwalt Günther Freiherr von Gravenreuth hat seinen eigenen Aussagen zufolge Kimble als sogenannten Testbesteller beschäftigt.

Source

Just one of the articles that goes into this assholes history

Translation

In the late 1990s, shortly after he was arrested for credit card fraud, there were rumors in hacker circles that Kimble had also handed over his friends to the software industry for a fee. Günther Freiherr von Gravenreuth, the notorious pirate hunter and lawyer at the time, said he employed Kimble as a so-called test orderer

They mass-collected the connection data and started mass-sueing/extorting. Nobody else did on such a large scale at the time.

[–] Blue_Morpho@lemmy.world 8 points 3 months ago

Wow! I had no idea.

[–] darkevilmac@lemmy.zip 11 points 3 months ago

Wasn't aware of his history before Megaupload really.

[–] refurbishedrefurbisher@lemmy.sdf.org 32 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Sure, but this isn't about the person; it's about legal precidence.

[–] Entropywins@lemmy.world 9 points 3 months ago (1 children)

I don't know anything about the guy but your comment can be a tough pill to swallow sometimes

[–] refurbishedrefurbisher@lemmy.sdf.org 15 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

Oh, absolutely, which is the entire point sometimes.

For example, nobody likes terrorists or pedophiles, so make laws against them, because everyone can agree with punishing them. Only problem is, our system works on precidence and doesn't limit those laws to exclusively terrorists and pedophiles, but they instead apply to everyone. An example of a bill like this that Congress has tried to pass in the past is to ban encryption, since it helps criminals communicate with each other, but non-criminal civilians also use encryption for communication, amomgst other things.

[–] KryptonNerd@slrpnk.net 20 points 3 months ago (1 children)
[–] Neon@lemmy.world 10 points 3 months ago

spread russian propaganda afaik

[–] KrapKake@lemmy.world 17 points 3 months ago

"His legal campaign against removal began after he was arrested in a dramatic FBI raid on his Auckland mansion in 2012."

Wild how the FBI can go to other countries like that to raid the home of someone who pissed off Hollywood.

[–] jaschen@lemm.ee 13 points 3 months ago

I know this dude is a total dickhead. Yes yes yes I know. But he made some entertaining videos back on the late 90s with those cannonball runs.

[–] Tregetour@lemdro.id 12 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Characters like him are targeted because they are both successful and anti establishment

[–] Plopp@lemmy.world 3 points 3 months ago

We can't have that. You're only allowed to commit crimes if you're successful and support the establishment.

[–] julysfire@lemmy.world 10 points 3 months ago

It has been over a decade since they shut down MegaUpload and raided his house in NZ.

[–] technocrit@lemmy.dbzer0.com 6 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

U.S. authorities say Mr Dotcom and three other Megaupload executives cost film studios and music producers more than $500m in losses.

Ok, so it's a phony case based on imaginary numbers. $500m++++! lmao.

Sharing files costs nothing for these people.

[–] FeelThePower@lemmy.dbzer0.com 5 points 3 months ago (1 children)

so what happens to mega? does someone else own it now?

[–] Ab_intra@lemmy.world 16 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Dotcom has not been in control of Mega for a long time now..

[–] FeelThePower@lemmy.dbzer0.com 7 points 3 months ago (1 children)

thanks, I didn't know. I was never even aware that it was all connected to him until a few years ago.

[–] Ab_intra@lemmy.world 5 points 3 months ago

Yeah. I followed his case and started using Mega the day it was released to the public.. I also stopped using after Dotcom warned against the people who now run it.. Apparently the guy is a Chinese criminal.

[–] werefreeatlast@lemmy.world 1 points 3 months ago

He's looking good 😊💯!