Because REAL domination isn't fun (addendum)

UNEXPECTED ADDENDUM:

Even without new draconian laws mentioned last post, the US government shut down the massive file sharing site Megaupload yesterday as part of "an investigation into copyright infringement".

BBC News story
Ars Technica story
Wikipedia article on MU

No warning to innocent users with files stored there; paid members of the site can't access or even delete their stored private files. I would honestly be very surprised if the FBI didn't have 'warrants' to look through people's private accounts in this case, too.

This just goes to show that accusations of something someone doesn't like (in this case music companies worried people were storing copyrighted material on Megaupload and sharing the links) can get other innocent peoples' rights stomped all over without recourse (i.e. those of all the millions of Megaupload users who used the service for legit reasons, such as off-site hard drive backup of personal data).

It also shows that 'private' file storage online using these services is neither safe nor assured. Some folks wonder why I'm not a fan at all of the whole "cloud based" (online) software and storage concept that so many seem to tout as "the future"... this is why!

I'm not talking about whether the founders of Megaupload willingly allowed copyrighted content to be shared using their service. I'm talking about the fact that this takedown affects the innocent as much as the alleged-guilty. Imagine if this was Picasa or Google Docs being taken down without warning? That would be the end of all Blogger blogs. YouTube? Scary stuff indeed. Plus, isn't it a bit suspicious that of all the file-sharing services out there, the one hit this hard is the one that previously angered the RIAA over an unrelated matter?

Aren't we supposed to be more fearful and distrustful of criminal piracy and hacker groups than our own authorities and corporations?

CLOSING COMMENTS:

I know these last two posts have been somewhat 'off-topic', but this is such an important issue for everyone online, particularly those of us in a potentially-targetable, oft-misunderstood and occasionally demonized 'minority' (non-vanilla) group like being a 'spanko'.

It's too important to risk being in the dark on these sorts of issues, and if my silly little spanking art blog can bring them to the attention of just one reader who was previously unaware of what was going on, it's worth it. This hits home personally for me, because a big part of why I quit Yahoo was that it only took one complaint from someone and my whole account could be shut down... it happened to me at least twice, and both times as a result of content not even posted by me!

Finally, as my own contribution to the fight against censorship and information suppression (and due to several requests and emails), today I restored my controversial Halloween post to its pre-self-censored version. Enjoy in all it's non-'politically correct' glory!

We now resume our regular spanking-themed posts!