Acidus wrote:
] ] However, instead of thanking Adam for his promotion of
] ] their product, officials at MGM and the MPAA have chosen
] ] to pressure the FBI into pursuing criminal charges. Adam
] ] was first tipped off about the investigation when the FBI
]
] ] raided his and his fiancee's apartment in May of 2002 and
] ] seized thousands of dollars worth of computer equipment.
]
] ] Adam later received a copy of the affidavit filed in
] ] support of the search warrant, and was shocked to
] ] discover that this document, prepared by the FBI,
] ] contained significant amounts of erroneous and misleading
] ] information. For example, two social security numbers
] ] were listed for Adam, one of which is not his. References
]
] ] were made to a cease and desist letter sent by the MPAA
] ] to an email address that did not exist. His online
] ] friendship with other Stargate fans across the globe was
] ] portrayed as an international conspiracy against the
] ] MPAA. And perhaps most disturbing of all, it was later
] ] revealed that the FBI invoked a provision of the USA
] ] Patriot Act to obtain financial records from his ISP.
] The
] ] FBI's abuse of its powers did not stop there. When they
] ] seized Adam's computer equipment, he was given written
] ] documentation stating that it would be returned within 60
] ] days. The equipment that they did return did not arrive
] ] until more than 8 months later, and only then after much
] ] prodding from his lawyer. Much of it was damaged beyond
] ] repair - one laptop had a shattered LCD screen, an empty
] ] tape backup drive was ripped apart for no apparent
] ] reason, his fiancee's iBook was badly damaged when it was
] ] pried apart with a screwdriver.
]
] 1. Welcome to the new world of criminal copyright
] prosecutions. This reminds me of operation Sun Devil.
] The FBI is usually far more professional then this. Apparently
] they've assigned a bunch of idiots to their copyright sqaud,
] which is reasonable at first glance in that its not very
] important, but ultimately a mistake because this issue is too
] controversial and too visible to be handled by thugs. These
] guys aren't going to stop behaving this way until a judge
] throws the book at them (as occured to the Chicago Secret
] Service agents who raided Steve Jackson Games). Therefore, I
] suggesting holding on to your seats. There will be a bunch
] more stories where this came from, and as the net is a hell of
] a lot louder then it was in 1991 you can expect the FBI to
] feel some very serious pressure over the issue as the horrors
] mount up.
]
] 2. The seizure of thousands of dollars worth of equipment, the
] destruction of said equipment, and then the choice of legal
] venue meant to maximize the financial costs associated with
] trial... This has all the earmarks of an investigation that is
] intended to be punative in and of itself. Punative
] investigations are unconstitutional.
]
] 3. This is why copyright issues need to remain in civil courts
] and not criminal courts. We don't need our security forces out
] smashing computers for the MPAA. There is absolutely no reason
] why the MPAA couldn't have filed a civil motion in this case
] in the jurisdiction the actual website was in.
]
] It seems clear that a properly delivered cease and desist
] letter would have solved the problem here. No fuss, no muss.
] Handling crimes like this in this manner is extremely
] expensive for taxpayers and tends to disrupt and destroy
] innocent people's lives when they accidentally become the
] target of it.
]
] Moving copyright cases into the criminal justice system was
] bad, bad, bad law. It seems like we're going to get a stiff
] lesson in why.

Or the guy can get better taste. Stargate? Christ. What a stupid thing to get busted for. The feds shouldn't have stopped with the equipment. They should have broken him and his fiancee too.

RE: Stargate Information Archive - Federal Charges Filed Against SG-1 Archive