The one about Kim Dotcom

Kim Dotcom, born Kim Schmitz is a colourful larger than life character. He even lives local to me. But he is a rogue, and has done knowing and wilful things.

Putting aside the rights and wrongs of his arrest and the actions or inactions of the NZ Police / FBI et al which is a whole other story, there is the nagging thing about Megaupload that to me sticks out as knowing and wilful.

He’s even constructed a website www.kim.com, and is has a handy FAQ page http://kim.com/scandal

On on that page you can find an indication of one of the cornerstones of the case against him. Contained in Questions/Answers/Facts #2 and #6

 2. How did Megaupload use technology to maximise Storage Efficiency?

Megaupload, similar to other large cloud storage providers that rely on efficient data storage like Dropbox, was designed to store a single useable copy of each unique file uploaded to its servers. If multiple users uploaded identical files, Megaupload would retain one instance of the file, and generate a unique link for each individual user, called a Uniform Resource Locator (“URL”). One user might choose to keep his unique link private; another user might wish to share his link with others via email or by embedding it in a webpage such as a blog post.

So, if two people uploaded the same file Megaupload would keep only one version of the file but generate two unique url links to that file, one for each user. If 10, 100 or 1000 people uploaded the same file there would be one instance of the file stored and 10, 100 or 1000 unique URL links to it.

6. Did Megaupload honor takedown notices?

Megaupload processed takedown notices swiftly and efficiently. Megaupload went beyond the ordinary and used technology to speed up the take down process. For example trusted parties including major Hollywood entities received access to an innovative real-time direct takedown web tool.

Megaupload negotiated with major copyright holders or their agents—including the Recording Industry Association of America, Disney, Warner Brothers, NBC, and Microsoft—to allow them access to take down directly, in an automated manner, an active link to material they believed infringed their copyrights. Megaupload was commended by Hollywood organizations for its take down processes.

So if the unique URL was being shared as a link to a copyright holder item then Megaupload allowed that URL link to be deleted, or taken down.

Not the file deleted, just the link to the file. So perhaps 10,100 or 1000 unique URL still remained pointing to that file.

There then seems to be a conflict between knowing what files are duplicates of other files, since clearly they boast that technology, but then to somehow with a straight face say well we’ve deleted the link therefore no infringement.

Reading the indictment documentation it seems apparent that various people at Megaupload were aware of the nature of the files being stored and were sharing them internally for use, and not removing the offending files, rather just the public links to them.  Sure not having a URL does not allow me to download a file that has copyright claim against it, but that there might have been 10, 100 or 1,000 unique URL’s available to that file kind of negates the holier-than-thou thing going on.

Good on Kim for engaging a public relations exercise, he’s setting himself up to be a people’s person, a mans man, a wronged individual.

Sadly I don’t buy it.  I have sympathy for his plight, and I’m not exactly engaged with the ethics of the arrest/seizure, but I am sure that there was knowing and there was wilful.

Related articles

• Kim Dotcom speaks out on secret anti-piracy report to RT (rt.com)