Kim Dot Com launches Mega

See video

United States of America v Dotcom

United States of America v Dotcom [2012] NZHC 2076 (16 August 2012) http://www.nzlii.org/nz/cases/NZHC/2012/2076.html

Kim Dotcom on the offensive

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10809796 


Papers state the FBI allegations "turn a blind eye to laws ... that provide a safe harbour" for businesses which work to remove any material which infringes copyright. It stated there was no law which allowed cloud storage companies to face criminal charges over the actions of users.

Does MegaUpload have a DMCA defence?

Class 7: Liability of intermediatories and ISPs

This class deals with liability of intermediaries. For example, is an ISP liable for the conduct of its users? Is a web hosting company liable for the content of others that it hosts? Is TripAdvisor liable for reviews of hotels posted by users? Is Google liable for the content that appears on this blog?

Should such intermediaries be liable for the actions of others?

This is a very topical class, with a number of relevant decisions from the past two weeks.  Thus, there is a lot of reading for this class.

The main reading for the class is the iiNet case:

• Trial Judge Decision
• Full Court Appeal Decision

The iiNet case is currently on appeal to the High Court of Australia.  Oral argument has been heard, and we are waiting for judgment.  It is reported that judgment will be handed down on Friday, 20 April.  Transcripts and written submissions can be found on the High Court website.

Please also read the very recent case: Australian Competition and Consumer Commission v. Google Inc. [2012] FCAFC 49 decided last week; and compare UK position summarised here.

Also, read the following:

• MegaUpLoad and Kim Dotcom indictment; and users trying to get access to their data and MegaRetrevial
• Viacom v. Google decided by the Second Circuit on 5 April 2012; and see note here (and older notes here: YouTube and note and Summary Judgment)
• Bunt case
• Cooper case
• ACCC v Allergy Pathways and ACCC Press Release
• Stratton Oakmont and follow-up
• Communications Decency Act section 230
• TripAdvisor: Terms; Restaurant Gives Up; tips; and Findlaw note; and another lawsuit
• DMCA - Unintended Consequences White Paper

Kim Dotcom Interview

The first interview with Mr Dotcom after his arrest is here:

Campbell Live

Interview with Kim Dotcom Lawyer

Here is an interview from NZ TV with Mr Kim Dotcom's U.S. lawyer.  Can the operator of a file storage system be criminally liable for copyright infringement of its users?  Or is there more to this case than this?