The Stargate SG-1 Information Archive is reporting that the Feds filed charges against Adam McGaughey, creator of SG1Archive.com. The website is a fan site for the television show Stargate SG-1. The charges allege that Adam used the website to engage in Criminal Copyright Infringement and Trafficking in Counterfeit Services. Two interesting things about the charges are that they were apparently set in motion by a complaint by our friends at the MPAA and the FBI invoked a provision of the USA Patriot Act to obtain financial records from his ISP. /. story


If sg1archive gets slashdotted, you can find a mirror here.

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Dear lady, can you hear the wind blow, and did you know
Your stairway lies on the whispering wind.
:wq

[This message has been edited by GBK (edited July 27, 2004).]

wow, what bastages

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What happens when you cast heal on the undead?

DOJ link.


Apparently he was serving out full versions of SG1...

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Dear lady, can you hear the wind blow, and did you know
Your stairway lies on the whispering wind.
:wq

http://web.archive.org/web/20010805195654/sg1archive.com/s1.html

Whoops. My word that wasn't bright.

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Cantina Cloud | BCF | The Massassian 1, 2 & 3 | Gonkmeg
Corrupting the kiddies since '97

Regardless of whether or not a provision of the Patriot Act was involved in this, that comment was from SG1archive.com which is obviously just a little biased in this case. "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." If you're going to illegally stream material on the internet it's not surprising that the copyright holder would respond negatively.



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Have you forgotten ...

[Nevermind... ]

[This message has been edited by GBK (edited July 27, 2004).]

The Patriot Act is just a new d***o for the government to shove up anyone's *** , so it's easier to make accusations, and put the people away that they feel are doing wrongful things.

JediKirby

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jEDIkIRBY - Putting the Romance back into Necromancer.
Proud Leader of the Minnessassian Council

Live on, Adam.

True, although there have been many, many other ones that are used frequently. This guy was in the wrong, but for chrissakes, it's not like he was cheating them of millions, thousands, hell I doubt he's cheating them out of hundreds. Anyone who wants to watch SG1 will do one of two things--buy the DVD, or pirate it somewhere else.

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There is no signature

..Or just wait a few hours for it to come on SciFi...

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Dear lady, can you hear the wind blow, and did you know
Your stairway lies on the whispering wind.
:wq

The patriot act is a terible idea all by itself, and its even worse when mafia-like companies like the RIAA and MPAA can use it.



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I have found that you can transform your character solely by the power of belief: as you believe yourself to be, so you shall become over time.

Really, why turn this into a Patriot Act debate? Let's look at the facts here. This guy openly offered Episodes for free download on his site. That is copyright infringement. Then he throws catchphrases such as MPAA and the Patriot Act and even if a provision of the Patriot Act was used there are relatively few provisions of the act that are really being debated and questioned now (although I might add that the time for that was when it was going through Congress, all of these senators complaining now that voted FOR IT should shut up). The FBI did nothing wrong in the investigation of his criminal activity as certainly as whomever complained did not as well.

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Have you forgotten ...

Because it needs to be. Something needs to be done about the Patriot Act as it strips away much of the privacy we should be able to enjoy in our own homes.

Something does need to be done about catching terrorists but the Patriot Act gives the gvernment to much freedom to monitor us. It was designed to catch terrorists and look how they used it here? Whose to say it won't be used for other abuses? Or had been used for abuses?

Our representatives in congress should NOT stop "complaining" about it. People make mistakes and since some of these people are trying to rectify it you think they should shut up?

First, you say look how they used it. How did they use it?

Second, yes, politicians using the issue for political expediency should shut up if they voted for it. The time for debate was when the issue was up for vote. Now, if they voted against it by all means they should continue to raise the question. Seems to me that the Supreme Court upheld the act, though, although my memory could be wrong.

Lastly, there's no need for us to debate the Patriot Act again in this thread. In my opinion. This is just one of those topics that gets debated everytime it comes up and the subject is old. That's all.

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Have you forgotten ...

I think they forgot to read it or something.

Tofu rules. Or should I say NinjaPenguin!!!

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There is no signature

Out of curiousity, do any of you have opinions as to how the MPAA should have done anything differently? They did ask the man to not offer the episodes and apparently his response was to move the website overseas in, what appears to me to be, an obvious attempt to avoid US laws.

In my opinion the MPAA seems to have been reasonable in their request and then the action that they were essentially forced into.

I've been thinking of the bigger issue here, that of what is wrong with these downloads. It's true that I could easily record one of these episodes myself when they are broadcast. In that sense there is little difference between me possessing a downloaded clip and a broadcast clip. To me, though, I think there is a problem with someone freely distribuiting them. First, if they are DVD rips that is obviously a huge infringement. Now what if, as they likely are, they are rendered from aired programs? Well, whomever originally broadcast the program had to pay for the right to do so and then profitted from the advertising sold. Maybe if the episodes were aired complete with commercials the argument would be more difficult however I doubt that was the case. I think the problems were seeing with these cases of piracy simply shows how the industry needs to continue to push technology to the point where they openly market their media through downloadable means. That won't stop pirates but will satisfy many consumers who hunger for the rapidity of the internet.

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Have you forgotten ...

I shamelessly downloaded all of season 3 of 24.
BBC didn't secure a deal and it was shown on Sky One, and there was no way I was putting up with the ridiculous amounts of adverts that channel puts in.
Plus, downloading the episodes from America, I was about seven or eight episodes ahead of those being aired on Sky One. But if only the BBC had got 24 I wouldn't have bothered.
They'd better secure the next season ¬

For the dvd, I somewhat agree with you, but for the television episodes, I don't. They've already gone down this road once. And look. We still have recordable VHS...

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Daddy, why doesn't this magnet pick up this floppy disk?

The issue isn't whether or not we should be able to record it. Of course we can. But when we do so we are recording from someone that paid to broadcast it. This guy didn't have permission to offer free downloads on the internet and was asked to stop. When we record off the air or cable we are at least paying for the service (cable) or exposed to the advertisements that sponsor the program (whether you're pausing to skip them or fastforwarding through them). I see no problem with capturing them directly to a computer. But to then freely offer them as an alternative to legal means of viewing them is where it goes wrong.

With regards specifically to this case, the guy is an idiot and it is hard to take anything he says seriously on his site. I mean, if you know that you're doing something wrong and then are asked to stop by an organization that obviously has the means to press the issue and then show obvious beligerance by moving the site "overseas" you're just asking for legal means to be brought against yourself.

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Have you forgotten ...

The FBI probably got a subpoena using Section 210 of the Patriot Act, which simply adds bank account numbers and some other things to the list of information that the government can demand from a communications provider.

[This message has been edited by Argath (edited July 27, 2004).]

"I created Massassi!"

Am I a terrorist yet?

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For a healty meal, eat mashed potatoes, peas, and catloaf.
cuttin' into my free time, man."

Valuable Life Lesson: Frog + Potato Gun = Blindness

I have access to a copy of the Patriot Act. It's in the office of the supermarket where I work, apparently because they deal in money orders which fall under some provision. My manager says I can take a look any time.

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Steal my dreams and sell them back to me.....

[This message has been edited by Bounty Hunter 4 hire (edited July 27, 2004).]

Umm, I've been to the sg1-archive several times to look at episode reviews. Unless something changed recently, they removed all episode downloads a few years ago. Weird.

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Sam: "Sir we can't call it 'The Enterprise'"
Jack: "Why not!"