[padlabtard]

this is nuts. 4 years??! un-friggin-real...

UK man gets four years for linking to videos on other websites

By Lee MathewsComments (3)

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People build websites to share all kinds of things with all kinds of other people. Turns out doing that might be more dangerous than you’d think.
Anton Vickerman’s name may not be familiar to you, but the U.K. man has the unique distinction of being the first person sentenced to jail time for running a links-only website. Vickerman operated SurfTheChannel.com, a site that directed users to other sites that served up video downloads and streams of popular programmes. In May, Vickerman was arraigned on charges of “conspiracy to defraud the movie industry through the facilitation of copyright infringement” and the two-month trial has now concluded. He was found guilty, and now faces four years in prison.SurfTheChannel was, in essence, a search engine and link respository. Vickerman was always very careful to make sure his own servers never served up any actual infringing content, and he went so far as to consult extensively with multiple legal experts to verify that he was playing by the rules. In fact, much of the content Vickerman did link to was hosted by sites like YouTube, Veoh, and BBC’s iplayer.What SurfTheChannel and other sites like it offer isn’t all that different than what any search engine (Google, Bing, Yahoo!) do. Such sites are more narrow in scope, of course, but they’re generally not displaying links that can’t be found elsewhere on the web. But it’s estimated that SurfTheChannel received around 400,000 visitors every day and generated around $54,000 in advertising revenue each month. That put the site squarely in the crosshairs of international copyright groups, who began their campaign against Vickerman in 2008 — despite the fact that SurfTheChannel itself didn’t break any laws. As we’ve seen before, though, that’s not always a sticking point. In many cases, leading the proverbial horse to water is all it takes.Beyond the fact that STC didn’t serve up any video from its own servers, it’s also interesting to note that Vickerman’s offence isn’t considered a crime if one person acts alone. His sentence is also double the maximum allowed for those found guilty of online copyright infringement in the U.K. Given the frequency with which we see criminals serve no jail time for offences like burglary, assault, and trafficking, it’s disconcerting to read that copyright groups have the power to send someone posting URLs up the river for nearly half a decade.Where does it end? There’s very little chance that you’d ever get in trouble for sharing links like those on STC on your Facebook wall or Twitter feed, but you never know. Joel Tenenbaum still faces fines in the area of $670,000 for sharing 31 songs via Kazaa, after all.[Sources: TorrentFreak and The Guardian]

[wMceqj7F]

The UK, aside from being culturally interesting, and having some decent people in it has turned into a giant big-brother pile of sh*t nation.

[tactWeiccaf]

We are just 10 years behind the UK on everything. They are the model of "utopia".

[metrocartockasur]

That guy was doing them a service. I wouldn't watch their shows for free.

Looks like the takeaway here is it's not about the letter of the law, but rather control of human attention (as shown by the flow of money).

[padlabtard]

That guy was doing them a service. I wouldn't watch their shows for free.

Looks like the takeaway here is it's not about the letter of the law, but rather control of human attention (as shown by the flow of money).

interesting point, Vacuum... i had the thought that the driving force behind the whole thing was the redirection of ad revenue streams out of the pockets of the big boys like google, etc., but your idea has weight as well...

[nonDosearrany]

The UK, aside from being culturally interesting, and having some decent people in it has turned into a giant big-brother pile of sh*t nation.

♪ ♫ Rule Britannia!
Britannia rule the waves.
Britons never, never, never shall be slaves. ♪ ♫

[fissasste]

The UK, aside from being culturally interesting, and having some decent people in it has turned into a giant big-brother pile of sh*t nation.

Also they tax entertainment, like people needing to pay for a tv license, If you have a tv you have to pay to watch it. Sounds like they are doing/trying to do the same for web content. ?

Snip: The licence fee is safe for now then, but this could change. According to the BBC Trust, which published a review of TV licence collection this March, 40% of students in halls of residence use a laptop as their main way of watching TV. While this may just be due to the nature of student living, it could indicate the beginnings of a change in the nation's viewing habits – and the need for a new form of licence-fee enforcement.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2009/jul/29/watching-tv-computers

[CathBraunn]

♪ ♫ Rule Britannia!
Britannia rule the waves.
Britons never, never, never shall be slaves. ♪ ♫

If you accept that you are in the U.K. how could you be anything other than a slave? Is the nationality of a U.K. citizen other than a Britain? Would a U.S. citizen be a slave while a New Yorker not?

[MicoSiru]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/N_M_Rothschild_%26_Sons

Rothschild's headquarters in London have been continuously located at the same site over the past two centuries.....

[CathBraunn]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/N_M_Rothschild_%26_Sons

Rothschild's headquarters in London have been continuously located at the same site over the past two centuries.....

I believe the U.K is a plane similar to our U.S. Wales, Ireland, Scotland, Britain ... they are all countries but I would think the people there could dump the U.K. status like we can dump the U.S. status.

The U.K. is most probably a commercial plane. Get out of commerce as quickly as you can.

[padlabtard]

...the sun never sets on britannia's holdings...