38 Issue 1395 QUICKBITS...HMRC has launcheddigital tax accounts for somepersonaltaxpayers. It wantsa fully digital system
A
s you are bravingthe secondweekof the new year, you
may not have muchsympathyfor Team Meanwhile,
whichhas endeavoured to put togetherthis topical
columna few days before it breaks for Christmas...
Basically, we’re the epitomeof a first worldproblem(tinyurl.com/
MMnet95a). Still, for you, we soldieron...O
ne storythat’s beenmovingat a speedthat probablymeans
nothingmuchwill have changedby the time you read
this, is the legal battlebeingfoughtin New Zealandover the
extraditionof the Megauploadmain-manKim Dotcom(tinyurl.
com/MMnet95b). As we write,it’s just beenannouncedthat the
Kiwi courtshave decidedhe shouldbe sent to the US to face a
litanyof chargesafter a four-yearwill-he-won’t-he legal too-and-
fro that has had pretty mucheverything(and will probablybe a
Netflixmini-seriesat somepointin the future). However, when,
and if, Dotcomwill ever get on a flightto face US justice(tinyurl.
com/MMnet95c) is still very muchin doubt.He still has avenues
of appeal,whichhe seemsintenton exploringto their fullest– at
least according to a tweetfrom his legal representative,whichis
all we currentlyhave to go on (tinyurl.com/MMnet95d) beyond
Dotcomcommentsoutsidethe court,that “thisis not the last
word on the matter”.And Dotcomstill maintainshis defencethat
Megauploadwas, in essence,no different to othercloudstorage
services,meaninghe is not liablefor whatusersput there.
Dotcom’s case is of interest for manyreasons.First and,
perhaps,foremostis the fact that Dotcomisn’t from shy and
retiring.He basksin the limelightand has knowinglyself-promoted
and kept a high profile throughoutthe proceedings(tinyurl.
com/MMnet95e). The fact is, his lifestylewas newsworthybefore
New Zealandauthoritiesraidedhis homemob-handedin 2012
(tinyurl.com/MMnet95f), seeminglyat the beck-and-callof
the the FBI, before beingmadeto apologiseover someof their
actions(tinyurl.com/MMnet95g) whilesurveillinghim.Indeed,
New Zealand’s GovernmentCommunicationsSecurityBureau’s
involvementin the case (tinyurl.com/MMnet95h) became
a storythat quicklyspiralledout to a widerdebateaboutthe
country’s monitoringof its own citizens(tinyurl.com/MMnet95i).
Ultimately, his case speaksto the intentionsof the US
governmentand just how far they’re willingto go to protect
copyrightin the face of pressure from powerfullobbygroups
withinthe US (tinyurl.com/MMnet95j). It’s well documented
that Dotcomis no angel,but it’s hard to arguethat the raid –
whichinvolvedparamilitary-stylepolicewith automaticweapons,
helicoptersand enoughhardware to break Dotcomout of his
mansion’s safe-room – wasn’t heavyhanded.Indeed,Dotcomhad
allegedlyspokento policeon the previousday, havingwelcomed
theminto his home,whichexposesit as probablya little bit on the
show-boatyside.Meanwhile... On The Internet...
.AVWhy?
VideosFor YourEyes...
Not NecessarilyFor YourBrainWe’ve givenup on beingup to datethis week(the foibles
of holidaydeadlineshavewell and trulyseento that),so
ratherthanexposeyou to the latestflash-in-the-panviral
video,we’regoingto referbackto one of Team
Meanwhile’s favouriteinternetthingsof recentyears.
Madein 2013for YouTube’s geekweek,this returnto the
Knightmaredungeonis guaranteedto pushnostalgia
buttonsfor readersof a certainage (yo utu.be/74r-EbIqt9s).W
hile Kim Dotcomlikesto makesure his beefswith
copyrightholdersare conductedas loudlyas possible,
PeterSunde– he of PirateBay infamy, workingunderthe
monikerBrokep– seemsto be contentto takea muchmore
circumspectand thoughtfulapproachto makinghis points
sincehe got out of jail (tinyurl.com/MMnet95k).
His latestproject,the Kopimashin(tinyurl.com/MMnet95l),
is a little RaspberryPi-baseddevicethat Sundehas builtfor an
art exhibit.Kopimashinreally only has two jobs:to generate
copiesof GnarlsBarkley’sCrazy(whichit can do roughly 100
timesper second,before deletingeachone immediately),and
addingup the theoreticalcost of thosecopiesto its rights
holderowner, DowntownRecords/Warner Music,basedon the
scalethosecompaniesuse to calculatetheir‘losses’from piracy
(approximately$1.25per copy).It thendisplaysthe notionalloss
on a tiny LCD screen, chunteringon indefinitelyuntilit is turned
off. Sarcasmfans may like to knowthat notionalloss amounts
to somethingin the regionof $11 millionper day.
Accordingto Sunde,he wants“to showthe absurdity on
the processof puttinga valueto a copy”,before goingon to
notethat “Themachineis madeto be very bluntand open
aboutthe fact that it’s not a dangerto any industryat all”
(tinyurl.com/MMnet95m). Whetheror not lawyersacross
the Atlanticagree withthat sentiment,remainsto be seen,
however... We wouldn’t be confidentthat theysee thingsin
quitethe sameway as Peter.I
n the wakeof the hullabaloosurroundingthe releaseofStar
Wars:TheForceAwakenslate last year, withoutdoubtour
favouritepieceof parody has beenthe ‘EmoKylo Ren’Twitter
account(@KyloR3n). Playingon the petulantnature of the
character– and his penchantfor wreckingthingsin a fit of rage- EmoRen describeshimselfas a ‘Ren’s rightsactivist’and uses
his 140-characterdiatribesto air his frustrationswithhis mother
and father, high-schooland the worldin general.
Whileyou are nowprobablywell free of the hypeand ‘reveal-
any-spoilers-and-we’ll-come-get-you’-typethreats we’re still
livingunder, we’llsay no more on the matterand leaveyou to
find out more for yourself.
T
o finishup, let’s do anotherStarWars:TheForceAwakens
storybefore we get backfrom our break and backto
beinga bit more topicalnextweek...
There aren’t manyeventsthesedaysthat can havea
noticeableeffect on the internet; they trulyhaveto be global
phenomena,so initialhintsthat the releaseof the new movie
causeda markeddownturn in internet use aroundthe world
surely bodeswell for its bid to becomethe biggestbox office
successof all time(tinyurl.com/MMnet95n).