MegaUpload’s legal troubles

03 Feb 2012, Posted by Andrew Luo in News, 0 Comments

Sophia Palenberg/The Chronicle

MegaUpload, a popular file-sharing site that allows visitors to download free movies and television shows, is not deleting its online data just yet. Managers of the Carpathia Hosting and Cogent Communications, two services that hosts MegaUpload’s data, have agreed to preserve MegaUpload’s online material for a minimum of two weeks, beginning on Monday.

The commotion around the site began on January 19^th, when the Department of Justice announced that it has taken action to shut down MegaUpload. Prior to the government order, users were allowed to both upload files onto the site as well as download content from other members. Premium members whose content became popular were paid for their participation. Based primarily in Hong Kong, MegaUpload made a total of $175 million through its advertisements and premium subscription fees over a period of five years. At its peak, the site received more than 50 million visitors daily.

After receiving indictments from a Virginia grand jury however, the company was charged for racketeering conspiracy, conspiracy to commit copyright infringement and the federal authorities have since arrested six other people affiliated with the piracy site, seizing 18 domain names and $500 million in assets. According to the indictment, the operators of MegaUpload caused an estimated $500 dollars in harm to copyright holders. Furthermore, New Zealand police also raided the home of MegaUpload founder Kim DotCom, arresting him on charges of piracy, money laundering and racketeering charges. Authorities also seized a significant amount of Dotcom’s personal assets, which included 108-inch flat screen TVs, 60 servers and 18 luxury cars.

The news of MegaUpload’s fall was met with support from the entertainment industry, whose leaders have faced an opposition in their advocacy for the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and Protect Intellectual Property Act (PIPA). On the other hand, critics who thought the bills didn’t protect civil liberties conducted a U.S. Internet “blackout.” Participants in the Internet freeze included Wikipedia, Craigslist and Reddit. The protest pressured lawmakers to oppose SOPA and PIPA.

Just as opinions varied over online piracy nationwide, Duke students also offered their share of perspectives.

“I can see why MegaUpload was such a popular site,” said freshman Max Karakul. “I just don’t think it’s necessary, especially for Duke students, since we can readily borrow movies and shows from the libraries on campus.”

Other students showed support for the two week extension before Megaupload’s data are deleted.

“It’s a good thing that the files are being preserved,” said freshman Mark Chee. “It’s one thing to punish the founders of website, but it’s another to punish the members who legally uploaded their files.”

Politics roundup: N.C. gubernatorial race preview

31 Jan 2012, Posted by Walker Schiff in News, Politics Roundup, 0 Comments

Shayan Asadi/The Chronicle

The 2012 race for North Carolina Governor made national headlines last week when incumbent and Democrat Governor Bev Purdue surprisingly announced she would not run for reelection. The announcement, which came just over a month before the filing period begins on February 13th^,has led to large amounts of speculation over who will run in the Democratic primary, which is held on May 8th, the same day as its Republican counterpart.

On the other hand, the Republican primary seems to be all but decided. Former Charlotte Mayor and 2008 gubernatorial nominee Pat McCrory has a clear advantage over his top challenger, Douglas Schell, who garnered only less than one percent of the vote when he ran for N.C. Governor in 2000 as the Reform Party candidate. McCrory has a clear fundraising and organizational advantage over Schell and he is simply more widely known and liked throughout the state.

On the Democratic side, many are happy to see Perdue go. Although she wasn’t disliked by the party, her poll numbers against McCrory were ominous. In early January, a poll administered by Public Policy Polling (PPP), a widely respected Democratic and national polling institute located in Raleigh, showed McCrory with a comfortable 11 point lead over Perdue. On top of that, 51 percent said that they disapproved of the job Bev Perdue was doing as Governor while only 32 percent approved.

Perdue’s departure opens the door for many candidates and two candidates have declared their candidacy while many other prominent North Carolina Democrats have been rumored to be considering a run. Lieutenant Governor Walter Dalton declared his candidacy last Thursday, the same day Perdue announced she wasn’t running, and State Representative Bill Faison declared his candidacy this past weekend. When considering all of the candidates who are rumored to be considering a run in the Democratic primary, the number of potential nominees hits double digits.

Luckily, PPP released a poll on Monday pitting McCrory against 13 potential Democratic candidates. Unfortunately for Democrats, most of the numbers PPP released mirror the results of their McCrory-Perdue poll that they released earlier in the month.

Just two of the 13 potential candidates are within 10 points of McCrory. Those potential candidates are Sen. Kay Hagen (D-NC) and Erskine Bowles, who is the former President of the University of North Carolina system and former White House Chief of Staff under Bill Clinton. According to the poll, McCrory is enjoying a seven point lead over Hagen and a two point lead over Bowles. Out of luck again, Democrats are going to have to hope that Bowles enters the race because on Monday, Kay Hagen declared that she was not going to run.

Bowles is currently the co-chair of Barack Obama’s National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform along with former Republican Senate Minority Whip Alan Simpson. The Commission, which released their bipartisan report on how to close the deficit in December of 2010, will earn Bowles increased bipartisan support.

The report has been, for the most part, ignored by the Obama administration presumably due to its cuts to entitlement spending and its lack of support from the liberal base. Having said that, Obama might be giving Bowles a call in the near future if he is serious about winning North Carolina in 2012 presidential contest.

This Week in Chronicle History: bus mortality and computer sciences

31 Jan 2012, Posted by Andrew Luo in News, 0 Comments

Hybrid bendy buses and GPS Transloc services make traveling around campus easier than ever. Just 20 years ago, however, bus transportation was not as convenient nor safe as it is today.

In a front page article published in The Chronicle on Feb. 3, 1993, the University Safety Task Force issued a final bus report on a fatal bus accident that occurred during the fall semester. The report, which was delivered by former University President Keith Brodie, affirmed that a “defectively designed rear door” caused the death of a Trinity freshman, who fell from the rear door as the bus turned from Trent Drive onto Erwin Road. In response, the University replaced the rear doors in all of its General Motors Corp. RTS buses, which cost an estimated $16,000 per bus. These efforts came in tandem with Washington D.C, where transit officials were also modifying their fleet of GM-RTS buses. The tragedy also prompted campus officials to increase bus safety. Some recommendations included hiring a full-time transit inspector to monitor buses, training and evaluating current bus drivers and monitoring ridership to patterns on a regular basis.

Andrew Luo/The Chronicle

In another article published on the same date, the Duke Computer Science department began major revisions. In an effort to improve the program’s standing, Jeffrey Vitter, former computer science department chair, proposed plans to change both the graduate and undergraduate programs so that all students, even those interested in liberal arts, would use computer science as a method of problem solving. These proposals, if successful, hoped to increase the overall number of computer science majors. Another major change in the department was the purchase of a new supercomputer called the CM-5 parallel processor. The new computer was purchased to be involved in areas of research and visibility for the department.

Trending: this week of submissions

31 Jan 2012, Posted by Minshu Deng in News, 0 Comments

Rounding up some of trending’s best finds from of late…

1. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Metta World Peace:

2. If you haven’t seen it yet, you cray—Kanye West lyrics rewritten to be about food:
http://noonemanshouldhaveallthatflour.tumblr.com/

3. For your lifetime fix of sleazy book covers featuring George W. Bush’s doppelganger:

http://bookdirtblog.blogspot.com/2012/01/george-w-bush-spotted-on-pulp-fiction.html

4. If you’re broke but wanna travel like me, watch this:

Time is Nothing // Around The World Time Lapse from Kien Lam on Vimeo.

5. The why-am-I-not-talented of the week:

Got something you want to share? (You know you do.) E-mail it to chronlinetrending@gmail.com.

Vomit omelets and sexual assaults

31 Jan 2012, Posted by Melissa Dalis in News, Welcome to Academia, 0 Comments

Sophia Palenberg/The Chronicle

Dartmouth College student Andrew Lohse submitted a column to The D about fraternity hazing practices at Dartmouth. “I was: forced to swim in a kiddie pool full of vomit, urine, fecal matter, semen, and rotten food products; forced to eat an omelet made of vomit; forced to chug cups of vinegar until I was afraid that I would vomit blood like one of my fellow pledges did; forced to inhale nitrous oxide; degraded psychologically on a daily basis; forced to drink beers poured down a fellow pledge’s ass crack; vomited on regularly, and encouraged to vomit on others,” Lohse wrote in the unedited version.

John Chadima, athletics department official at University of Wisconsin, resigned after a student, “John Doe,” accused him of grabbing his crotch at the football team’s trip to the Rose Bowl, according to the Badger Herald. At the party involving alcohol for athletic department staff and student employees, “Chadima asked Doe to continue drinking with him. Doe alleges Chadima removed his belt and placed his hand inside his pants on his genitals. Chadima allegedly then asked ‘What are you going to do about it?’ and threatened to fire the student.”

Yale University quarterback Patrick Witt, who had reportedly turned down a Rhodes scholarship interview for the Nov. Harvard vs. Yale game, was actually no longer a contender for the Rhodes at the time, according to the New York Times. The Rhodes Trust discovered that Witt had been accused of sexual assault by a female student in September and told Yale that it would suspend Witt’s candidacy until Yale re-endorsed it.

The Cornell Daily Sun has a daring new sex column discussing sexual experimentation throughout middle school, high school, and college. “So that was it,” wrote Fiona C. “I did lesbian sex! And while I am by no means an expert, I am proud of the progress I have made. I’ll leave the strap-on saga for a later date, as I am not sure that many other experimenters will venture that far. So, ladies, if you are feeling adventurous, try your best, have fun and remember to take your turn on top.”