MasterCard Joins RIAA, MPAA In Online Piracy Fight

[admin]

MasterCard has joined forced with the RIAA and MPAA to combat the online piracy problem. The company that recently made the controversial decision to deny services to Wikileaks, has now signalled they are ready to support the controversial Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act (COICA).

MasterCard will help police the Internet by cutting of financial services to websites suspected of providing pirated content. The policing comes with no public oversight and with no due process, something that critics of COICA are sure to be angry about.

Hollywood and the record industry has long hinted at a shift in strategy in which, instead of going after the endlessly growing list of websites and individuals participating in online piracy, they will go after the funding sources of online piracy, despite the fact that most pirated content are uploaded onto the Internet with no financial gain involved, and are downloaded the same way too.

More:

http://news.cnet.com/8301-31001_3-20025879-261.html

[admin]

The RIAA has requested MasterCard cut off support to file upload website, Megaupload. Cyberlocker websites such as Megaupload allows any user to upload any files for online sharing. Some of these uploads are pirated files, but many other files are not.

Critics has slammed MasterCard's decision to act like the Internet police in taking the steps to determine the innocence or guilt of websites suspected of providing pirated content, and then also acting as the executioner when action is demanded by industry groups like the RIAA, all without due process.

Bonnie Lam of Megaupload however says that if MasterCard acts, then this is an attack on the democratic and legal process, asking the question "Are payment processors trying to become the legislature of the new decade?".

"Will it be them, rather than elected governments, who decide what’s right and what’s wrong? Will ballots be replaced by wallets, will people cast their votes by choosing a conservative or a liberal credit card? First WikiLeaks, then cyberlockers – what’s next, and where will it end? Will you no longer be able to settle your ISP bill by MasterCard, as your carrier of choice may profit from copyright infringement, " questioned Lam.

http://www.zeropaid.com/news/91680/exclusive-megaupload-issues-response-to-riaa-over-mastercard-cutoff/