Former Federal Judge Calls US Prosecution Of Megaupload 'Really Outrageous'

from the good-for-him dept

To hear folks in Hollywood talk about it, the US's indictment and prosecution of Megaupload are a done deal. Without any actual trial, people have decided that the company is clearly 100% evil and guilty. Yet, as we keep noting, the details of the indictment and prosecution keep turning up significant errors on the part of the US, as well as questions about the legality of what the US did. And plenty of people who really understand this stuff deeply are speaking out in agreement. The latest is a former federal judge, Abraham David Sofaer, who found the whole situation so troubling that he's helping the EFF -- for free -- with its efforts to get Megaupload users' data back.

Having looked over the details of the case, he's speaking out against it. According to an interview he did with David Kravets at Wired:

“It’s really quite outrageous, frankly... I was thinking the government hadn’t learned to be discreet in its conduct in the digital world. This is a perfect example on how they are failing to apply traditional standards in the new context.”

When it comes to the government's insistence that users can't get their data back, Sofaer is quite troubled:

“That’s a dangerous road,” Sofaer said.

He suggested that the government hasn’t quite caught up to the digital age. He doubts the government would take the same position with a bank it seized.

“Of course they would help customers get back their deposits,” he said. “But think about this new world. You can see very clearly that the government is acting in a manner that is indiscriminate.”

I can't wait to see our usual critics explain how this former federal judge is just a pirate apologist who doesn't understand the law.

Filed Under: abraham david sofaer, doj, eff, hollywood
Companies: megaupload