animefreak_usa wrote...
I think the whole idea of 'OH SHIT THE FED HAS THE IP LOGS... IM FUCKED' is very fear based.. but true.. i doubt they go after the users who upload a small amount of maybe pirated stuff and more go after the people who host a shit ton of stuff. I thinking of deleting some of the stuff on my MF accounts... hentai/doujin/unlicensed animu excluded.
I believe the Feds/Copyright Owners will go after people with *personal* records first. People who have an account with Megaupload that provides direct personal information - name, bank account, etc. - as they can be prosecuted in a rather straight-forward fashion.
Second they, *might* go after mere down-loaders, however proving the connection between an actual person and an IP address is *NOT* an easy thing. In the US this is a lot easier, as law mandates ISPs have to keep records of IP assignment... however just because they're mandated by law or that they do keep records doesn't mean that their scheme is actually effective at this. The thing about requiring a warrant also applies here, so some ISPs may resist and proving to a court that copyright violation had taken place is not as easy as a lot of people make it out to be. There are still significant fair use rights, so the issue is a bit more muddled.
Outside the US, I'd say all bets are off as:
a) You're in a different jurisdiction, what you did may be legal where you live.
b) It's a lot harder to gain your personal information from an ISP not on US soil.
c) The whole thing costs more.
So all in all, non-US citizens are least likely to be hit... though not impossible, as it's merely a question of money and time. If sufficient pressure is put on foreign governments or they're amenable to anti-piracy measures in the first place we might be in for some nasty surprises.