FBI argues that information isn't "physical material" after copying hard drives- New Zealand Megau

[Ichingcarpenter]

FBI agents who copied data from Megaupload founder Kim Dotcom's computers and took it overseas were not acting illegally because information isn't "physical material", the Crown says.

The agents were accused of underhanded behaviour by Dotcom's lawyers in the High Court at Auckland yesterday, after revelations that the information was already in US hands.

Megaupload's lawyer, Willie Akel, told Justice Helen Winkelmann how two FBI analysts flew to New Zealand on March 20 and reviewed seven hard-drives of information. The analysts cloned the computers in Manukau.

When police returned to pick them up to take them to their hotel, the agents had already left to FedEx the copies back to the United States.

"The first [copies] were sent without the New Zealand Police having any say in it whatsoever," Mr Akel said. The commissioner of police had "lost control of the items" once the FBI had them.

"If [they] went offshore without the consent of the attorney-general, it was an illegal act."Mr Akel said that there had been an agreement that none of the evidence against Dotcom, seized after his arrest, would be provided to the FBI without prior agreement.

However, Crown lawyer John Pike, for the attorney-general, said the material stored on the hard drives could be shipped overseas for the FBI to examine because it did not constitute "physical" material.



http://www.stuff.co.nz/technology/digital-living/7054878/Dotcom-info-not-physical


Does this mean I can download movies and songs now ? LOL
I don't think the FBI thought this argument through.

[Scootaloo]

1. Your question is exactly what popped into my head

Actually I've argued that copyright protection on information like movies and music is ridiculous just because of the liquid, self-replicating nature of information. You can't really sell a PDF and then say you still own it, honestly. You own a copy of it; so does the person who bought it. And so does everyone he shares it with...

[Ichingcarpenter]

2. The FBI ... just lost the case I'm betting

Their argument almost supports what megaload does. Maybe they think no one pays attention in the rest of the world to what they do in far off New Zealand.

[msongs]

4. in our current police state this is ok. New Zealand cops better watch out for drones nt

[Andrew67]

5. FBI argues that information isn't "physical material" after copying hard drives- New Zealand Megau

[IMG][/IMG]much appreciated

[DetlefK]

6. From a physicist: Stored information IS physical!

Put very short: Let's say the info is stored as bits in dual alphabet (0 and 1). That means we have two states with different physical attributes (that's how we can tell them apart), which means, the state 0 has a different energy than state 1.

If you store 0's and 1's next to each other, there's an energy difference between them, called a "potential energy".
E=mc² means, that this potential energy has a mass and therefore a weight.
That's why a full hard-drive is a little bit (microgramms or less) heavier than an empty hard-drive.
That's why a full battery is heavier than an empty battery.

Don't believe me? http://www.physicscentral.com/experiment/askaphysicist/physics-answer.cfm?uid=20080512101012

The hard-drives the FBI-agents sent had gained weight by being loaded with information.
Information is an abstract, mathematical concept.
STORED INFORMATION is a physical object.

Conclusion: Whether you copy&print a paper-document or whether you copy an electronic data-file to your hard-drive, it's all the same.




Don't mess with scientists.

[Baitball Blogger]

7. Tell that to a writer whose manuscript you steal.

[frylock]

8. freakin hilarious!

i guess they have no case then, and dotcom is free to go!

[Ichingcarpenter]

9. Yes and all stuff you steal now from redacted files on Kennedy, UfO and 911 on the FBI data base

Is free game now.......