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[ShadowRed]

to bust Stargate SG-1 fans. And you people thought it would be used against terrorist, lol.






Federal Charges Filed Against SG-1 Archive
http://www.sg1archive.com/nightmare.shtml
Posted: Mar 31 2004, 12:46 AM, By: HurricaneMB
Federal charges were filed against Adam McGaughey, creator of the
popular SG1Archive.com website - a fan website devoted to the MGM-owned
television show Stargate SG-1. The charges allege that the website engaged
in Criminal Copyright Infringement and Trafficking in Counterfeit Services.
The charges were the culmination of a three-year FBI investigation, set in
motion by a complaint from the Motion Picture Association (MPAA) regarding
the content of the SG1Archive.com website.

SG1Archive.com is one of the most popular fan-run websites among the
Stargate community. In addition to providing very active fan discussion
forums, broadcast schedules, production news, and episode guides, the site
heavily promotes the sale of the show on DVD. As of this writing, direct
links from SG1Archive.com to Amazon.com have resulted in the sale of over
$100,000 worth of DVDs. Many more DVDs have been sold to international fans
of the show through sites like Blackstar.co.uk. Upon hearing this news,
Stargate executive producer Brad Wright called the site "cool" - which Adam
took as an endorsement of his work.

However, instead of thanking Adam for his promotion of their product,
officials at MGM and the MPAA have chosen to pressure the FBI into pursuing
criminal charges. Adam was first tipped off about the investigation when the
FBI raided his and his fiancee's apartment in May of 2002 and seized
thousands of dollars worth of computer equipment. Adam later received a copy
of the affidavit filed in support of the search warrant, and was shocked to
discover that this document, prepared by the FBI, contained significant
amounts of erroneous and misleading information. For example, two social
security numbers were listed for Adam, one of which is not his. References
were made to a cease and desist letter sent by the MPAA to an email address
that did not exist. His online friendship with other Stargate fans across
the globe was portrayed as an international conspiracy against the MPAA. And
perhaps most disturbing of all, it was later revealed that the FBI invoked a
provision of the USA Patriot Act to obtain financial records from his ISP.
The FBI's abuse of its powers did not stop there. When they seized Adam's
computer equipment, he was given written documentation stating that it would
be returned within 60 days. The equipment that they did return did not
arrive until more than 8 months later, and only then after much prodding
from his lawyer. Much of it was damaged beyond repair - one laptop had a
shattered LCD screen, an empty tape backup drive was ripped apart for no
apparent reason, his fiancee's iBook was badly damaged when it was pried
apart with a screwdriver. The FBI's computer crimes staff is either
incompetent (at least when it comes to Macintosh computer equipment) or else
they just don't give a damn.

Adam has has received positive feedback about his site from multiple
members of the Stargate cast and crew at fan conventions. In addition, a
representative of MGM's fan publication interviewed Adam about his website
several months prior to the FBI raid. As a result, Adam sincerely believed
that the show's creators did not have a problem with the content of his
website. Many other sites are currently serving content of questionable
legality, without promoting the sale of DVDs or offering a community for
fans to discuss the show. Why the MPAA and FBI have chosen to ignore these
sites and target SG1Archive.com is unclear.

Up until this point, Adam has been fortunate enough to receive pro
bono legal counsel in his current hometown of Cincinnati, Ohio. However, the
charges were filed in Los Angeles county. The cost of travel, trial, bond,
etc. is likely to be quite high. Unfortnunately, Adam and his fiancee do not
have the resources to pay for it all - he is a Macintosh repair technician
at a chain computer store and she is a medical student. If you would like to
contribute to the SG1Archive.com Legal Defense Fund, please make a paypal
donation by clicking the button below. Or buy a T-shirt from the SG1archive
store at cafepress.com. Thank you for your support!

if you would like to contribute or donate please visit:

http://www.sg1archive.com/nightmare.shtml

 

[Wario64]

wtf?

 

[Archaix]

Just looking at the site, were they selling shirts/hats/etc with the Stargate logo on them? Is that why this is all happening?

Or did they take down what has them in trouble?

 

[AntoneM]

so this is what Republicans mean when they say they don't want the government running their lives...

 

[MrPing1000]

wtf?

IAWTP

ps stop posting wario

 

[shuri]

A google newsgroups search on the guy running the site brings up some "interesting" things about him

 

[LinesInTheSand]

Sounds like he got what was coming to him...

 

[MIMIC]

This is kinda unrelated, but I thought the provisions of the Patriot Act prohibited the disclosure of its usage. Still glad this stuff gets out, though.

 

[Vennt]

A google newsgroups search on the guy running the site brings up some "interesting" things about him

And how do you know that is the same person?

Name alone isn't enough to go on, a google search of my own name, not very common, brings up a Tobacco Dealer, an Athlete and a couple of businessmen from all around the world.

 

[ManaByte]

A google newsgroups search on the guy running the site brings up some "interesting" things about him

How dare you bring up that this guy was actually involved in computer fraud, theft, and a bunch of other bad things. Aren't you aware that he is innocent and this is another example of the evil government stepping in. If I want to screw people out of thousands of dollars of computer equipment and get banned from Ebay I should be allowed to damnit!

 

[ShadowRed]

A google newsgroups search on the guy running the site brings up some "interesting" things about him

Damn I guess the karma's come home to roost.




"And how do you know that is the same person?

Name alone isn't enough to go on, a google search of my own name, not very common, brings up a Tobacco Dealer, an Athlete and a couple of businessmen from all around the world."



But one of his names was Mac Guy and the article states that he's a Mac tech. Granted it could be another Adam.

 

[MrPing1000]

Still the Patriot Act is scary shit, verging on police state. Does the public not care in the USA?

 

[Escape Goat]

Its about time these fiends were apprehended.

 

[olimario]

Thank GOD this article isn't one sided.
'DEMON POSSESSED FBI RAID APARTMENT OF ANGELIC SG-1 FAN'

 

[ManaByte]

Still the Patriot Act is scary shit, verging on police state. Does the public not care in the USA?

This guy appears to have been breaking multiple laws, and the Patriot Act allowed him to be caught.

 

[ShadowRed]

Thank GOD this article isn't one sided.
'DEMON POSSESSED FBI RAID APARTMENT OF ANGELIC SG-1 FAN'

Even if the Google results are true, what does it have to do with the SG-1 site. It's possible for a guy who's stolen shit, in the past, to get pulled over by the cops and beaten for no reason. Finding out that he wa a thief doesn't negate that the cop wasn't justified in beating him.


Also I must say that there is more to this than the article stated. About 2 years ago the site used to offer DLs of the show, really crappy and poorly compressed that you had to watch in like a 2inch by 2 inche window. It was still against the law to do this, I'm not defending him. He was told to stop and he stopped. This was 2 years ago, now the site is just a fan site with spoilers and a message board and links to ligitamate sites, ie Amozon.com, where you can buy the DVDs. He was told to stop serving the shows and he did. I don't know why the FBI is busting his ass now, unless there is more that I don't know about.



"This guy appears to have been breaking multiple laws, and the Patriot Act allowed him to be caught."


What laws you can't link to sites and tell people to buy the DVDs.

 

[ManaByte]

Even if the Google results are true, what does it have to do with the SG-1 site. It's possible for a guy who's stolen shit, in the past, to get pulled over by the cops and beaten for no reason. Finding out that he wa a thief doesn't negate that the cop wasn't justified in beating him.


Also I must say that there is more to this than the article stated. About 2 years ago the site used to offer DLs of the show, really crappy and poorly compressed that you had to watch in like a 2inch by 2 inche window. It was still against the law to do this, I'm not defending him. He was told to stop and he stopped. This was 2 years ago, now the site is just a fan site with spoilers and a message board and links to ligitamate sites, ie Amozon.com, where you can buy the DVDs. He was told to stop serving the shows and he did. I don't know why the FBI is busting his ass now, unless there is more that I don't know about.



"This guy appears to have been breaking multiple laws, and the Patriot Act allowed him to be caught."


What laws you can't link to sites and tell people to buy the DVDs.

The article is 100% one-sided. He probably got busted for the computer fraud stuff and posted the article to make it look like he got busted for the website stuff to make himself look innocent.

 

[MrPing1000]

This guy appears to have been breaking multiple laws, and the Patriot Act allowed him to be caught.

Thats like saying its ok for the government to know evey single detail about your life and everyone else in the country to catch someone that did a robbery

 

[FightyF]

If they really used the Patriot Act as it is usually used, he wouldn't be able to talk about this. He'd be in jail with no charges.

 

[LizardKing]

Still the Patriot Act is scary shit, verging on police state. Does the public not care in the USA?

well about half of them do i think

 

[Diablos]

I can't stand the Bush administration, they clearly took advantage of the public to allow themselves to enforce rules which would be used to deal with anything BUT terrorism.

 

[pnjtony]

If they really used the Patriot Act as it is usually used, he wouldn't be able to talk about this. He'd be in jail with no charges.

Not true. Pretty much the Patriot Act just let's law enforcement get information without the due process that a free country would afford it's people. Like right now I'm on a list in DC somewhere showing that i've checked out a ton of books over the past few years critical of the Bush administration. That wasn't allowed prior to the USA Pat Act.

 

[FightyF]

Not true. Pretty much the Patriot Act just let's law enforcement get information without the due process that a free country would afford it's people. Like right now I'm on a list in DC somewhere showing that i've checked out a ton of books over the past few years critical of the Bush administration. That wasn't allowed prior to the USA Pat Act.

So all those people held without charges, that was possible even before the Patriot Act?

 

[Tenguman]

Good ol' John Titor

 

[3rdman]

John Ashcroft sucks....

The Daily Herald


Jonathan Turley

Attorney General John Ashcroft recently went to Congress to herald another record year of fighting terrorism, showcasing numbers showing 310 defendants charged as evidence that "the Patriot Act is al-Qaida's worst nightmare."

Few would argue about the nightmare part, but it is hard to see al-Qaida losing much sleep: To a large degree, Ashcroft has used antiterrorism laws against citizens with no ties to al-Qaida or even terrorism.

With many in Congress opposed to renewing parts of the USA Patriot Act, the 29-page report by Ashcroft attempts to show "a mountain of evidence that the Patriot Act continues to save lives," but it omits critical facts that seriously undermine that claim. In fact, the report is part of an annual effort by Ashcroft to prod local prosecutors to bolster their terrorism numbers -- often by using terrorism laws against conventional criminals and a curious hodgepodge of nuns, protesters and artists.

During the Vietnam War, the U.S. military was heavily criticized for its obsession with body counts as a misleading measure of the progress of a war and, worse still, an inducement to use lethal force to get the numbers up. Despite these hard lessons, a similar body count culture has taken hold under Ashcroft at the Justice Department, where prosecutors are being pressured to rack up national security indictments for annual reports showing success in the war on terrorism.

As in the Vietnam War, the Ashcroft body count policy has produced an indiscriminate targeting of anyone who can be remotely classified as a terrorist or national security threat. Where soldiers would sometimes shoot water buffalo and civilians in rice paddies for body count reports, prosecutors are pursuing artists, protesters and academics.

Prosecutors are faced with an undefined quota system -- an expectation that each district will contribute cases to show, as suggested by Ashcroft, a nation rife with terrorism threats.

For example, in New Jersey, prosecutors had only two cases to offer to Ashcroft in their annual body count, so they included 65 Middle Eastern men prosecuted for lying on visa applications as terrorism cases.

Using new antiterror laws and resources after 9/11, state prosecutors have followed Ashcroft's lead and brought terrorism charges against such felons as a New York street gang accused of "terrorizing" a park by their presence.

The most bizarre example was Ashcroft's prosecution of the organization Greenpeace under a 19th century law designed to punish "sailor-mongers," the luring of sailors from their ships with women and spirits.

Ashcroft wanted Greenpeace criminally convicted for boarding a ship allegedly carrying illegal mahogany. The Justice Department insisted that this was a national security case protecting our ports, but a federal judge dismissed it.

The most recent "terrorism case" speaks volumes about Ashcroft's campaign. The crime? Using a common bacteria as part of an artistic exhibit protesting bioresearch.

A Buffalo, N.Y., group of performance artists called the Critical Art Ensemble, or CAE, does art pieces for the Internet and museums highlighting the dangers of biotechnology and genetic engineering.

The case began when CAE's co-founder, Steven Kurtz, called 911 after his wife collapsed. When the authorities arrived, however, they quickly pushed beyond Kurtz's wife (who died of a heart attack) and focused on equipment and books in the house that appeared to deal with biotechnology.

The FBI was called in, and agents quickly confiscated everything in Kurtz's house, from his wife's body to term papers of his college students.

College professor Robert Ferrell was indicted for simply ordering the organisms for Kurtz.

While the case was billed as a bioterrorism investigation, the Justice Department was ridiculed by experts, given the low danger of the organisms. Unable to prove its case, the Justice Department has indicted the men on wire and mail fraud charges in an effort to secure a conviction.

Not all of these cases have resulted in failure. In one case, Ashcroft secured the curious victory of convicting three nuns who staged a protest by writing on the cap of a nuclear silo and praying until they were arrested. They were sent to prison for years and added to the pile of "national security threats" brought to justice under Ashcroft.

Ironically, the problem may not be Ashcroft's use of arbitrary indictments but that he is not nearly arbitrary enough. At the moment, the Justice Department seems to naturally gravitate to political critics, protesters and Muslims as the usual suspects for its body counts.

While they all may be certifiably suspect in Ashcroft's America, they seem more of an indictment than evidence of Ashcroft's vaulted campaign on terror.

 

[fennec fox]

Here's a post that proves Adam was serving Stargate episodes after getting the cease & desist

http://groups.google.ca/groups?q="A...selm=9q0vm0$e7d$06$1@news.t-online.com&rnum=9

Adam McGaughey schrieb diese tolle Nachricht:

If all goes well, the old URL will soon contain all the downloads, but in
the meantime, please visit the new site. If you encounter any problems,
please let me know.

New files will appear when Showtime and/or Sky One play them. Currently we
are stuck in reruns on both. Also, very soon I will be adding some new bonus
material, including a profile on Hammond and a profile on O'Neill.

Please let me know if you have any questions about the new site or anything
else. Remember that due to the volume of email I receive, you may need to
wait a while before you get a response. Please check the FAQ before sending
me email.

Thanks!

Adam - arcady@sg1archive.com

Stargate SG-1 Episode Archive
http://www.sg1archive.com/
http://www.sg1archive.net/

That's good enough for the FBI to raid him, sorry.

Here's the government's side of the story:

http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/cac/pr2004/050.html

A man who operates a website based on the science fiction television series “Stargate SG-1" made his first court appearance in Los Angeles yesterday on charges of streaming pirated copies of the show over the Internet.

Adam Clark McGaughey, 35, of Cincinnati, Ohio, operated a website based on Stargate SG-1. As early as 2001, McGaughey provided visitors to his website the opportunity to download copies of Stargate SG-1 episodes. After receiving letters from the Motion Picture Association of America requesting that he stop streaming the episodes, McGaughey moved his website overseas and continued to stream episodes over the Internet until April 2003. McGaughey profited from his website through advertising and sales links on the website itself.

Stargate SG-1 is produced by MGM and airs on Showtime and UPN.

Appearing in court yesterday, McGaughey did not enter a plea to the charges of felony trafficking of counterfeit goods and misdemeanor copyright infringement. A Magistrate Judge scheduled a preliminary hearing for May 3 (which will take place unless there is an indictment before that time) and an arraignment for May 10. McGaughney was released on a $5,000 bond.

The case against McGaughey is the product of an investigation by the FBI.

 

[ManaByte]

Here's a post that proves Adam was serving Stargate episodes after getting the cease & desist

http://groups.google.ca/groups?q="A...selm=9q0vm0$e7d$06$1@news.t-online.com&rnum=9 That's good enough for the FBI to raid him, sorry.

pwned.