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Clouded JUDGEMENT Almost one year after shutdown, Megaupload creator launches file-sharing, cloud storage website
graphic illustration by rebecca mcgovern | design editor
By Jared Rosen Contributing Writer
M
any students across the country are cordcutting. While about 93 percent of the United States has cable television, many college students are cutting out the service because of the cost, according to the National Cable and Telecommunications Association. One way college students are cutting costs while still catching up on their favorite series is by illegal streaming and downloading.
“Encryption alone will not be enough to distinguish the troubles from the previous website.”
Courtney Barclay
assistant professor of media studies
henretta from page 3
She and her team created a new commercial with humor and punch to distinguish the brand from other detergent manufacturers’ repetitive selling points. Henretta spoke mostly about her work with Pampers diapers. She drew on her needs as a mother to revamp Pampers’ image and reverse its 10-year decline. She changed this trend with a new advertisement featuring animals across the world with their babies. She said viewer feedback exploded, flooding the brand’s 1-800 number with requests
Student association from page 3
Council’s after school mentoring program for a week, adding that the collaboration could help strengthen SA’s relationship with greek organizations. SA President Allie Curtis delivered her report, as well as a report on behalf of Jesse Feitel, the undergraduate student representative to the Board of Trustees. Both reports centered on next week’s board meeting. As SA president, Curtis automatically serves on the board.
Currently, there is a plethora of websites that allow users to log in on their laptops and gain access to network, cable and premium channel series for free. One of these sites is Mega, which went live Jan. 20 – almost exactly a year after the FBI shut down Kim Dotcom’s previous venture, Megaupload. Mega makes an attempt to distance itself from any legal wrongdoing of its users by explicitly outlining that uploading illegal content is forbidden, according to a Jan. 20 article published by The New York Times. But Courtney Barclay, an assistant professor of media studies, said that might not save the new website. “Encryption alone will not be enough to distinguish the troubles from the previous website,” she said. While Mega employs new privacy policies for the hosting website, this does not mean its practices are legal, she said. “You can still be held accountable for copyright infringement even if you don’t know about
for copies of the ad. When she was later promoted to head of operations in Asia, it made Henretta uproot her family, but ushered in positive change. The Asian market at the time was fragmented and hard to target, she said. Her work in Asia led to gigs on the Singapore Economic Development Board, overseeing Singapore’s economic growth and the 21-country Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation. She advised President Barack Obama and outgoing Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Advertising also needs corporate social responsibility, she said. “Doing right is so important in a time where our heroes are falling – in entertainment,
Curtis and Feitel will deliver a report to the board that includes recent changes made to SA’s financial vision. Last Tuesday, the assembly approved bills that increased the amount of event funding student organizations can request. The two will also relay students’ opinions regarding Joe Shanley, the well-liked Department of Public Safety official whose position was changed from corporal to public safety officer as part of a wider restructuring effort within DPS, Curtis said. SA released a statement early Monday morning acknowledging students’ anger and frustration regarding Shanley’s position change.
the specific instances,” Barclay said. Technically, Mega competes in the same cloud storage arena as Dropbox, Box.com and Google Drive, but the primary difference is that once a file is uploaded, it is immediately encrypted. This technology, which Dotcom is employing, has only been made possible by new parts of the HTML 5 website programming language, according to the Times article. The New Zealand Intelligence Agency is freezing Dotcom’s funds while it continues its investigation of Megaupload. Therefore, the seed money for the venture was raised through third parties, according to the article. The FBI, in coordination with the U.S. Department of Justice, forced Megaupload, an online hosting website commonly used for storing copyrighted material, to close last January. The website’s domain was revoked and the company was shut down, according to a Jan. 19 article published by The Wall Street Journal. Dotcom founded Megaupload and its affiliated sites in Hong Kong in 2005 with the purpose
of being a secure hosting website for personal content. The popularity of Megaupload ballooned because of its ability to deliver users with fast bandwidth and download speeds of hosted content, according to an indictment form from a district court filing in Eastern Virginia. Megaupload was alleged to have infringed upon $500 million of entertainment studio income. In addition, just prior to the shutdown, the website was the 13th most frequently visited website on the Internet, boasting a registered user base of more than 180 million, according to the indictment. Mega’s recent growth spurt will allow cashstrapped college students to catch their favorite shows for free, but some are split on whether illegal streaming or downloading is worth the risk. “It is illegal and I don’t want to break the rules,” said Morgan Montgomery, a sophomore management major. “It’s true that not everyone who downloads videos gets caught, but it’s still wrong.” jmrose03@syr.edu
“Doing right is so important in a time where our heroes are falling – in entertainment, politics, even in business with Enron and the Lehman brothers.” Deb Henretta
Proctor & Gamble Global Beaut y Care group president
politics, even in business with Enron and the Lehman brothers,” she said. She touched on Procter & Gamble’s humanitarian efforts in Asia, including water-purifying packets that cleansed water contaminated with arsenic and bacteria. “Make sure you use all of your talents and time to make a difference in this world,” Henretta said.
For students, like sophomore public relations major Meg Lane, Henretta’s talk was reassuring in an uncertain job market. “She inspired me. It’s not like Deb’s a global celebrity like Bob Costas, but someone who’s made it in the real world,” Lane said. “She made her success applicable to us.”
“We will be in contact with administration over the coming days to ensure the rights of students are protected and help make sure Officer Shanley continues to be available as a resource,” the statement read.
must attend one fiscal training session. • Round-trip busing from the Schine Student Center to New York City, Philadelphia, Boston and Washington, D.C., will be available during the week of Spring Break, said Jenny Choi, chair of the Academic Affairs Committee. • Bus trips to Wegmans and Target will be available for two Sundays each in the months of February, March and April. The buses will depart from Schine every hour from 11 a.m.-4 p.m, said Ivan Rosales, chair of the Student Life Committee.
Other business discussed: • The assembly approved approximately $32,083 in programming funding for six separate student organizations. About $152,700 in special programming money remains for spring 2013. • In his report, Comptroller Stephen DeSalvo said registered student organizations must submit their financial budgets to SA by March 1 and
najisaka@syr.edu
dbtruong@syr.edu @ debbietruong