JeepersMedia's conspiracy theory (ConceptTopic, 10)
From Compile Worlds
JeepersMedia's conspiracy theory states that the US Government is going to arrest 25% of Internet users worldwide and use them for slave labor.
Summary
Since they shut down MegaUpload on January 19, 2012, they have the details of everyone who ever uploaded or downloaded a file there. They have the payment details of anyone who bought a premium account there. And since MegaUpload was a massive haven for copyright-infringing files and its users accounted for 25% of all Internet users in the world, they therefore have the power and sufficient evidence to arrest all these people and order them to pay $150,000 per infringement. And those who cannot pay - which would be the vast majority - will have no other choice than to be jailed, giving an enormous prison population.
Reality check
- So far, there is no evidence that MegaUpload kept the logs that would be required for this to happen.
- Not everyone registered with MegaUpload would have uploaded or downloaded something infringing. It'd probably be a vast proportion, but not entirely 100%.
- Those who never used a premium account would not have billing details available, and would only leave records of their IP, username and, possibly, password (depending on whether MegaUpload took sufficient security measures to protect these).
- Those in the UK who didn't access the site within the last seven weeks (I believe the duration is) would hopefully have no records of their IP accesses.
- Not everyone lives in the US or a country that would suck up to its government. It seems the UK is included, though :(
- They can't physically have the space to contain all these people... not yet anyway.
- If this really did happen and enough people were aware of why, there would likely be mass suicides of those with no escape and riots by those who hadn't been caught (yet).
