Feds fiddle as cybertopia burns

At a time when phishing, malware and other cyber crime is hitting unprecedented levels, a federal grand jury has indicted two Ohio men who ran a website that used the US mail to distribute DVDs prosecutors claim are obscene. There are no claims the men - 42-year-old Sami R. Harb and 33-year-old Michael Harb - sold to minors or …

[Anonymous Coward]

Return to Cybertron: Into the Smelting Pit

"Over the next nine months, special agents purchased and repeatedly viewed at least six porno videos" - surely they could have paused, and taken notes? They didn't have to watch the films over and over and over again for nine months.

When this story reaches The Sun the journalists will make up a detail about the packages going astray, perhaps to a nunnery, if such a thing exists in Utah.

Never underestimate the bandwidth of FBI special agents after having viewed hardcore porn non-stop for nine months.

[Anonymous Coward]

Notice the jurisdiction shopping

Notice two things: They chose their target, then sought to find something they could be arrested for. They chose the jurisdiction to have the best chance of a successful prosecution. i.e. started with the people, then found the best crime to arrest them for in the best jurisdiction.

Notice the same pattern in the EU, as they expand their reach into criminal law. You can be innocent using 26 countries interpretations of an EU treaty, but the 27th's countries interpretation alone is enough to convict you.

eCommerce/Terrorism act being an example of where country X can make laws against country Y's citizens, and since we have the EU arrest warrant, country Y no longer gets to defend it's people under it's own interpretation of the laws. So protected free speech in country Y, doesn't protect against, weird creepy British anti-terror/Tesco's clubcard type laws.

And visa-versa of course, there's 26 other EU countries all playing with their own laws to their own agendas.

[Rich Bryant]

Re; Jurisdiction Shopping

"They chose their target, then sought to find something they could be arrested for"

And then prosecuted under "community standards law in Utah". Which by all accounts bans absolutely everything anyway.

[Wyrmhole]

But!

None of the movies had a plotline!!!!!!!!!! The agents were so disappointed. :(

[Spike Ravenscroft]

No Story Here

""None of the three films has a plot line," the FBI's Special Agent Martin Schwarz wrote in a court complaint."

???

Wow...What a waste of tax payers money that was.

[Iamfanboy]

Title

They can't arrest you for thoughtcrime, so they arrest you for sexcrime? Just like the Aussie woman and her 'underage' paramour?

Why WERE these people arrested? Why were they targeted so specifically? Why did it take 9 months in order to bring everything together?

What were they REALLY guilty of?

Fuck. Time to get out of this country. Canada's starting to sound better and better.... Or maybe New Zealand... or maybe Antarctica. Something's sick at the core of this country, and I don't want any part of it.

[Erick P]

So...

If these people were arrested for seeling movies that are against one's state law, How about Porn broadcasted through Cable TV to that state??? would it make the providers criminals as well???? No wonder I moved from the US to the UK, that country is going nuts

[Dillon Pyron]

And the buyers?

Are they also prosecuting the buyers? Were the buyers the Feebs, in which case this smells of entrapment.

I agree with another poster, shouldn't DirectTV be prosecuted for beaming porn into Utah?

Since when has plot had anything to do with obscene? I've seen many movies that were devoid of plot or acting. I've wanted my money back, but I've never seen those theaters prosecuted. Should have prosecuted Ang Lee for The Hulk. I guess the millions who stayed home punished him.

[Anonymous Coward]

Title

"The FBI's complaint spends eight pages documenting details of the films."

Only eight pages? Were the rest of them stuck together?

Surely the Feds who watched them are guilty too.