SOCA in the UK are the "Serious and Organised Crime Agency" - basically dealing with things that used to be under MI5's remit prior to some restructuring a few years back..
Just wow... I'm not aware of any legislation that would authorise it over here, but then again - I'm not a lawyer. Although I am aware that SOCA most likely has powers that surpass ordinary Law Enforcement Agencies. i.e Law Enforcement Agencies that actually work to help the tax payer - you know, those people that pay their wages? They solve crimes such as murders, burglaries, rapes and so on.. That's not to say SOCA isn't an important agency..The UK’s Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) has moved on a popular hip-hop news and track-exchange site, RnB Xclusive, and is threatening those trying to access the site with criminal investigation.
The site, described by TorrentFreak as a popular blog posting news, commentary and links to music, has been seized by SOCA and now displays a hostile message:
“SOCA has taken control of this domain name.
“The individuals behind this website have been arrested for fraud.
“The majority of music files that were available via this site were stolen from the artists.â€
SOCA is also recording IP addresses of visitors (which means in the next couple of hours it’s going to sweep up a bunch of journalists), and is threatening “to monitor and investigate youâ€, and “inform your internet service provider or these infringementsâ€.
TorrentFreak notes that RnB Xclusive had a quarter of a million Facebook friends.
It angers me that MY tax money is paying an agency tasked with stopping the supply chain of Class A Drugs, People Smuggling, Fraud, Money Laundering, Counterfeit Currency, Kidnap and Extortion and SECURING THE FUCKING 2012 OLYMPICS (amongst other tasks) is also being tasked with "Intellectual Property Crime". Counterfeit Pharmaceuticals, fake clothes, and dodgy electronics devices - go for it, stop the import and stop people getting ripped off; would've thought it was down to Customs.. BUT last time I checked, downloading an MP3 was actually a civil offence - so, y'know - should kinda be dealt with directly between the property owner and the offender; not through the use of an agency who should really be more than busy enough right now.
Reading that article actually made me finally get off my ass and purchase a subscription to a swedish VPN provider. Fuck 'em. I don't even download stuff like that from shitty MP3 websites (who downloads MP3s over HTTP nowadays?) - but if thats how they want to play it. This leads me to my main point..
How fucking laughable is it that they have this power they can exercise - and they exercise it on something as pathetic as an MP3 download website? Seriously. Now anyone who really does have anything to hide, as well as people who are just pissed off like me, are going to just go out of there way to make things hard for them.. So now I have a VPN to use; i.e encrypted and tunneled through to a country where the legislation is such that they can't touch my details. They could sure as hell touch my computer, but I have control over that; and can implement far greater security measures than I would ever require.