Интервю със Secludedly, човекът съден от UFC за 32 милиона

[neshev]

Вероятно някои сте теглили негови release-и.

 

Оригиналната новина:

 

This Staten Island tech geek had better bolt his parents’ front door.

The Ultimate Fighting Championship is suing Steven Messina, 27, accusing him of being one of the Internet’s most prolific piraters of their wildly popular Pay-Per-View events.

The mixed-martial-arts behemoth is seeking $32 million from Messina, who lives in Great Kills with his mom and dad, according to a Brooklyn federal lawsuit.

The UFC claims in its suit that Messina uploaded 141 UFC presentations to controversial file-sharing sites like Piratebay and provided a PayPal donation link to keep the illegal practice going.

While Messina thought he was operating anonymously from his parents’ home under the moniker “Secludedly,” UFC investigators tracked down his real name and location and avalanched him with the massive civil suit.

UFC officials took note of Messina after he became increasingly cocky about his growing online status and referred to himself as the “Provider of Best MMA & Boxing rips online!,” the suit states.

He asked viewers to “Help Me Cap PPV!” through his PayPal account, called “MMA Capping Fund!,” according to the court papers, which allege he was trying to become the king of PPV pirates online.

He and his cohorts “are intent on becoming the most well known pirates and infringers on the internet by making their mark on the major torrent websites available on the internet,” the suit states.

Messina did not return a call for comment.

Along with HBO Boxing and Vince McMahon’s World Wrestling Entertainment, the UFC is one of the highest-grossing PPV attractions on television.

http://nypost.com/2014/04/30/ufc-web-pirate-owes-32m-for-stealing-live-mma-events/

И самото интервю:

 

Last week Zuffa launched a huge $32 million lawsuit against 'Secludedly', a person said to have uploaded more than 120 UFC shows online. Today, TorrentFreak speaks with Steven Messina, the guy named by Zuffa in its biggest piracy lawsuit yet. Messina's in the red corner, weighing in with spare change in his pocket. In the blue is Zuffa, a $3.5 billion corporation out for blood.

As detailed in our article last week, the UFC has launched its biggest legal action to date against an individual said to have uploaded its events to the Internet without authorization.

Late last month UFC parent company Zuffa filed a lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York targeting Steven A. Messina from New York, someone they believe to be the combat sports releaser ‘Secludedly’. The news was broken by the New York Post who reported that the 27-year-old lives in his parent’s basement, but on the day of the news they knew an awful lot more than Messina did.

Last to know

“I didn’t know any of this was even happening,” Messina told TorrentFreak in an interview conducted on restricted terms for legal reasons.

“A relative recognized my name in the New York Post and word got to me through phone, and people were wondering if it was me. Now, I’m rarely out of my house, ever. I’m sick. So I am like, ‘How the hell can I be in the Post?’ I decided to look it up, and hello, there I am. Then the Internet started going crazy about it, and everyone is getting all this information that I have no clue how they are getting, most of it totally wrong!”

It took two full days for the UFC to send the papers to Messina after he learned about them in the media but once he read them the seriousness of the situation began to sink in. The claims from the UFC are for just over $32 million but Messina’s estimations vary from $35m to as much as $40m.

“There were no police involved, no criminal actions taken. I’ll be honest, I don’t understand the laws and all that around this type of thing, so I’m a little lost here and overwhelmed. I don’t even know what is going on. I think people on the Internet know more than me.”

Five months ago, there were signs

As our discussions progressed it became clear that while last week’s legal sledgehammer from Zuffa came as a surprise, this was not the first time that the company had shown an interest in Messina. Several months ago Messina was informed by PayPal that his account had been frozen after he had accepted donations from people who were helping him buy UFC PPV events. Messina said any surplus was spent on medication.

“PayPal told me that the UFC filed a claim of some sort on my account and limited it, so I could never use it again. I am assuming UFC subpoenaed PayPal or something for my information and then just caved without even defending me or my rights. That was five months ago. Then last week is when I suddenly saw the news, got the letter, etc etc. I never even had an opportunity to tell them I didn’t do whatever it was they claimed I did.”

Poor health

Messina, who says he suffers from a range of psychiatric conditions including agoraphobia, panic, anxiety and bipolar disorders, claims to rarely go outside and spent an entire four-year unbroken stretch in his New York bedroom. Add to that an arthritic spine and a herniated stomach, he hasn’t been able to work for three years. When PayPal froze his account he was cut off from his medication.

“When PayPal closed my account, I was low on money and needed medication that week, and I still had $50 or so in my account, but I wasn’t allowed to use it, making my life that much more difficult.”

Making bank?

Zuffa claim that Messina was making a small fortune from donations, even adding “XYZ Corp” as a defendant (along with a John and Jane Doe) in their lawsuit against Messina.

“I do not know myself what this XYZ Corp or John and Jane Doe is. I think they are assuming ‘Secludedly’ was a group, rather than just a person, but at the same time, ‘Secludedly’ is mentioned as a single person as well. None of it makes sense.”

But was Messina making anything from people donating to his event-viewing fund?

“Most of the time I barely had enough to cover an event’s cost after donations and would use my own money saved for medication and doctors. In total, I’ve probably made no more in a year than $450-$550 in donations. But just that helped me pay for a few months of medical expenses, as well as maybe four or five fight cards. I always ended up paying out of my own pocket though, as I’ve had money from my previous job saved in my checking account.”

Big UFC fan

While Zuffa are portraying Messina as their nemesis, the 27-year-old says he has spent years supporting the company as a dedicated fan.

“It’s always the one you love the most that can hurt you the most. I love the UFC. I love MMA. I want the world to know of it and acknowledge it as a legitimate sport and I want it to be famous. I don’t want myself to be famous. That’s an oxymoron for me, don’t you think? An agoraphobe seeking attention? I want to be left alone and continue living my horrible life with what little I have, and that’s my family and MMA.”

David v Goliath

So where now? Messina, who says he’s worth just about nothing, informs TorrentFreak he has a little under three weeks to respond to the $3.5 billion-valued Zuffa or suffer a default judgment. He’s found a lawyer prepared to take on the case pre-trial and pending settlement but needs $5,000 to get things going, an amount he doesn’t have. To that end Messina has set up a GoFundMe campaign in the hope that those sympathetic to his situation might donate a few dollars. Those who prefer anonymity can make the same gesture via Bitcoin.

“I did not, will not, never did, never will, ever make money off of another’s work, and that’s that,” Messina says. “Also, [to the New York Post] I do not live in a god damn basement. Leave my basement out of this! It’s done nothing to you!”

http://torrentfreak.com/alleged-32-million-ufc-pirate-speaks-out-140507/

[G]

Звучи като loner като нас..  

[Sashundera]

Много ми е интересно как тия очакват човек като този да им плати 32 милиона. Тъпаци...

[Radox]

На тоя пич бих му казал само едно нещо - излез от вас, чуек!

[dbrm]

Като чета за тоя маняк се сещам за нешев

[neshev]

Неприятна новина за нас. По всяка вероятност са арестували SirPaul. За WWE не знам колко са популярни release-ите, но тези на UFC обикновено са най-бързите.

 

The UK's Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit says it has arrested the world's most prolific uploader of World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) and Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) content. The 55-year-old, who TorrentFreak believes it has identified, was arrested at his home in Leicestershire this morning.

cityoflondonpoliceWorld Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) and Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) events are without doubt the most popular combat-based content available today.

These enterprises are big business. WWE had revenues in excess of half a billion dollars in 2014 and while UFC parent Zuffa is rather more tight-lipped about its financial position, the company is believed to be worth several billion dollars.

Both companies’ revenues rely heavily on TV-focused content. In 2013, UFC-parent company Zuffa’s revenues were split roughly 58% for PPV events and ticket sales with the remaining 42% derived from TV, sponsorships and various distribution agreements.

Predictably the company has a track record of reacting furiously to its content being uploaded to the Internet and has active programs to remove links and prosecute individuals, mainly in the United States. Today police in the UK have been doing the organization’s work for them.

This morning officers from the UK’s Police Intellectual Property Unit arrested an individual said to be one of the world’s most prolific uploaders of both UFC and WWE content.

Traveling hundreds of miles north to the tiny market town of Coalville in Leicestershire, officers descended on the home of the 55-year-old man.

According to police the man is “believed to be one of the internet’s biggest offenders” when it comes to uploading wrestling and mixed martial arts content to both peer-to-peer and user-generated content sites.

The man’s home was searched and several computers were seized. He was then taken to a local police station for questioning.

ufcUpload monitoring by TorrentFreak reveals there are only a limited number of players in the combat sports release game who act alone. There are fewer still who are relatively easy to identify and are located in the UK. We gave PIPCU a name and asked if that person had been arrested this morning.

“We do not release the name or identity of suspects at arrest stage. This information is only released once an individual has been charged,” a PIPCU spokesperson said.

In any event, PIPCU are throwing some big numbers around. The unit claims that the individual is responsible for uploading more than 3.2 terabytes of data, which is the equivalent of more than 3,000 videos.

Of course, that’s just his uploading. When it comes to total videos distributed things get much, much worse. PIPCU estimates that the files uploaded generated in excess of two million downloads at a cost to the industry of several million pounds.

“Today’s operation serves as a clear warning to anyone thinking of uploading copyrighted material to pirate sites. This is not a victimless crime as copyright infringement is costing our creative industries hundreds of millions of pounds,” said PIPCU chief DCI Danny Medlycott.

“Our team is dedicated to combating criminals ripping off other’s intellectual property and so those who are thinking of taking this path should think twice, as it might result in a knock on the door from our officers.”

Jim Langham, WWE Senior Vice President & Assistant General Counsel expressed thanks for PIPCU’s action this morning.

“WWE provides many options for our fans to watch our content lawfully – on television, pay-per-view, and digitally via YouTube and the WWE Network. We will continue to protect our intellectual property aggressively and combat piracy in any form,” Langham said.

UFC Chief Legal Officer Kirk Hendrick said that he hoped that this morning’s arrest would lead to a “significant decrease” in the unlawful online distribution of UFC events.

“We take online piracy very seriously and will continue to work with law enforcement officials around the world to prevent illegal sharing of UFC content,” Hendrick said.

If the individual does indeed turn out to be the person we believe he is, a significant “brand name” will now disappear from the UFC and WWE uploads scene during the coming week. That will no doubt disorient some downloaders, but plenty more uploaders exist.

At least 10 different groups uploaded last weekend’s UFC 185 PPV event, with the majority capturing the event from non-UK sources. Viewers in the UK are able to view events relatively cheaply via the subscription channel BT Sport, but illegal captures from this source are now likely to disappear, at least in the short term.

Update: Still no confirmation from any official source, but multiple lines of investigation across multiple torrent and other communities all lead to the almost inevitable conclusion that the person arrested this morning is known online as ‘Sir Paul’.

http://torrentfreak.com/police-arrest-worlds-most-prolific-ufc-and-wwe-pirate-150318/

[xelzing]

О не, изхващали са Sir Paul!Пиратството е ясно, че няма да загине, но какво ще стане с човека?Не очаквах, че е 55 годишен старец от Англия... 

[BORKO_10]

Тази сутрин в XWT качиха последното издание на Beyond the Octagon  като release-а е на Sir Paul ?

[xelzing]

Има ли някаква снимка на този велик човек качена някаде в нета?