In the US the government can violate copyright and be protected by what’s called “Sovereign Immunity” (i.e., the governing body cannot be guilty of committing a crime and so cannot be held civilly or criminally liable). So when the US Air Force wants to hack equipment they’ve leased for their planes and reverse engineer it so as to avoid paying the creators, they can do so without any sort of legal repercussion. YET, the government can go on record as stating that the CITIZENS living under the jurisdiction of US law who engage in music and video downloading are breaking the law (It’s even turned to bullying other countries that do not wish to comply with their heavy-handed anti-piracy policies).

But, if a country is guilty of copyright infringement, why should they get a free pass? How is their “Crime” any better than the crimes they purport we are committing. If anything their infringement is doing greater harm. When the US government decides to engage in copyright or patent infringement who gets hurt? The creators, who actually rely on money received by the government for purchasing the product to subsist. I’m inclined to agree with the posters above me, this man most likely needs the money, since he obviously has health concerns (which the Ugandan government obviously cares nothing about).

Yet who REALLY gets hurt when someone downloads an mp3 or avi. No one. Well except for the Studio Head who may have to buy a Rolex that’s 500 dollars cheaper (OMG, noooo!!!).

People ask, “Why should this concern us?” If you’re not worried by things such as this you should be. Right now, globally, our rights are being violated by corporate greed, not just p2p filesharers, but the artists and originators of the works being downloaded who are getting ripped off by movie studios and record companies daily (The REAL Pirates).

As well, a government should never have greater freedoms and less accountability than the people they govern. Seriously, I hope this guy wins. If any government wants to view copyright infringement as illegal, then they should be held to the same standards they tyrannically impose on the rest of us. When governments stop being held accountable, then we have a lot more to worry about than going to jail for uploading movies.

I’m with you. If they say he’s in the states for medical treatment. They probably found something that it’s gonna cost him a lot of money and he just doesn’t have the means to cover the expenses.

It’s still kind of weird…