Pokémon Palace Network owner raided by U.S. ...

[XD375]

Okay, thanks, Serebii...well, could it be a hacker?

 

[Archaic]

Hell no. If it was a hacker, PPN would be back up already.

 

[C.A.A.T]

Sounds a bit OTT to me. I mean, what could the guy have possibly done to have his fan site singled out amongst the other popular Pokemon places on the web? And have his things confiscated? That's the kind of thing they do to people with huge archives of nasty photos.

Either way, it's making me feel a little uneasy. I've had my dealings with Pokemon related companies on Youtube, when Shogakukan had that mass ban fest on anyone who'd made any videos with Pokemon content. So it could well be true, though somewhat exaggerated ._.

 

[XD375]

Okay, I'm all out of ideas...I don't know Steve very well, but as Serebii said he's not one to lie...but has he been a big joker?

 

[Shuko]

I agree with C.A.A.T. and Serebii. The only thing that truly makes sense here is if something happened that landed Steve himself in hot water; not necessarily his site. From the looks of things, they actually went into his HOME and confiscated things. That would be stuff like PCs, servers, and the like. The only time I hear about stuff like that happening is when you get into trouble with the RIAA, or you have pictures of exploited children, or you're a terrorist or something. Never have I heard of someone actually acquiring a search warrant and raiding someone's house for a FANSITE. Even Nintendo just sends a cease and desist order if they find out you're hosting ROMs. Something doesn't add up here...

 

[XD375]

I was also thinking earlier that he could have some other illegal website or something, but the news article also said PUSA was involved.

 

[Kurashi]

Hi all

I'm Kurashi from Pokémon Espace. Not very large site, but I've done a news about this, even if some of you guys think it's a lie or something like this.

I hope that all will be okay, and if me and our team can do something, I think we'll can.

Moreover, Serebii what do you think of this situation ? I'm sad to imagine what could happened to your site...

 

[Kazamatsuri]

Well this is certainly a shock. The only reason I can think of for PUSA wanting to remove the site is because of their association(?) with the distribution of copyrighted Pokemon material, possibly to make a profit. I know that Serebii Forums are extremely strict about any linkgage to downloadable material (and Joe can confirm this) as a precaution. Still, I doubt something like that would constitute a raid by the Feds (I could be wrong though).

But yeah! What motive does PPN have to lie about this. Has he been on Bulbacast recently? I haven't been keeping up lately.

 

[Serebii]

Hi all

I'm Kurashi from Pokémon Espace. Not very large site, but I've done a news about this, even if some of you guys think it's a lie or something like this.

I hope that all will be okay, and if me and our team can do something, I think we'll can.

Moreover, Serebii what do you think of this situation ? I'm sad to imagine what could happened to your site...

Well I feel that theres more than meets the eye here. As far as I know there is no cause or justification Pokemon wise that could account for the alleged goings on...there is definitely something up

I do not feel it is right to jump at PUSA for this as chances are they're not involved

 

[Kasumi]

The thing here is, according to what TSS said, PPN was never given a C&D warning. So why would PUSA directly ask the government to raid his house? I'd have to agree with Joe and Shuko here: something's smells in this case.

Edit: Not to mention. Why would the goverment "seize" a Nintendo DS and post-it notes? Seriously, wtf?

 

[Serebii]

Wow, its rare that so many people on BMG agree with me lol

 

[Kurashi]

Well I feel that theres more than meets the eye here. As far as I know there is no cause or justification Pokemon wise that could account for the alleged goings on...there is definitely something up

I do not feel it is right to jump at PUSA for this as chances are they're not involved

Well, Pokémon is property of Nintendo and The Pokémon Company, and this copyright is not for free use I think. But I always thought fansites cannot create any problem with Pokémon USA or any company. Pokémon fansites make advertising for Pokémon... :S

 

[Kasumi]

Wow, its rare that so many people on BMG agree with me lol

The world is coming to an end.

 

[The Power of Pika]

No idea what on earth going on.

Though I have heard about raids of confiscating pirated stuff of copyrighted things. Nintendo has been doing that alot this year with many companies and homes raided. Nintendo does work closely with law enforcement officials when it comes to piracy and they've been doing random raids most of this year.

That's the only other times I've heard of raids happening. Kind of confusing situation.

Though I don't think it's a fansite crack down situation. Why only one site?

Something really doesn't sound right to me either. I think I'll wait until more is revealed.

 

[Kazamatsuri]

I don't know if this helps, but I just did a Google search for "Pokemon Palace." I clicked the cache of the URL, which was last retrieved on "Sep 6, 2007 22:02:26 GMT" (Note: I live on the West Coast of the US). His last update was for Bulbacast Season 3, Episode 1. Hoax or not, this happened very recently. So if we get all the information we can while the papertrail is still fresh, we might be able to figure out the truth.

Hers's the Link to the Pokemon Palace cache if anyone's interested (don't worry if it loads very slowly).

 

[Battra]

Sad to see this happening hopefully we'll get a explanation as to why the site was taken down.

 

[PDUTogepi]

Edit: Not to mention. Why would the goverment "seize" a Nintendo DS and post-it notes? Seriously, wtf?

I wondered the exact same thing, I mean if his house was raided due to copyright infringment, I can understand things like computer's being taken, but a Ninetndo DS and even more bizarre, post-it notes!?
I wasn't a regular visitor of PPN, but really, I never saw anything on his site that would cause anything like this when I was there :/ I mean there are Pokemon sites out there that have a lot worse stuff on it and like it's been stated, they'd most likely send out a warning first telling them to stop what activity they want stopping.

I agree with everyone else, it does seem a bit strange, but hopefully this will become clearer soon.

 

[Cosmar]

The thing here is, according to what TSS said, PPN was never given a C&D warning. So why would PUSA directly ask the government to raid his house? I'd have to agree with Joe and Shuko here: something's smells in this case.

Edit: Not to mention. Why would the goverment "seize" a Nintendo DS and post-it notes? Seriously, wtf?

I've only visted PPN briefly, and I didn't see anything that would cause a raid.

And it's weird that a DS and a bunch of post - it notes would be seized...

Hopefully we'll get an explanation soon :\

 

[Serebii]

I have the feeling we're not going to learn the truth regarding this

 

[Cosmar]

I have the feeling we're not going to learn the truth regarding this

True... :\


I still want to know WTH's going on, though...