[hellonewyork]

McLEAN, Va. Via - NYTimes.com, AP

Federal prosecutors in Virginia say they have shut down one of the world’s largest Internet file-sharing sites, Megaupload.com, and charged its founder and others with violating piracy laws.

An indictment accuses the company of costing copyright holders more than $500 million in lost revenue from pirated films and other content. The indictment was unsealed Thursday, one day after Web sites shut down in protest of two Congressional proposals intended to thwart the online piracy of copyrighted movies and TV programs.

Megaupload.com has claimed it is diligent in responding to complaints about pirated material.

Via Gigaom

The FBI moved Thursday to shut down MegaUpload.com and arrest four of its executives, including its founder Kim Schmitz. The feds are alleging criminal copyright infringement and racketeering, and the full indictment has already been posted online.

[Alchemist11]

Well that blows.

[phantasyyy]

wow wtf what happens to the ppl with accounts

[Leeoku]

god damn where am i gona get my minimum 1mb/s dl now...

[Allan]

BREAKING NEWS: Anonymous Goes on Megaupload Revenge Spree: DoJ, RIAA, MPAA, and Universal Music All offline
http://gizmodo.com/5877679/anonymous...evenge-strike/

[Allan]

FBI.gov and Warner Music Group are down also!

[RyanC]

A site gets shut down because it hosts illegal conent, and how does the internet respond? Like a whining child, smashing all of the other children's things.

[Sintos]

Originally Posted by RyanC

A site gets shut down because it hosts illegal conent, and how does the internet respond? Like a whining child, smashing all of the other children's things.

You don't think the government arresting 4 people because they created a website is childish? Doesn't this go against the rite for free speech / expression and what not?

[RyanC]

Originally Posted by Sintos

You don't think the government arresting 4 people because they created a website is childish? Doesn't this go against the rite for free speech / expression and what not?

Well the issue here becomes how serious you take the digital domain. If there was a factory in the united states that profited off of making bootleg products (clothes, electronics, cds, etc) clearly violating copyright laws, using materials not to safety standards, (i.e. obeying the rule of law), should that place be shut down and the people involved, arrested?

What if associates of the operator of this business decided to start violently complaining and disrupting other businesses in protest?

You might think its not as serious because its all intellectual, abstract, intangible, and something you may use, but I think theres an important parallel.

edit: i think in general this issue is complicated and the public is not exactly privy to the details of what has gone down

[comte]

I've unfortunately never understood this, so if someone can explain this to me; why is there a criminal sentence associated towards individuals who're in this indictment, when criminal offences are held for those dangerous to others in society (against their life), especially when those individuals are supposedly countering a corporation, which I doubt will ever hold the same responsibility in the same situation.

EDIT: I realize it's a bit off topic.

[Chad]

Wow, this is insane. Megavideo and Megaupload... GONE! Full story:
http://gigaom.com/2012/01/19/megaupload-indictment/
http://gigaom.com/2012/01/19/megaupload-shut-down/

[ak21]

I find this ridiculous, i dont care that there taking it down as much as there actually trying to sentence, them for 20 years, (according to last article I read about this). I guess time will only tell how this goes. Another thing that is going to suck for them is that there going to need to refund all current megaupload premium account users which is about $100 million i believe, in refunds.

Please correct me if i am wrong, not too much articles are released yet on the full story.

[Chad]

Interesting facts:

• MegaUpload founder Kim Schmitz allegedly owns 68 percent of Megaupload as well as its image hosting site Megapix.com and the affiliate site Megaclick.com. He owns 100 percent of Megavideo.com, Megaporn.com and Megapay.com. He made $42 million in 2010.
• MegaUpoad users paid more than $110 million to the company via PayPal.
• Authorities also seized around 30 cars and motorcycles, including a number of Mercedes-Benz cars with novelty license plates like “STONED”, “GUILTY” and “MAFIA.”

[nomchock]

Originally Posted by RyanC

Well the issue here becomes how serious you take the digital domain. If there was a factory in the united states that profited off of making bootleg products (clothes, electronics, cds, etc) clearly violating copyright laws, using materials not to safety standards, (i.e. obeying the rule of law), should that place be shut down and the people involved, arrested?

What if associates of the operator of this business decided to start violently complaining and disrupting other businesses in protest?

You might think its not as serious because its all intellectual, abstract, intangible, and something you may use, but I think theres an important parallel.

edit: i think in general this issue is complicated and the public is not exactly privy to the details of what has gone down

megaupload is your typical direct upload/download http service

if someone is infringing on your copyright, you file a DMCA (dcma?) request and they take down the file. this shutdown is purely political because megaupload had celebrities on their side, kanye west etcetc

this shutdown is akin to youtube getting takedown because someone posted a clip of the sopranos without permission from HBO

[thedog123123]

Next the us government is going to be closing all libraries because it is a place which hosts copyrighted material to be shared for free.

The US government just swatted a wasp nests.