Day after SOPA / PIPA protest, Feds take down megaupload.com and indict owner

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http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/20/technology/indictment-charges-megaupload-site-with-piracy.html

Indictment Charges Megaupload Site With Piracy



McLEAN, Va. — 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.
The indictment says that at one point, Megaupload was the 13th most popular Web site in the world.
 


Personally I didn't like Mega network, with bandwidth and storage space getting cheaper by day their viewing/downloading limits were just ridiculous, but closing down the websites instead of just making the owner to remove copyrighted content is not right.
 
Going to be interesting to see if they can get anything to stick on these guys.

After all... if they comply with DMCA requests ... how were they breaking the law?
 
Going to be interesting to see if they can get anything to stick on these guys
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they been arrested and charged already. Some partners are on the run however. They picked them up overseas werent even in the usa.

Ron paul for president.
 
ShadowCaster said:
but closing down the websites instead of just making the owner to remove copyrighted content is not right.
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They didn't just close down the sites, but also are arresting the top employees, who are non-US citizens working for a company that is based in Hong Kong.
 
based in hong kong but kim schmitz lived in new zealand.

im sure he sold lots of dating memberships..i wonder where the buck stops
 
turbolapp said:
No question. I'm seeing this as a big FUCK YOU to the American public from the friendly folks at the FBI.
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It seems like a big FUCK YOU to the world too with it being a Hong Kong Company and everyone arrested a foreigner living outside the United States.

The indictment alleges that the criminal enterprise is led by Kim Dotcom, aka Kim Schmitz and Kim Tim Jim Vestor, 37, a resident of both Hong Kong and New Zealand. Dotcom founded Megaupload Limited and is the director and sole shareholder of Vestor Limited, which has been used to hold his ownership interests in the Mega-affiliated sites.
In addition, the following alleged members of the Mega conspiracy were charged in the indictment:

Finn Batato, 38, a citizen and resident of Germany, who is the chief marketing officer;

Julius Bencko, 35, a citizen and resident of Slovakia, who is the graphic designer;

Sven Echternach, 39, a citizen and resident of Germany, who is the head of business development;

Mathias Ortmann, 40, a citizen of Germany and resident of both Germany and Hong Kong, who is the chief technical officer, co-founder and director;

Andrus Nomm, 32, a citizen of Estonia and resident of both Turkey and Estonia, who is a software programmer and head of the development software division;

Bram van der Kolk, aka Bramos, 29, a Dutch citizen and resident of both the Netherlands and New Zealand, who oversees programming and the underlying network structure for the Mega conspiracy websites.

Dotcom, Batato, Ortmann and van der Kolk were arrested today in Auckland, New Zealand, by New Zealand authorities, who executed provisional arrest warrants requested by the United States. Bencko, Echternach and Nomm remain at large.
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Anonymous Goes on Megaupload Revenge Spree: DoJ, RIAA, MPAA, and Universal Music All Offline

Anonymous Goes on Megaupload Revenge Spree: DoJ, RIAA, MPAA, and Universal Music All Offline
Anonymous has sure been quiet lately, but today's federal bust of Megaupload riled 'em up good: a retaliatory strike against DoJ.gov has left it completely dead.

DownForEveryoneOrJustMe.com is reporting the department's site as universally nuked, and an Anonymous-affiliated Twitter account is boasting success. This is almost certainly the result of a quickly-assembled DDoS attack—and easily the widest in scope we've seen in some time. If you had any doubts Anonymous is still a hacker wrecking ball, doubt no more.

Update: Anonymous says they've also knocked off the RIAA's site—looks down for us at the moment as well.

Update 2: Universal Music Group has also fallen off an e-cliff.

Update 3: Goodbye for now, MPAA.org.
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