Megaupload "Shut Down" by the feds

[FenixR]

Feds Kill Megaupload

Mixtape mecca and openair piracy expo Megaupload has a serious problem: it's just been shut down by the feds. The feds. And they didn't even need SOPA!

The federal indictment accuses Megaupload—which shocked the internet with the revelation that rap producer Swizz Beatz is for some reason its CEO—of over $500 million in lost media revenue from hosting pirated media. Luckily for us, there are plenty of alternatives to Megaupload. And luckily for Swizz Beatz, he's still a super-successful rap producer, an NYU professor, and Alicia Keys' husband.

But let's think about the timing of this bust. It's a pretty spectacular coincidence that the Department of Justice Task Force on Intellectual Property was able to destroy a copyright villain without any help from SOPA or PIPA. Do you hear that, lawmakers? The law, as it stands right now—no draconian censorship powers required—was able to kill Megaupload.com. The power you have now is doing the things you say you want to do. Your IP is protected. Online piracy was stopped—except for the dozens of Megaupload rivals like HulkShare and MediaFire. I wouldn't be surprised if they're next. [AP]

Update: The WSJ says seven Megaupload employees are under arrest, with four already locked down—four of them in New Zealand! No word if one of them is Swizzy himself.

Update 2: As of 13 hours ago on Twitter, Mr. Beatz did not seem to give a pomegranate about anything.

Update 3: The AP reports the following statement from Megaupload: "The fact is that the vast majority of Mega's Internet traffic is legitimate, and we are here to stay. If the content industry would like to take advantage of our popularity, we are happy to enter into a dialogue. We have some good ideas. Please get in touch."

Well, not really, no.

Update 4: The Department of Justice has issued a gleeful statement regarding the takedown, coordinated with police around the world, calling it "among the largest criminal copyright cases ever brought by the United States," and listed the individual charged with "racketeering conspiracy, conspiring to commit copyright infringement, conspiring to commit money laundering and two substantive counts of criminal copyright infringement."

pomegranate Just got Real O.o

More Sources:

Indictment Charges Megaupload Site With Piracy

[Dusk]

fffffffuuuuuuuuuuuu

[Eliseo]

Do you hear that, lawmakers? The law, as it stands right now—no draconian censorship powers required—was able to kill Megaupload.com. The power you have now is doing the things you say you want to do. Your IP is protected. Online piracy was stopped—

Lol. So they don't really need PIPA and SOPA. Impressive.

[Raul]

Unrelated:
HULKSHARE!
THAT'S THE NAME OF THAT PLACE
DAMN, MAN. I COULDN'T REMEMBER IT FOR THE LIFE OF ME
Related:
I'm really not surprised.
Lol'd at racketeering conspiracy and conspiring to commit money laundering.
That awesome moment when you realize that the US government already does whatever the hell it wants and doesn't give 3 pineapples about 4 pineapples.

[Icho]

Oh no ! Gratefully there are other alternatives like said in the blog..but doesnt that mean its only a matter of time before they get rid of the others? or are they only going after the Big guns.

[Kalovale]

How blatant is piracy on Megaupload anyway? I haven't downloaded anything from them since 2005 or something.

[FenixR]

How blatant is piracy on Megaupload anyway? I haven't downloaded anything from them since 2005 or something.

Its not "Blatant" whatsoever... But it was usually the first fileserver of choice by most pirates :P

[Mazz]

It begins.

[Shidoshi]

Its not "Blatant" whatsoever... But it was usually the first fileserver of choice by most pirates :P

Most people seem to be using multiupload or something now. It uploads to so many sites it's ridiculous.

[FenixR]

Most people seem to be using multiupload or something now. It uploads to so many sites it's ridiculous.

Yeah i know, but megaupload its usually on every site similar to that one (i have seen severals)

[Locked]

You guys need to understand that this is highly illegal. The servers are located in China and the site owners (who got arrested) are located in New Zealand. Why do they have to follow US law if they're not even there?

[ShinkuDragon]

>torrents.

still, this happens even after the megaupload song and all that jazz, pomegranate is indeed getting real.

[Kalovale]

You guys need to understand that this is highly illegal. The servers are located in China and the site owners (who got arrested) are located in New Zealand. Why do they have to follow US law if they're not even there?

Exactly why I didn't feel comfortable with the event. It's mind boggling to think it's real, but it is, so I had no explanation for it.

[Alex123123]

Imo, finding illegal stuff uploaded at MU through the main site was a pain. So in that sense, piracy at MU was not blatant, or at least not as blatant as torrents.

[Untradeable]

And Lo, there was a resounding "Meh" to the whole ordeal.

[FenixR]

You guys need to understand that this is highly illegal. The servers are located in China and the site owners (who got arrested) are located in New Zealand. Why do they have to follow US law if they're not even there?

I remember reading about "Having the cooperation of Local Authorities" somewhere in the main source.

[Takebacker]

FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF indeed, dusk.

Now where will i find episodes, movies, porn, music, and everything else under the sun. :/ At least for the next few days while people upload to other sites. Lol.

If it is illegal, and i'm pretty damn sure it is, then i hope the owners give them hell to set a pre-sopa precedent.

[Exidous]

You guys need to understand that this is highly illegal. The servers are located in China and the site owners (who got arrested) are located in New Zealand. Why do they have to follow US law if they're not even there?

Back up. Where's the part where we know it's illegal? They said it was a coordinated bust, using law enforcement resources in multiple countries. If they were arrested in New Zealand, it's got to be purportedly under NZ law. It doesn't automatically make it out of jurisdiction if the servers are located elsewhere, the DMCA certainly legislates other paths to arresting copyright infringers, it wouldn't surprise me if NZ does as well. If they violated the law and if they're in NZ, its courts have jurisdiction over them.

It's obviously possible that this is another tpb, and local authorities were bribed, in which case it's New Zealand having corrupt law enforcement that's the problem. If it's a legitimate arrest, your beef is with law on the books in NZ that permitted the arrests.

[KhainiWest]

You guys need to understand that this is highly illegal. The servers are located in China and the site owners (who got arrested) are located in New Zealand. Why do they have to follow US law if they're not even there?

It's not USA law it's international treaty we share with majority of countries.

Edit: lol at exidous, it's a shame he ignored me or he'd see that I answered Locked's question in one sentence while he's sitting there trying to play lawyer. LOL

[FenixR]

It's not USA law it's international treaty we share with majority of countries.

Edit: lol at exidous, it's a shame he ignored me or he'd see that I answered Locked's question in one sentence while he's sitting there trying to play lawyer. LOL

Not anymore i guess.