Feds Shut Down File-Sharing Website Megaupload [View all]

One of the world's largest file-sharing sites was shut down Thursday, and its founder and several company executives were charged with violating piracy laws, federal prosecutors said.

An indictment accuses Megaupload.com of costing copyright holders more than $500 million in lost revenue from pirated films and other content. The indictment was unsealed one day after websites including Wikipedia and Craigslist shut down in protest of two congressional proposals intended to thwart online piracy.

The Justice Department said in a statement said that Kim Dotcom, formerly known as Kim Schmitz, and three others were arrested Thursday in New Zealand at the request of U.S. officials. Two other defendants are at large.

Megaupload was unique not only because of its massive size and the volume of downloaded content, but also because it had high-profile support from celebrities, musicians and other content producers who are most often the victims of copyright infringement and piracy. Before the website was taken down, it contained endorsements from Kim Kardashian, Alicia Keys and Kanye West, among others.

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http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2012/01/19/national/a113757S64.DTL

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103 replies	Author	Time	Post
Feds Shut Down File-Sharing Website Megaupload [View all]	Purveyor	Jan 2012	OP
more good work on behalf of the 1%....	mike_c	Jan 2012	#1
Torn on this... since it is not just the executives who lose money	nadinbrzezinski	Jan 2012	#3
Well, the trouble is, the nature of the medium makes property rights meaningless	Scootaloo	Jan 2012	#6
Then you will see more and more crap	nadinbrzezinski	Jan 2012	#7
So no quality work existed prior to copyright law?	Scootaloo	Jan 2012	#10
Yes, I guess you want to go back to all work controlled	nadinbrzezinski	Jan 2012	#15
Reactionary, aren't you?	Scootaloo	Jan 2012	#20
Pay attention chief, RIAA is OLD MEDIA	nadinbrzezinski	Jan 2012	#22
I think...	fascisthunter	Jan 2012	#76
Given that the industry created the problem	nadinbrzezinski	Jan 2012	#83
wow.... great Catch Nadin!	fascisthunter	Jan 2012	#93
Pay attention now, Scootaloo. You're talking to a long-term, respected DUer who is a	tpsbmam	Jan 2012	#42
And they're also making an argument that I would have made.	harmonicon	Jan 2012	#70
Didn't realize DU had "newby" police.	pocoloco	Jan 2012	#80
Who cares if he's a newbie?	Codeine	Jan 2012	#84
ditto	dipsydoodle	Jan 2012	#96
This message was self-deleted by its author	Obamanaut	Jan 2012	#99
Oh wait, you're serious, aren't you?	Scootaloo	Jan 2012	#103
Exactly. Even the "old media", like RIAA, despite of what they claim and believe,	Fool Count	Jan 2012	#51
I'm so old, I remember when the RIAA was about technical standards...	GReedDiamond	Jan 2012	#66
Are you talking about video games?	Occulus	Jan 2012	#57
No, paper and pencil	nadinbrzezinski	Jan 2012	#58
What was the game/company?	Occulus	Jan 2012	#62
FASA...	nadinbrzezinski	Jan 2012	#63
reminds me of a comic strip a while back	Bodhi BloodWave	Jan 2012	#73
Sadly I know which strip you mean	nadinbrzezinski	Jan 2012	#81
Nadine, I just did some digging, and FASA didn't go bankrupt	Occulus	Jan 2012	#85
Now that is creative writing	nadinbrzezinski	Jan 2012	#88
indeed, it was a very sad time for me since a lot of my favorite companies and as such settings went	Bodhi BloodWave	Jan 2012	#86
FASA had its share of problems	kurt_cagle	Jan 2012	#101
Trust me, I can speak from first person	nadinbrzezinski	Jan 2012	#102
Well, it doesn't help that fans pirated and steal-read everything, did it? THAT BEING SAID	Leopolds Ghost	Jan 2012	#64
Skyrim is an Amazing game!	fascisthunter	Jan 2012	#77
t's still an issue-- if not even greater.	LanternWaste	Jan 2012	#74
I used to play the pen and paper games	Confusious	Jan 2012	#95
There's Always Been "Piracy"	Yavin4	Jan 2012	#8
Embracing the new reality is definitely the way to go	Scootaloo	Jan 2012	#12
Oh I think we are moving into that new reality	nadinbrzezinski	Jan 2012	#16
Corporations should have different copyright frameworks than persons.	bigmonkey	Jan 2012	#26
Yes, shortening copyright and NOT renewing it	nadinbrzezinski	Jan 2012	#27
I think you can break the Disney lock on copyright extensions by allowing them to pay for Mickey.	bigmonkey	Jan 2012	#31
And then they extended it beyond that	nadinbrzezinski	Jan 2012	#37
+1	Fearless	Jan 2012	#17
All music should be free! Free the sound, man!!! nt	Snake Alchemist	Jan 2012	#32
My musician friends,	MadrasT	Jan 2012	#36
You shouldn't be able to profit from art man!	Snake Alchemist	Jan 2012	#46
No, it's not at all like that.	progressoid	Jan 2012	#60
Yep, my brother in law was in The Fantistics [off Broadway] for 10 years. Their truism is that you	24601	Jan 2012	#34
Nobody says that protecting IP is crazy in general. But some forms this protection takes	Fool Count	Jan 2012	#47
Good luck getting this changed right now	nadinbrzezinski	Jan 2012	#52
Home taping is killing music. nt.	harmonicon	Jan 2012	#69
Reel-to-reel or cassettes?	kentauros	Jan 2012	#90
8 track cassette. nt.	harmonicon	Jan 2012	#98
Can you afford to rent a property like this ?	dipsydoodle	Jan 2012	#97
Wonder if this is going to be like Oink	Fake Empire	Jan 2012	#2
Money talks. eom	tawadi	Jan 2012	#4
So what's this amount to?	durablend	Jan 2012	#5
LOL, that is the issue	Celebration	Jan 2012	#50
No coincidence there. Nope.	salvorhardin	Jan 2012	#9
Does this mean that no online storage method is safe?	Hugabear	Jan 2012	#11
Well, that's the thing	Scootaloo	Jan 2012	#13
I've never trusted the supposed 'security' of these online storage/backup sites. eom	Purveyor	Jan 2012	#14
If SOPA passes...	Fearless	Jan 2012	#19
Photos can be copyrighted	Hugabear	Jan 2012	#23
RIAA and MIAA	Fearless	Jan 2012	#24
Amazon Cloud, Microsoft's 'Skydrive', iCloud?	bathroommonkey76	Jan 2012	#44
THIS JUST IN! Anonymous Attacks DOJ Site After Feds Shut Down Piracy Hub Megaupload	Purveyor	Jan 2012	#18
I know I am not supposed to find this amusing.	Ruby the Liberal	Jan 2012	#21
there are and will be more to take its place :.>	stockholmer	Jan 2012	#25
This just underscores why we don't need any new laws	Taverner	Jan 2012	#28
That pesky due process	Ron Obvious	Jan 2012	#30
It's easy to understand why they want to skirt due process.	randome	Jan 2012	#33
Sure it's easy to understand	Ron Obvious	Jan 2012	#38
I know it sucks what they're trying to do.	randome	Jan 2012	#45
They need to understand due process isn't the enemy	Taverner	Jan 2012	#49
There are millions of people in prison in the US. Imagine if they didn't have to contend	Fool Count	Jan 2012	#53
Agree 100%	Taverner	Jan 2012	#48
It's a never-ending battle...	bathroommonkey76	Jan 2012	#29
How did they manage to do this	Pab Sungenis	Jan 2012	#35
Here's my problem with this:	They_Live	Jan 2012	#39
Same here. This is bullshit.	joshcryer	Jan 2012	#40
Could anyone be liable for the permanent loss of artists' work if no backup is avail???	Leopolds Ghost	Jan 2012	#65
For perspective. This is something close to 5% of the entire internet. Gone. Zip. Zilch.	joshcryer	Jan 2012	#41
And if you need a little irony in your diet	They_Live	Jan 2012	#43
When we say deleted, what do we mean? Surely artists that had accounts can retrieve their files?	Leopolds Ghost	Jan 2012	#67
Their servers are disconnected	They_Live	Jan 2012	#89
I had a photograph I had taken of a Japanese pop singer	AsahinaKimi	Jan 2012	#91
Wow. It has obtained the coveted endorsement of that Kardashian idiot.	pinniped	Jan 2012	#54
Assuming megaupload had a report option for reporting pirated material what	cstanleytech	Jan 2012	#55
From what it looks like the MU people were very, very shady	Yukari Yakumo	Jan 2012	#56
Ah, well that doesnt look good for them at all then.	cstanleytech	Jan 2012	#59
Could say that about alot of company's if you're going to judge them by their employee's	.99center	Jan 2012	#78
Yep... I'm actually surprised it took them this long to get around to "smashing" megaupload	Blasphemer	Jan 2012	#94
One thing I have to admit. I used to bash them for going after small...	joshcryer	Jan 2012	#61
Just like the big Maxell case from the 80's.	harmonicon	Jan 2012	#68
One more reason why I hate celebrities and the organizations behind their sucess. n/t	vaberella	Jan 2012	#71
There's a big push from the RIAA, et al...	greiner3	Jan 2012	#72
If they can already do this, why the big push for SOPA/PIPA? nt	NorthCarolina	Jan 2012	#75
good point! (nt)	fascisthunter	Jan 2012	#79
Because with SOPA they can go after the "sister sites" who merely link to places like Megaupload.	NYC Liberal	Jan 2012	#82
Exactly. The point of SOPA is to shut down pages like THIS thread.	JackRiddler	Jan 2012	#87
kinda like using a	AsahinaKimi	Jan 2012	#92
I find it interesting that US Justice Department made the arrests	lovuian	Jan 2012	#100