ille1234 Posted January 19, 2012 Share Posted January 19, 2012 Megaupload shut down by US officials Megaupload has been shut down by US officials with immediate effect. The site is one of the world's most popular file-sharing services, but has now been closed following allegations that its founder and several other executives were charged with violating a number of piracy laws. The allegations state that Megaupload has cost copyright holders a loss of over $500 million (£320m) in revenue from pirated films and other media. It appears that its spinoff sites including Megavideo and Megapix have also been shut down for the time being. A statement posted on the FBI's website read: "This action is among the largest criminal copyright cases ever brought by the United States and directly targets the misuse of a public content storage and distribution site to commit and facilitate intellectual property crime." The Justice Department explained that Kim Dotcom (formerly Kim Schmitz) and three others were arrested in New Zealand. Megaupload had released a statement shortly before the shutdown, stating that the allegations were "grotesquely overblown". The statement read: "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." The website allows users to upload and transfer files that are too large for email, and is similar to several other sites including Rapidshare and FileServe. The Motion Picture Association of America recently alleged that the vast majority of files used on Megaupload are in violation of copyright laws. The move comes one day after many websites including Wikipedia and Craigslist shut down in protest against the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and Protect IP Act (PIPA). Here we go... Source: http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/tech/news/a361102/megaupload-shut-down-by-us-officials.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dreakon139 Posted January 19, 2012 Share Posted January 19, 2012 That's a pretty big blow, though I think a number of services have become the go-to filesharing sites over Megaupload at this point. Anyways, how this pans out pretty much depends entirely on how people/sites/companies respond. If this blows over and people simply accept that the site is gone now, that not only gives those in charge of these shutdowns the idea that they can close down whatever they like... but in some ways it makes their actions seem justified. Like they were right to shut it down, and people understand that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kirbz Posted January 19, 2012 Share Posted January 19, 2012 megaupload? lol cant remember the last time i went on that.... now if they closed piratebay, that would be a problem... but obama said he wont approve of this, so hopefully they wont bother us much longer. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
d3m0nd00d Posted January 19, 2012 Share Posted January 19, 2012 megaupload? lol cant remember the last time i went on that.... now if they closed piratebay, that would be a problem... but obama said he wont approve of this, so hopefully they wont bother us much longer. Huh! Piratebay what do they do on that website? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muff Posted January 20, 2012 Share Posted January 20, 2012 Huh! Piratebay what do they do on that website? things we are not supposed to talk about publicly on this site Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
d3m0nd00d Posted January 20, 2012 Share Posted January 20, 2012 things we are not supposed to talk about publicly on this site Oh I get it it's a porn site. I'll keep it a secret, OK! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mio Posted January 20, 2012 Share Posted January 20, 2012 Opponents include Google, Yahoo!, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, AOL, LinkedIn, eBay, Mozilla Corporation, Roblox, Reddit,[111] Wikipedia[112] and the Wikimedia Foundation,[113] in addition to human rights organizations such as Reporters Without Borders,[114] the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), the ACLU, and Human Rights Watch.[115] Um.... Good luck SOPA 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PSXtreme_ Posted January 20, 2012 Share Posted January 20, 2012 ...and the backlash... http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/19/anonymous-megaupload_n_1217418.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RHGSniperFox Posted January 20, 2012 Share Posted January 20, 2012 Except for one minor detail - This has nothing to do with SOPA - MU is being charged with racketeering and money laundering - serious offenses that they have been looking into for quite sometime. The Copyright Infringement charge is just one more added to the list. http://www.tomsguide...news-13951.html Prosecutors, who have dubbed the entire Megaupload group as "Mega Conspiracy," have accused them of engaging in a devious scheme that leeched around $500 million from copyright holders while generating more than $175 million in criminal proceeds. "In exchange for payment, the Mega Conspiracy provides fast reproduction and distribution of infringing copies of copyrighted works from its servers located around the world," reads the indictment which was unsealed on Thursday. The timing is just extremely convenient, that's all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brenden Posted January 21, 2012 Share Posted January 21, 2012 Don't worry guys Pirate Bay isn't an American site it cannot be closed... phew! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PSXtreme_ Posted January 21, 2012 Share Posted January 21, 2012 Don't worry guys Pirate Bay isn't an American site it cannot be closed... phew! That's why they are doing this SOPA etc...They can then stop interweb servers from allowing traffic to go to Pirate Bay, just like how China limits interweb access... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Death Posted January 21, 2012 Share Posted January 21, 2012 FUCK SOPA AND PIPA! A shitload of people have spoken out against it and what do they do? "HURR, postpone it." Stop SOPA and Prevent PIPA. Or else everyone is gonna have to tongue Deth's black magic balls of destruction... nobody wants that right? but obama said he wont approve of this, so hopefully they wont bother us much longer. It doesn't matter if Obama vetoes the bill. If the cocksmokers at Congress believe in the bill, they can override his veto. Obama is just a doll being forced to dance in front of our faces by Congress. COUGHPATRIOTS!COUGH Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HeyItsSpanky Posted January 26, 2012 Share Posted January 26, 2012 Except for one minor detail - This has nothing to do with SOPA - MU is being charged with racketeering and money laundering - serious offenses that they have been looking into for quite sometime. The Copyright Infringement charge is just one more added to the list. Was just thinking the same thing! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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