20 January 2012
In one of the largest criminal copyright cases ever brought, the U.S. Justice Department and Federal Bureau of Investigation have seized and shutdown popular file-sharing site MegaUpload.
With 150 million registered users and nearly 50 million hits daily, MegaUpload was among the world's biggest file-sharing sites. The so-called locker site allowed users to transfer large files like movies and music anonymously.
The movie industry has long hurled copyright infringement allegations at the site and complained that it was profiting off pirated material. In a grand jury indictment, MegaUpload is accused of causing $500 million in damages to copyright owners and of making $175 million by selling ads and premium subscriptions.
Though, with the site being based in Hong Kong and MegaUpload operators living in New Zealand, jurisdiction was a tricky issue. However, the revelation that some of the alleged pirated content was being hosted stateside on leased servers in Virginia was enough for U.S. prosecutors to act.
MegaUpload was shut down on Thursday, and the site's founder Kim Schmitz (or as he's popularly known, Kim Dotcom) and three employees were arrested in New Zealand. Each could face more than 20 years in prison. New Zealand Police also seized guns, artwork and more than $8 million (£5 million) in cash and luxury cars.
The four have been denied bail and extradition hearings continue.
In retaliation for the take-down, "Hacktivist" collective Anonymous announced they were launching their "largest attack ever on government and music industry sites."
Dubbed "OpMegaupload," Anonymous claims it took down the websites of the U.S. Department of Justice, Universal Music Group, Recording Industry of America, the Motion Picture Association of America, the U.S. Copyright Office, France's copyright enforcement agency, Warner Music Group, Broadcast Media, Inc and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
"The FBI didn't think they would get away with this did they? They should have expected us," said the group via Twitter following the operation.
All of the above sites were reported to be back online by early Friday morning.
Feds seize MegaUpload; Anonymous retaliates
In one of the largest criminal copyright cases ever brought, the U.S. Justice Department and Federal Bureau of Investigation have seized and shutdown popular file-sharing site MegaUpload. With 150 million registered users and nearly 50 million hits daily, MegaUpload was among the world's biggest file-sharing sites. The so-called locker site allowed users to transfer large files like movies and music anonymously.
The movie industry has long hurled copyright infringement allegations at the site and complained that it was profiting off pirated material. In a grand jury indictment, MegaUpload is accused of causing $500 million in damages to copyright owners and of making $175 million by selling ads and premium subscriptions.
Though, with the site being based in Hong Kong and MegaUpload operators living in New Zealand, jurisdiction was a tricky issue. However, the revelation that some of the alleged pirated content was being hosted stateside on leased servers in Virginia was enough for U.S. prosecutors to act.
MegaUpload was shut down on Thursday, and the site's founder Kim Schmitz (or as he's popularly known, Kim Dotcom) and three employees were arrested in New Zealand. Each could face more than 20 years in prison. New Zealand Police also seized guns, artwork and more than $8 million (£5 million) in cash and luxury cars.
The four have been denied bail and extradition hearings continue.
In retaliation for the take-down, "Hacktivist" collective Anonymous announced they were launching their "largest attack ever on government and music industry sites."
Dubbed "OpMegaupload," Anonymous claims it took down the websites of the U.S. Department of Justice, Universal Music Group, Recording Industry of America, the Motion Picture Association of America, the U.S. Copyright Office, France's copyright enforcement agency, Warner Music Group, Broadcast Media, Inc and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
"The FBI didn't think they would get away with this did they? They should have expected us," said the group via Twitter following the operation.
All of the above sites were reported to be back online by early Friday morning.
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