PDA

View Full Version : Feds shut down Megaupload



jessamineny
01-19-2012, 01:45 PM
From The Associated Press:

Federal prosecutors in Virginia have shut down one of the world's largest file-sharing sites, Megaupload.com (http://megaupload.com/), and charged its founder and others with violating piracy laws

The 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 websites shut down in protest of two congressional proposals intended to thwart the online piracy of copyrighted movies and TV programs.

Megaupload.com (http://megaupload.com/) has claimed it is diligent in responding to complaints about pirated material.

The indictment says at one point,Megaupload was the 13th most popular website in the world.


And here's a wsj story: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204616504577171060611948408.html

Leviathant
01-19-2012, 02:25 PM
Extradited from New Zealand at the request of the United States, eh? Who needs SOPA. On that note, the timing couldn't have been much better. Awareness about this sort of thing is clearly heightened. I can't really see this seizure and closure as being helpful to the SOPA/PIPA cause.

frankie teardrop
01-19-2012, 02:40 PM
i could see that going either way, levi. sure, it'll piss off a lot of people and bring heavy awareness to the issues, but megaupload's successful shutdown could lead to further attempts and legislation.

october_midnight
01-19-2012, 04:04 PM
Anonymous attacks the Dept. of Justice website in retaliation. (http://thenextweb.com/insider/2012/01/19/anonymous-takes-down-doj-website-in-response-to-megaupload-case/)

Shit is getting mad real.

theruiner
01-19-2012, 04:09 PM
They hit Universal Music's website, too.

slave2thewage
01-19-2012, 04:29 PM
Bomb the DoJ.

Lutz
01-19-2012, 04:40 PM
Sad face, Megaupload had a great variety of really rare films that I could never find on torrents, since studios aren't even releasing these things anymore it's terribly sad that they won't be available.

aggroculture
01-19-2012, 05:12 PM
Good point. So much stuff out there is not even available to buy.

theruiner
01-19-2012, 05:12 PM
Apparently Anonymous hit the RIAA and MPAA, too. (http://money.cnn.com/2012/01/19/technology/megaupload_shutdown/)

october_midnight
01-19-2012, 05:20 PM
Yeah they're goin' hard. (http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-retaliates-for-megaupload-shutdown-120120/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter)

@AnonOps WE ARE THE 99% - WE ARE #ANONYMOUS (https://twitter.com/#%21/search?q=%23ANONYMOUS) - YOU SHOULD HAVE EXPECTED US! #Megaupload (https://twitter.com/#%21/search?q=%23Megaupload)

thevoid99
01-19-2012, 06:05 PM
Megaupload ruled. Without it, I wouldn't be able to download anything I desired that I couldn't find in stores. Damn you government!

NIN64
01-19-2012, 07:09 PM
I just found this on imgur. (http://i.imgur.com/0rvY1.jpg) I really hope this shit catches on.

theruiner
01-19-2012, 07:10 PM
Anonymous is now saying they've hit the FBI and Warner Music Group.

Self.Destructive.Pattern
01-19-2012, 08:15 PM
How is this not on the news anywhere? I'll bring it up to my friends to talk about the topic and they are all "Huh?", or "O yea... what about it". Glad to see some action being taken for those of us that cannot make these retaliations happen. Keep it up! And I caught Chris Dodd on the news last night.... what a douche.

The Reason Being
01-19-2012, 08:46 PM
I just found this on imgur. (http://i.imgur.com/0rvY1.jpg) I really hope this shit catches on.

I shared this on tumblr and got mixed reactions -

"Not buying anything in the stores? That is stupid. You’d be affecting REAL jobs. I work in an entertainment store and if people take part in this and stop coming in and buying films or renting films, I could lose my job and so would many many others. This is NOT the right way to object.
You won’t just be affecting the corporate side of the industry, but all the ripples of that industry."

Wretchedest
01-19-2012, 08:56 PM
I just found this on imgur. (http://i.imgur.com/0rvY1.jpg) I really hope this shit catches on.

Theyre aiming too high.. a whole month is unrealistic. One day is unrealistic but at least i could see that maybe happening...

sadpanda
01-19-2012, 10:36 PM
ohnoez internetz

Iran_Ed
01-19-2012, 11:04 PM
Theyre aiming too high.. a whole month is unrealistic. One day is unrealistic but at least i could see that maybe happening...
How is one day unrealistic? I mean sure it depends on the person, but could you personally go a day without doing any of those things? I could go a whole month without any of those.
I haven't gone to a cinema in over a year, and before that it was back in 2009.
I haven't bought a DVD or Blu-ray since most likely September.
A video game in almost over a month.
Maybe that's just me, but I'd be interested to see what people could do if they just tried.

gorast
01-19-2012, 11:20 PM
I shared this on tumblr and got mixed reactions -

"Not buying anything in the stores? That is stupid. You’d be affecting REAL jobs. I work in an entertainment store and if people take part in this and stop coming in and buying films or renting films, I could lose my job and so would many many others. This is NOT the right way to object.
You won’t just be affecting the corporate side of the industry, but all the ripples of that industry."
I think people need to be less than indiscriminate with it. If you want to do this, then do it in regards to big corporate chain stores and not small local shops. The small businesses aren't the ones to blame.

novacide
01-19-2012, 11:32 PM
I just found this on imgur. (http://i.imgur.com/0rvY1.jpg) I really hope this shit catches on.


I like this idea.

Elke
01-20-2012, 01:23 AM
I shared this on tumblr and got mixed reactions -

"Not buying anything in the stores? That is stupid. You’d be affecting REAL jobs. I work in an entertainment store and if people take part in this and stop coming in and buying films or renting films, I could lose my job and so would many many others. This is NOT the right way to object.
You won’t just be affecting the corporate side of the industry, but all the ripples of that industry."

I don't know, it just seems like a strike to me. Only instead of workers striking for better work conditions, it's consumers striking for better consumer conditions. Yes, the industry will suffer - that's the point of a strike, isn't it? Of course I'm from a proto-marxist hellhole (or so the Republican candidates would have you believe) but ever since our new government got into action in December, we've had two national strikes and a couple of industry-based ones, and we're looking at another national strike at the end of the month. It's how you make a change.

Alexandros
01-20-2012, 03:01 AM
Because I'm sort of uninformed as to what exactly the operating principles of file sharing sites are, could someone tell me what is the defence for a site like Megaupload (or thepiratebay etc.)? I mean, on a purely legal basis, how can they (or anyone) protest against their shutting down?

WorzelG
01-20-2012, 03:20 AM
I remember reading somewhere that freelancers who have to send large files rely on sites like this, email doesn't allow you to send anything more than about 25mb - I think I read it on Techdirt

Here is Chris Dodd of the MPAA being a twat and trying to make it sound like America versus the World when he doesn't realise how much the Internet is breaking down those barriers

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/chris-dodd-mpaa-piracy-obama-google-283289

Jinsai
01-20-2012, 06:13 AM
Let's go a month boycotting books? What mad misdirected shit is this?

And music? Who do you think is the demographic that might be swayed by this boycott, and what do you honestly think the industry response is going to be? "Sir, it appears that adults have stopped buying music and reading books, but the new Justin Bieber single is still selling well, and it seems that there's been no decrease in demand for the Twilight books. What's our next move?"

Carpathian Psychonaut
01-20-2012, 07:00 AM
Nicely spotted. That puts a whole different flavour on it.

Ouch.

Deus Ex Machina
01-20-2012, 10:39 AM
I don't know, it just seems like a strike to me. Only instead of workers striking for better work conditions, it's consumers striking for better consumer conditions. Yes, the industry will suffer - that's the point of a strike, isn't it?

I think the concern is that this isn't a strike at all, but a new habit people are going to continue regardless. Under what conditions would the public be willing to stop downloading illegally?

DigitalChaos
01-20-2012, 10:48 AM
grandpa unplugged the phone line again because you damn kids were up all night making a ruckus

Elke
01-20-2012, 11:22 AM
Under what conditions would the public be willing to stop downloading illegally?

None. And they never have. As long as there was the possibility for copying, it existed. Just think of our old cassette tapes. Before that, entire portions of books and plays were copied. Painters copied eachother's works to the very detail. (Our museums are literally littered with very high quality rip-offs and copies of originals.) And since there was no copyright, very little could be done against the practice - if and when people thought anything about it.

I'm not saying pirating is morally right, it's not, it's theft. But on the other hand: most of my friends would never have bought CD's by NIN or David Gray or a host of other bands if I hadn't made them absolutely illegal mix-tapes. And yes, I stream a lot of US series, because if I have to wait for them to be aired or released in a format that I can use, the spoilers will have killed it for me. But I always buy the DVD box anyway, so in the end I pay for my stuff.

There's something incredibly wrong with a culture that think's it's okay to rip songs off YouTube clips because the artists are rich enough. But there's also something incredibly wrong with an industry that has attempted absolutely nothing at changing its business model (speaking on the whole, there are obviously small attempts here and there) but consists 30% out of lawyers and legal research departments.

I don't think there are any easy solutions here, and a strike obviously isn't it either. But it would send a powerful signal, and it's a legitimate means of making your objections or worries known.

mfte
01-20-2012, 03:23 PM
Read this

WE READ THE MEGAUPLOAD INDICTMENT PAPERS SO YOU DON’T HAVE TO
http://www.vice.com/read/we-read-the-megaupload-indictment-papers-so-you-don-t-have-to-1

YKWYA
01-20-2012, 04:00 PM
If you've got the time to, you should read through the FBI indictment (http://www.scribd.com/doc/78786408/Mega-Indictment) before jumping to a conclusion that this is the government gone mad.

What concerns me is at the moment they seem to be saying that Megaupload are a particularly bad example (Flash cars etc) group of copyright violators. But what about Youtube? Or any other site of the same ilk? Are they going to shut down every site thats violates copyright? Or just the ones making revenue off of it? Hang on, how about youtube ad revenue?

Then comes the reality of people being so scared of legal action that it stifles sharing anywhere. No due process, just the threat of legal action. Which generally means Lawyers coining it for writing really expansive statements of case, racking up costs, and forcing the other side to settle, rather than fight, all BECAUSE of the costs. There is no argument behind what the government is doing, at the behest of Media industry lobbying than they want it to be 1984 all over again. Where they control the means of production, the distribution, the point of sale. We consume what they give us, when they give us it. Thats it.

Even with the advent of Netflix, we still have the bullshit regional restrictions. Over the last few weeks I got into buying NFL Gamepass. The interface is really cool. I can skip between games, keep up on stats etc. I can watch it anywhere I want on my laptop. Im looking forward to watching the play-offs. Ah, but, the playoffs are 'blacked out in the UK'! But the games 'will be available sir in 6 days in the game archive'. They will be on the Piratebay tommorrow afternoon. I tried to give the NFL my money. So what am I going to do? Steal a live stream. Because I can.

The media companies have only themselves to blame.

A pretty good talk on SOPA here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9h2dF-IsH0I

sick among the pure
01-20-2012, 05:29 PM
Damn, I use Megaupload all the time to upload and sent full-size RAW image files when I work on projects with/for people. The files are far too large for e-mail, or any free website I could setup to use for the same thing.
Do these people think Megaupload is only ever used for illegal shit? Don't they realize there are legit and legal reasons for people to use it, same with torrents? Idiots...

PQHooligan
01-21-2012, 09:57 PM
I want my money back for the annual subscription I bought to use the website legally

My job depends on being able to send big files to clients - professionally, this is making me look bad - I hope everyone understands while I try to find an alternate.

PQHooligan
01-22-2012, 03:27 PM
Reuters (http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/01/21/idUS175418489220120121) reports that a number of curious details have emerged surrounding this week's arrest (http://pitchfork.com/news/45166-megaupload-is-shut-down-by-federal-prosecutors/) of the German programmer and entrepreneur Kim Dotcom, who founded Megaupload in 2005. Dotcom was in the safe room of his leased New Zealand mansion when dozens of local police (some in helicopters) swarmed his residency. The Wall Street Journal (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203750404577173243494465660.html)n otes that Dotcom had a loaded shotgun in his possession at the time.

An official from New Zealand's Organized and Financial Crime Agency told Reuters, "Despite our staff clearly identifying themselves, Mr. Dotcom retreated into the house and activated a number of electronic-looking mechanisms."

Police seized two firearms from the premises, and, according to The Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/9027871/Kim-Dotcom-the-millionaire-playboy-behind-Megaupload.html), more than 20 automobiles. Among the vehicles was a 1959 pink Cadillac, as were several others with vanity plates baring such titles as "HACKER," "MAFIA,"and "STONED."

U.S. authorities are labeling the Megaupload case "one of the largest copyright cases in history," says Reuters. As previously reported (http://pitchfork.com/news/45169-universal-music-riaa-websites-attacked-following-megaupload-shutdown/), following the Megaupload bust, hackers attacked the websites for the Department of Justice, Universal Music Group, the Recording Industry Association of America, and the Motion Picture Association of America.




http://pitchfork.com/news/45184-police-swarm-new-zealand-mansion-in-arrest-of-megaupload-founder-kim-dotcom/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-QLGQtEnPy0

Conan The Barbarian
01-22-2012, 03:52 PM
jesus, you'd think they were describing a drug bust. lol @theworld.

JessicaSarahS
01-22-2012, 04:01 PM
jesus, you'd think they were describing a drug bust. lol @theworld.


I know, right?! I'm sure the items they seized were legally owned. It's just the media trying to further criminalize the offender. Hell, if someone kicked down my door, they could seize two firearms, three automobiles, and six computers from my house too. I be rollin' (No, I'm not really rollin',Yes, they're legally owned. DONTKICKMYDOORINFEDS!!!)

aggroculture
01-22-2012, 05:55 PM
My taxes pay for the FBI and I find it pretty disgusting that they're using their resources working as bailiffs for Hollywood and the music industry, who for years have been resisting rather than working with new models of selling their wares. As many others have pointed out, piracy has always existed. Find a way to get people to voluntarily choose to pay for products they support: NIN/Radiohead were onto something. Browbeating customers into submission with the FBI is not going to work. Making things fucking available at decent prices (new DVDs are $30? What. The. Fuck.), and without region codes, would be a first step: I paid a grand for my laptop, and I'm not allowed to play foreign DVDs on it? Fuck that. It's this kind of bullshit that has created an environment in which the megauploads of this world will continue to thrive. Personally I try to pay for everything I consume: more often than I'd like, the stuff I want just isn't available for sale, so downloading it is.

Conan The Barbarian
01-22-2012, 06:09 PM
regardless, the guy did brake the law.

DF118
01-22-2012, 09:39 PM
Megaupload founder: World Ranking No. 1 Modern Warfare 3 player in the world. (http://venturebeat.com/2012/01/21/kim-dotcom-modern-warfare-3/)

Harry Seaward
01-22-2012, 09:47 PM
I want to hear TR's take on this.

Frozen Beach
01-22-2012, 10:10 PM
The big problem is a lot of people have reportedly lost a lot of stuff they stored on megaupload that was THEIRS, some stuff they can't replace.

redshoewearer
01-22-2012, 10:26 PM
I think what authorities are missing, is 1) whenever a site is taken down, another one pops up in its place, and 2) there is the misconception that if people aren't able to download what they want, they'll buy it all instead.

Carpathian Psychonaut
01-23-2012, 02:51 AM
Now Filesonic is stripped back to bare bones (ie dead as a sharing service) and a number of others either quietly deleting everything or blocking USA IP address.

Seems they don't want the FBI knocking on their door.

The fallout continues.......

Conan The Barbarian
01-23-2012, 09:59 AM
Add mediafire to the list.

Sallos
01-23-2012, 11:12 AM
can't acess other's files in filesonic now aswell.

slave2thewage
01-23-2012, 11:31 AM
RIP internet.

Dra508
01-23-2012, 11:51 AM
The big problem is a lot of people have reportedly lost a lot of stuff they stored on megaupload that was THEIRS, some stuff they can't replace.Yet, this is not being reported in giant block letters.

frankie teardrop
01-23-2012, 12:05 PM
Add mediafire to the list.

not yet:
http://venturebeat.com/2012/01/22/mediafire-megaupload-business-model-piracy/

emptydesk
01-23-2012, 02:57 PM
yeah i'm not exactly sold on what that guy has to say

Frozen Beach
01-23-2012, 03:13 PM
If Mediafire is shutdown, then the Deerhunter(the band) blog is fucked because loads of the free releases are hosted on mediafire.

Conan The Barbarian
01-23-2012, 03:21 PM
dude on angrychairs blog got his account deleted and all links dead. making his blog useless. Mediafire is cracking down.

frankie teardrop
01-23-2012, 03:40 PM
oh... well, shit.

seems like my blog is still online at the moment, but who knows for how long.

PQHooligan
01-23-2012, 04:18 PM
Great....now I have to scramble to download all my legal files uploaded to Mediafire (to save space on my computer) now in case it happens for no reason

I mean people are cool with SkyDrives - all the other sites shouldn't automatically look criminal.

halloween
01-23-2012, 05:39 PM
this is just making me so frustrated.

burn.
01-23-2012, 08:49 PM
What the fuck is going on?

I hope services like Dropbox, Mediafire and Sendfile make it through this mess.

Maurish
01-24-2012, 07:44 PM
http://i.imgur.com/xN2Ud.gif%3C/a%3E (http://i.imgur.com/xN2Ud.gif)

The Fifth Witness
01-24-2012, 10:53 PM
Everyone defends Schmitz and thinks he was given too harsh of a sentence. But given what he's got in his criminal history:

In 2001, Schmitz purchased $375,000 worth of shares of the nearly bankrupt company LetsBuyIt.com and subsequently announced his intention to invest €50 million in the company. Unknown to others, Schmitz did not have the funds available to invest, although the announcement caused the share value of LetsBuyIt.com to jump by nearly 300%. Schmitz quickly sold the shares and profited $1.5 million as a result.
As a teenager, Schmitz earned a reputation in his native Germany for cracking corporate PBX systems in the United States, and tried to parlay it into a career in data security. That effort led to his arrest on charges of using and selling stolen calling card numbers.
He has a criminal history that includes being convicted of computer fraud, insider trading, embezzlement, possession of stolen goods and abuse of titles.
Yeah, I miss MegaUpload... but he is a piece of shit and I’m glad he was arrested for this as well.

Wretchedest
01-25-2012, 12:26 AM
What the fuck is going on?

I hope services like Dropbox, Mediafire and Sendfile make it through this mess.


Drop box is integral to my profession. Id be pissed if it got taken down....

joplinpicasso
01-30-2012, 06:32 PM
If Mediafire is shutdown, then the Deerhunter(the band) blog is fucked because loads of the free releases are hosted on mediafire.

:(:(:(

I can't say I'm not guilty in pirating, but it will be interesting to see what copyright and internet laws the new generation of lawmakers will come up with in twenty years. For now, this all sucks.

konstantin
02-13-2012, 03:32 PM
i personally find it quite puzzling that any professional would use those particularly cheesy sites. i mean, do you send a link to a client and say, "oh, don't mind all those boobs, videos starting automatically, pop-ups, and most importantly, be careful which link exactly you click (hint: the boring one is usually the right one)!"

PQHooligan
02-13-2012, 03:59 PM
They had that issue before, but after they revamped the site and made the stupid song, all of the ads and videos playing automatically became a non-issue

Mediafire allows 10GB with a free account, but has a bunch of popups and ads - YouSendIt only allows 50MB unless you get a paid account - MegaUpload was just the nice free way to go for those who didn't want to pay for an annual account (even though I did so I could upload even more)

Space Suicide
02-14-2012, 10:13 AM
Mediafire is my favorite and most reliable file sharing host on the web. I don't know what I'll do if they ever get dirt to take it down.

Lutz
03-03-2012, 05:28 PM
RIP gaytorrent.ru