from ign

http://www.ign.com/a...load-executives

 

Megaupload is on the brink of being shut down permanently, with extreme consequences, after a number of the service's executives were indicted by the Department of Justice in what is "among the largest criminal copyright cases ever brought by the United States."

Eight key members associated with Megaupload have been charged with criminal copyright infringement, conspiring to commit money laundering and engaging in a racketeering conspiracy. Four arrests took place in Auckland, New Zealand this morning, and included Megaupload's director Kim Schmitz, otherwise known as Kim Dotcom.

The accused can face up to 20 years in prison for racketeering, five years for conspiring to commit copyright infringment, 20 years for laundering, and five years on each substantive charge of copyright infringement.

Over 20 search warrants have been issued by the Department of Justice as a result of highly coordinated actions by the FBI with help from New Zealand, Hong Kong, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Germany, Canada, Australia and the Philippines. The government also seized about $50 million in assets and targeted sites, as well as 18 domain names associated with the service.

According to the indictment, the popular file-sharing system is responsible for $500 million in losses to copyright holders and accrued more than $175 million in illegal profits from advertisements and premium memberships.

Megaupload.com has more than 150 million registered users and 50 million daily visitors.

 

 

RIP Megaupload.

What's ironic is that a 'Criminal Defense' AD popped up while I was reading this post....

from ign

http://www.ign.com/a...load-executives

 

Megaupload is on the brink of being shut down permanently, with extreme consequences, after a number of the service's executives were indicted by the Department of Justice in what is "among the largest criminal copyright cases ever brought by the United States."

Eight key members associated with Megaupload have been charged with criminal copyright infringement, conspiring to commit money laundering and engaging in a racketeering conspiracy. Four arrests took place in Auckland, New Zealand this morning, and included Megaupload's director Kim Schmitz, otherwise known as Kim Dotcom.

The accused can face up to 20 years in prison for racketeering, five years for conspiring to commit copyright infringment, 20 years for laundering, and five years on each substantive charge of copyright infringement.

Over 20 search warrants have been issued by the Department of Justice as a result of highly coordinated actions by the FBI with help from New Zealand, Hong Kong, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Germany, Canada, Australia and the Philippines. The government also seized about $50 million in assets and targeted sites, as well as 18 domain names associated with the service.

According to the indictment, the popular file-sharing system is responsible for $500 million in losses to copyright holders and accrued more than $175 million in illegal profits from advertisements and premium memberships.

Megaupload.com has more than 150 million registered users and 50 million daily visitors.

 

 

RIP Megaupload.

 

WHAT? NO!

GOOD-BYE INTERNET AS WE KNOW IT.

Well it looks like we are all in trouble. I hope that they dont have to spend so much time in jail for 2-3 minute youtube videos that we all make. I am now going to be on Pluto if you need me.

 

R.I.P. Megaupload and Youtube

Well it looks like we are all in trouble. I hope that they dont have to spend so much time in jail for 2-3 minute youtube videos that we all make. I am now going to be on Pluto if you need me.

 

R.I.P. Megaupload and Youtube

 

not youtube too

Here's little follow-up article from CNN

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- In one of the U.S. government's largest anti-piracy crackdowns ever, federal agents on Thursday arrested the leaders of and shut down Megaupload.com, a popular hub for illegal file sharing.

Hours later, Megaupload's fans turned the table on the feds. "Hacktivist" collective Anonymous said it set its sights on the U.S. Department of Justice and apparently knocked the agency's website offline.

 

"We are having website problems, but we're not sure what it's from," a DOJ spokeswoman told CNNMoney.

The DOJ website glitches came soon after various Twitter accounts associated with Anonymous took aim at the agency.

"One thing is certain: EXPECT US! #Megaupload" read one tweet from AnonOps.

One hour later, the same account tweeted a victory message: "Tango down! http://universalmusic.com & http://www.justice.gov// #Megaupload"

Universal Music's website also went down Thursday afternoon. The music company had been locked in a legal battle with Megaupload over a YouTube video that featured many of Universal Music's signed artists promoting Megaupload's site.

The websites of the Recording Industry Association of America and Motion Picture Association of America also went down Thursday afternoon. On Twitter, AnonOps took credit for the crashes.

Anonymous's favorite weapon for these attacks is what's called for a "distributed denial of service" (DDoS) attack, which directs a flood of traffic to a website and temporarily crashes it by overwhelming its servers. It doesn't actually involve any hacking or security breaches.

The Anonymous attack came soon after the DOJ announced the indictment of seven individuals connected to Megaupload for allegedly operating an "international organized criminal enterprise responsible for massive worldwide online piracy of copyrighted works."

Authorities said the operation had generated more than $175 million in illegal profits through advertising revenue and the sale of premium memberships.

According to the indictment, Megaupload, which launched in 2005, was once the 13th most visited website on the Internet, serving as a hub for distribution of copyrighted television shows, images, computer software and video games.

The site's popular MegaVideo subsidiary was widely known in tech circles for its copious selection of pirated content, including recent movies and episodes of hit TV shows.

Four of those indicted were arrested Thursday in Auckland, New Zealand, at the request of the U.S. Three others remain at large.

The individuals indicted are citizens of New Zealand, Germany, Slovakia and the Netherlands. No U.S. citizens were named, however, Megaupload has servers in Ashburn, Virginia and Washington D.C., which prompted the Virginia-based investigation.

FBI agents executed 20 search warrants in the U.S., while authorities conducted additional searches in eight other countries. Officials say they seized about $50 million in assets.

The news comes as lawmakers have turned their attention to anti-piracy legislation. Protests erupted both online and offline this week against two bills currently under consideration in Congress: the House's Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the Senate's Protect IP Act (PIPA).

The bills are aimed at cracking down on copyright infringement by restricting access to sites that host or facilitate the trading of pirated content. But the legislation has created a divide between tech giants, who say the language is too broad, and large media companies, who say they are losing millions each year to rampant online piracy.

FCK!!!!!!!!!!!! Where will I download all my yaoi doujinshi's from now??!?!??!!! *sobs*

 

[edit] Oh snap, it's like an internet WWI in the works. Feds vs The People. > >

What .the.firetruck.this is unfair about all my downloads are from megaupload and goodbye internet you will be missed:(

a lot by me

tutti frutti. That's a scary thing, Megaupload will definitely be missed. If Youtube is ever gone then that will more than likely show that the internet is going to change for the worst. I'm praying like crazy that things don't turn ridiculous, but with the internet you never really know until it stuff happens.

That's what they get for pirating, I guess.