[governance] U.S. shuts down file-sharing website Megaupload

[Riaz K Tayob]

> [First they came for those with HIV, and I said nothing... then they 
> came for me...]
>
>
>   U.S. shuts down file-sharing website Megaupload
>
> AP
> http://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/internet/article2815112.ece 
> <http://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=20>
>
> One of the world's largest file-sharing sites was shut down on 
> Thursday, and its founder and several company executives were charged 
> with violating piracy laws, federal prosecutors said.
>
>
> An indictment accuses Megaupload.com <http://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 on 
> 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.
>
> Before the site was taken down, it posted a statement saying 
> allegations that it facilitated massive breaches of copyright laws 
> were "grotesquely overblown."
>
>
> "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 statement 
> said.
>
>
> A lawyer who represented the company in a lawsuit last year declined 
> comment on Thursday. Megaupload is considered a "cyberlocker," in 
> which users can upload and transfer files that are too large to send 
> by email. Such sites can have perfectly legitimate uses. But the 
> Motion Picture Association of America, which has campaigned for a 
> crackdown on piracy, estimated that the vast majority of content being 
> shared on Megaupload was in violation of copyright laws.
>
>
> The website allowed users to download films, TV shows, games, music 
> and other content for free, but made money by charging subscriptions 
> to people who wanted access to faster download speeds or extra 
> content. The website also sold advertising. The indictment was 
> returned in the Eastern District of Virginia, which claimed 
> jurisdiction in part because some of the alleged pirated materials 
> were hosted on leased servers in Ashburn, Virginia.
>
> Keywords: Megaupload 
> <http://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/internet/article2815112.ece#>, 
> anti-piracy laws 
> <http://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/internet/article2815112.ece#>, 
> Internet censorship 
> <http://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/internet/article2815112.ece#>
>
>
>
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