JCC Megaupload shut down on MPAA whim, Anonymous retaliates.

Sorry if already posted, I couldn't find it...

http://techland.time.com/2012/01/19/feds-shut-down-megaupload-com-file-sharing-website/
http://rt.com/usa/news/anonymous-doj-universal-sopa-235/

EDIT: Added additional link.
EDIT 2: The blowback continues...

 

This is not the way to fight back, I think. But it can make things worse...

 

I dislike copyright holders going after private individuals or taking down things that are clearly covered under fair use or trying to push through legislation like SOPA and PIPA, but Megaupload was making large profits in part because it at the least tacitly endorsed copyright violation. I don't have much of a problem with this.

 

Yes. After a successful day of mostly peaceful protest, Anonymous has essentially put fear back in the government. Granted, the MPAA was rather obviously taking out it's frustration at pirates on Megaupload by picking the day after the blackout (unless this was just a very bizarre coincidence which is always possible). There is always the chance that Anonymous' tactics are just the thing to whip Congress into a frenzy to try and pass SOPA, PIPA or some even newer, worse bill. Certainly, I can see the MPAA pouring even more money into Congressmen's coffers to take down pirates and I'm sure they will want to try and cripple Anonymous in any way possible at this point.

 

The timing is most likely a coincidence. The MPAA didn't shut down Megaupload; the FBI did. It's obviously the culmination of an investigation.

 

Megaupload removed copyrighted content on its site quite rapidly, actually. I wouldn't say it endorsed copyright violation.

 

There is no stopping copyright violation. As soon as any kind of media is released, be it music, movies, TV, video games, or software, someone, somewhere, eventually, will distribute it for free, be it through the internet or by mail. Once it's out there, it's out there for good. The only thing these "crackdowns" do is temporarily make it a little bit harder to access said media.

More extreme measures like SOPA could certainly be more effective, but would produce way too much collateral damage.

Hollywood, the music industry, and the software giants are still making billions through those too scared to go black market. As for smaller entities, people respect them more, and are more willing to pay to access their material.

 

I'm not going to pit my own anecdotal evidence against yours, but the Feds think they have enough evidence to take Megaupload to court. They haven't gone after Rapidshare or Hotfile or Depositfiles or Filesonic, at least not yet, so that may mean Megaupload's done (or hasn't done) something that the others have not.

 

The best way not to start a cyber war, is not to create one. I think a loooot of this goes back to the wiki links thing.

 

Apparently there are charges against Megaupload employees for racketeering and money laundering, meaning this isn't really about the copyright infringement, although the DOJ is obviously spinning it that way and I don't think THAT is a complete coincidence re: SOPA/PIPA (and I'll agree with Sean that from what I know they were pretty good at responding to C&Ds and taking down copyrighted content when it was reported by the copyright holder - at least better than a lot of similar sites. Illegal filesharing was still rampant there, but it's a stretch for you to say they endorsed it when I regularly ran into errors while trying to pirate things that said the files had been removed because of copyright violation).

Still, Megaupload had a lot of valid uses and valid users. I knew people who used it as essentially hard drive backup and they're all ****ed right now.

 

That's the first thing that comes to mind for me too. Plenty of legal files were hosted on sites like megaupload. Whether this spurs even more users into anti-SOPA/PIPA protests is another matter of course. It helps that the media is painting megaupload as a purely pirate site and making it seem like all those who used it were pirating wretches.

All I can think of is that trying to limit the internet like this is like trying to limit alcohol. And we all know how prohibition turned out.

 

Ugh.

 

let's all sing the megaupload song and reminisce about all the files we shared over the years.

 

Here's how the NZ press are reporting today's events in Auckland.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/technology/digital-living/6288082/NZ-residents-on-piracy-charges-denied-bail

 

This.

 

[image=https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-snc7/398463_220470438039650_110350932384935_490336_1314348328_n.jpg] "Oooookay. Fixed!"

 

lol

 

There may have have been an ulterior motive:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/davidthier/2012/01/24/is-this-the-real-reason-why-megaupload-was-shut-down/

I personally can't say for sure - I'm just the reporter...

 

I believe that theory is what an agricultural expert would call "a steaming pile."

 

"I'm not saying it is what happened. I'm just the messenger. You don't have to listen to me. I'm not saying it's aliens, but it's aliens."

 

I'm not saying it's aliens, just that aliens aren't off the table.

 

Kim Dotcom interviewed today. Very interesting reading.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/technology/news/article.cfm?c_id=5&objectid=10789188

The video is here, but it may be geo-restricted to NZ.

http://www.3news.co.nz/Kim-Dotcoms-first-TV-interview-Im-no-piracy-king/tabid/817/articleID/244830/Default.aspx#ixzz1nqZmFY00

 

Seconded. Shutting out ANYONE living outside of the U.S. from official content must not be supported.

Anyhow, I never thought about all those people who legally used Megaupload for their back-ups and data until I read it on here. Man, those people really got screwed over by the Government. I wonder if this will result in a deserved mass lawsuit.

 

So, he was illegally spied on by NZ agencies. Prime minister apologises. Things are gonna get interesting...

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10836884

Some scathing editorials are emerging.

Editorial - NZ: 51st state of the US

Kim wins though, with this tweet.