Breaking News: Feds shut down file-sharing website Megaupload

McLEAN, Virginia (AP) — Federal prosecutors have shut down one of the world's largest file-sharing sites, 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 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.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5g0HiB0PrdprLqIHlwUdYtB05l2sA?docId=c93737704b504930a11fc307d67b674d

Fuck the American government. Fuck SOPA and PIPA. Looks like all of Roph's hardwork uploading movies was in vain. MegaUpload definitely wasn't the best file-hosting service out there, but it was definitely the most popular. Gonna be A LOT of broken links.

Anonymous is mad:

Anonymous has sure been quiet lately, but today's federal bust of Megaupload riled 'em up good: a retaliatory strike against DoJ.gov has left it completely dead.
DownForEveryoneOrJustMe.com is reporting the department's site as universally nuked, and an Anonymous-affiliated Twitter account is boasting success. This is almost certainly the result of a quickly-assembled DDoS attack—and easily the widest in scope we've seen in some time. If you had any doubts Anonymous is still a hacker wrecking ball, doubt no more.
Update: Anonymous says they've also knocked off the RIAA's site—looks down for us at the moment as well.
Update 2: Universal Music Group has also fallen off an e-cliff.
Update 3: Goodbye for now, MPAA.org.
Update 4: Affected sites are bouncing in and out of life, and are at the very least super slow to load. Anon agents are currently trying to coordinate their DDoS attacks in the same direction via IRC.
Update 5: The US Copyright Office joins the list.

http://gizmodo.com/5877679/anonymous-kills-department-of-justice-site-in-megaupload-revenge-strike

I'm speechless
Edit
I lolzd when I read what anonymous did

The internet is srs bsnz.

I must be dreaming... I can't believe they took down mega upload.

I lolzd when I read what anonymous did

Same here

Update 12: Anonymous has released a statement about today's hacks.
http://pastebin.com/WEydcBVV

If I had any useful programming skills, I'd be fighting the war with them. Not that DDoS requires that, but... whatever.

Yeah, because downing the websites of government and businesses that generate next to no revenue from their web content is super effective. "Hey, let's take down a bunch of web pages that have no purpose except to provide information to the public! That'll cause the IP Department that they already pay minutes of panic!"

They might as well vandalize signs for a call centre. I think your government should really just abandon SOPA and PIPA and introduce laws where they can arrest people for being stupid.

I know that downing websites won't do much in the long run, but it definitely raises awareness.
I'd be in favour of the anti-stupidity laws, but I don't want to be fined every other day.

It does not raise awareness. No one goes to a site that they want to visit, see that it's down and thinks: "Oh! Wow! This must be a protest of x, y, or z. How wonderful!"

They either have no idea it was the result of an attack, or they think "Oh! Some dickheads prevented me from accessing information that I want or need." It inspires support about as much as taking down megaupload inspires your support for anti-piracy efforts.

It's nothing more sophisticated than a child's temper tantrum. Annoying? Yes. Effective? No.

Going to the website that's been taken down wouldn't raise support, no, but hearing and reading about it would make some people think, "Wow, what a ballsy move. Why did they do this? *Googles* Oh, this is more serious than I thought!", albeit not many people would do that. You are right in that the majority of people would dismiss it as just a nuisance though. But the small amount of people who learn more about the issue can still make a difference.
Besides, who doesn't know about SOPA at this point? If someone was up to date with the news, they wouldn't go on to the RIAA website and be surprised when they found out it was down. They would figure that some people got pissed and decided to be a nuisance.

Which is basically what Anonymous is all about. Being a nuisance.

I don't want to argue with you though, because you are right. There are much better ways to go about this.

Isn't our government supposed to represent the people? Who the fuck do they think they are?

Ugh, are they really so bold as to take down so popular of a site in the midst of the recent clamoring against the government's interference in internet activities? Man, they've got balls. Also, the sites Anonymous claims to have taken down look to be still kinda up to me. Was it a hasty fix or just an amusing story?

It was a couple hours ago. I checked some of them, they were down.

https://www.facebook.com/SenChrisDodd

Tell this man that the time for old men playing at things they don't understand is over.

whoa did not think this would happen any time soon. But wasn't the actual tipping-point a result of that music video they hosted, and not SOPA? Complete bullshit that was.

Yeah, because downing the websites of government and businesses that generate next to no revenue from their web content is super effective. "Hey, let's take down a bunch of web pages that have no purpose except to provide information to the public! That'll cause the IP Department that they already pay minutes of panic!"

They might as well vandalize signs for a call centre. I think your government should really just abandon SOPA and PIPA and introduce laws where they can arrest people for being stupid.

Also, yes, finally. I can't stand Anonymous' sense entitlement and chivalry. More often than not their bold denunciations and threats are whiny, fruitless, and fueled by sophistry, and they often seem to target the wrong person or group. It's not that I disagree with their opinions, but most of the time they're so fucking sensational it's hard to take them seriously. But of course they're such a anarchist force to be reckoned with!!

It's like Doctor Oz for socially oppressed young adults with computers.

So. If protesting SOPA didn't stop things like this from happening, and Anonymous' attacks are pointless, then how, exactly, should we go about fighting the government on this? What else is left besides protests and Anonymous' hacking?

So. If protesting SOPA didn't stop things like this from happening, and Anonymous' attacks are pointless, then how, exactly, should we go about fighting the government on this? What else is left besides protests and Anonymous' hacking?

Getting more involved in politics, voting people out, boycotting specific things that actually hurt where it counts. Imagine something that would actually effect a partially/completely corrupted/ignorant politician.

So. If protesting SOPA didn't stop things like this from happening, and Anonymous' attacks are pointless, then how, exactly, should we go about fighting the government on this? What else is left besides protests and Anonymous' hacking?

Megaupload was still found guilty of hosting illegal content regardless if SOPA was passed or not. It's not like there's internet immunity just because it was shelved.

So. If protesting SOPA didn't stop things like this from happening, and Anonymous' attacks are pointless, then how, exactly, should we go about fighting the government on this? What else is left besides protests and Anonymous' hacking?

Megaupload was still found guilty of hosting illegal content regardless if SOPA was passed or not. It's not like there's internet immunity just because it was shelved.

No, but I believe the FBI went after Megaupload because SOPA didn't succeed. Not because the two are related, but because they're determined to curtail piracy one way or another.

Okay champ

Whatever you say.

So. If protesting SOPA didn't stop things like this from happening, and Anonymous' attacks are pointless, then how, exactly, should we go about fighting the government on this? What else is left besides protests and Anonymous' hacking?

Megaupload was still found guilty of hosting illegal content regardless if SOPA was passed or not. It's not like there's internet immunity just because it was shelved.

No, but I believe the FBI went after Megaupload because SOPA didn't succeed.

Actually, that raises a legitimate question: How long DID it take them to go through the legal process to take down such a major website and confiscate such a enormous amount of money? Earliest date I can ever find in any news sources is just the original take down of the site on the 19th, followed by the arrests the next day. It's obvious that even the FBI has a number of hoops to go through before they could pull something of this size off, but their timing is so horrible that it makes me wonder when they started all this.

This article states that the FBI contacted New Zealand police in early 2011.

Here's the indictment, if you're curious.

www.megaupload.com - Closed by the FBI
www.filesonic.com - Filesharing disabled/FBI investigation
www.fileserve.com - Files are being removed/FBI investigation
www.uploaded.to - Blocked in US
www.rapidshare.com - Fate unknown
www.mediafire.com - Fate unknown/rumor of FBI hearing in 90 days

In the wake of the U.S. government’s shutdown of the file-sharing site Megaupload, another file-sharing and storage service has decided to make the “sharing” part of its service a thing of the past.FileSonic — a cloud locker that grants users 10 GB of free storage for 30 days — didn’t mention Megaupload in a statement on its Web site that announced the changes over the weekend. But it was clear that the company is worried about its users sharing things they shouldn’t.

“All sharing functionality on FileSonic is now disabled. Our service can only be used to upload and retrieve files that you have uploaded personally,” says a red banner on the site’s main page.Web services that allow customers to share and upload files should be spooked, Eric Goldman, a professor of intellectual property law at Santa Clara University told The Washington Post’s Cecilia Kang on Friday. “They will wonder if they have done anything different from Megaupload, and does that mean the Feds will come through their door,” he said.For it’s part, FileSonic has changed the slogans and description of its service on its main page, though clicking through for more information on its premium plan does pull up a logo with the tag*line, “Upload. Store. Download. Share. We don’t believe in limits.”FileSonic did not immediately reply to a request for comment.On Monday, the Associated Press reportedthat Megaupload founder Kim Dotcom (who officially changed his last name from Schmitz) said that he is innocent and is not a flight risk at a hearing in New Zealand. A judge is expected to rule this week on whether Dotcom will be granted bail, the report said.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/technology/filesonic-cuts-file-sharing-after-megaupload-case/2012/01/23/gIQAvVS3KQ_story.html

it begins.