Megaupload shut down.

[foz]

http://www.3news.co.nz/Megauploads-K...7/Default.aspx

One of the world's largest file-sharing sites was shut down this morning, its founder arrested in Auckland, and several company executives charged with violating piracy laws, US federal prosecutors said.

http://www.3news.co.nz/Megaupload-fo...8/Default.aspx

[ProDomains]

It was about time...


Just my view on it.

[foz]

His spread:



http://forums.digitalpoint.com/showthread.php?t=2171987

[pred]

amazing house
I heard he was after your house Foz in NZ but couldn't afford it, lol

how did he get away with it for so long?

anyway, here we have someone who has the money for the very best lawyers
I don't see him getting extradited
plus NZ has one of the few sensible governments in the World
not saying what he done is lawful or unlawful but I don't think NZ get pushed around by foreign govs, if they think he's naughty they may send packing but not just cos U.S says so, like us!

[foz]

I don't think he plays much tennis House appears to be rented, from news articles.

Surely a site warehousing and distributing copyright material without the copyright holders permission is at risk. Youtube by rights should be shut down. Personally I feel its the up loaders responsibility. If file sharing sites are continually removing copyright material, surely they have a right to stay in business?

[pred]

i haven't ever visited site
is it like youtube then?
if user generated content and has a decent tos and is well moderated then whats prob?

so domain seized, shut down and proceedings under way
where is the due process?
they are presuming guilty before innocent

I know the internet is still a bit like wild west but I think the 'powers that be' are making things up as they go along themselves tbh at minute

[foz]

Plenty more out there like it:

mediafire_com
filesonic_com
fileserve_com
rapidshare_com

[murph]

Agree with above, what about YouTube then? Surely, if a video upload site actively tries to remove copyrighted material then they should be allowed to exist!

[GreyWing]

It's a joke, this is a file sharing service only. How people wish to use it or exploit it is not the fault of the service. My understanding is that if a TM owner complained then the files were deleted.

This precedent is exactly the same as every gun manufacturer executive being responsible for the way their products are used and being charged with every murder there product is used for.

Double standards making the US look idiots and any Country that bows to them as poodles.

[Edwin]

One massive difference with Youtube is that they charged people for "premium" accounts with faster bandwidth and smashed free users over the head with ad after ad after ad. Plus they were much more associated with stolen content than Youtube (Youtube hosts videos only, Megaupload hosted ANY kind of file i.e. ebooks, software, images, etc.)

What will be interesting to see is whether the Feds try and go after individual users of the service in due course, since presumably they've got their hands on a database of millions of names, addresses and credit card details - so if they can cross-reference that unambiguously with specific downloads they can then prosecute known individuals for exact offenses.