davieG Posted 20 January 2012 Share Posted 20 January 2012 BBC - Full Report - http://www.bbc.co.uk...nology-16642369 Megaupload, one of the internet's largest file-sharing sites, has been shut down by officials in the US. The site's founders have been charged with violating piracy laws. Federal prosecutors have accused it of costing copyright holders more than $500m (£320m) in lost revenue. The firm says it was diligent in responding to complaints about pirated material. In response, the hackers group Anonymous has targeted the FBI and US Department of Justice websites. The news came a day after anti-piracy law protests, but investigators said they were ordered two weeks ago. The US Justice Department said that Megaupload's two co-founders Kim Dotcom, formerly known as Kim Schmitz, and Mathias Ortmann were arrested in Auckland, New Zealand along with two other employees of the business at the request of US officials. It added that three other defendants were still at large. "This action is among the largest criminal copyright cases ever brought by the United States and directly targets the misuse of a public content storage and distribution site to commit and facilitate intellectual property crime," said a statement posted on its website. The FBI website was intermittently unavailable on Thursday evening due to what officials said was being "treated as a malicious act". The hackers' group Anonymous said it was carrying out the attacks. The Motion Picture Association of America's website also suffered disruption. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lavrentis Posted 20 January 2012 Share Posted 20 January 2012 Damn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adster Posted 20 January 2012 Share Posted 20 January 2012 Least we still have RapidShare. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Finnegan Posted 20 January 2012 Share Posted 20 January 2012 Megavideo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Master Fox Posted 20 January 2012 Share Posted 20 January 2012 Sign of things to come. Fvcking American nitwits Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ACF Posted 20 January 2012 Share Posted 20 January 2012 BBC - Full Report - http://www.bbc.co.uk...nology-16642369 Megaupload, one of the internet's largest file-sharing sites, has been shut down by officials in the US. The site's founders have been charged with violating piracy laws. Federal prosecutors have accused it of costing copyright holders more than $500m (£320m) in lost revenue. The firm says it was diligent in responding to complaints about pirated material. In response, the hackers group Anonymous has targeted the FBI and US Department of Justice websites. The news came a day after anti-piracy law protests, but investigators said they were ordered two weeks ago. The US Justice Department said that Megaupload's two co-founders Kim Dotcom, formerly known as Kim Schmitz, and Mathias Ortmann were arrested in Auckland, New Zealand along with two other employees of the business at the request of US officials. It added that three other defendants were still at large. "This action is among the largest criminal copyright cases ever brought by the United States and directly targets the misuse of a public content storage and distribution site to commit and facilitate intellectual property crime," said a statement posted on its website. The FBI website was intermittently unavailable on Thursday evening due to what officials said was being "treated as a malicious act". The hackers' group Anonymous said it was carrying out the attacks. The Motion Picture Association of America's website also suffered disruption. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kingfox Posted 20 January 2012 Share Posted 20 January 2012 I downloaded some amazing content from megaupload, to keep me occupied at night The videos made me go all giddy inside, and I had great pleasure aswell. Shame I can't use the website now, im devastated Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
21st Century Fox Posted 20 January 2012 Share Posted 20 January 2012 If/When SOPA gets passed, this kind of thing will happen ten fold, the U.S. government will basically own the internet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HEGGSY Posted 20 January 2012 Share Posted 20 January 2012 <p>FFS. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
longy Posted 20 January 2012 Share Posted 20 January 2012 Did anyone see Anonymous's retaliation ? http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2012/01/19/anonymous-hackers-claim-to-take-down-justice-department-website-in-retaliation/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
z-layrex Posted 20 January 2012 Share Posted 20 January 2012 It'll be mediafire next. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
21st Century Fox Posted 20 January 2012 Share Posted 20 January 2012 It still blows my mind the amount of time, effort and money the dinosaurs who own and run entertainment industries put into chasing down these people instead of developing new ideas and channels to distribute their products that don't lead consumers feeling ripped off and short changed, which arguably drives them to these websites. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HEGGSY Posted 20 January 2012 Share Posted 20 January 2012 It'll be mediafire next. It better fvcking not be Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yojoe36 Posted 22 January 2012 Share Posted 22 January 2012 Just one thing guys. The U.S gov has everyone's details, who either uploaded and downloaded copyrighted content. Back your bags boys, your getting extradited woo hoo!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
z-layrex Posted 23 January 2012 Share Posted 23 January 2012 Just one thing guys. The U.S gov has everyone's details, who either uploaded and downloaded copyrighted content. Back your bags boys, your getting extradited woo hoo!! I wouldn't last 5 seconds in prison. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Doctor Posted 23 January 2012 Share Posted 23 January 2012 And now FileSonic is as good as gone: All sharing functionality on FileSonic is now disabled. Our service can only be used to upload and retrieve files that you have uploaded personally Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daggers Posted 23 January 2012 Share Posted 23 January 2012 I blame Phube. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yojoe36 Posted 23 January 2012 Share Posted 23 January 2012 I wouldn't last 5 seconds in prison. More like, your anal virginity won't last 5 seconds. This is America we're talking about. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phube Posted 23 January 2012 Share Posted 23 January 2012 I blame Phube. I have to ... How dare they stop people stealing stuff!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davieG Posted 24 January 2012 Author Share Posted 24 January 2012 Latest from the BBC The arrest of Megaupload's founders has led to other file storage sites taking action in an apparent attempt to protect themselves from legal action. Filesonic has disabled its sharing functions, allowing users to access only their own files. Uploaded.to has blocked US access to its site entirely, with a message saying "sorry about that". Experts said that the sites were attempting to show that they were taking piracy seriously. "If those websites are found to be communicating the works - ie facilitating sharing - then that's the key risk in terms of criminal liability," said Adam Rendle, a copyright lawyer from London-based law firm Taylor Wessing. Filesonic, which is based in the UK and Hong Kong, has not released a statement about its move to block sharing. However, customers visiting the website were greeted with a message stating simply: "All sharing functionality of Filesonic is now disabled. Our service can only be used to upload and retrieve files that you have uploaded personally." The closure of Megaupload last week has created a huge reaction across the internet. The site, which had in the region of 50 million visitors a day, was said by the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to be run by individuals who were engaging in a "racketeering conspiracy" and "conspiring to commit copyright infringement". Megaupload has defended itself by saying that copyright holders had mechanisms which allowed the removal of infringing content - and that legitimate material was shared on the site. Uploaded.to, which offers a service in which uploaders can receive money depending on how many people download their files, remains fully operational - but US visitors can no longer access its servers. Other so-called "digital locker" services, such as Switzerland-based Rapidshare, have defended themselves by pointing out their anti-piracy measures. A Rapidshare spokesman told technology news website Ars Technica that it was "not concerned or scared" about Megaupload's closure. 'High-profile large actions' The BBC contacted other digital locker sites - including those run by Apple and Google. None would provide comment on any action being taken on their own services in the wake of Megaupload's closure. However Mr Rendle said that it was unlikely that these competing websites would fall foul of the law. Michael Moore, a partner at law firm Marks & Clerk, said that Megaupload's closure suggested that copyright enforcers were moving away from targeting individual file-sharers as they had done in the past."The two key differences are the scale of unauthorised sharing, and secondly what seems to be a complete absence of legitimate uses," he said. "This is all a trend of going towards the facilitators, the organisers of this," he told the BBC. "That's certainly something we're going to see more of. They're really trying to create an image of this guy and tarnish the reputation of file-sharing. "I think in the future we will see a small number of very high-profile large actions against these facilitators. "Hand-in-hand with that we will see this public relations battle to show people that file-sharing is bad." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Finnegan Posted 24 January 2012 Share Posted 24 January 2012 I have to ... How dare they stop people stealing stuff!! That's a retarded point of view, though. Megavideo had the same policy as YouTube, they can't STOP people uploading things they do not own but if its reported as a breach of copyright they will gladly remove it. Literally the only difference in the companies is that YouTube is a multi-million dollar enterprise backed by Google and MV / MU is an easy target. The charges against MVs creators are both completely unethical and completely insane. The users of these sites need to he held responsible for the content they choose to host. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Finnegan Posted 24 January 2012 Share Posted 24 January 2012 And if MU is deemed illegal surely that means that both A. we can never have file-hosting websites (which seems hugely impractical and a stupid burden to the countless millions that use them ethically) and B. that it's the host website that is primarily responsible for acts of piracy and not the pirates themselves? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MC Prussian Posted 24 January 2012 Share Posted 24 January 2012 There's still Rapishare. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StanSP Posted 24 January 2012 Share Posted 24 January 2012 What do you lot make of https://plus.google.com/u/0/111314089359991626869/posts/HQJxDRiwAWq ?? Legit or made up? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yojoe36 Posted 24 January 2012 Share Posted 24 January 2012 What do you lot make of https://plus.google....sts/HQJxDRiwAWq ?? Legit or made up? Very interesting... a bit too interesting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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