U.S. shuts down file-sharing website Megaupload.com

ArtWilliams · 2012-01-19, 05:40 PM

Click Here For The Article

"An indictment accuses Megaupload.com of costing copyright holders more than $500-million (U.S.) 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 Thursday in New Zealand at the request of U.S. officials. Two other defendants are at large."

Cleo · 2012-01-19, 05:57 PM

I saw that this morning. I never actually heard of Megaupload.com before so I'm not sure how important this is but it's good to hear.

Only another few thousand more to go.

I really do wonder how biz would be if all the illegal tube sites were shut down.

Useless · 2012-01-19, 06:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cleo

I saw that this morning. I never actually heard of Megaupload.com before so I'm not sure how important this is but it's good to hear.

It was massive. Tons and tons of nulled scripts and hacked software.

tickler · 2012-01-19, 07:24 PM

Quote:

One of the world's most popular file-sharing sites was shuttered Thursday, and its founder and several company officials were accused of facilitating millions of illegal downloads of films, music and other content.

An indictment accused Megaupload.com of costing copyright holders at least $500 million in lost revenue.

Megaupload is based in Hong Kong, but some of the alleged pirated content was hosted on leased servers in Virginia, which gave federal authorities jurisdiction, the indictment said.

The Justice Department said in a statement said that Kim Dotcom, 37, and three other employees were arrested Thursday in New Zealand at the request of U.S. officials. Three other defendants are at large.

The five-count indictment, which alleges copyright infringement as well as conspiracy to commit money laundering and racketeering, described a site designed specifically to reward users who uploaded pirated content for sharing, and turned a blind eye to requests from copyright holders to remove copyright-protected files.

Dotcom, a resident of both Hong Kong and New Zealand, and a dual citizen of Finland and Germany, made more than $42 million from the site in 2010 alone, according to the indictment.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/...1fc307d67b674d

Wonder how many more they have in their sites?

Cleo · 2012-01-19, 07:27 PM

You are a bit late posting.
http://www.greenguysboard.com/board/...ad.php?t=63404

But it is very good news.

Bill · 2012-01-19, 08:08 PM

42 million - lets say the gummit is lying and applying drugwar math - so, still maybe 4 million. relatively serious money. and maybe it was actually 42 mil.

well, I ain't gonna shed any tears for megaupload.

wonder who's next?

Bill · 2012-01-19, 08:10 PM

never heard of megaupload? next you'll say you never heard of 4chan.

Cleo · 2012-01-19, 08:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bill

never heard of megaupload? next you'll say you never heard of 4chan.

Had to Google that one too. I guess I live a rather sheltered geeky life.

Bill · 2012-01-19, 08:32 PM

omg i was totally kidding - it never occured to me that you actually might not know 4chan - rofl.

4chan is way more infamous than megaupload - the birthplace of anonymous, home of the scriptkiddies, day zero for memes of all kinds, arguably the most powerful board on the net.

one does not want to piss off 4chan.

Toby · 2012-01-19, 08:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bill

...one does not want to piss off 4chan.

Boxxy would not be amused.

tickler · 2012-01-19, 11:29 PM

Sorry Cleo!

I posted under business and Art posted under chit chat, so feel free to combine or remove this thread!

*********

@Bill

I think I saw a number where RS was making several hundred million a year in profits, so MU could easily be doing quite a bit with their millions of fee paying users!

Cleo · 2012-01-19, 11:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tickler

Sorry Cleo!

I posted under business and Art posted under chit chat, so feel free to combine or remove this thread!

Not a problem, kind of fits both, it's exiting news. Thought of merging them, maybe still will if having two threads of the same topic becomes pragmatic.

bDok · 2012-01-20, 01:55 AM

the /b/ tards welcome you. They are a friendly bunch.

Simon · 2012-01-20, 07:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bill

4chan is way more infamous than megaupload - the birthplace of anonymous, home of the scriptkiddies, day zero for memes of all kinds, arguably the most powerful board on the net.

one does not want to piss off 4chan.

Anonymous attacks DOJ, FBI, U.S. Copyright Office, Warner Music Group
and Universal Music after Feds shut down MegaUpload

CNN story here

.

Useless · 2012-01-20, 08:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Toby

Boxxy would not be amused.

Love her!

Ramster · 2012-01-20, 10:10 AM

I've never heard of 4chan, lol. Megaupload I have of course.

Cleo · 2012-01-20, 10:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ramster

I've never heard of 4chan, lol.

We need to start a group of the uninformed.

virgohippy · 2012-01-20, 03:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cleo

We need to start a group of the uninformed.

Oh, you wanna join my club? You can only be invited by a member! Maybe you didn't know it existed.

Bill · 2012-01-20, 09:16 PM

Not a terrible article on megaupload, with a photo of kim dotcom, real name Kim Schmitz. Article originally from fast company?

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/46076072...mall_business/

In the Wild, Wild West-era of digital media, there is no cowboy quite like Kim Dotcom. Part Sean Parker, part Kevin Mitnick, with a whiff of Notorious B.I.G., Dotcom embodies the wildest age of piracy having made a fortune on the edges of Internet freedom.

Dotcom, the megamind behind Megaupload, was arrested yesterday in New Zealand, his panic-room door busted down by officials, who found the hacker clinging to a sawed-off shotgun.

Dotcom faces up to 55 years in prison if extradited to the U.S. and convicted on charges of racketeering, copyright infringement, and money laundering. The hacker-turned-multimillionaire businessman has been accused of costing the entertainment industry $500 million through pirated content uploaded to his popular file-sharing site, which boasted 180 million registered users and celebrity endorsements from Kanye West to Kim Kardashian.

Before Megaupload was shut down by federal prosecutors, a statement was reportedly posted on the site calling the charges "grotesquely overblown."

Dotcom has long been a controversial and flamboyant figure. Pictures of the Megaupload founder online show him with yachts, private jets and Playboy bunnies in exotic locations such as Monaco, Cuba, and Brazil. According to court filings, prosecutors are seeking the forfeiture of $175 million, dozens of bank accounts, as well as sports cars including Mercedes-Benzes, Rolls-Royces, and Lamborghinis (with vanity plates such as "God" and "CEO").
Long before SOPA, Dotcom saw a potential market in taking advantage of the system--and ran wild with the opportunity. How wild? Here's a look inside Dotcom's life of excess--a lifestyle afforded to a guy who's both tech savvy and unencumbered by business ethics, and who has a taste for shotguns, black Benzes, and wraparound shades.

- In 1994, 20 cops raided Dotcom's home, in what appeared to be a sting operation set up by MCI. The police confiscated $80,000 in computer equipment, arresting Dotcom and charging him with selling stolen credit cards. Dotcom claimed to be working undercover for MCI, and that he was only trying to help make the company's systems more secure.

- In 1998, Dotcom wore black sunglasses to his trial in Germany, and boasted that he loved "feeling like a spy." He was convicted of fraud and other hacking charges, including embezzling hundreds of thousands of dollars. He was sentenced to two years of probation, and fined 20,000 marks. The judge at the time said the court viewed his actions as "youthful foolishness."

.
- In 2001, Kim Dotcom (then known as Kim Schmitz) purchased a mountain of shares in a nearly bankrupt company called LetsBuyIt.com. He revealed to the public that he'd invest $100 million in the company. Share prices rocketed 300%, earning him $1.5 million in profit--but also landed him an insider trading conviction in Germany.

Simon · 2012-01-22, 08:40 AM

Here's something you never, ever, want to see on your sites...

tickler · 2012-01-24, 08:57 AM

It seems to have got some attention!

Some of the other sites like FileSonic have disabled their file sharing, or blocked USA IPs!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-16679174

LeRoy · 2012-01-24, 09:50 AM

Hopefully all these file lockers go down too.

The amount of our content on these sites.... it's ridiculous.

Hopefully this equates to more sales

housekeeper · 2012-01-24, 04:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LeRoy

Hopefully this equates to more sales

Perhaps over time, but I don't see it making an immediate impact. People drawing from these file sharing sites aren't so much interested in the porn itself, as the fact that it's free. But I've felt this is the biggest culprit in free content, more so than tubes, though they certainly aren't helping matters much.

We'll soon know, sales returning? Keeping my fingers crossed...

JK · 2012-01-24, 05:27 PM

An interesting twist in the MegaUpload story:

Is this the real reason why MegaUpload was Shut Down?

Quote:

In the weeks before the crackdown, Megaupload was planning on launching a new music sharing website called Megabox that looked like it had the potential to completely transform music distribution, and even find a way to pay musicians in the process.

I read about it here first.

~NH~ · 2012-01-24, 05:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JK

An interesting twist in the MegaUpload story:

Is this the real reason why MegaUpload was Shut Down?

I read about it here first.

Interesting Read. It Does Make You Wonder

2012-01-19, 05:40 PM	#1
ArtWilliams You can now put whatever you want in this space :) Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Toronto, Canada Posts: 6,244	U.S. shuts down file-sharing website Megaupload.com Click Here For The Article "An indictment accuses Megaupload.com of costing copyright holders more than $500-million (U.S.) 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 Thursday in New Zealand at the request of U.S. officials. Two other defendants are at large."

2012-01-19, 05:57 PM	#2
Cleo Subversive filth of the hedonistic decadent West Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Southeast Florida Posts: 27,936	I saw that this morning. I never actually heard of Megaupload.com before so I'm not sure how important this is but it's good to hear. Only another few thousand more to go. I really do wonder how biz would be if all the illegal tube sites were shut down. __________________ Free Rides on Uber and Lyft Uber Car: uberTzTerri Lyft Car: TZ896289

2012-01-19, 07:27 PM	#5
Cleo Subversive filth of the hedonistic decadent West Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Southeast Florida Posts: 27,936	You are a bit late posting. http://www.greenguysboard.com/board/...ad.php?t=63404 But it is very good news. __________________ Free Rides on Uber and Lyft Uber Car: uberTzTerri Lyft Car: TZ896289

2012-01-19, 11:29 PM	#11
tickler If there is nobody out there, that's a lot of real estate going to waste! Join Date: Dec 2003 Posts: 2,177	Sorry Cleo! I posted under business and Art posted under chit chat, so feel free to combine or remove this thread! ********* @Bill I think I saw a number where RS was making several hundred million a year in profits, so MU could easily be doing quite a bit with their millions of fee paying users! __________________ Latina Twins, Solo, NN, Hardcore Latin Teen Cash

2012-01-20, 01:55 AM	#13
bDok bang bang Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: SD/OC/LA Posts: 3,241	the /b/ tards welcome you. They are a friendly bunch. __________________ submit to Nymphotic submit to Moistlace

2012-01-19, 08:08 PM	#6
Bill Selling porn allows me to stay in a constant state of Bliss - ain't that a trip! Join Date: Apr 2003 Posts: 3,914	42 million - lets say the gummit is lying and applying drugwar math - so, still maybe 4 million. relatively serious money. and maybe it was actually 42 mil. well, I ain't gonna shed any tears for megaupload. wonder who's next?

2012-01-19, 08:10 PM	#7
Bill Selling porn allows me to stay in a constant state of Bliss - ain't that a trip! Join Date: Apr 2003 Posts: 3,914	never heard of megaupload? next you'll say you never heard of 4chan.

2012-01-19, 08:32 PM	#9
Bill Selling porn allows me to stay in a constant state of Bliss - ain't that a trip! Join Date: Apr 2003 Posts: 3,914	omg i was totally kidding - it never occured to me that you actually might not know 4chan - rofl. 4chan is way more infamous than megaupload - the birthplace of anonymous, home of the scriptkiddies, day zero for memes of all kinds, arguably the most powerful board on the net. one does not want to piss off 4chan.

2012-01-20, 10:10 AM	#16
Ramster Life is good Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Ottawa, Canada Posts: 11,682	I've never heard of 4chan, lol. Megaupload I have of course. __________________ Pornstar Legends \| Live Cam Model Shows \| Hungarian Girls Skype: robmurray999

2012-01-20, 09:16 PM	#19
Bill Selling porn allows me to stay in a constant state of Bliss - ain't that a trip! Join Date: Apr 2003 Posts: 3,914	Not a terrible article on megaupload, with a photo of kim dotcom, real name Kim Schmitz. Article originally from fast company? http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/46076072...mall_business/ In the Wild, Wild West-era of digital media, there is no cowboy quite like Kim Dotcom. Part Sean Parker, part Kevin Mitnick, with a whiff of Notorious B.I.G., Dotcom embodies the wildest age of piracy having made a fortune on the edges of Internet freedom. Dotcom, the megamind behind Megaupload, was arrested yesterday in New Zealand, his panic-room door busted down by officials, who found the hacker clinging to a sawed-off shotgun. Dotcom faces up to 55 years in prison if extradited to the U.S. and convicted on charges of racketeering, copyright infringement, and money laundering. The hacker-turned-multimillionaire businessman has been accused of costing the entertainment industry $500 million through pirated content uploaded to his popular file-sharing site, which boasted 180 million registered users and celebrity endorsements from Kanye West to Kim Kardashian. Before Megaupload was shut down by federal prosecutors, a statement was reportedly posted on the site calling the charges "grotesquely overblown." Dotcom has long been a controversial and flamboyant figure. Pictures of the Megaupload founder online show him with yachts, private jets and Playboy bunnies in exotic locations such as Monaco, Cuba, and Brazil. According to court filings, prosecutors are seeking the forfeiture of $175 million, dozens of bank accounts, as well as sports cars including Mercedes-Benzes, Rolls-Royces, and Lamborghinis (with vanity plates such as "God" and "CEO"). Long before SOPA, Dotcom saw a potential market in taking advantage of the system--and ran wild with the opportunity. How wild? Here's a look inside Dotcom's life of excess--a lifestyle afforded to a guy who's both tech savvy and unencumbered by business ethics, and who has a taste for shotguns, black Benzes, and wraparound shades. - In 1994, 20 cops raided Dotcom's home, in what appeared to be a sting operation set up by MCI. The police confiscated $80,000 in computer equipment, arresting Dotcom and charging him with selling stolen credit cards. Dotcom claimed to be working undercover for MCI, and that he was only trying to help make the company's systems more secure. - In 1998, Dotcom wore black sunglasses to his trial in Germany, and boasted that he loved "feeling like a spy." He was convicted of fraud and other hacking charges, including embezzling hundreds of thousands of dollars. He was sentenced to two years of probation, and fined 20,000 marks. The judge at the time said the court viewed his actions as "youthful foolishness." . - In 2001, Kim Dotcom (then known as Kim Schmitz) purchased a mountain of shares in a nearly bankrupt company called LetsBuyIt.com. He revealed to the public that he'd invest $100 million in the company. Share prices rocketed 300%, earning him $1.5 million in profit--but also landed him an insider trading conviction in Germany.

2012-01-22, 08:40 AM	#20
Simon That which does not kill us, will try, try again. Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: Conch Republic Posts: 5,150	Here's something you never, ever, want to see on your sites...

2012-01-24, 08:57 AM	#21
tickler If there is nobody out there, that's a lot of real estate going to waste! Join Date: Dec 2003 Posts: 2,177	It seems to have got some attention! Some of the other sites like FileSonic have disabled their file sharing, or blocked USA IPs! http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-16679174 __________________ Latina Twins, Solo, NN, Hardcore Latin Teen Cash

2012-01-24, 09:50 AM	#22
LeRoy "Young dumb and full of cum" Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Porn Valley Posts: 2,370	Hopefully all these file lockers go down too. The amount of our content on these sites.... it's ridiculous. Hopefully this equates to more sales __________________ JAPANESE ADULT AFFILIATE PROGRAM