MegaUploads.com closed - The internet should be faster today!

[Neil]

The filesharing website, which allowed users to freely exchange large video and audio files, was closed overnight and its operators were charged with criminal copyright infringement. They are accused of deliberately ignoring requests from film and music firms to remove pirated material, while making more than $175m from membership fees and advertising.

As MegaUploads supposedly accounted for 4% of the internet's traffic, we should all be running a bit faster today :)

Kim Dotcom's (owner) list of seized bling:-

Cars
2010 Maserati GranCabrio, VIN ZAMKM45B000051328, License PlateNo. “M-FB 212″ or “DH-GC 470″, registered to FINN BATATO;67.
2009 Mercedes-Benz E500 Coupe, VIN WDD20737225019582, LicensePlate No. “FEG690″
2005 Mercedes-Benz CLK DTM, VIN WDB2093422F165517, LicensePlate No. “GOOD”
2004 Mercedes-Benz CLK DTM AMG 5.5L Kompressor, VINWDB2093422F166073, License Plate No. “EVIL”
2010 Mercedes-Benz S65 AMG L, VIN WDD2211792A324354, LicensePlate No. “CEO” 7071.
2008 Rolls-Royce Phantom Drop Head Coupe, VINSCA2D68096UH07049; License Plate No. “GOD”;72.
2010 Mercedes-Benz E63 AMG, VIN WDD2120772A103834, LicensePlate No. “STONED”;73.
2010 Mini Cooper S Coupe, VIN WMWZG32000TZ03651, License PlateNo. “V”;74.
2010 Mercedes-Benz ML63 AMG, VIN WDC1641772A608055, LicensePlate No. “GUILTY”;
2007 Mercedes-Benz CL65 AMG, VIN WDD2163792A025130, LicensePlate No. “KIMCOM”;
2009 Mercedes-Benz ML63 AMG, VIN WDC1641772A542449, LicensePlate No. “MAFIA”;
2010 Toyota Vellfire, VIN 7AT0H65MX11041670, License Plate Nos.”WOW” or “7″;
2011 Mercedes-Benz G55 AMG, VIN WDB4632702X193395, LicensePlate Nos. “POLICE” or “GDS672″;
2011 Toyota Hilux, VIN MR0FZ29G001599926, License PlateNo. “FSN455″;
Harley Davidson Motorcycle, VIN 1HD1HPH3XBC803936, LicensePlate No. “36YED”;
2010 Mercedes-Benz CL63 AMG, VIN WDD2163742A026653, LicensePlate No. “HACKER”;
2005 Mercedes-Benz A170, VIN WDD1690322J184595, License PlateNo. “FUR252″;
2005 Mercedes-Benz ML500, VIN WDC1641752A026107, License PlateNo. DFF816;
Fiberglass sculpture, imported from the United Kingdom with EntryNo. 83023712;
1957 Cadillac El Dorado, VIN 5770137596;
2010 Sea-Doo GTX Jet Ski, VIN YDV03103E010;
1959 Cadillac Series 62 Convertible, VIN 59F115669;
Von Dutch Kustom Motor Bike, VIN 1H9S14955BB451257;
2006 Mercedes-Benz CLK DTM, VIN WDB2094421T067269;
2010 Mini Cooper S Coupe, VIN WMWZG32000TZ03648 LicensePlate No. “T”
1989 Lamborghini LM002, VIN ZA9LU45AXKLA12158, License PlateNo. “FRP358″
2011 Mercedes-Benz ML63, VIN 4JGBB7HB0BA666219


Gadgets
Sharp LC-65XS1M 65" LCD TV
Sharp LC-65XS1M 65" LCD TV
TVLogic 56" LUM56W TV
Sharp 108" LCD Display TV
Sharp 108" LCD Display TV
Sony PMW-F3K Camera S/N 0200231;101.
Sony PMW-F3K Camera S/N 0200561;
Samsung 820DXN 82" LCD TV
Samsung 820DXN 82" LCD TV
Samsung 820DXN 82" LCD TV



Only 300 of the Lamborghini LM002s were ever made!
http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/comment/4/2012/01/13505722a906a8ed19f2fc70c316d543/340x.jpg

[LouCipherr]

I guess SOPA and PIPA weren't even needed, eh? :D

[krakenslayer]

Not long now and the internet will be a nice, safe walled garden with nothing controversial or dangerous. One big soft play area, where every bounce on the trampoline is chargeable by credit card or paypal.

Oh, I can hardly wait. :/

[shootemindehead]

The web is going to be shit in a few years.

[rongravy]

The web is going to be shit in a few years.

I'm beginning to wonder why Al Gore invented it in the first place...:elol:

[LouCipherr]

I'm beginning to wonder why Al Gore invented it in the first place...:elol:

http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e104/LouCipherr/I-see-what-you-did-there-Fry.jpg

:lol:

[shootemindehead]

I'm beginning to wonder why Al Gore invented it in the first place...:elol:

Al...where are you now???? Megaupload needs you!

http://www.comedycentral.com/press/images/southpark/1112ImaginationlandPartIII-2.jpg

[AcesandEights]

First they came for the file-sharerers, and I said nothing, I was not, after all, a sharer of files.
Then they came for the bestiality websites, and I said--whoah, hold on a sec there!

[LouCipherr]

This is hysterical. The megaupload case may never make it to trial because of an FBI screwup.

http://abovethelaw.com/2012/04/megaupload-trial-may-never-happen-because-the-fbi-apparently-doesnt-understand-extradition-rules/ (http://abovethelaw.com/2012/04/megaupload-trial-may-never-happen-because-the-fbi-apparently-doesnt-understand-extradition-rules/)

Text from link:

Megaupload Trial May Never Happen Because of Possible FBI Error

The U.S. government seems to be losing ground quickly in the PR war surrounding the case against Megaupload, the massive file-sharing site, and the company’s leader, Kim Dotcom. Just over a week ago, we learned that Quinn Emmanuel had signed on as the company’s defense team; the firm hit the ground running with a brief calling B.S. on one of the government’s objections.

And on Friday evening, news broke that the FBI may have again screwed the Megaupload pooch. The potential procedural goof was apparently severe enough that a federal judge wondered aloud if it might have killed the case…

It turns out that the US judge handling the case has serious doubts whether it will ever go to trial due to a procedural error.

“I frankly don’t know that we are ever going to have a trial in this matter,” Judge [Liam] O’Grady said as reported by the NZ Herald.

Judge O’Grady informed the FBI that Megaupload was never served with criminal charges, which is a requirement to start the trial. The origin of this problem is not merely a matter of oversight. Megaupload’s lawyer Ira Rothken says that unlike people, companies can’t be served outside US jurisdiction.

“My understanding as to why they haven’t done that is because they can’t. We don’t believe Megaupload can be served in a criminal matter because it is not located within the jurisdiction of the United States,” Rothken says.

Megaupload’s lawyer adds that he doesn’t understand why the US authorities weren’t aware of this problem before. As a result Judge O’Grady noted that Megaupload is “kind of hanging out there.”

As Randy Marsh once said, “Well, that sucks.” It will be interesting to see how the feds respond to this. These issues can be complex (and are surely absorbing many hours of Quinn associates’ time), but they come up frequently in cases like this one. Defendants who are not located in the United States frequently cry “no jurisdiction” or “improper service,” but the government claims they have sufficient contacts with the U.S. and goes after them anyway.

Kim Dotcom, who is still under house arrest in New Zealand, took news of the FBI’s possible screw-up as an opportunity to go on the offensive:

“They destroyed 220 jobs. Millions of legitimate Mega users have no access to their files.”

The government has gotten a lot of flack for allegedly seizing not only copyright-protected data, but also information owned and uploaded by individuals who no longer have access to their own files. Negotiations on how to handle that data will start later this week.

Dotcom continued ranting against the attorney problems that Quinn tried to fix just over a week ago:

“We are refused access to the evidence that clears us, we are refused funds to pay our lawyers, we are refused to pick the lawyers we want to represent us and have any chance for a fair trial,” Dotcom says.

And then he turned his ire to the Hollywood “copyright extremists”:

This Mega takedown was possible because of corruption on the highest political level, serving the interests of the copyright extremists in Hollywood,” he says. “Mega has become a re-election pawn.”

It’s interesting to see how Megaupload appears to be prevailing over the government in the spin war. At first, going after Megaupload seemed like a slam-dunk. Even people who don’t disagree with a lot of the entertainment industry’s enforcement tactics could see the seemingly clear legal justification for going after the cyber locker. It was pretty obvious (and I know this from personal experience) to anyone who’d ever visited Megaupload that there was A LOT of copyrighted content on the site that probably shouldn’t have been there.

But various bungles on the part of the prosecution may have squandered some of the good PR karma the government had going into the case. We will just have to wait and see if the feds have any other tricks up their sleeve.
____________

The plot thickens... :elol:

[Neil]

^^ Does that mean all his confiscated stuff would have to be returned? LOL!

[shootemindehead]

Thanks for that Lou. It really is hilarious reading.

Happy to see this panning out the way it is, TBH. But what a farce it's been.

[Mr. Clean]

Somebody is gonna get fired....

[Sammich]

Not long now and the internet will be a nice, safe walled garden with nothing controversial or dangerous. One big soft play area, where every bounce on the trampoline is chargeable by credit card or paypal.

Oh, I can hardly wait. :/

The "internet 2.0" model being discussed by the major ISPs is that it will be just like subscribing to satelite or cable tv. You would get access to a basic package of big corporate owned websites, but anything outside of that would be equivalent to pay-per-view and also subject to government approval.

Fascism should more appropriately be called Corporatism because it is a merger of state and corporate power. - Benito Mussolini

[LouCipherr]

^^ Does that mean all his confiscated stuff would have to be returned? LOL!

It would be awesome if that was the case!

Can you imagine the judge saying, "Well, you have no case. Give Mr. Dotcom his stuff back and put the servers back online." :lol:

Yeah, Mr. Clean is right. Someone is getting shit-canned after this fiasco.

[bassman]

Give Mr. Dotcom his stuff back and.....:


I haven't looked into this case it all, but is that really the owner's name?....

[MoonSylver]

FBI should have Google'ed the proper way to handle the case on Wikipedia. :lol:

[AcesandEights]

FBI should have Google'ed the proper way to handle the case on Wikipedia. :lol:

"It turns out that 'Chain of Evidence' isn't a late 70s prog-rock group..."

[rgc2005]

and the FBI still has the issue in NZ court where they took the hard drives to the USA without asking.