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As a counter-point to the SOPA/PIPA demonstration

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wraith808:
For people who thought that SOPA/PIPA were the only (or even the most important) battleground....

http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2012/01/megaupload-indicted-shuttered/

Feds Shutter Megaupload, Arrest Executives

Megaupload, the popular file-sharing site, was shuttered Thursday and its executives indicted by the Justice Department in what the authorities said was “among the largest criminal copyright cases ever brought by the United States.”

Seven individuals connected to the Hong Kong-based site were indicted on a variety of charges, including criminal copyright infringement and conspiracy to commit money laundering. Four of the members of what the authorities called a “racketeering conspiracy” were arrested Thursday in Auckland, New Zealand, the authorities said.

One of those arrested was Kim Schmitz, aka Kim Dotcom, Megaupload’s founder. His attorney, Ira Rothken of California, said neither he nor his 37-year-old client, who resides in Hong Kong and New Zealand, was given the opportunity to surrender. Schmitz was arrested without notice, he said.

“We’re looking into what’s going on,” Rothken said in a telephone interview.

Visitors to the Megaupload site, which gets about 50 million hits daily, were greeted with a message from the Justice Department. ”This domain name associated with the website Megaupload.com has been seized pursuant to an order issued by a U.S. District Court.”

The government said the site facilitated copyright infringement of movies “often before their theatrical release, music, television programs, electronic books, and business and entertainment software on a massive scale.” The government said Megaupload’s “estimated harm” to copyright holders was “well in excess of $500 million.”

(continued in the link above)

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So, anyone think this is a coincidence?

tslim:
Ma ma ... :(

I am in Malaysia and has no idea about this sopa pipa thing...
Man I just signed up (yesterday as of this writing) a six months account subscription with megaupload, then today their service is halted. wtf! >:(

tranglos:
"money laundering", my posterior.

One takeaway from this should be that none of those arrested were US citizens or were on US soil. Seizing equipment is one thing, but now we all live under US law, such as it is. (That "now" should read "we have for some time now", but it's a prime example.) Say thank you to your respective governments, everyone!

There's also this.

mwb1100:
Aside from whatever one might think about SOPA/PIPA, isn't this an indication that SOPA/PIPA isn't necessary?  Apparently they can already do the kinds of enforcement actions that I thought were the reason for SOPA/PIPA bring introduced.

tranglos:
Aside from whatever one might think about SOPA/PIPA, isn't this an indication that SOPA/PIPA isn't necessary?  Apparently they can already do the kinds of enforcement actions that I thought were the reason for SOPA/PIPA bring introduced.
-mwb1100 (January 19, 2012, 05:14 PM)
--- End quote ---

Totally, but if (if!) we accept that copyright infringement is theft, then neither is DMCA and other copyright enforcement laws. The very proliferation of these laws - the legislative shock and awe, legal terror, if you will - is a strong indication the MPAAs and RIAAs of this world realize they have an increasingly weak standing. (And there's also ACTA!)

I'm afraid it's going to get much worse before it gets any better. Not just on the copyright front.

As a sidenote, the Anonymous have responded. Try accessing www.justice.gov or www.universalmusic.com now.

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