Feds Shut Down Megaupload File-Sharing-Website

Feds Shut Down Megaupload.com File-Sharing Website

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One of the world’s largest file-sharing sites was pack up Thursday, and its founder and several other company executives were charged with violating piracy laws, federal prosecutors said.

An indictment accuses Megaupload.com of costing copyright holders quite $500 million in lost revenue from pirated films and alternative content. The indictment was unsealed at some point when websites together with Wikipedia and Craigslist pack up in protest of 2 congressional proposals meant to thwart on-line piracy.

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The Justice Department said in an exceedingly statement said that Kim Dotcom, formerly referred to as Kim Schmitz, and 3 others were arrested Thursday in New Zealand at the request of U.S. officials. 2 alternative defendants are at massive.

Megaupload was distinctive not solely due to its huge size and therefore the volume of downloaded content, however conjointly as a result of it had high-profile support from celebrities, musicians and alternative content producers who are most frequently the victims of copyright infringement and piracy. Before the web site was taken down, it contained endorsements from Kim Kardashian, Alicia Keys and Kanye West, among others.

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The Hong Kong-based company listed Swizz Beatz, a musician who married Keys in 2010, as its CEO. He wasn't named within the indictment and declined to comment through a representative.

Before the location was taken down, it posted an announcement saying allegations that it facilitated huge breaches of copyright laws were “grotesquely overblown.”

“The reality is that the overwhelming majority of Mega’s web traffic is legitimate, and that we are here to remain. If the content trade would love to require advantage of our popularity, we tend to are happy to enter into a dialogue. we've got some sensible ideas. Please get involved,” the statement said.

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The site boasted a hundred and fifty million registered users. A lawyer who represented the corporate in an exceedingly lawsuit last year declined comment Thursday.

Megaupload is taken into account a “cyberlocker,” within which users will upload and transfer files that are too massive to send by email. Such sites will have perfectly legitimate uses. however the movie Association of America, that has campaigned for a crackdown on piracy, estimated that the overwhelming majority of content being shared on Megaupload was in violation of copyright laws.

The website allowed users to download films, TV shows, games, music and alternative content for free of charge, however created cash by charging subscriptions to those who wished access to faster download speeds or further content. the web site conjointly sold advertising.

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The indictment was came within the japanese District of Virginia, that claimed jurisdiction partly as a result of a number of the alleged pirated materials were hosted on leased servers in Ashburn, Va.

Dotcom, a resident of each Hong Kong and New Zealand, and a twin citizen of Finland and Germany, created quite $42 million from the conspiracy in 2010 alone, consistent with the indictment.

Dotcom is founder, former CEO and current chief innovation officer of Megaupload.

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