[News] US Gov. Shut Down Megaupload, Anonymous Retaliates and Hacks Department of Justice Website, FBI & More
As I'm sure all of you are aware last night a sad blow for the masses was taken when Megaupload was shut down by the US Department of Justice and the FBI. As the news broke Twitter worked up into a frenzy and a backlash began. It was only a few days ago the the New York Time souted Swizz Beatz as the CEO of the website! Although there's not been a statement from him and he wasn't arrested. Seven people have been charged with racketeering, copyright infringement and money laundering. Several of the charges involve conspiracy, and the maximum sentences for the various charges range from five to 20 years each. Pretty scary stuff. There's a copy of the full Indictment over here which is a hell of a lot of information to take in and includes personal emails sent amongst the employees regarding copyrighted material etc.
According to prosecutors, Megaupload illegally cheated copyright holders out of $500m in revenue as part of a criminal enterprise spanning five years and in the process made over $175m. The website which once was the 13th most popular website on the world is no more and the internet has fought back. Anonymous have taken flight and in turn shut down/hacked the websites for the Department of Justice, Universal Music Group, the RIAA and the Motion Picture Association of America! Anon seem to be taking credz for it too already tweeting from numerous account: "Tango down http://www.universalmusic.com/ #Anonymous #Antisec #SOPA #MegaUpload", "Oh noes! http://www.justice.gov seems to be down :( #Megaupload #SOPA #PIPA Expect more! #Anonymous", "Tango down: http://www.fbi.gov for taking down #Megaupload.com Payback's a bitch! Expect more! #Anonymous".
With SOPA and PIPA getting push through the system, how do you feel about this whole situation. I personally used Megaupload and Megavideo a lot. Heems' last mixtape was released via Megaupload. With an active 50 Million users per day this is not going to just be water under the bridge. Stand up and make a difference.
