Yesterday no one could access Wikipedia due to the SOPA protest; today (and tomorrow, and the day after that, and beyond), anyone trying to download files through Megaupload will be disappointed, as the file-sharing site — which reportedly boasts none other than Swizz Beatz as its silent partner and CEO — has been shut down my federal prosecutors.
The Justice Department charges Megaupload with “generating more than $175 million in criminal proceeds and causing more than half a billion dollars in harm to copyright owners.” Seven people have been indited today for online piracy crimes, and four of those are already in custody. Beatz, whose involvement with Megaupload was not publicly known until recently, was not charged.
Why was he not charged? It could be that his name doesn’t appear in the 72-page indictment, according to Forbes. So is he the CEO of the company, off the books? We have a feeling Swizz won’t be rushing to confirm this anytime soon.
After Megaupload was taken down, a few other sites got a taste of their own medicine — websites for the Justice Department, Universal Music Group, the Motion Pictures Association of America and the Recording Industry Association of America were reportedly shut down by hacker group Anonymous. “http://universalmusic.com & justice.gov & RIAA.ORG TANGO DOWN #Megaupload Fight for Internet Freedom!” was posted on the group’s Twitter page Thursday afternoon.
Idolator, of course, does not endorse illegally downloading music or movies. But, for those intent on hearing the newest Madonna song early or grabbing the latest episode of Dexter online, we’re pretty sure they’ll manage to find another site able to give it to them.
Ah well. At least we’ll always have “The Megaupload Song.”
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