Feds storm, shut down popular file-sharing site Megaupload

[DarkSamus]

Why post that? Pirate Bay is not down

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[Dynamo]

It was down earlier. Happens with them from time to time I've noticed but usually back up pretty fast.

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[Radix865]

My ISP was sued to block connection to piratebay and despite them appealing, they were ordered to block it anyways until/if it's repelled...

Lucky me I don't use piratebay!

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[Kaizen]

Originally Posted by DarkSamus

Why post that? Pirate Bay is not down

it will be for the UK in June

Major music groups want British internet service providers (ISPs), such as BT and BSkyB, to prevent their millions of customers from accessing The Pirate Bay in the UK.

In a judgment handed down at the high court in London on Monday, Mr Justice Arnold ruled that The Pirate Bay and its users unlawfully share copyrighted music.

The Pirate Bay is one of the world's longest-running and biggest filesharing sites. According to record labels, it generated up to $3m in advertising revenue in October last year by making 4m copies of music and films available to its 30 million worldwide users. The site has 3.7 million users in the UK, according to comScore.

The high court is expected to rule in June whether the ISPs should prevent their customers from accessing The Pirate Bay.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology...-uk-high-court

Of course the media thieves will pressure the government into submission like in america. Perhaps not so publicly here but for sure. PB is done.

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[SCHUMI_4EVER]

And just to make this all even more interesting
http://news.cnet.com/8301-31001_3-57...eclaim-assets/

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Get it right fools! The glass is HALF-EMPTY, not half-full!!!

!!! WARNING: Emulation requires a brain !!! WARNING: Emulation =/= Piracy !!!

[Xblade]

Its hard to be sympathetic for piratebay imo..

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[Radix865]

As they shut down the big ones, people will just search other, smaller sites which will then in turn grow... They're fighting fire with gasoline... It's useless, a waste of theirs and everyones time.

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[DarkSamus]

I'll say it again...
Pirate Bay is not down.
I just checked.

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Do you play PC RE5, RE6 or SSF4AE but hate that the button mappings uses XBOX360 buttons?
Try my Resident Evil 5, Resident Evil 6 or Super Street Fighter 4 Arcade Edition Playstation button mods!
As far as handhelds go, well, I get the Nintendo one.
Because I'm not an idiot.

[Ahielia]

Again.. It was, earlier.
Just because it's not down the time you try it, doesn't mean it hasn't been.

[Strike105X]

Personally i think the confusion was because they changed the sufix to the site, most likely.

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[Xblade]

Piratebay goes down almost daily, server issues. o_o

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[DarkSamus]

Originally Posted by Ahielia

Again.. It was, earlier.
Just because it's not down the time you try it, doesn't mean it hasn't been.

But this thread is for file sharing sites that are permanently shut down.

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Try my Resident Evil 5, Resident Evil 6 or Super Street Fighter 4 Arcade Edition Playstation button mods!
As far as handhelds go, well, I get the Nintendo one.
Because I'm not an idiot.

[Hard core Rikki]

Other hosts have been named as rogue pirate/CP havens.

wupload disabled sharing.

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[GeominorAI]

Megaupload User Asks Court To Order Return Of His Data

Months after the Megaupload raids and arrests, the fate of the data stored on the site’s 1,103 seized servers is still unclear. Many Megaupload users want their accounts returned because they contain irreplaceable information, but they have been waiting in vain. Today the EFF has filed a motion on behalf of Megaupload user Kyle Goodwin, which demands that the court finally comes up with a solution.

In the wake of the January shutdown of Megaupload, many of the site’s legitimate users complained that their personal files had been lost.

Behind the scenes Megaupload negotiated with the Department of Justice and other parties to allow these users to temporarily access their files. When these negotiations failed last month the court was asked to provide a solution, but in response it instructed the parties to reach an agreement on their own.

However, a month has passed and absolutely no progress has been made on the issue according to a document filed today by the EFF.

Representing Kyle Goodwin, a sports reporter who used Megaupload to store work-related files, the EFF has filed a motion in which it demands that the court finds a workable solution for the return of his data. Goodwin already requested the court to assist in a document filed early April, but he is tired of waiting.

According to the motion, the seizure of the data and domains violate the constitutional rights of many innocent Megaupload users.

“In seizing domain names and executing the search warrant at Carpathia, the government took constructive possession of third parties’ data, then abandoned the data under circumstances in which it was both inaccessible and potentially subject to destruction,” the motion reads.

“It is equally obvious that the seizure and continued denial of access violates Mr. Goodwin’s constitutional rights. Under the Fourth and Fifth Amendments, the government was obligated to execute the searches and seizures in a manner that reasonably protected the rights of third parties to access and retrieval.”

The motion also emphasizes that this request is not just about a single Megaupload user, there are many more who find themselves in a similar position.

“To be clear, however, there is more at stake here than Mr. Goodwin’s data. The government also seized the property of an unknown but significant number of other people along with Mr. Goodwin’s property. If the Court does not act, all of those people also face years of deprivation, if not permanent loss.”

The EFF further points out that the government has gone too far in its actions.

“What is worse, the government’s procedure and legal posture in this case appears to reflect a broader disregard for the effects its increasing use of domain and other digital seizure mechanisms can have on the innocent users of cloud computing services.”

The motion concludes by asking the court to appoint an independent third-party to investigate the exact requirements and options for a user data retrieval.

Aside from asking the court to come up with a solution for Megaupload users, the EFF suggests that the court should prescribe procedures and standards on how similar data seizures should be handled in the future.

Source: TorrentFreak

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[GeominorAI]

U.S. Govt: Megaupload Users Should Sue Megaupload

The U.S. Government says it’s in no way responsible for the millions of Megaupload users who have lost access to their files due to the criminal proceedings against the file-sharing site. Responding to a motion from one of the site’s users, the Government explains that no “irreparable harm” has been done. Instead of targeting the Government, disadvantaged users should sue Megaupload or its hosting company Carpathia for damages.

Nearly half a year has passed since Megaupload’s servers were raided by the U.S. Government, and still there is no agreement on how former users can retrieve their files.

This prompted Megaupload user Kyle Goodwin, a sports reporter who used Megaupload to store work-related files, to take action. Helped by the EFF, Mr. Goodwin filed a motion in which he demands that the court finds a workable solution for the return of his data, and that of other former Megaupload users.

Previous attempts to come to a solution have all failed.

Hosting company Carpathia agreed to sell Megaupload the servers for $1,000,000 earlier this year, but the U.S. authorities objected to the plan. The Government did not want to unfreeze Megaupload’s assets so the data can be saved.

The MPAA also spoke out against the agreement, but stated last week that users could get their files back as long as copyrighted files remain inaccessible.

The U.S. Government, however, is asking the court to deny the motion of the Megaupload user. Mr. Goodwin has accused the Government of violating the constitutional rights of many innocent Megaupload users through the overbroad seizures of domains and servers, but the Attorney General Neil MacBride disagrees.

“The government does not possess any of Mr. Goodwin’s property, nor does it seek to forfeit it,” MacBride writes.

“The government also does not oppose access by Kyle Goodwin to the 1103 servers previously leased by Megaupload. But access is not the issue – if it was, Mr. Goodwin could simply hire a forensic expert to retrieve what he claims is his property and reimburse Carpathia for its associated costs.”

In other words, the Government says it no longer has control over the servers and that Megaupload users can access them whenever they want. The only problem is that this would cost thousands of dollars, if not more.

The Government doesn’t want to pay for a user data retrieval and doesn’t want Megaupload to pay for it either. The authorities already made backups of what they consider crucial data, and don’t mind if the severs are wiped clean. That Megaupload users lose their files is unfortunate, but the financial loss Mr. Goodwin claims is not considered to be “irreparable harm.”

“One reason that monetary loss does not constitute irreparable harm is that Mr. Goodwin has a legal remedy to recover any monetary losses,” MacBride writes.

“For instance, if Megaupload (by failing to maintain its leased servers with data he uploaded) or Carpathia (by terminating Megaupload’s lease and choosing not to continue to provide access to the servers) violated a term of service or other contract with Mr. Goodwin, he can sue Megaupload or Carpathia to recover his losses.”

Effectively, the U.S. Government is blocking the plans of Megaupload and Carpathia to reunite users with their data, and suggests that affected users like Mr. Goodwin should sue these parties to claim their losses. A rather unusual proposal.

The result is that a user data retrieval looks farther away than ever before.

Unless the court intervenes all existing 25 petabytes of data hosted by Carpathia may have to be destroyed. Currently, the hosting company is losing $9000 per day to keep the data intact.

Aside from the loss of user files that this mass-deletion brings along, Megaupload will also lose access to data that may help the company in its defense against the U.S. Government.

Source: TorrentFreak

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[GeominorAI]

DOJ tries to block return of data to MegaUpload user

U.S. files motion asking a federal court to deny a request from a former MegaUpload user for the return of his football videos.

Returning videos to Kyle Goodwin, a former MegaUpload user, would set a bad precedent, the U.S. said in documents, copies of which were obtained by CNET.

The fate of legitimate user data that was locked up following the shut down of MegaUpload, one of the world's most popular cloud-storage services, continues to vex the court overseeing the case. Negotiations between the stakeholders involved, including MegaUpload, the Motion Picture Association of America, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (the advocacy group representing Goodwin) and the U.S. Attorney's office, can't agree on what should be done with the information former users stored on MegaUpload's servers.

Lawyers representing the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia asked a federal court on Friday to deny Goodwin's request for the return of his videos, most of which are of high school sports events. He said that the court has already heard Goodwin's request and that the videographer has already received all the relief to which he is entitled.

The United States also reminded the court that the necessary circumstances don't exist for the court to exercise its "equity jurisdiction." Finally, the government said if the court grants Goodwin's request, it would open the door for any third party to petition the courts any time a search warrant affects them adversely.

"Mr. Goodwin's proposed solution is to have the government bear the financial cost of restoring his data," the U.S. Attorney's office wrote in its filing, "even if that means releasing assets of the defendants which are subject to mandatory forfeiture. Twenty-three years ago, the Supreme Court made clear that a criminal defendant does not have a right to use someone else's money to finance his defense."

The U.S. Attorney's office accused Kim DotCom, MegaUpload's founder, and six other defendants with operating a thinly veiled piracy service. MegaUpload's managers allegedly enriched themselves by encouraging users from around the world to make illegal copies of movies, music, and software and then store that material on the company's servers.

DotCom and the other defendants deny that and say they oversaw a legitimate operation. The company said that it can't be held legally responsible for the copyright infringement committed by users.

When MegaUpload was shut down and the company's servers subpoenaed by the government, all the user data was taken offline. Goodwin says that he was the rightful copyright owner of the video he shot and now just wants it back. The district judge overseeing the case in April requested all parties to try and come to a negotiated settlement about what should be done with the user data.

Two weeks ago, Goodwin reported back to the court that talks had stalled and again asked for his videos back. The Motion Picture Association of America, the trade group for the six film studios, is concerned that pirated movies and TV shows aren't once again circulated but said last week that it has no objection to legitimate content being returned.

It's worth nothing that the government, in its brief, wrote Goodwin has another legal option to pursue if he believes his possessions weren't treated fairly. "Mr. Goodwin," the government's lawyers wrote, "can sue MegaUpload or Carpathia [Hosting, the company that hosted MegaUpload's servers] to recover his losses."

Source: CNET News

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[GeominorAI]

Steve Wozniak: I support Kim Dotcom and MegaUpload



Last week, Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak was photographed next to MegaUpload founder Kim Dotcom during Wozniak's visit to New Zealand. Today, Wozniak has officially put his support for Dotcom and their fight against the US government, who shut down the site and arrested Dotcom for charges of online content piracy in January.

In an email interview with News.com, Wozniak said:

Wozniak also said that MegaUpload was deleting links to pirated content on their site before the US forced it to shut down. While he says that violating copyright laws is "wrong" he adds that should not halt digital innovation. He stated, "When you can't stop something like a steamroller, get out of the way."

Dotcom and several other MegaUpload team members are currently awaiting an important hearing in August that should decide whether or not they will be extradited to the US to face the online piracy charges.

Source: Neowin

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[GeominorAI]

New Zealand court rules Megaupload raid was illegal

New Zealand police acted illegally when armed officers raided Megaupload founder Kim Dotcom's Auckland mansion earlier this year, a High Court judge ruled on Thursday.

Judge Helen Winkelmann said the search warrants police used when they raided the Internet millionaire's property as part of a US probe into allegations of massive online piracy were too broad to be considered reasonable.

The ruling will not end the case against Dotcom -- who is on bail awaiting a bid to extradite him to the United States -- but the judge said that next week she would consider ordering some seized material to be returned to him.

She also found computer data seized by police during the raid had been unlawfully copied and sent to authorities in the United States, who accuse Dotcom of racketeering, money laundering and copyright theft.

"The police relied on invalid warrants when they searched the properties and seized the various items, the search and seizure was therefore illegal," Winkelmann said in a judgement released Thursday.

US authorities allege Megaupload and related file-sharing sites netted more than $175 million and cost copyright owners more than $500 million by offering pirated copies of movies, TV shows and other content.

Dotcom and his three co-accused, who were all arrested in the January 20 raid, deny any wrongdoing and have vowed to fight the charges, which carry potential jail terms of up to 20 years.

Winkelmann will hear final submissions from both legal teams representing the accused and the police next Wednesday before issuing orders.

In a separate legal move, the US District Court in Virginia is scheduled to hear a motion from Megaupload's lawyers Friday to dismiss the case against the company and its executives.

The motion will argue that the US Justice Department and FBI had no right to take action against Megaupload because the Hong Kong-registered company has no presence in the United States.

Police said in a statement that they were considering the judgement and deciding what further action is now required.

Source: AFP

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[Strike105X]

Well finally things are starting to look a bit better for Dotcom hopefully though he will win, i want to see his project completed.

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[GeominorAI]

Kim Dotcom: Joe Biden Ordered the Megaupload Shutdown

Kim Dotcom says he knows who ordered the shutdown of his company and related sites. The Megaupload founder informs TorrentFreak that he has insider information which reveals that none other than Vice President Joe Biden directed attorney Neil MacBride to target the site. Biden is known to be one of the best friends of former Senator Chris Dodd, who’s now heading the MPAA.

When Megaupload was raided in January, questions were raised as to why the U.S. Government acted so aggressively against a company that seemingly played by the rules.

It’s no secret that the MPAA provides the authorities with “leads” for criminal investigations on a regular basis, but considering the size and location of the company Megaupload was not an ordinary target.

Soon after Kim Dotcom was released from custody he pointed the finger at Washington, arguing that the Mega investigation was a ‘gift’ to Hollywood, facilitated by corrupt Government forces. In the months that followed Dotcom and his team researched the motivations of the U.S. Government which resulted in some revealing findings.

While Megaupload’s founder is cautious about revealing too much early on, he says he has information which shows that it was none other than Vice President Joe Biden who called for the Megaupload takedown.

“I do know from a credible source that it was Joe Biden, the best friend of former Senator and MPAA boss Chris Dodd, who ordered his former lawyer and now state attorney Neil MacBride to take Mega down,” Dotcom told TorrentFreak.

Dotcom previously hinted that Biden was involved in the Megaupload case through one of his tweets.

“Lovebirds” Biden and Dodd



According to Dotcom the Mega case was discussed June last year in a meeting in the West Wing of the White House.

“After we received information from an insider we scanned the White House visitor logs for all meetings of Chris Dodd and studio bosses with Joe Biden and Obama. They are publicly available on the White House website,” Dotcom told us.

“It is interesting that a man by the name of Mike Ellis of MPA Asia, an extradition expert and former superintendent of the Hong Kong police, was also at a meeting with Dodd, all studio bosses and Joe Biden. The same Mike Ellis met with the Minister of Justice Simon Power in New Zealand.”

An overview of the visitors that were present at this meeting is listed below.

Barry Meyer – CEO Warner Bros Entertainment, Brad Grey – CEO Paramount Pictures, Michael Ellis -Managing Director MPA Asia Pacific, Chris Dodd – CEO MPAA, Jeff Blake – Vice Chairman of Sony Pictures Entertainment, Ronald Meyer – President Universal Studios, Michael O’Leary – MPAA Senior Executive Vice President for Global Policy and External Affairs, Robert Regan – (?) and Rich Ross – Chairman of Walt Disney Studios at the time.

The meeting



The information above does indeed suggest that the Megaupload case was discussed at the highest political levels last year. Noteworthy is also the MPAA’s lobbying disclosure statement of last year which includes money spent on lobbying the office of Vice President Joe Biden.

What exactly Biden’s role has been, and whether that’s problematic, remains to be seen. However, Dotcom is convinced that corrupt elements in the U.S. Government brought Mega down. More on this will be made public in the near future.

“At the appropriate time we will release what we know. The whole Mega case is quite the political thriller,” Dotcom concludes.

Source: TorrentFreak

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