Anonymous Hackers Go on Revenge Spree After US Government Shuts Down Megaupload – DoJ, RIAA, MPAA, and UNIVERSAL MUSIC All Offline
Posted by Jim Hoft on Thursday, January 19, 2012, 7:09 PM
The US government shut down one of the world’s largest filesharing websites, Megaupload, accusing its founders of racketeering, money laundering and piracy. The popular filesharing website attacted 50,000,000 visitors a day. These actions prompted Anonymous hackers to go on a revenge hacking spree.
The DoJ, RIAA, MPAA, and UNIVERSAL MUSIC All Offline.
Sure enough. The Department of Justice website was down tonight.
The US accused the website of racketeering and money laundering.
The Guardian reported:
The US government has closed down one of the world’s largest filesharing websites, accusing its founders of racketeering, money laundering and presiding over “massive” online piracy.
According to prosecutors, Megaupload illegally cheated copyright holders out of $500m in revenue as part of a criminal enterprise spanning five years.
A lawyer for Megaupload told the Guardian it would “vigorously” defend itself against the charges, dismissing the criminal action as “a civil case in disguise”.
News of the indictment – being framed as one of the biggest copyright cases in US history – came a day after major internet firms held a 24-hour protest over proposed anti-piracy laws.
According to a Department of Justice release, seven people associated with Megaupload were indicted by a federal grand jury earlier this month over the charges.
They included Kim Dotcom, founder of the online firm.
The 37-year-old, who also goes by Kim Tim Jim Vestor and whose real name is Kim Schmitz, is accused of heading up a criminal venture that earn Dotcom and his associates upwards of $175m.
These profits were obtained illegally through advertising and the selling of premium memberships to users of Megaupload, the justice department is claiming.
Established in 2005, the website offered a “one-click” upload, providing an easily accessible online locker for shared content.
Before being shut down, the firm boasted 50 million daily visitors, accounting for 4% of total internet traffic, the justice department claimed in its statement on the indictment.
Prosecutors allege that the website violated copyright law by illegally hosting movies, music and TV shows on a massive scale.
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Published May 23, 2012 at 4:57 am - 64 Comments
Taqiyyotomist commented:
The backlash will not be against Anonymous.
It will be against the rest of us.
Just like always with the Progressives.
Someone got capped with a .45? Take away guns from all people.
Don’t get too attached to this internet thing, folks.
Rob Crawford commented:
Whoopti-do. They took down the digital equivalent of a road sign.
Justin commented:
Oh noes I can’t go to the DoJ website to learn how to arm drug gangs and get away with it because some script kiddies are angry or something.
Sasja commented:
Grand juries for the most part will indict a flea if the prosecutor wants it done. I am not familiar with Megaupload, but since we are all familiar with the no-Justice Dept and the criminally-run administration, I call into question this site did anything illegal and they are doing a pratice run to see how many others they can take out under the auspices of criminal activity.
Valerie commented:
It’d be quicker and cheaper to just upgrade security, but we will have all kinds of suggestions for laws, a Federal agency, and huge and automatic damages.
These big copyright owners are going to have to figure out how to set up easy ways for customers to sample, buy and sell products. The real problem is that the sellers don’t know what they want to do, how to charge, or how much to charge. The onus is really on them, not the customers, to figure this out.
Hint: it should be both easy and cheap. The incremental costs for copies of content are essentially nil. High costs and tricky processes that interfere with customer enjoyment are counterproductive.
If you want to get a big earful of this, ask any 16-year-old boy who can put together a computer.
donh commented:
In a free society the rights owners are to take alleged infringers to court …but these large fascist corporations have so much influence over our government they can call upon the police state to act like a mob boss and shake down the little guys who are not paying into the copyright racket. This is why we have police men who will bust a poor man selling a few fake gucci bags in the alley for $20 while the sex traders cutting off womens heads go ignored . You can flood the country with illegal aliens but don’t you dare watch a free rerun of Gilligan’s Island.
NorthernX commented:
Damn.
Why did it have to be Megaupload?
I have pages and pages of links that I wanted to download…
TiminPhx commented:
Just genius. They don’t like a process that’s going on, so they do actions that make people think, “hey, the government needs more control so as to prevent these idiot’s actions.”
Talk about counter-productive.
dmacleo commented:
lot of android developers use mega upload for LEGITIMATE file sharing for roms and mods.
this SUCKS.
I provide bandwidth for a few (about 2 TB a month +/-) may have to see if I can help more.
donh commented:
This is like unplugging the entire Ebay marketplace because a few users upload a counterfit video. Ruin the livelyhood of millions of law abiding small business retailers because 1% of the users offer fake Rolex watches. It is easier to strike at the platform because of the cost involved in tracking down each individual user selling illegal goods….but that should be the copyright owner’s tough luck. If it is not cost effective to take John Doe to court for uploading his 1960 recording of Shuggie Otis, then the rights owner is not being damaged significantly and his grievance is frivolous. Attacking the platform is violating the rights of law abidng citizens and consolidating media power into the hands of copyright monopolies.
Mad Hatter commented:
I guess Obama and Holder p*ssed off the wrong people this time around.
Anonymous isn’t going to win any friends by taking matters into their own hands, but who gave the Holder and the D.O.J Constitutional Authority to shut down a site that is violating copyright laws?
What happened to due process?
Where’s the ACLU screaming their heads off over this rouge action by Holder and Obama?
Taqiyyotomist commented:
donh, I doubt the aptness of your analogy.
I’m guessing more than 90% of the traffic on MegaUpload was for stealing movies, videogames (including console games which can be burned and played on consoles), and music.
My question is the motive of, at least, the Motion Picture industry. If they really cared about profits, they wouldn’t produce heavy-handed propaganda crap that doesn’t have a chance at making a profit in the first place.
The actual reason is that the Internet, and in particular the blogs, needs to be severely censored for progressives to continue their destruction of America. MPAA and RIAA are in the bag for that progressive agenda, too. (in case you hadn’t noticed).
Anonymous is miffed that their go-to site for stealing has been rightfully shut down. Now they’re going to have to go back to stealing actual DVDs and CDs from Wal-Mart and Best Buy like they did before the internet.
donh commented:
It is scarry how much power media copyright owners have over our government. Vinny’s pizza is having his copyright violated when a second Vinny’s pizza opens a block away impersonating his product and trade name…stealing customers by operating under a confusing similar name…..but Vinny cannot call upon jack boot police state thugs to padlock somebody infringing on his trade name….He has to take the violator to court and PROVE his damages.
donh commented:
#13 90% of the traffic was likely porn files….10% music, movies, and TV
Taqiyyotomist commented:
Due process?
#11 Mad Hatter
…but who gave the Holder and the D.O.J Constitutional Authority to shut down a site that is violating copyright laws?
The same “who” that gave the EPA the authority to, sans “due process”, to shut down 32 coal-fired power plants: the U.S. Congress, both sides of the aise, via intentional abdication of duty and intentional and willful ignoring of the Constitution.
Government agencies can now, in this Brave New Obama World, do ANYTHING THEY FEEL LIKE DOING.
While I don’t know enough about the laws regarding this case, I do agree that the site should have had action taken against it. I don’t know whether what the DOJ did in this case was “illegal”, THEREFORE I’m not about to hyperventilate like Libs did for 8 years over “Bush’s Illegal War”.
I’m glad that a bunch of thieves have had their unlimited supply of stolen games, movies, and music taken away. Makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.
I also recognize the fact that our government and all its agencies is now completely lawless as well. Stopped clock, blind squirrel, etc. The usually despicable DOJ may not have done the right thing in exactly the right way, but they did the right thing. Just in their usual Dictator-like way.
Taqiyyotomist commented:
donh, the DOJ didn’t act against MegaUpload on behalf of the MPAA and RIAA.
Read the article again.
If the second, copycat Vinny’s Pizza in your analogy was also engaged in racketeering and money laundering, I’m guessing a raid and shutdown would indeed be in the cards — and then a trial. As we see, apparantly, is happening in this case.
Taqiyyotomist commented:
I should have worded it,
…the DOJ didn’t act against MegaUpload SOLELY on behalf of MPAA and RIAA.
Taqiyyotomist commented:
I just wish the DOJ would also apply the same tactics to the money laundering and racketeering taking place daily in the labor unions and Rebranded-ACORN and Planned Parenthood and CAIR, etc. etc. etc. etc.
The entire Democrat party would effectively be shut down for good.
donh commented:
A NWO mercinary for hire government is not in my interest. It is chilling that wealthy corporations can call up their donated servants in government and order them to assault threats to their business model . Hollywood producers like Harvey Weinstein can call Obama on the phone to take out a private enterprise that weakens his holdings , and all the vast powers of state will be brought to bear on that enterprise. If a corporation is having trouble approving its construction projects in Libya….call Obama and have khaddafi assasinated….Our troops then become paid mercenaries for fascist corporations….and our police and justice department employees …transformed into mob enforcers helping some richer company muscle out a competitor. They are also exercising power of which laws not to enforce…like immigration laws. This government is not serving the people or following any process of law.
Blackbird commented:
This was likely nothing more than a test case to check the legal viability of the Government’s ability to shut down internet sites. They are starting with low hanging fruit to get the camel’s nose into the tent and get precedent set so it can be stretched and expanded upon. Those fools at Anonymous just gave them a legal platform to leap censorship forward with instead of taking the baby-step they were planning. I seriously hope the Justice department takes the chance to hammer the living daylights out of a good chunk of the Anonymous community, but I fear they will just take the opportunity to steal a little bit more of our freedom and voice.
Taqiyyotomist commented:
#21 Blackbird
I doubt that the DOJ will do anything at all about Anonymous. As you’ve pointed out, Anonymous’ actions are helping them in justifying their ultimate goal.
Excellent comment.
Also #20 donh, excellent comment, as well.
Taqiyyotomist commented:
In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if this was all coordinated theater.
MPAA, RIAA, and DOJ shut off their sites for a day.
The DOJ calls it’s contacts in Anonymous and tells them to claim that they “shut down” the sites.
—nah. Occam’s Razor calls.
Whiny, vindictive thieves of other people’s hard work are just whiny, vindictive thieves.
“No more free movies, games and music? Waaaaahhhhh! We should destroy everything!”
Shawny commented:
Takes some huge cahones for OUR government to shut anyone else down for Racketeering, Money Laundering and Piracy? WooHoo? J-Nap, I’m seein’ somethin’, I’m sayin’ somethin’. What? Yeah, and I heard there was illegal weapons trafficking too. We just gotta do a better job of shutting down these criminals.
Blacque Jacques Shellacque commented:
Good God. So that’s why it was hung up earlier today.
I use Megaupload at work to make available to customers files that are larger than Yahoo’s e-mail attachment size limit.
The people in the government behind this BS are facking a-holes.
Andreas K. commented:
The MPAA and RIAA are the same groups that whined about the VHS cassette and mp3 players. Of course they whine about the internet as well. They’re running totally outdated business models. The MPAA and RIAA are old men on their death beds. I think it’s time to euthanize them.
CT commented:
Never heard of Megaupload, living just fine without it. Hope the hackers’ action pisses off the DoJ enough to finally go after the Anonymous crew.
Taqiyyotomist commented:
#26 B.J.S.
Find a file hosting service that isn’t 90% illegal material, and you and your customers will be happy once again.
There are plenty.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_file_hosting_services
More than plenty, actually.
MegaUpload wasn’t the only choice. They may have been the biggest, but only because they allowed the illegal transfer of copywritten movies, videogames, and music.
And there are millions of people who can’t be bothered to actually pay for the product of somebody’s hard work. Because they are lazy moron hippy thieves who think everything should be free, and that they are entitled to it.
Don’t get mad. Find a service with integrity.
It’ll do you and your customers a world of good.
Taqiyyotomist commented:
F**king planet full of thieves.
Yeah, Anders, they were rightly miffed at the VHS recorder.
Because people were using it to rent movies by the dozen and to steal them.
Steal. Theft. Robbery.
These words don’t mean jack squat to anybody anymore, I guess.
Taqiyyotomist commented:
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2012/01/why-the-feds-smashed-megaupload.ars
The US government dropped a nuclear bomb on “cyberlocker” site Megaupload today, seizing its domain names, grabbing $50 million in assets, and getting New Zealand police to arrest four of the site’s key employees, including enigmatic founder Kim Dotcom. In a 72-page indictment unsealed in a Virginia federal court, prosecutors charged that the site earned more than $175 million since its founding in 2005, most of it based on copyright infringement.
As for the site’s employees, they were paid lavishly and they spent lavishly. Even the graphic designer, 35-year-old Slovakian resident Julius Bencko, made more than $1 million in 2010 alone.
The indictment goes after six individuals, who between them owned 14 Mercedes-Benz automobiles with license plates such as “POLICE,” “MAFIA,” “V,” “STONED,” “CEO,” “HACKER,” GOOD,” “EVIL,” and—perhaps presciently—”GUILTY.” The group also had a 2010 Maserati, a 2008 Rolls-Royce, and a 1989 Lamborghini. They had not one but three Samsung 83″ TVs, and two Sharp 108″ TVs. Someone owned a “Predator statue.” Motor bikes, jet skis, artwork, and even 60 Dell servers could all be forfeit to the government if it can prove its case against the members of the “Mega Conspiracy.”
The case is a major one, involving international cooperation between the US, Hong Kong, the Netherlands, the UK, Germany, Canada, and the Philippines. In addition to the arrests, 20 search warrants were executed today in multiple countries.
More at link…
Taqiyyotomist commented:
Bill Bennett once asked a new freshman college class how many thought it was okay to steal something they really wanted to have, but couldn’t afford, from their local five and dime. Not many raised their hands.
He then asked how many thought it was okay to steal something they really wanted to have, but couldn’t afford, from a big-box store like Wal-Mart.
MOST OF THEM RAISED THEIR HANDS.
It’s okay to steal from the wealthy. That is what these lazy moron hippy theives think.
Theft is theft. “Thou shalt not….” and all that.
Civilization, we hardly knew ye.
Taqiyyotomist commented:
I’m not defending Holder’s DOJ here, but I’m just saying…don’t mourn the loss of MegaUpload.
They really did have it coming. And the lazy moron hippy thieves are still free, and still have their huge collections of stolen movies, videogames, and music — they just have to think about getting a job and actually BUYING the product of people’s hard work now.
Strange and foreign a concept as that may seem.
Taqiyyotomist commented:
Anders’ last line:
…I think it’s time to euthanize them.
Is so completely predictable, for someone who advocates the actions of his almost-namesake, Anders Breivik.
KILL ‘EM ALL, RIGHT ANDERS?
You’re pathetic.
Jess commented:
You know, they told me if John McCain were elected we’d see corporate interests using government to ….
aw heck. This is too easy. Hollywood got what they paid for (and are paying in record $ for term two!)
vityas commented:
This is the problem with free people, you have some sheep and a couple million loose canons. You start taking away freedom and instead of falling in line, some people react “badly”.
The way it ended in the USSR (Ukraine, Lithuania etc) and China, is that the people who couldn’t be easily controlled were killed. By the millions.
We are all Kulaks now.
The All Real Numbers Symbol commented:
Taqqiyatomist – thanks. I was wondering if someone was going to take that angle in this thread. I fell dubious as towards whether the DOJ should have shut the site down immediately or gone to trial first, but I have absolutely no doubt that like you said, it was used to store movies, games, etc so others could get them without purchasing them.
I came across an interesting thread on another site on the day the Internet went on strike. One person was whining about how evil copyrights were and that the government should just get rid of them becuase art survived just fine before the government protected it. Another person pointed out that the art did fine, but that was before systems that could easily replicate it exsisted. As someone who wants copyright protection for my work, I have to agree with the latter.
The only real problem I see with the DOJ shutting the site down immediately is that it sets precedent – guilty until proven innocent.
Schwarzer Rosen commented:
Dear Taqqiyatomist-I cant tell if half the crap that seems to come from you is in support of SOPA or against it. From what i can tell of any uploading site, the people who own all the names and good stuff for the site only seem to maintain the site and keep it running, they don’t upload everything on there. You cant point fingers at the site operators for piracy when its the people who get on there that are uploading and downloading the files. Not to mention I’ve used MegaUpload before, and I’ve gotten upset when I try to download a file and, wait you’ll get a kick out of this one, I cant download it because the site removed it for copyright infringements. Now I’m not saying that the entire site was clean, that’s probably impossible. But lets see you try and keep track of 45 million counts of piracy on one site. After all you are the one that said that 90% or more of that site was for piracy. If you can find that many in one day then I shall bow down to you as the internet God. The sad truth is that even the site operators cant find that many in a single day, they get rid of what they can.
On the complete flip side, Anonymous was stupid as hell to hack at them. I completely agree with the people who said that this is just going to further the censorship bills. It was hilarious yes, but also incredibly juvenile and plain stupid.
Schwarzer Rosen commented:
The only reason that organizations like the MPAA are targeting the internet and site holders is because right now they know just as well as I know, and you know, and everyone knows, that if they were to continue to crack down on the individuals actually committing the pirating, that very soon now they would end up with a complete halt in all areas of industry due to the fact that at least half of the country would either be in court, in prison, or out on the streets due to the fact that legal fees cost them everything. However, in certain cases I don’t think it’s right to prosecute someone for providing a service that the people asked for. It was the people who wanted a way to watch more movies for less money. It’s rather simple when you stop and think about it. Would you rather go pay upwards of $20 at a movie theater for cheap food and to see one movie, or would you rather pay that same amount to watch as many movies in a month as you possibly can while enjoying the comforts of your own home? Which one of those options sounds more appealing? People don’t pirate video’s and music and such because they are “lazy moron hippie thieves”, they do it because it’s cheaper and saves money that can go towards paying the bills to keep a roof over their head or to pay for gas so that they can get to work on time to make more money and maybe if they made enough to get that dvd that just came out or to go to the movies to see that awesome new flick. So now the paradox arises. Would the government rather crack down on the individuals who are actually pirating which would lead to the scenario I painted earlier; or would they rather crack down on the source, some of which probably didn’t even know how much pirating was going on on their sites, and thus forcing the general populace to go to retailers and spending $10 to even $60 for movies which would lead to either A) a drop in revenue for the MPAA because people still can’t afford to pay so much for a single movie and feel that that amount of money could and should be better spent or saved or B) the MPAA doesn’t make anymore money nor do they make any less because the same people who bought their movies legitimately will continue to do so while the people who didn’t find other ways to pirate.
Taqiyyotomist commented:
#39 S.R.
Dear Taqqiyatomist-I cant tell if half the crap that seems to come from you is in support of SOPA or against it. From what i can tell of any uploading site, the people who own all the names and good stuff for the site only seem to maintain the site and keep it running, they don’t upload everything on there. You cant point fingers at the site operators for piracy when its the people who get on there that are uploading and downloading the files. Not to mention I’ve used MegaUpload before, and I’ve gotten upset when I try to download a file and, wait you’ll get a kick out of this one, I cant download it because the site removed it for copyright infringements. Now I’m not saying that the entire site was clean, that’s probably impossible. But lets see you try and keep track of 45 million counts of piracy on one site. After all you are the one that said that 90% or more of that site was for piracy. If you can find that many in one day then I shall bow down to you as the internet God. The sad truth is that even the site operators cant find that many in a single day, they get rid of what they can.
You need to read the Ars Technica article I linked above, and the 73-page indictment at the site, too.
The people running MegaUpload were PAYING PEOPLE CASH MONEY to specifically upload the “Hot Items”, which were the newest games, movies and music.
They have NO DENIABILITY.
Coreinsanity commented:
@Taqiyyotomist – I think you need to rethink some stuff. I don’t think piracy is good, but some stuff (SOPA / PIPA) is going too far. I can’t stand the MPAA or RIAA, because it’s not about piracy, it’s about control. The bills being past aren’t going to stop piracy, they are going to hinder it at best but would give the government massive amounts of control.
The movie and music industry (And honestly, a lot of the game industry) needs a new business model to adapt to this stuff, but instead of getting that they want to moan and hire lobbyists so they can continue to make absurd amounts of money from stuff. You try telling people they are “lazy moron hippie thieves” after they work all day to barely support themselves then download something for entertainment that. See how well that goes over, furthermore tell them they should be buying this stuff from the movie and music industry who you see happily flaunting their piracy-wrecked wealth on TV continuously, or “stars” getting out of prison time for breaking the law when some one else wouldn’t, etc. On top of that, a ton of people don’t even know they’re breaking the law. Or they go and buy it afterwords if they liked it, delete it if they don’t.
I don’t support piracy, and I most certainly do not support websites paying uploaders for traffic used in downloads of their stuff, or any form of profit from piracy. But to say the individuals downloading stuff are “lazy moron hippie thieves” is just absurd. What these entertainment industry people want is control, and more money. That’s it, it’s not about piracy (seriously, does it look like it’s honestly having a dent in how much they make? I would be willing to bet they spend more on lobbyists, lawyers and this propaganda garbage than they lose from piracy.)
As a note on anonymous, honestly, stupid move. This is just going to give them fuel to use.
Coreinsanity commented:
Spelling correction: I meant “Passed”, not “past” in “the bills being past” lol.
Coreinsanity commented:
And also, stuff like this has a chance of bringing into question the responsibility of site owners to the content they generate. You realize this means Youtube, search engines, various other video streaming sites (Veoh, some others I can think of that are perfectly harmless, don’t support copyright infringement) can be held accountable and shut down if they are found to be responsible?
Piracy is bad, but harming the internet is worse. It’s the best way people have of communicating on any kind of scale, and is probably one of the only things left keeping this country free (Surprise it’s being attacked so much?). Half these bills, in the name of piracy, simple allow censoring and take downs on vague and general terms. Piracy is a distraction, a “OH LOOK HOW MUCH HARM THIS IS DOING” to freak people out and get them to agree. That’s part of the reason why what Anonymous did is stupid.
Coreinsanity commented:
Sorry, the content their users generate*
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