Megaupload, shut down by FBI.

I'm just gonna drop this here.

If they can prove that Megaupload was not complying with DMCA takedown notices or that they *knew* material was copyrighted yet didn't take steps then they can be prosecuted... however for this to be true there have to be records that prove that. Suspicion is not enough. They have to have had some sort of record that shows they knew a specific file is copyrighted material and whom its owned by and yet they failed to take action.

[size=10]Copy Pasted from my post in IB.[/h]

Don't mix anti-piracy with censorship. If you are after a drug vendor, you disable his means of distribution (such as intercepting shipments or confiscating his goods). Similarly, to stop a pirate, you disable their means of distribution, which in this case means shutting down their servers. There is ABSOLUTELY NOTHING WRONG with doing so. If there was a street in Hong Kong that sells predominantly stolen goods, does one legitimate shop on that street mean that the street can't be "shut down"? The most logical thing is for the legit shop owner to not set up shop there in the first place.

Most people say that the wording in SOPA/PIPA is "extremely vague", but has anyone actually read the legislation for themselves? Or is this just a case of "I oppose it because everyone else does and it's cool 'stick it to the man'"? I think it's the latter. I oppose SOPA/PIPA, but I think most people are opposing it for the wrong reasons. Shortly put, I don't support censorship, but I DO support Anti-Piracy and so should you if you want quality content.

Arresting a non-US citizen outside of US soil is definitely not cool (although it is nice that the New Zealand police actually DID something this time of International significance), but anyone who claims that Megaupload or any of the other file-sharing sites don't predominantly host pirated material is just lying to themselves. 99% of the stuff on Megaupload infringe copyright, and the owners of Megaupload are making millions off the site. Shutting down the site and seizing the culprits were perfectly justified actions.

For those of you who complain that Megaupload was a good Internet locker, can you honestly say that you never once used it for piracy? And Dropbox is better anyway. If you need a professional Internet locker for your occupation, it pains me to say that your business probably isn't in the best of shape if you don't pay a few dollars a year for Dropbox and opt to use Megaupload instead. MU's interface is far more obstructive for both you and your customers, not to mention the inconvenience.

Oh great, some anonymous fucker on Yotube who is trying to cash in on this scenario to make himself more popular by scaring everyone into thinking Big Brother is out to get them. Please. What a jackass, that's more morally repugnant than Megaupload itself.

I can't imagine how. It was Megaupload's responsibility to remove copyrighted content when the copyright holders, as per DMCA, sent a takedown notice. If you never even had one of your uploads deleted by Megaupload, then chances are the government cares even less about your uploaded material.

It's crazy to think that the U.S. government is going to start slapping millions of Americans with fines in excess of $100,000. Even if they tried, that alone would probably cause the anarchy that everyone seems so interested in.