Megaupload

	“	Despite our staff clearly identifying themselves, Mr Dotcom retreated into the house and activated a number of electronic locking mechanisms. While police neutralized these locks he then further barricaded himself into a safe room within the house which officers had to cut their way into.	„
	—Detective Inspector Grant Wormald, to New Zealand news outlet TVNZ

FBI V& notice for MegaUpload as revenge for protesting SOPA.

Megaupload has for years been a popular downloading site for people to upload and download files for storage and sharing purposes.

On January 19, 2012, immediately following the SOPA blackout protest by sites like Wikipedia and Reddit, the FBI decided it would be a prime time to shut the site down.

	“	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	„
	—ArsTechnica

	“	TV news was filled with images of police removing property from Schmitz's home, which he named The Dotcom Mansion. Police seized 18 vehicles, including a vintage pink Cadillac, a Lamborghini, a 2010 Maserati, and 2008 Rolls Royce Phantom with a personalized license plate that reads "God." Some of the other license plates found on the cars read, "Stoned," "Mafia Hacker" and "Guilty."	„
	—Cnet

In response, Anonymous DDoS'd them (because that totally will make a long-term difference) and shut down the FBI web site for a while.

Response

Nigga upload, the hit song involving Will.i.am,P Diddy, Kanye West, Chris Brown, Jamie Foxx, Kim Kardashian, Lil John, The Game, Floyd Mayweather, Serena Williams, and Ciara sparked controversy when it was removed due to butthurt after being created on December 9, 2011. Megaupload wanted to countersue UMG and demanded an apology, because they actually had contracts with all of the listed artists. However, YouTube returned the video since everyone mirrored it anyway. (Except for Will.I.Am, according to his lawyers.)

	“	Our partners do not have the right to take down videos from YT unless they own the rights to them or they are live performances controlled through exclusive agreements with their artists, which is why we reinstated it.	„
	—Youtube

See also

• Anonymous
• Brb, FBI
• Party Van
• Rapidshare
• SOPA

External links

• Wikipedia legal info
• Jan 19: ArsTechnica: Why the feds smashed Megaupload by Nate Anderson
• Jan 20: 5:13am Cnet: MegaUpload assembles worldwide criminal defense by Greg Sandoval