MegaUpload Founder Kim Dotcom Facing Massive Copyright Infringement Charges

[JamesG]

Feds Say 7 Behind Celeb-Endorsed MegaUpload.com Ran Massive, Worldwide Piracy Ring
Published January 19, 2012 | FoxNews.com


Federal prosecutors have shut down one of the world's largest file-sharing sites, MegaUpload.com, on charges of violating piracy laws -- a day after a 24-hour blackout of popular websites such as Wikipedia drew national attention to the issue.

"This action is among the largest criminal copyright cases ever brought by the United States," the Justice department said in a statement about the indictment.



The indictment accuses seven individuals and two corporations -- MegaUpload Limited and Vestor Limited -- of costing copyright holders more than $500 million in lost revenue from pirated films and other content.

It was unsealed on Thursday, and claims that at one point MegaUpload was the 13th most popular website in the world.







MegaUpload was unique not only because of its massive size and the volume of downloaded content, but also because it had high-profile support from celebrities, musicians and other content producers who are most often the victims of copyright infringement and piracy.

Before the website was taken down, it contained endorsements from Kim Kardashian, Alicia Keys and Kanye West, among others.



The Hong Kong-based company listed Swizz Beatz, a musician who married Keys in 2010, as its CEO. Beatz declined to comment through a representative.

The individuals in the criminal enterprise each faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison on racketeering charges, five years for conspiracy to commit copyright infringement, 20 years on money laundering charges and five years on related charges.







MegaUpload was led by colorful Australian Kim Dotcom -- aka Kim Schmitz, or Kim Tim Jim Vestor. He is a a resident of both Hong Kong and New Zealand, and a dual citizen of Finland and Germany, who legally changed his last name to "Dotcom."

The website's founder and "chief innovation officer" was once convicted of a felony but has repeatedly denied engaging in piracy, according to CNET.com -- and he made more than $42 million from the conspiracy in 2010 alone, according to the indictment.



The indictment comes the day after a 24-hour "blackout" of Wikipedia, a protest doodle on the homepage of Google, and numerous other protests across the Internet against proposed anti-piracy legislation that many leading websites -- including Reddit, Google, Facebook, Amazon and others -- contend will make it challenging if not impossible for them to operate.

The Protect Intellectual Property Act under consideration in the Senate and the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) in the House are bills backed by the motion picture and recording industries intended to eliminate theft online once and for all. S. 968 and H.R. 3261 would require ISPs to block access to foreign websites that infringe on copyrights.







Online piracy from China and elsewhere is a massive problem for the media industry, one that costs as much as $250 billion per year and costs the industry 750,000 jobs, according to a 2008 statement by Patrick Leahy, D-Vt.

But how exactly the bills would counter piracy has many up in arms.







http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2012/...aring-website/

[MrCleveland]

Looks like Communist America is soon to be here!

[AKA]

This is ridiculous. Why not shut down and prosecute companies that make CD-Rs and USB drives and external hard drives while they're at it? After all, they, too, can also be used to transport copyrighted material.

MegaUpload was a great service. I used it for years.

[JamesG]

Prosecutors Add New Charges to MegaUpload Indictment
2/20/2012
by Eriq Gardner


Federal prosecutors have sharpened their charges against MegaUpload. The U.S. Department of Justice caused the shut-down of the once-popular file-storage website. Many of Megaupload's key executives were arrested and hundreds of millions of dollars in assets were seized.





In the aftermath, criticism of the action against MegaUpload focused on two key areas.

First, some legal observers noted that criminal prosecutions are different than civil lawsuits, and that prosecutors would need to prove defendants' "willfullness" to aid copyright infringement. Even if the website couldn't avail itself of safe harbors under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, did the defendants reasonably believe they'd be protected from the conduct of its users?

Second, other legal observers expressed concern about legitimate data on the website. The company said that millions of its users stored family photos, personal documents and more on the website, and DOJ's efforts to erase the site from existence lead to some pushback from groups threatening to sue on behalf of the interests of "innocent customers."









In the latest indictment, prosecutors include more details about the personal involvement of the defendants to aid and abet a conspiracy that included both copyright infringement and fraud.

For instance, prosecutors say that MegaUpload claimed to have 180 milllion registered users but really had only 66 million as of January 19. Less than a tenth of those users ever uploaded a file, they say.



Instead, MegaUpload was populated with copyright-infringing works from just a handful of users, and in an effort to mask what was happening, the company's leaders allegedly attempted trickery.

For example, the new indictment states "it was further part of the Conspiracy that members of the Conspiracy reproduced copyrighted works directly from third-party websites, including from YouTube.com. to make them available for reproduction and distribution on Megavideo.com and to create the false impression that Megavideo.com hosted primarily user generated content instead of copyright infringing content."









The indictment goes on to tick off the many ways that Dotcom and others allegedly participated willfully in what was going on, from telling copyright holders that it would cooperate only to fail to suspend flagrant users, not delete copyrighted works, and in some instances, allegedly participate in the creation of redundant links to copyrighted work.

Meanwhile, Dotcom has been in a New Zealand jail since January 20, awaiting possible extradition to the U.S. after his attempts to get a local judge to free him on bail were unsuccessful.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr...ictment-292789

[JamesG]

MegaUpload Founder Kim Dotcom Released on Bail
2/22/2012
by Georg Szalai


MegaUpload founder Kim Dotcom was released in New Zealand on bail on Wednesday, the Wall Street Journal reported.

He is awaiting a decision on whether he will be extradited to the U.S. where he would face such charges as copyright infringement. A judge said Wednesday that an extradition hearing was unlikely before the end of May or even July, according to the Journal.





Discussing the release on bail, the judge in charge argued that Dotcom was unlikely to flee as he no longer seems to have access to significant resources.

"All known assets have been seized and are unavailable for Dotcom's use or disposal," the judge said, according to the Journal. "No new assets or accounts of any significance have been revealed since his arrest."





A U.S. lawyer for Megaupload said that the conditions of bail likely include no use of Dotcom's helicopter and a lack of Internet access at his house, the Journal said.

Dotcom's release on bail "is a very important development for the defense," he added. "It will allow Kim to participate in his own defense in a more focused manner."

U.S. authorities have suggested that MegaUpload generated more than $175 million in criminal proceeds and caused more than half a billion dollars in damage to copyright owners.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/new...hearing-293781