Megaupload closed by US officials

Turkey Machine · 19-01-2012, 20:20

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-16642369

Quote:

Megaupload, one of the internet's largest file-sharing sites, has been shut down by officials in the US.

The site's founder and others have been charged with violating piracy laws.

Federal prosecutors have accused it of costing copyright holders more than $500m (£320m) in lost revenue. The firm says it was diligent in responding to complaints about pirated material.

Tim Deegan · 19-01-2012, 21:48

They seem to be clamping down on internet piracy at the moment...they must have worked out how much they are losing in tax.

Jameseh · 19-01-2012, 21:50

Good. Buy your movies, TV and music and share personal files on Dropbox or something.

No need to pirate and if you can't afford it, you can't have it, like everything else in life. Otherwise I'd currently be driving an Audi R8.

**Russ** · 19-01-2012, 21:53

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jameseh

Good. Buy your movies, TV and music and share personal files on Dropbox or something.

No need to pirate and if you can't afford it, you can't have it, like everything else in life. Otherwise I'd currently be driving an Audi R8.

If I damage a DVD I bought legitimately I'm sure as hell not going to spend another £12 ON, I'll find somewhere online to get it from without forking out again.

If there's a court in the land which someone thinks would convict me for that then bring it on.

thenry · 19-01-2012, 22:01

shame, MU was fast.

Jameseh · 19-01-2012, 22:07

Quote:

Originally Posted by Russ

If I damage a DVD I bought legitimately I'm sure as hell not going to spend another £12 ON, I'll find somewhere online to get it from without forking out again.

If there's a court in the land which someone thinks would convict me for that then bring it on.

Or you could take it to Game/station and pay £1 for disc repair.

Zee · 19-01-2012, 22:25

This is quite shocking how they managed to do this as i dont think this company is subject to US laws, anyway this was a good website, apparently i think its owned by Alicia Keys husband.

Check out the megaupload song too: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o0Wvn-9BXVc

---------- Post added at 22:25 ---------- Previous post was at 22:21 ----------

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jameseh

Or you could take it to Game/station and pay £1 for disc repair.

If they didn't rip customers off with the prices they charge in the first place people would never have moved to free alternatives.

MarkC1984 · 19-01-2012, 22:30

Thing is, it is a catch 22 situation. A small minority pirate the movies and albums, so companies put the price up to try and keep their profits, so more people turn to pirated copies of things. It goes round in a circle, until eventually a DVD or album will cost upwards of £20 each and the majority will look for pirated copies.

On a side note, I'm gutted as I had my CV uploaded there and a load of other personal stuff which I am now worried that the FBI or whatever American governmental agency has them, as some of the stuff has my bank account details, a relative's account details, and also some personal stories I've written over the last 6 years.

Gary L · 19-01-2012, 22:33

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jameseh

No need to pirate and if you can't afford it, you can't have it, like everything else in life. Otherwise I'd currently be driving an Audi R8.

I bet if you could you'd download one though.

SnoopZ · 19-01-2012, 22:39

Anonymous has taken down RIAA/MPAA/Universal and DOJ websites in response to this!

http://www.neowin.net/news/anonymous...egaupload-news

MarkC1984 · 19-01-2012, 22:41

Bloody good for them.

thenry · 19-01-2012, 22:46

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zee

This is quite shocking how they managed to do this as i dont think this company is subject to US laws,

just snatched this from a blog...

Quote:

None of the defendants are American citizens, and the site was mainly operated from Hong Kong. But the U.S. government was able to go after them — without SOPA or PIPA in place — because they used Internet hosting service providers located in Virginia, processed payments using U.S.-based Paypal, and worked with an online advertiser based in California.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zee

anyway this was a good website, apparently i think its owned by Alicia Keys husband.

Check out the megaupload song too: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o0Wvn-9BXVc

CEO of Megaupload. from what I'm reading it seems like he's dug himself a grave releasing that vid/promo

**Russ** · 19-01-2012, 22:47

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jameseh

Or you could take it to Game/station and pay £1 for disc repair.

If they had a service that could repair a disk which had broken in to 3 parts and had a chunk gouged out of it then yes I probably would.

AdamD · 19-01-2012, 22:57

The problem I have with the MPAA/RIAA or whomever, is they seem to base their figures on every single download, like each of those music tracks, or films, would've been a sale in a shop somewhere

But, I don't know about anyone else, I sure as heck don't buy music I don't like

So if I hear a track I like on the radio, I buy it

If I hear about a new song from a group I like, I download it first, listen, then decide whether I want to buy it or not, if not, I delete the track and go about my merry way

Of course, the MPAA/RIAA etc see that as a "stolen" song, despite the fact I deleted it.

I mean really, if I don't have enough money to buy music, I can record the song via online radio station streams, so what difference is there between downloading from a bittorrent site or recording from a radio broadcast?

Sure the radio one misses the beginning and the end, but it's still music.

Jameseh · 19-01-2012, 23:07

Quote:

Originally Posted by Russ

If they had a service that could repair a disk which had broken in to 3 parts and had a chunk gouged out of it then yes I probably would.

Surely that is entirely your fault? If it was light scratches then sometimes its crappy packaging but obviously not. Make your own copy when you buy it, don't pirate one after the event.

---------- Post added at 23:07 ---------- Previous post was at 23:05 ----------

Quote:

Originally Posted by AdamD

If I hear about a new song from a group I like, I download it first, listen, then decide whether I want to buy it or not, if not, I delete the track and go about my merry way.

Listen to it on Spotify, listen to it on the artists website, listen to it on their official YouTube or VEVO page, listen to it on the radio, etc, then buy it if you like it.

Why is there a need to pirate? There is so many ways to legally listen to music for free.