Nope, it's not Lex Luthor's latest caper. I'm talking about the MegaUpload bust. And the increasingly interesting question of whose interests were actually served as a result.
In January, the U.S. Department of Justice, Homeland Security's ICE and members of New Zealand … Read more
When the file-swapping site MegaUpload was shuttered by the U.S. government--and consequentially its offices raided, $42 million of its assets frozen, and its leader Kim DotCom arrested--some officials might not have thought of unintended consequences, such as the loss of legitimate files.
They also might not have realized that they too might be outed as having used MegaUpload.
During an interview with TorrentFreak this week, DotCom said, "Guess what--we found a large number of Mega accounts from U.S. government officials, including the Department of Justice and the U.S. Senate."
Released on bail earlier this month, … Read more
If you go to The Pirate Bay's Web site, you'll now see the words "The Magnet Bay." As of tomorrow, the popular Swedish torrent tracker will no longer be offering users torrent files, but instead will be posting magnet links.
On its blog today, the Pirate Bay wrote that even though this "marks the end of an era," users should not notice much of a difference.
"It shouldn't make much of a difference for the average user. At most it will take a few more seconds before a torrent shows the size … Read more
Aunt Jill won't be here for our 1000th episode this Friday because she only works out of the CNET office on Wednesdays, so we're popping bottles prematurely because hey, it's the 90s.
Along with a light wine tasting, Jill also gives a quick duster on the state of the Greek debt crisis and the Dow cracking 13000 after almost four years. In return, we'll tell Jill about the wonders of Instagram and Kim Dotcom's release from the New Zealand prison system.… Read more
For the scope of this article, I am leaving all of the commentary on SOPA, PIPA, ACTA, and such aside for others much more well-versed than I to discuss.
A lot of people have been asking me the same question lately: Just how do sites like MegaUpload--recently taken down by an international collection of law enforcement--make hundreds of millions of dollars a year and fund lottery-winner style lifestyles that include mansions and private jets?
It's actually pretty straightforward. These sites use the same techniques as legitimate Web sites: search, social media, ad networks, and online payment processors.
Sites that … Read more
Charges of Web piracy are at the center of a legal battle embroiling the hosting site MegaUpload and its founder, the colorful Kim DotCom. Hackers get into the fray, too, early on.
Bail denied again for MegaUpload's Kim DotCom The founder of the cyberlocker service will remain in jail at least until his extradition hearing is held on Feb. 22. MegaUpload founder: Police punched and kicked me (Posted in Media Maverick by Greg Sandoval) February 3, 2012 3:22 a.m. PT
Nobody wanted MegaUpload busted more than MPAA All the recent talk that the FBI cracked down on … Read more
Despite a major government crackdown on cyberlocker service MegaUpload last week, people haven't stopped using file-hosting sites, according to TorrentFreak.
They're simply migrating to similar sites.
MegaUpload was one of the most popular video destinations on the Web, with 50 million users per day. According to data from TorrentFreak, since MegaUpload's shutdown, millions more people are racking up time on sites like Filefactory, Depositfiles, Hotfile.com, and other Internet locker services.
Last week, the U.S. Justice Department and FBI shut down MegaUpload and announced indictments against seven people on charges related to online piracy, including racketeering … Read more
On this week's Buzz Out Loud, Brian and Molly take Apple (and others) to task for unsafe and inhumane working conditions at consumer electronics factories in China. It's time for Apple and us, the consumers, to demand better. Plus, Google's privacy policy changes, Netflix's big bounce-back, and Computer Love. And meet Givit, the way to share private videos of your kids or, um, other things.
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Agree or disagree with the shutdown of MegaUpload, it certainly sends an intimidating message about just how dangerous Internet censorship can be. While we are in no way condoning piracy, we also feel bad for the MegaUpload users who were using the service for legitimate purposes. … Read more
week in review Some of the Internet's most popular destinations launched an experiment in political activism this week by urging their users to protest a pair of Hollywood-backed copyright bills in Congress.
Wikipedia's English-language pages went black at 9 p.m. PT Wednesday, with a splash page saying "the U.S. Congress is considering legislation that could fatally damage the free and open Internet." The online encyclopedia's blackout, intended to precede a Senate floor vote on the legislation set for next week, was scheduled to last 24 hours.
Earlier today, Senate leaders announced they would … Read more
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