Megaupload finished: Feds shut down file-sharing giant without SOPA. Megaupload payback: Anonymous hack-storm on America Inc. US fights for extradition of Megaupload's Kim Dotcom. Did the music industry set-up Megaupload to be shut down? Megaupload fights feds to save customers' data. Published time: February 01, 2012 18:28 Edited time: February 01, 2012 22:28 Megaupload When authorities shut-down the Web’s most popular file-sharing site last month, the impact was felt by more than just the entertainment biz execs who said that the industry suffered $500 million in lost profits.
Roughly 150 million account holders were left in the dark by the closing of Megaupload. The shutting down of the site and the subsequent imprisonment of its founder might make some sharers of illegal materials think twice about pirating music and movies. Being the biggest file hosting site of its kind on the Web, however, Megaupload provided legitimate services to clients with paid accounts that have since suffered as well. At one point Megaupload was among the top-20 most popular sites on the Web, and operated in part by selling subscriptions to users so that they’d be able to use the site as a storage locker of sorts for their own material.
Is it back to jail already for Kim Dotcom? Kim Dotcom ridicules charges against him. Megaupload’s Kim web-surfing again. Megaupload's Kim Dotcom will stay in jail. Kim Dotcom slams US government for protecting monopolies. Megaupload files: Judge orders DoJ to cooperate with sharing site. Unfair share: 'Content industry behind Megaupload case'
US prosecutors file extradition papers for Kim Dotcom. Megaupload has no rights? US broke its own rules by going after Internet giant. MegaFail: Prosecutors fall short on evidence against Kim Dotcom. Megaupload users to sue FBI. Super Bowl crackdown: US sacks more than 300 websites. NSA refuses to disclose its links with Google. Right to copy vs. copyright: FBI accused of ‘stealing’ Megaupload evidence. Megaupload's Kim Dotcom is one step closer to US extradition. Megatrash: 50 mln users' data set to be deleted. IP alliance wants file-sharing sites shut down worldwide. Dotcom claims US officials used Megaupload. Published time: March 13, 2012 17:37 Edited time: March 13, 2012 21:37 Kim Dotcom (AFP Photo / Michael Bradley) When Megaupload founder Kim Dotcom goes before a jury to discuss allegations of copyright infringement, his testimony will also be something his critics won’t want shared — Dotcom says American politicians were users of his site.
In one of his first interviews since being released on bail last month, the 38-year-old boss behind an empire allegedly built on illegal file sharing says that “a large number” of US government officials are included on his lists of Megaupload.com users. Despite being arrested overseas, the German national was put behind bars after American authorities investigated him for breaking American law. “Guess what – we found a large number of Mega accounts from US Government officials including the Department of Justice and the US Senate,” Dotcom tells the Torrentfreak blog this week. Washington’s cyber war - at home and abroad.
Raid on Megaupload's Kim Dotcom illegal, search warrants unlawful - NZ Judge. Megaupload is illegal, but buying drugs and guns online is okay? US court covering all bases: Charges spiraling for Megaupload. Mega court blunder could see Kim Dotcom’s fortune returned. More than just Mega: File-storage site Oron.com comes close to going kaput. Kim Dotcom out of jail but still facing US extradition. Police find upload mogul in $23m mansion's safe room. The Dotcom Mansion, home of accused Kim Dotcom. WELLINGTON: A computer hacker turned online file-sharing tycoon is the man at the centre of an FBI-led crackdown on online piracy. Kim Dotcom (also known as Kim Schmitz) is a 39-year-old German who also holds Finnish citizenship, and has Hong Kong and New Zealand residency. He lives in New Zealand's most expensive house, a $NZ30 million ($23 million) mansion in Coatesville, north of Auckland, formerly owned by the founders of the Chrisco Christmas hampers empire.
Police raided it yesterday as they executed search warrants as part of an investigation into the file-sharing website megaupload.com, which Mr Schmitz founded in 2005. In court ... When police arrived, Mr Schmitz entered the house and activated electronic locks, Detective Inspector Grant Wormald said. ''It was definitely not as simple as knocking at the front door.'' Kim Schmitz. Mr Schmitz is no stranger to being on the wrong side of the law. AAP, Associated Press, Bloomberg. Megaupload | Megaupload accused trying to get site back online. The Internet website Megaupload.com, shut down by US authorities over allegations that it illegally peddled copyrighted material, is trying to recover its servers and get back online, a lawyer for the company said on Friday. The company and seven of its executives were charged in a 5-count, 72-page indictment unsealed on Thursday accusing them of engaging in a wide-ranging and lucrative scheme to offer material online without compensating the copyright holders.
Authorities in New Zealand arrested four of those charged, including one of its founders, who legally changed his name to Kim Dotcom. Assets were also seized money, servers, domain names and other assets in the United States and several countries. "The company is looking at its legal options for getting back its servers and its domain and getting its servers back up online," Megaupload's lawyer Ira Rothken told Reuters.
"Megaupload will vigorously defend itself. " Advertisement He said the company simply offered online storage. FBI seeks extradition of internet 'pirate' Alleged Megaupload boss Kim Dotcom. Photo: Reuters AN INTERNET multimillionaire accused of online piracy who allegedly headed up the global file-sharing website Megaupload.com from his luxury mansion north of Auckland faces extradition to the US after he was arrested yesterday by armed police at the request of US officials. The FBI yesterday shut down Megaupload.com, one of the world's most popular file-sharing websites, after filing an indictment in a US court earlier this month alleging its founder, Kim Dotcom, 37, (also known as Kim Schmitz) and six others, dubbed the ''Mega Conspiracy'', engaged in racketeering, copyright infringement and money laundering.
Schmitz, a former computer hacker, and six others were arrested on five charges laid in an indictment by a US grand jury in the state of Virginia. Advertisement Megaupload has boasted of having more than 150 million registered users and 50 million daily visitors, according to the FBI indictment. NZ refuses bail for web tycoon as passports seized. Police swooped on Kim Dotcom's rented mansion. Photo: Reuters THE New Zealand-based multimillionaire at the centre of an FBI-led piracy case has three aliases, making him an ''extreme'' flight risk, prosecutors argued in court.
Kim Dotcom, 38, the co-founder of the world's largest file sharing website, Megaupload, was remanded yesterday following an inconclusive bail hearing at the North Shore District Court in Auckland. Dotcom, who legally changed his name from Schmitz, and three others are facing internet piracy charges after they were arrested on Friday when police raided Schmitz's $30 million rented mansion, north of Auckland. Kim Dotcom in 2002. Crown prosecutor Anne Toohey told the court that Schmitz had three passports, each under a different name - Schmitz, Vestor and Dotcom - making him an ''extreme'' flight risk.
Advertisement Schmitz is a German national and NZ resident. He said Schmitz had a passport in a bedroom at his home because it was a ''work location''. New charges for Megaupload accused. Further charges ... Kim Dotcom. Photo: AFP Four men arrested in New Zealand for their involvement with the file-sharing website Megaupload now face extra charges, including taking copyrighted material from websites like YouTube. Megaupload founder Kim Dotcom and three other men were arrested at Dotcom's $NZ30 million ($23 million) rented mansion in Coatesville in a police raid on January 20. They face charges in the US of racketeering, copyright infringement and money laundering and are awaiting proceedings to extradite them to the US. Another man has been arrested in the Netherlands, while two other suspects remain at large.
Advertisement A new indictment, filed in a US court and released on Friday, adds eight additional charges of copyright infringement and wire fraud against Dotcom, six Megaupload employees and two related companies. However, at best, only the links identified would be disabled, the indictment says. Extradition papers are expected to be filed on February 22. Dotcom's boom to bust: 'He was trying to make half a buck on every occasion'
Time for bath .... Kim Dotcom soaks in a tub full of suds. On his way up, he fooled them all: judges, journalists, investors and companies. Then the man who renamed himself Kim Dotcom finally did it. With an outsized ego and an eye for get-rich schemes, he parlayed his modest computing skills into an empire, becoming the fabulously wealthy computer maverick he had long claimed to be. Dotcom was able to create a legendary past, trade upon it by manipulating the news media and avoid serious consequences when he broke the law. Now his wild ride may be over. Giraffe sculpures stand in the grounds of the Dotcom Mansion. US prosecutors are seeking the 38-year-old German's extradition in what they say could be one of the largest copyright cases in history. Advertisement His story is one of breathtaking audacity that spans both the globe and the modern computing era.
Kim Dotcom's rented mansion. Born Kim Schmitz in the German coastal town of Kiel, Dotcom grew up with an alcoholic father. Apple co-founder visits Dotcom ahead of iTunes rival launch. Kim Dotcom with Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak. Kim Dotcom recently hosted Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak at his Auckland home. Dotcom tweeted a picture of the pair yesterday and a few hours later tweeted about his new digital music service, which he says will "unchain" artists and give them most of the profits. Dotcom, who is wanted by the United States over alleged criminal copyright violations, money laundering and wire fraud, is on bail at his luxury Albany mansion ahead of extradition hearings. Dotcom's flyer for Megabox. Wozniak was in New Zealand last month but it was only realised he visited Dotcom when the large German tweeted it, along with a photo.
Advertisement Dotcom said Wozniak was a "great guy & supporter" who was helping users of MegaUpload users get their files back. Tech website CNET, who along with others was reporting the Wozniak-Dotcom meeting, said previous endorsements had come from Kim Kardashian, Alicia Keys and Will.i.am from the Black Eyed Peas. Fairfax Media. Megaupload closure hits legitimate users. Under a cloud ... Kim Dotcom in Hong Kong in 1999. He was arrested during a party at the Auckland mansion he leases. Photo: Reuters THE operation to arrest the founder of the online file-sharing service Megaupload and close down the website has left users worldwide in limbo and prompted warnings that consumers should not rely on "cloud" storage for their data.
Kim Dotcom, who was arrested during his 38th birthday party at his luxurious Auckland mansion, was the brain behind Megaupload, infamous as a place to download pirated movies and television programs. But apart from storing illegal material, Megaupload was also used legitimately by hundreds of thousands - possibly millions - of people around the world. Dotcom Mansion, the home of the accused Kim Dotcom.
Advertisement Steve Su, a Perth academic, was caught out by the closure. Mr Su said the FBI should have distinguished between legal and illegal content. Megaupload co-accused speaks out after being freed on bail. ON BAIL: Bram van der Kolk is reunited with his wife Asia after his bail application was accepted. Photo: JOHN SELKIRK One of the men accused in the Megaupload piracy case is confident he won't be extradited to the United States. Bram van der Kolk became the first of the four men facing charges in the case to be freed on bail yesterday, though conditions were imposed that he live in a house without an internet connection due to concerns he could re-start the Megaupload site.
Speaking outside North Shore District Court yesterday, van der Kolk said he will continue fighting extradition and wishes to clear his name. "We have a very strong case, I'm very confident. " Advertisement Van der Kolk said he never doubted the judge would grant him bail and that his time in prison seemed to pass quickly. "I'm very happy to be out, definitely. " As he was released from the court cells, van der Kolk hugged his wife Asia and father Hank, who had come from the Netherlands to support him. Stuff.co.nz.
Judge refuses to throw out Dotcom case. Kim Dotcom. Photo: Reuters The raid on internet mogul Kim Dotcom's multimillion dollar mansion might have been legally invalid but he still is vulnerable to charges after a US judge rejected a request to throw out the case. A judge in a Virginia court late last week rejected attempts from lawyers for cloud storage company Megaupload to throw out charges of money laundering and piracy. The judge said it was too early to request such a proceeding. Green Party Police spokesperson David Clendon said the actions of the Police in connection with the Dotcom case needed to be scrutinised by an agency such as the New Zealand Independent Police Conduct Authority. Advertisement In the New Zealand High Court, Justice Helen Winkelmann ruled the high-profile police raid that ended in the search and seizure of a large amount of Dotcom's property was done with invalid warrants. "The original raid on Mr Dotcom's house was like something from a bad Hollywood movie.
" Fairfax NZ News (stuff.co.nz) NZ's piracy ruling 'embarrasses' FBI. Kim Dotcom leaves the High Court in Auckland. Photo: Reuters A New Zealand High Court ruling that the armed police raid on piracy accused Kim Dotcom's Auckland mansion was illegal is a major blow to US authorities trying to extradite him, his United States lawyer says. Justice Helen Winkelmann on Thursday ruled the search warrants were too broad and police exceeded their powers in seizing what they did.
She also said it was unlawful for copies of Dotcom's computer files to be taken by US authorities and New Zealand police should return copies to 38-year-old Dotcom. FBI agents, who had sought help from New Zealand police, seized a massive 150 terabytes of data. Advertisement The US says German-born Dotcom's MegaUpload website has cost Hollywood studios and other music, software and television copyright owners $NZ500 million ($A395 million) by facilitating internet piracy on a massive scale.
Mr Rothken said the ruling supported the view that NZ police were acting at the FBI's beck and call. Users in a cloud over access to data. Kim Dotcom, the brains behind Megaupload. Photo: Reuters THE operation to arrest the founder of high-profile file-sharing service Megaupload and close down the service has left users worldwide in cyber-limbo and prompted warnings from internet experts that consumers should not rely on ''cloud'' storage for their data. Kim Dotcom, who was arrested during his 38th birthday party at a lavish Auckland mansion, was the brains behind Megaupload, infamous as a place to download pirated movies and television programs.
But as well as storing illegal material, Megaupload was also used legitimately by hundreds of thousands - and possibly millions - of people around the world. However, when users went to the site address yesterday they were met with a notice from the FBI announcing it had been seized ''pursuant to an order issued by the US District Court'', with no indication when or even if they would be able to gain access to their files again.
Advertisement. IiNet | Privacy and Copyright :Laws And the Internet. "The US will go to the ends of the earth to protect its big entertainment corporations and Australia could be the scene of a bigger coup in coming months". Photo: AFP It is hard to know what was more surprising for the average online file-sharer - that sleepy New Zealand was home to the likes of Kim Dotcom, the corpulent magnate behind the Megaupload website; or that the FBI had hunted him halfway around the world and arrested him in the panic room of his $30 million mansion. But we should be surprised on neither front. The US will go to the ends of the earth to protect its big entertainment corporations and Australia could be the scene of a bigger coup in coming months. The Americans have no qualms about interfering in our domestic politics and local legal systems.
We can be a cowardly bunch, so scared of an unknown invader that we will sell our sovereignty for the illusion of protection. The Americans have no qualms about interfering in our domestic politics and local legal systems. Judge grants Kim Dotcom $47,000 a month. Dotcom search warrants ruled illegal. 'Hokey' Kim Dotcom case a threat to the net: Apple co-founder. Megaupload co-accused speaks out after being freed on bail. 'I'm relieved to go home': Kim Dotcom granted bail. Police in Dotcom raids under scrutiny. Kim Dotcom says Megaupload shutdown was Joe Biden’s idea.
Kim Dotcom Takes to Mocking U.S. After Megaupload Search Warrants Ruled Invalid - National Cyber Crime. National : Dotcom access to NZ evidence argued in court.