Friday, January 20th 2012
MegaUpload.com Shuttered: One Month 'Black March' Media Boycott Slated For March 1st
Yesterday, the website of MegaUpload was shuttered for good by the US Department of Justice over copyright infringement aka 'piracy' and various criminal charges (see the domain seizure graphic). This was done regardless of the many non-infringing files that people were also using it for, so for anyone that had their only copy of a file on the site, this is very bad news. It's also arguably even worse news for the site's operators, as they have been arrested and face extradition from New Zealand to the USA for criminal trial, all their assets seized, including all the domain names and computing infrastructure to run them, plus many personal belongings of very high value, such as fancy cars like Maseratis and Rolls-Royces and huge 100 inch TVs to name just a few.
However, this story, isn't really about this and we have linked to reports below which cover this in great detail (hot beverage recommended). MegaUpload was one of the biggest file sharing sites out there and in fact, one of the biggest sites out there, period. This means, that an awful lot of people all around the world have very much noticed its sudden demise (especially those with their only copy of a file, because they didn't bother to back it up, tsk) and are met with that highly unwelcome Department of Justice graphic, instead. Hence, the chances of an almighty backlash against this shutdown not happening are slim to none. In fact, Anonymous have already hit the websites of the DOJ, RIAA, MPAA & HADOPI (French three strikes) and others in retaliation, with likely much more to come, which is good or bad, depending on one's point of view and how effective one believes it will be.What's of much greater interest here however, is the call for a truly massive boycott of all media products, but crucially without pirating them. Started yesterday by an anonymous user with a graphic at imgur.com and comments on reddit, it calls for a 'Black March' protest for the whole of March over efforts to censor the internet with bad laws such as SOPA & PIPA and the heavy-handed closure of sites like MegaUpload, which will be made child's play with these laws in place. Ordinary citizens are encouraged not to buy any media products whatsoever during this month: "Do not buy a single record. Do not download a single song, legally or illegally. Do not go to see a single film in cinemas, or download a copy. Do not buy a DVD in the stores. Do not buy a videogame. Do not buy a single book or magazine." The idea is to "leave a gaping hole in media entertainment companies' profits for the 1st quarter, an economic hit which will in turn be observed by governments worldwide as stocks and shares will blip from a large enough loss of incomes."
And finally, the statement of intent: "We will not tolerate the Media Industries' lobbying for legislation which will censor the internet."
That's right, the bottom line - profit, lots of fat profit - is the only thing that these companies understand, so this kind of totally legal voting with one's wallet, but crucially without pirating, is the one thing that this reporter has been saying for some time to do and it's heartening to see that it's going to be used as a protest strategy. Extending this protest far beyond March would be way better and more effective, too. Watch out for the statements of denial by Big Media in the press as the protest starts, while it's in progress and afterwards when the financial accounts have been presented, complete with big holes showing in their profit margins.
REFERENCES
The Black March banner can be downloaded at imgur.com/pPDak
MegaUpload shutdown story, at TorrentFreak.
The full text of the DOJ indictment, at the Los Angeles Times. (Long attention span required)
Much more readable summary of the DOJ indictment, at TorrentFreak.
Details of the fancy goods seized can be seen at c|net.
Websites attacked by Anonymous reported by c|net here and here.
The MegaUpload DOJ takedown banner can be viewed in all its original 'glory', at the defunct website: www.megaupload.com
And finally, try viewing this happy-sounding music video/advert for MegaUpload without at least a hint of sadness or a tear in your eye (users who lost their only copy of a file will no doubt be crying their eyes out by the end of this).
However, this story, isn't really about this and we have linked to reports below which cover this in great detail (hot beverage recommended). MegaUpload was one of the biggest file sharing sites out there and in fact, one of the biggest sites out there, period. This means, that an awful lot of people all around the world have very much noticed its sudden demise (especially those with their only copy of a file, because they didn't bother to back it up, tsk) and are met with that highly unwelcome Department of Justice graphic, instead. Hence, the chances of an almighty backlash against this shutdown not happening are slim to none. In fact, Anonymous have already hit the websites of the DOJ, RIAA, MPAA & HADOPI (French three strikes) and others in retaliation, with likely much more to come, which is good or bad, depending on one's point of view and how effective one believes it will be.What's of much greater interest here however, is the call for a truly massive boycott of all media products, but crucially without pirating them. Started yesterday by an anonymous user with a graphic at imgur.com and comments on reddit, it calls for a 'Black March' protest for the whole of March over efforts to censor the internet with bad laws such as SOPA & PIPA and the heavy-handed closure of sites like MegaUpload, which will be made child's play with these laws in place. Ordinary citizens are encouraged not to buy any media products whatsoever during this month: "Do not buy a single record. Do not download a single song, legally or illegally. Do not go to see a single film in cinemas, or download a copy. Do not buy a DVD in the stores. Do not buy a videogame. Do not buy a single book or magazine." The idea is to "leave a gaping hole in media entertainment companies' profits for the 1st quarter, an economic hit which will in turn be observed by governments worldwide as stocks and shares will blip from a large enough loss of incomes."
And finally, the statement of intent: "We will not tolerate the Media Industries' lobbying for legislation which will censor the internet."
That's right, the bottom line - profit, lots of fat profit - is the only thing that these companies understand, so this kind of totally legal voting with one's wallet, but crucially without pirating, is the one thing that this reporter has been saying for some time to do and it's heartening to see that it's going to be used as a protest strategy. Extending this protest far beyond March would be way better and more effective, too. Watch out for the statements of denial by Big Media in the press as the protest starts, while it's in progress and afterwards when the financial accounts have been presented, complete with big holes showing in their profit margins.
REFERENCES
The Black March banner can be downloaded at imgur.com/pPDak
MegaUpload shutdown story, at TorrentFreak.
The full text of the DOJ indictment, at the Los Angeles Times. (Long attention span required)
Much more readable summary of the DOJ indictment, at TorrentFreak.
Details of the fancy goods seized can be seen at c|net.
Websites attacked by Anonymous reported by c|net here and here.
The MegaUpload DOJ takedown banner can be viewed in all its original 'glory', at the defunct website: www.megaupload.com
And finally, try viewing this happy-sounding music video/advert for MegaUpload without at least a hint of sadness or a tear in your eye (users who lost their only copy of a file will no doubt be crying their eyes out by the end of this).
122 Comments on MegaUpload.com Shuttered: One Month 'Black March' Media Boycott Slated For March 1st
You are so obsessed with sticking two fingers up to the government that you have no clue as to what this means. You think that because company "X" makes lots of money then they are somehow screwing the rest of us over. You fail to realise that it was you that helped them get that big in the first place, and are now throwing your rattle out of the pram because you can't get what you want.
Whilst I don't agree with SOPA etc, I do agree that something needs to be done to curb the blatant theft of property through an electronic method. If this was a raid on a DVD store and all the DVDs were stolen what would your opinion be? "Lock up the theives" or "Support the theives, go rob a DVD store"
Since you seem to be the only one on TPU that writes any opinion based news on the topic concerning piracy, and your views heavily sway to supporting piracy, then it reflects badly on TPU and quite frankly, I am of the opinion that appointing you as a news caster was a big mistake.
No moderator, staff member, or news editor should promote or condemn anything. It is not their job to do so.
www.techpowerup.com/forums/showthread.php?t=69318
www.hardocp.com/news/2012/01/22/kim_dotcom_1_on_fbi_pirate_list_modern_warfare_player
www.zdnet.com/blog/btl/filesonic-shutters-another-file-sharing-site-bites-the-dust/67670
Summary:
MegaUpload
Closed.
FileServe
Deleting multiple files. Closed affiliate program.
FileJungle
(Owned by FileServe) Deleting multiple files. Testing out blocking some USA IP addresses.
UploadStation
(Owned by FileServe) Deleting multiple files. Testing out blocking some USA IP addresses.
FileSonic
Sharing disabled. Closed affiliate program. Deleting files and accounts.
VideoBB
Closed affiliate program.
Uploaded.to
Banned USA IP addresses.
FilePost
Started suspending accounts with infringing material (doing what Hotfile did)
VideoZer
Closed affiliate program.
4shared
Deleting multiple files.
The guy was an asshole, and was probably doing tons of illegal shit. He was leasing his house because the NZ Gov't wouldn't let him buy the land for failing his "morals" or "good character" test that they make all land purchasers take. His charges range from Rackateering to Insider Trading. Piracy wasn't the only motive, it's just the only one people cared about.
fileserver
mediafire
filedropper
rapidshare
fileden
filefactory
sendspace
wupload
zshare
now you can cry conspiracy nut all you want if you disagree. l but who is going to stop them? Seriously? I have a problem with how easy it is becomming to do this. I find it a problem because they dont seem to care about collatiral damage. they will take down everything as long as
Big companies make money(universal, sony, THX, lucas arts, some rapper)
average people get to play pillow fight with another inmate for a place to sleep.
Its rediculous. who seriously downloads GB movies off of file servers anyway? Shit takes forever for installers anyway. I wanted to blow my brains out getting a hak pack for nwn that weighs almost 400mb if i saw you getting an 8GB BD rip id smack you in the face.
www.prefixmag.com/news/megaupload-launches-music-service-megabox/60024/
www.digitalmusicnews.com/permalink/2011/111221airvinyl
www.pcworld.com/article/248552/petition_seeks_probe_of_mpaa_bribery_over_sopa.html#tk.hp_new
2. Some people make money on file sharing sites. That's right, you can actually earn money or at least points (which can be used to buy premium codes) by sharing files. In this case every download counts.
3. Usenet binary groups. It's where most wares came from and it's also a bunch of servers that you have no control over.
2. Make money of legal file sharing is fine. How many of those people are out there. :rolleyes:
3. I use Usenet for DOWNLOADING not for sharing. FTPS is excellent for sharing.
As for usenet and news groups in general I dont condone that. It makes 0 sense when trying to argue mega upload. people that use usenet and other groups for "downloading" wether it be for a corporation or a web site is still stealing. You wouldnt be downloading it if you already owned the software right?