Feds seize $50 million in Megaupload assets, lodge new charges
Found on Ars Technica on Sunday, 19 February 2012
The government said the site, which generated millions in user fees and advertising, facilitated copyright infringement of movies "often before their theatrical release, music, television programs, electronic books, and business and entertainment software on a massive scale." The government said Megaupload's "estimated harm" to copyright holders was "well in excess of $500 million."
The superseding indictment in the Eastern District of Virginia also claims that Megaupload paid one of its registered users $3,400 between 2008 and 2009 for uploading 16,960 files that generated 34 million views. The files included motion pictures Ocean's Thirteen, Ratatouille and Evan Almighty, the government said.
The tubes of the Internet facilitate copyright infringement too. So does Google by helping to search. Let's not get started on the "estimated harm", a number that most likely comes from the entertainment industry; and we all know how much those guys love to blow numbers out of proportion. Based on past experiences with their number magic, it's safer to assume that only 1% of those claims are true. But if one of the key arguments for this raid is that a single user made $3,400 in two years, then let's prepare for tons of more raids and shutdowns; because every service has at least one single user who does something bad.