In the past months we have heard a ton about these bills that have the potential to change the way we browse and share material on the internet. These “monsters” are the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the Protect IP Act (PIPA).

Many high traffic sites such as Google and Wikipedia showed their support in favor of opposition yesterday by “blacking out.” This seemed to be effective, influencing former SOPA backers to drop their support of the bill in response to their state’s massive response. Despite the online community’s victory, a loss was had with a Federal takeover of controversial website that sees millions of visitors every day. That’s right downloaders, MegaUpload has fallen.

According to some statistics, MegaUpload and its affiliate sites (MegaVideo, MegaPix, etc.) boasted 4% of all internet traffic. That’s a ton of downloads. In fact, the total count according to the Copyright lawsuit held by Federal prosecutors, is in the region of $500 million dollars in charges (about 42 million CDs). In a statement released by the U.S. Department of Justice the lawsuit being brought upon 8 MegaUpload employees is “among the largest criminal copyright cases ever brought by the United States,” and that “for more than five years the conspiracy has operated websites that unlawfully reproduce and distribute infringing copies of copyrighted works, including movies – often before their theatrical release – music, television programs, electronic books, and business and entertainment software on a massive scale.”

Just before being removed, MegaUpload posted a statement announcing that the charges were “grotesquely overblown.” The company has for years said publicly that they are active in response to copyright infringement complaints. And as any practicing software pirate can tell you, there is little more frustrating than a “This file has been deleted at request of copyright owner” error message. The company holds that they will remain strong and come out victorious over the allegations put upon their brand.

This is no laughing matter. The 8 on trial are facing major charges here, including founder Kim “Dotcom” Schmitz. No word on if CEO Swizz Beatz has been charged yet, he is not included in the Justice Dept. Statement. Stay tuned to this page for updates.

UPDATE: In retaliation to the seizing of MegaUpload, hacker group Anonymous has taken down the following websites: RIAA.com, Universal Music, Copyright.gov and The Justice Department’s own webpage.

The retaliation was not unexpected. Certain Anon channels warned the people to “EXPECT [THEM]” immediately after the takedown. We can only wonder what will come next.

UPDATE #2: Anonymous estimates 5,635 individuals participated in LOIC (Low Orbiting Ion Cannon) DDS attacks on various SOPA supporting websites. This is the largest attack of it’s kind to date.

UPDATE #3: The Indictment Papers for the MegaUpload lawsuit can be read here.

UPDATE #4: Anonymous adds BMI.com, Hadopi.fr and MPAA to list of involuntary SOPA blackout sites.

UPDATE #5: Anon hacktivists utilize denial of service attacks to overload Fbi.gov. The topic banners for various irc channels read as follows:

The topic for #DDOS is: CURRENTLY DDOSing GOVERNMENT SERVERS | LOIC AND HOIC (SEARCH THEM ON GOOGLE) | DESTROY THEM!!! | WE ARE ANONYMOUS! | CURRENT TARGET: fbi.gov | DNS IP: 156.154.103.27 |

The topic for #opmegaupload is: English, French, Nederlands: MU closed by FBI and american governement… SERIOUS SUGGESTIONS WELCOME! Targets: wmg.com, mpaa.org, www.universalmusic.com

Read more about SOPA and PIPA:

SOPA Strike Roundup – AltPress

A Brave New World: What is PIPA/SOPA and How Do We Stop It? – Mindequalsblown

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Jacob Tender

Jacob is a freelance writer who calls curbside.audio home. He is also the co-host of the Bantha Fodder podcast and helps UTG with technical and financial nonsense.

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