MegaUpload Shut Down

Anonymous has brought down the websites of FBI and several music and movie groups in response to a slew of anti-piracy raids on file-sharing site Megaupload.

The hacker collective targeted law enforcement and music industry websites after arrests were made around the world on charges of copyright infringement, just a day after controversial anti-piracy laws SOPA and PIPA were thrown out by US lawmakers.


The people behind Megaupload have been charged with violating piracy laws by allowing the site to be used for the sharing of copyrighted music and movies. Oh, and money laundering, apparently.


Hacker collective Anonymous responded by crashing the websites of the FBI, US Justice Department, US Copyright Office, the Motion Picture Association of America, the Recording Industry Association Of America and record label Universal. With its site down, the MPAA has been releasing statements as Twitpics on Twitter.


Anonymous has also targeted anti-piracy institutions outside the US, bringing down the site for French law HADOPI.


Megaupload lets you upload any file and then share it with a direct link to download the file. Nothing wrong with that, of course, but US bobbies claim Megaupload paid users uploading copyrighted content and publicised other sites that linked to the pirated material.


Although the music industry clearly isn't keen on Megaupload, it's been backed by a range of big-name artists. Displaying either a shameless willingness to lipsync to promotional videos or a shocking naivety, Kanye West, Alicia Keys, Will.I.Am, Kim Kardashian, Jamie Foxx, Chris Brown, Puff Diddy Daddy and Macy Gray all appeared in a video for the Megaupload Mega Song.


Megaupload is no tin-pot operation: more than 20 search warrants have been carried out in 9 countries and around £32m in assets seized. Megaupload boss Kim Dotcom -- possibly not his real name -- was arrested in New Zealand along with other employees.


Anonymous responded with #OpMegaUpload, overwhelming targeted sites with distributed denial of service attacks -- and more ominously, tricking regular Internet users into joining in with malicious links on Twitter.


Both sides of the law are flexing their muscles the day after proposed anti-piracy laws SOPA and PIPA were killed off by US lawmakers in the wake of an unprecedented groundswell of peaceful protest across the Internet this week.


With SOPA defeated and both sides stepping up their attacks, is the war on piracy moving into a new phase of all-out war? Tell us your thoughts in the comments or on our Facebook page.
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Source: CNet.co.uk

I am as against SOPA & PIPPA as the next person but after a day that saw peaceful protest win out and the bill getting shelved, even if just temporarily, Anon's actions seems childish to me. With Megaupload being hit by raids globally its not just the US being stroppy, yes it is equally likely that the money laundering accusation could be BS, but thats why we have law and order. Anon's actions reflect more and more, to me, that of a terrorist organisation who launch these attack which dont help the cause, it hurts it. It polarizes people, especially laymen or Joe Ordinary in the street who doesn't know any better, into thinking that everyone who is against this bill are terrorists or something. Most of the population are idiots, if the box in their living room tells them these "hacktavists" are attacking the 'Institution' they will believe it and these kinds of attacks are just giving Big Brother the ammo they need.

If I were a black ops director I would target and take out Mega Upload, knowing that Anon would respond like this thus giving the men in congress more reason to reconsider things like SOPA and PIPPA.
 
OmegaFenix said:
Source: CNet.co.uk

I am as against SOPA & PIPPA as the next person but after a day that saw peaceful protest win out and the bill getting shelved, even if just temporarily, Anon's actions seems childish to me. With Megaupload being hit by raids globally its not just the US being stroppy, yes it is equally likely that the money laundering accusation could be BS, but thats why we have law and order. Anon's actions reflect more and more, to me, that of a terrorist organisation who launch these attack which dont help the cause, it hurts it. It polarizes people, especially laymen or Joe Ordinary in the street who doesn't know any better, into thinking that everyone who is against this bill are terrorists or something. Most of the population are idiots, if the box in their living room tells them these "hacktavists" are attacking the 'Institution' they will believe it and these kinds of attacks are just giving Big Brother the ammo they need.

If I were a black ops director I would target and take out Mega Upload, knowing that Anon would respond like this thus giving the men in congress more reason to reconsider things like SOPA and PIPPA.
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Given that everything you have said is , correct and I agree completely especially about the mass Idiots thing.

But you realize that these are 2 separate issues , and while it may seem like they are closely related , they are not.
These Hacktavists are in it for the fame , they do cause they can much like many terrorists and such to draw attention to them selves.

The bill issue was shelved
Megaupload was closed cause of other charges in a attempt to shock the system
these guys attack is a response to well nothing , they are asserting there skills.
 
Venom said:
Given that everything you have said is , correct and I agree completely especially about the mass Idiots thing.

But you realize that these are 2 separate issues , and while it may seem like they are closely related , they are not.
These Hacktavists are in it for the fame , they do cause they can much like many terrorists and such to draw attention to them selves.

The bill issue was shelved
Megaupload was closed cause of other charges in a attempt to shock the system
these guys attack is a response to well nothing , they are asserting there skills.
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Interesting. Even if they are separate issues, in the minds of the masses they will be linked.
 
OmegaFenix said:
Source: CNet.co.uk

I am as against SOPA & PIPPA as the next person but after a day that saw peaceful protest win out and the bill getting shelved, even if just temporarily, Anon's actions seems childish to me. With Megaupload being hit by raids globally its not just the US being stroppy, yes it is equally likely that the money laundering accusation could be BS, but thats why we have law and order. Anon's actions reflect more and more, to me, that of a terrorist organisation who launch these attack which dont help the cause, it hurts it. It polarizes people, especially laymen or Joe Ordinary in the street who doesn't know any better, into thinking that everyone who is against this bill are terrorists or something. Most of the population are idiots, if the box in their living room tells them these "hacktavists" are attacking the 'Institution' they will believe it and these kinds of attacks are just giving Big Brother the ammo they need.

If I were a black ops director I would target and take out Mega Upload, knowing that Anon would respond like this thus giving the men in congress more reason to reconsider things like SOPA and PIPPA.
Click to expand...

Totally dude. I can't stand those anon idiots. They just seem to make things worse.
 
OmegaFenix said:
Interesting. Even if they are separate issues, in the minds of the masses they will be linked.
Click to expand...
I agree and this is the problem, with these guys by trying to make a name for themselves they are in fact taking the most inopportune moment to make a mark on the world, compounding a situation that was already unstable.

I say to these guy's don't act or speak on behalf of the INTERNET we shall act on our own accord.
 
Venom said:
I agree and this is the problem, with these guys by trying to make a name for themselves they are in fact taking the most inopportune moment to make a mark on the world, compounding a situation that was already unstable.

I say to these guy's don't act or speak on behalf of the INTERNET we shall act on our own accord.
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Yep, could not agree more.
 
And the Plot thickens.

After Wednesday’s unprecedented unified online yelp against SOPA and PIPA, Thursday saw a new milestone: the first direct and public activist malware from Anonymous.

A version of Anonymous’ voluntary botnet software, known as LOIC (Low Orbit Ion Canon), was modified to make it not so voluntary, drafting unwary bystanders, journalists and even anons who don’t support DDoS tactics into attacks on the U.S. Justice Department. Thursday’s trickery seems not to have been central to the successful takedown of sites like justice.gov, RIAA.com and MPAA.com, but not all anons are pleased with forcing unwitting bystanders to join in a potentially illegal action.


The trick snagged those who happened to click on a shortened link on social-media services, expecting information on the ongoing #opmegaupload retaliation for the U.S. Justice Department’s takedown of popular file sharing site Megaupload. Instead they were greeted by a Javascript version of LOIC — already firing packets at targeted websites by the time their page was loaded.


Several anons speaking to Wired on condition of anonymity voiced dismay that a tactic they consider to be the modern-day equivalent of a sit-in (denial-of-service attacks leave no lasting damage) was ethically corrupted by the new version.


“Preying on unsuspecting users is despicable,” said one anon, speaking to Wired in an online chat. “We need to fight for the user, not potentially land them in jail.”


As part of Thursday’s raging reaction from Anonymous to the Megaupload arrests, people by the thousands voluntarily pointed the LOIC at targets like FBI.gov, DOJ.gov, MPAA.org, BMI.org, RIAA.org and copyright.gov, part of an effort that knocked these sites offline for parts of the day. The tool bombards a targeted site with traffic, in hopes of overwhelming servers so that no one can visit the site.


If enough anons choose to aim the tool at a proposed target, it gives Anonymous an easy route into press coverage without doing any lasting damage to a site. However, the tool doesn’t cover users’ tracks, making it simple for a targeted site to know where the attacks were coming from.


But this new malware variant emerged in the course of the operation, and not everyone that clicked on the link wanted to participate. Unwitting participants included Gawker’s Adrien Chen, who blasted anons for the trick.


LOIC began as a downloadable software, but an in-browser Javascript version of LOIC has been around since 2010′s Operation Payback.


The new auto-firing variant seems to have been developed as part of an occupy effort by Occupy BMV (Ocupemos La Bolsa Mexicana de Valores, or the Mexican Stock Exchange) against the Mexican treasury secretary several days before the Megaupload arrests. The adaptation doesn’t seem very sophisticated, and uses a 1990s-era proxy server called anonymouse.org that doesn’t hide the tracks of Javascript requests, making its addition unlikely to help its users evade detection. (A number of people are being prosecuted for allegedly using LOIC to participate in the 2010 denial of service attacks against Paypal, part of a retaliation campaign for the payment processor voluntarily cutting off donations to WikiLeaks.)


In the wake of the SOPA/PIPA protest and the Megaupload arrest, the malware JS LOIC was further modified to autofire at the US Department of Justice and was posted on a Pastehtml site. An obscured, shortened link was posted to Twitter repeatedly, mostly by Spanish language accounts, and an unknown number of people clicked on it. Without their knowledge they began automatically to DDoS the DoJ.


While this tactic was new and unsettling, it’s unlikely this script made much difference in the total level of attack traffic aimed at the DoJ. The JS LOIC is not a powerful tool for overwhelming servers, and the anonymouse.org site never went down, despite being hit every time someone used the malware LOIC on the DOJ or any other target site.


Despite its small footprint and questionable ethics, the existence of the malware version may make it harder for prosecutors to prove in court that someone using the JS LOIC did so intentionally.
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Source: Wired
 
Some Info off of GAWKER

56c0ead52305a7f495aa07e5d23d1f9c.jpg


Anonymous Rallies Behind Plight of Greedy Fraudster Millionaire
Anonymous staged one of its largest attacks ever yesterday in retaliation for the Feds shutting down file-sharing site MegaUpload for allegedly being a criminal copyright-infringement conspiracy. Anonymous should probably learn about the spectacularly greedy playboy they've rallied behind in the name of free culture (and tricked others into rallying behind).
Megaupload's fat millionaire founder Kim Dotcom (born Schmitz) was arrested yesterday in New Zealand, cowering in a safe room in his sprawling rented estate, the Dotcom Mansion. (Dotcom is a German citizen.) This is a man who changed his name to Dotcom, which he then named his mansion. Dotcom had a sawed off shotgun at his side, according to the New York Times.


37-year-old Kim Dotcom lived an absurdly lavish lifestyle thanks to Megaupload and its pirated content, like some geek Kanye West. Police seized $4.8 million worth of cars at Doctom Mansion, including a 2010 Maserati, a pink cadillac and a 2008 Rolls Royce, with license plates like "GUILTY," "EVIL," "MAFIA" and "STONED." He's been convicted of criminal hacking, insider trading and embezzlement.


Before his arrest, Dotcom was famous for his YouTube videos. In some he's racing his Mercedes at 200 mph, "in other clips, Schmitz bathes in grand marble tubs, suns himself on yachts, and cavorts with bikini-clad women," according to CNET. (What is it with Anonymous' love of womanizing geeks?)


Dotcom's sleaziness aside, the specifics of the charges against him, for criminal copyright infringement, money laundering and racketeering, suggests the internet's favorite vigilante hive mind may want to steer clear. Megaupload has raked in $175 million since 2005—the company's graphic designer made $1 million in 2010, according to the indictment, as summarized by Ars Technica. This even as Megaupload employees traded Megaupload links to pirated Seinfeld episodes amongst themselves. Is the copyright battle really about letting a German hacker get obscenely rich off copyrighted material, instead of Hollywood studio execs?


But Anonymous' Operation Megaupload is still going strong: they're trying to take down the FBI's website now. If Anonymous is going to make a habit of defending millionaires just to spite the U.S. government, maybe they can help out Rupert Murdoch next. The FBI has been giving him some trouble recently, too.
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Source
 
Don't know if this has been discussed as yet, but for anyone that doesn't know yet, both FileSonic and Uploaded.to have been affected by this MegaUpload issue.

FileSonic has now disabled file sharing. A message on the FileSonic homepage reads
All sharing functionality on FileSonic is now disabled. Our service can only be used to upload and retrieve files that you have uploaded personally.
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Also, Uploaded.to is no longer available for use in the U.S.

Okay, well, whether or not this is because of MegaUpload is debatable, but it sure seems that way.
 
psychogenik said:
Don't know if this has been discussed as yet, but for anyone that doesn't know yet, both FileSonic and Uploaded.to have been affected by this MegaUpload issue.

FileSonic has now disabled file sharing. A message on the FileSonic homepage reads

Also, Uploaded.to is no longer available for use in the U.S.

Okay, well, whether or not this is because of MegaUpload is debatable, but it sure seems that way.
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They could just be covering their asses to avoid going the same route as MegaUpload.
 
SOPA dead as ESA pulls support

Potential for 'unintended consequences' makes industry trade body drop backing
The controversial Stop Online Piracy Act has been indefinitely postponed by congress.
The oft-criticised bill was delayed on Friday “until there is wider agreement on a solution”, said House Judiciary Committee chairman Lamar Smith.
US Industry trade body the Entertainment Software Association has also pulled its support of the controversial SOPA.
It stated concerns over potential unintended consequences from the current bill as reason for dropping its backing.
The ESA said however that it still backed some form of legislation to protect the games industry from piracy.

“From the beginning, ESA has been committed to the passage of balanced legislation to address the illegal theft of intellectual property found on foreign rogue sites,” read a statement from the trade association.
“Although the need to address this pervasive threat to our industry’s creative investment remains, concerns have been expressed about unintended consequences stemming from the current legislative proposals.
“Accordingly, we call upon Congress, the Obama Administration, and stakeholders to refocus their energies on producing a solution that effectively balances both creative and technology interests.
“As an industry of innovators and creators, we understand the importance of both technological innovation and content protection and are committed to working with all parties to encourage a balanced solution.”
SOPA has continued to lose backing over the past few months from companies such as Nintendo, Sony and EA, whilst websites such as Wikipedia and Reddit staged a day long blackout in protest over the legislation.
Whilst there is a possibility for the bill to return in an amended form, the current form of the legislation seems destined to change as debates continue about how best to tackle piracy.
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Source: Develop-Online.Net
 
psychogenik said:
What does this mean for Kim Dotcom and MegaUpload?
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Piracy is still a crime and if proved they could still face a hefty court case. Remember that some of the charges against them include money laundering and racketeering (basically organised crime).
 
Arrested Megaupload Boss Cheated His Way To Video Game Glory, Opponents SayKim Dotcom, the imprisoned mastermind behind busted file-sharing site Megaupload and, bizarrely, also the top-scoring killer on Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, wasn't always a showboating millionaire. He also ran a competitive video game league in the late-90s. And was by all accounts a rather sore loser.


How sore? Like, banning from his league everyone who beat him at a game of first-person shooter Quake 2. That kind of sore loser.
After our original report on Dotcom went up over the weekend, we heard from old-time Quake 2 players who had encountered the billionaire when he was known online as "Kimble". Using that handle, Dotcom - formerly Kim Schmitz - had become a relatively well-known personality among online PC gamers at the time, in part because he ran a Quake league called Liga.net.


In September 1998, PlanetQuake reported that Kimble, after losing a game against Immortal (at the time one of the world's top players), became so upset he banned his opponent from the league, accusing him of using bots, a form of automated cheating. There are then reports from gamers complaining about Immortal's banning were kicked to the curb right alongside him.


Those booted from Dotcom's Liga.net of course claimed it was Kimble himself that had been cheating, because the other thing he was well-known for, regardless of whether it was true or not, was being a high-profile and notorious users of bots.


Going into more detail was this commenter in the original Modern Warfare 3 story from the weekend:
Back in the days of Quake 2 and the Barrysworld free server network, Dotcom used to troll the Rocket Arena 2 duel arenas as 'www.kimble.org' with an aimbot on his 6ms T1 line, raging people to the point that the entire server would clear, rather than put up with him. Then one day he was faced down and beaten by a girl-gamer on a shitty BT ISDN line - one on one, rail only. He raged so hard that he then dc'ed, looked up the player's name up on Quake.net irc and DDoSed the b0rk.co.uk irc bouncer that she used offline. Having realised he'd accomplished nothing, he then proceeded to DDoS the entire Barrysworld server array for a week, out of petty vengeance for being made to look like a twat. He was a cheating shit now, so I'd very surprised if that #1 position is legit now, either. Take a browse through the PlanetQuake archives if you wanna see the other shit he pulled, like banning the people that beat him in the leagues he admined for liga.net. 100% twat material.
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Then there's this gem from a forum thread where a bunch of old Quake 2 players are reminiscing:
I remember him. I played him once on barrysworld (Yeh I'm that old :<). Just about the most blatant cheater you'd ever play. .

I got so pissed off at one point that I focused all my attention and managed to kill him once. Which felt pretty good.


His actual nick was www.kimble.org. Which was some sort of huge ego website of him traveling around the world in luxury cars/jets etc squandering money he scammed of some idiots during the dot.com boom.


Needless to say he was arrested for fraud some time later.


Anyway, the moral of the story is that the personality in game isn't all that different outside the game.
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While that "huge ego website" is long gone, if you're curious, it featured pictures like this.

juice.jpg


A final note: with this stuff taking place over a decade ago, and Dotcom currently cooling in a cell, we can't get his side of the story. And we haven't heard of him cheating to get his world's best Modern Warfare 3 ranking, so he must have some skills.
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Source: Kotaku
 
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