Long Arm of the Law

It might not be entirely relevant to South Africa, unless you are a torrent-using pirate-type, but it is extremely interesting: the FBI have closed down file sharing site Megaupload, and have extradited the site owners from New Zealand to face several serious charges in the USA.

While it has been stated that this action has nothing to do with the SOPA drama, the timing does seem to be rather… well-timed.

Speculation aside, a police swoop saw the site founders, and several executives arrested, as well as physical property seized. In addition, around US$ 8 million was seized from the company’s bank accounts… a paltry sum when considered that Megaupload is accused of owing over US$ 500 million in copyright revenues.

"The individuals and two corporations - Megaupload Limited and Vestor Limited - were indicted by a grand jury in the Eastern District of Virginia on Jan. 5, 2012, and charged with engaging in a racketeering conspiracy, conspiring to commit copyright infringement, conspiring to commit money laundering and two substantive counts of criminal copyright infringement,” an official statement by the FBI said, as reported by GamesIndustry.biz.

 "The individuals each face a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison on the charge of conspiracy to commit racketeering, five years in prison on the charge of conspiracy to commit copyright infringement, 20 years in prison on the charge of conspiracy to commit money laundering and five years in prison on each of the substantive charges of criminal copyright infringement."

Moments after the arrests, a tweet from someone claiming to be a member of the notorious hacker group Anonymous read:  "The government takes down Megaupload? 15 minutes later Anonymous takes down government & record label sites."

Soon after the US Department of Justice’s public site, as well as websites belonging to the MPAA and Universal Music, came under massive denial-of-service attacks.

SOPA aside, it seems that the FBI is taking a firm position in their role as protectors of copyrighted material originating from the USA. While there are many vocal protestors speaking their minds about these events, the fact that copyright infringement is covered by extensive laws may see the accused ending up in a lot of very hot water.