Megaupload forced closed

Megaupload's troubles were magnified Thursday after word emerged that it has been shut down by Federal prosecutors in Alexandria. The site is currently inaccessible. Reports have also emerged that company staff have charged with violating piracy laws, allegedly contributing to $500 million of lost revenue.

It's unclear what prompted the exact action, although it may be at the prompting of Universal. The music and movie publisher late last year was engaged in a campaign to try and silence Megaupload outside of legal channels, ordering a takedown for a celebrity promotional video Universal didn't have rights to and later trying to silence news by using a back channel it had in YouTube to temporarily pull a podcast episode. Universal at the time claimed it had done so as part of an understanding with YouTube, only for YouTube to say it hadn't given consent to the actions.

Megaupload had planned to sue Universal music, in part because its service was not explicitly oriented toward piracy. The site also said that it complied with takedown requests within its site whenever they appeared.

By Electronista Staff

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industry, digital imaging, Google, Universal, networking, audio, YouTube, Universal Music Group, Megaupload