SOPA

[MrSquishyDBC]

So hopefully you've all heard about the crazy stuff that happened today.
One day after the internet blackout protest, Megavideo/upload got taken down today by the US Department of Justice, even without SOPA being passed (it actually lost support in Congress after the blackout). Officials arrested 4 people in New Zealand and are still looking for 3 more around the world. Basically, the US thinks we can arrest them (none of the indicted are US citizens) because there is a Megavideo server in Virginia.
Less than an hour after Megavideo went out, Anonymous took down the Department of Justice website. Since then, they've taken down the RIAA, MPAA, FBI, Copyright Office of America, and more. The Anonymous Twitter account says things like "Yesterday = voluntary blackout from SOPA opponents. Today = Involuntary blackout of SOPA supporters. ^__^" and "The Internet is here. Are you ready for The Year of Cyber War? We are. Rise up and join us to fight for your rights."

This is a little crazy. The Department of Justice acknowledges their website's blackout as a malicious attack.
News Article

[Ben]

The Megaupload thing is actually pretty interesting.
If you actually read the inciement against them then if that stuff is true it's pretty damming for them. Stuff like when a take down notice got sent they'd delete the link to the download, keep the file there, then generate a new link to it and say it was gone. And them filtering out any copyrighted stuff from appearing in their top 100 most popular download links so that the only things showing up were legal meaning they'd have to know where the copyrighted stuff is.

I mean I'm against SOPA obviously and the Megaupload thing reeks of bad timing, but they actually have a case if that shit is true.

That said, I'm still gonna sit back and laugh while anon take their sites down.

[Kelso]

Oh, Geez. SOPA/PIPA I'm definitely against, and I'm not a huge fan of the current DMCA laws either, but if all this SOPA talk wasn't happening right now I still wouldn't have been that surprised by MU going down. The extent of it is surprising of course, but so were the takedowns of Napster, Limewire, Suprnova, etc. PB is probably the only one that really weathered their respective storm well. The fact that the MU bust was coordinated from the US but is mostly taking place outside the US is a... little disconcerting, but presumably this has been coordinated with the local law enforcement and in countries where those same copyright laws extend to. Still, I don't really file it all in the "good sign" category.

While it was one of the bigger and better file sharing sites, MU is hardly the only one. Others will now be jumping to take its place and feed on its sweet, sweet user base.

True, MU was rife with copyright infringement, there's no denying that, but there were many people and businesses that also used it for legitimate file storage of their own intellectual property. That's all gone too as a casualty. It's like a building that the police know has criminals in it, but they're all mixed in with normal citizens. Instead of sorting it out properly, they just set the building on fire, arrest everyone that runs out, and deal with it afterwards. As for all the private property of the innocents, well that's just collateral damage. I suppose I could have replaced "building" with "country", but that might be getting too political.

As for the Anon response, again I'm not surprised and a part of me gets their angry attack, but on the other hand it feels like it's more likely to harm what was gained in the peaceful blackout SOPA protests. Not to mention, never mind piracy laws, I'm pretty sure attacks on websites of the FBI and the like is considered a treasonable offense domestically and a "terrorist" act from a foreign source. That kind of stuff actually could land someone in Guantanamo under current laws.

[Ben]

yeah it was all done in conjunction with the NZ law enforcement agencies.

As for the whole other ones jumping up in it's place. I'm not so sure how that will go since there are already a lot of other options (I prefer mediafire anyway)

Rumor has it they're allready planning a return under a .bz domain.

It's like a building that the police know has criminals in it, but they're all mixed in with normal citizens. Instead of sorting it out properly, they just set the building on fire, arrest everyone that runs out, and deal with it afterwards. As for all the private property of the innocents, well that's just collateral damage. I suppose I could have replaced "building" with "country", but that might be getting too political.

It's more like the building is owned and run by people with ties to the criminals who keep helping them escape the law but happens to be used by legitimate people as well.

What happend certainly isn't good and is franky kind of scary, but mega upload are far from an innocent victim in it.

As for the anon atacks undoing all the good will from yesterday, someone on Techdirt said it best, if their attacks can undo all the good we did, then the amount of good we did is basically negligible.

EDIT
Megaupload
http://109.236.83.66/

lol

[kleptoman]

It looks like New Zealand aren't pressing any charges. They're going to be extradited. This is pretty terrible.

Yes, they broke the law, but I don't think the US have any real right to punish them.

[MrSquishyDBC]

More interesting news discussing the timing of the arrest and the possibility of the FBI using the attacks as more fuel for the SOPA fire.

I'm really curious to see how this plays out. According to the article, internet activity is up about 15% because of the attacks, and there are still sites going down because of Anonymous, though seemingly with less frequency. And the owners/operators of other sites like Mediafire and Rapidshare should be worried. They're all simply smaller versions of MU, and could be in just as much trouble.

[Ben]

So apparently a lot of file hosting sites are starting to block US Ip addresses
http://ohnotheydidnt.livejournal.com/65920166.html

[Kelso]

"You want to censor us? Well, we'll just censor you out. How do you like that, eh?"

Although, it is a bit suspicious when Fileserve is operating under 4 different names.
And when did Hotfile and Rapidshare close down? I figured I hadn't seen them used much lately because they sucked.

[Ben]

not really that sus, a lot of companies do that kind of thing. Hell if you look at the indicment for Mega upload I think they closed down like 15 sites or something.
Rapidshare still exist as far as I can tell though?
https://www.rapidshare.com/

[Kelso]

Copypasted from another site, but it's apparently accurate as of yesterday at least.

Spoiler: show

- MegaUpload - Closed.
- FileServe - Closed. Does not sell premium.
- FileJungle - Deleting files. Locked in the U.S..
- UploadStation - Deleting accounts. Locked in US.
- FileSonic - the news is arbitrary (under FBI investigation).
- Uploading.com - Deleting accounts.
- VideoBB - Closed! would disappear soon.
- Uploaded - Banned U.S. and the FBI went after the owners who are gone.
- FilePost - Deleting all material (so will leave executables, pdfs, txts)
- Videoz - closed and locked in the countries affiliated with the USA.
- 4shared - Deleting files with copyright and waits in line at the FBI.
- MediaFire - Called to testify in the next 90 days and it will open doors pro FBI
-Org torrent - could vanish with everything within 30 days "he is under criminal investigation"
- Network Share mIRC - awaiting the decision of the case to continue or terminate Torrente everything.
- Koshiki - operating 100% Japan will not join the SOUP / PIPA
- Shienko Box - 100% working china / korea will not join the SOUP / PIPA
- ShareX BR - group UOL / BOL / iG say they will join the SOUP / PIPA

Edit:

Megaupload
http://109.236.83.66/

lol

Yeah, I wouldn't open that link. I'm assuming it's probably the fake "ip-only" MegaUpload that people have been talking about. The uploads don't actually work and it runs some kind of malware in the background, probably the modified LOIC anon has been using to get unsuspecting people to contribute to their ddos attacks. I'm probably a little late mentioning that.

[Kelso]

So, SOPA 2:Electric Boogaloo just snuck through the House. Geez, America. When did the internet become the 51st state, to do with as you please?

[Matador]

Fuck it! I'm moving to Canada!

[Tekkactus]

It'll get killed in the Senate, and if it doesn't Obama will veto, and if he doesn't the courts will rule it unconstitutional on final review.

I ain't worried.

[Kelso]

Neither was MegaUpload.
* I say this mostly sarcastically.

[Joopac_Badur]

It'll get killed in the Senate, and if it doesn't Obama will veto, and if he doesn't the courts will rule it unconstitutional on final review.

I don't know man ... for one thing, Congress is filled with people that don't really understand tech, so if you fill a bill with catchphrases like "cyber security" or "anti-hacking" or "protecting children" then they're going to latch on to those words rather than read up on how exactly the government would be able to do those things.

Second, Obama has all but thrown the Constitution out the window when it comes to areas of defense and privacy. I see no reason for him not to sign this into law.

And the Supreme Court isn't much better.