[x-pubpol] Feds Shutter Megaupload, Arrest Executives

[Joly MacFie]

Any local commentary from NZ welcome.

(Extracted from another list)

They were arrested for "Conspiracy to Commit Racketeering",
> > "Conspiracy to Commit Money Laundering", "Copyright Infringement"
> > http://www.scribd.com/doc/78786408/Mega-Indictment
> >
> > Pretty heavy charges.
> Yes, apparently paying for servers is now money laundering, under the
> right circumstances.
> There was a first extradition hearing already
>
> http://torrentfreak.com/megaupload-founder-denied-bail-at-extradition-hearing-120120/
> From that :
> Police say there are no intentions of trying the defendants under local
> laws.
> “This particular type of action around internet copyright infringement
> is a first in New Zealand in terms of an overseas person being
> attempted to be extradited to the United States,” said Intellectual
> Property Lawyer Rick Shera, as quoted by TVNZ.
> I predict an interesting extradition fight here. I have to wonder how
> the New Zealand judges will view RICO.


On Thu, Jan 19, 2012 at 4:04 PM, Joly MacFie <joly at punkcast.com> wrote:

> http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2012/01/megaupload-indicted-shuttered/
>
> Megaupload, the popular file-sharing site, was shuttered Thursday and its
> executives indicted by the Justice Department in what the authorities said
> was “among the largest criminal copyright cases ever brought by the United
> States.”
>
> Seven individuals connected to the Hong Kong-based site were indicted<http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2012/January/12-crm-074.html> on
> a variety of charges, including criminal copyright infringement and
> conspiracy to commit money laundering. Four of the members of what the
> authorities called a “racketeering conspiracy” were arrested Thursday in *
> Aucklund*, New Zealand, the authorities said.
>
> [3/10 for spelling, wired . J :)]
>
> One of those arrested was Kim Schmitz, aka Kim Dotcom, Megaupload’s
> director. His attorney, Ira Rothken of California, said neither he nor his
> client was given the opportunity to surrender. Kim was arrested without
> notice, he said.
>
> “We’re looking into what’s going on,” Rothken said in a telephone
> interview.
>
> Vistiors to the Megaupload site, which gets about 50 million hits daily,
> were greeted with a message from the Justice Department.  ”This domain name
> associated with the website Megaupload.com has been seized pursuant to an
> order issued by a U.S. District Court.”
>
> The government said the site facilitated copyright infringement of movies
> “often before their theatrical release, music, television programs,
> electronic books, and business and entertainment software on a massive
> scale.”
>
> The indictment <http://www.scribd.com/doc/78786408/Mega-Indictment> came
> as the Justice Department said it seized 18 domains in all connected to
> Megaupload. The agency said it executed more than 20 search warrants in the
> United States and eight countries, seizing $50 million in assets.
> --
> ---------------------------------------------------------------
> Joly MacFie  218 565 9365 Skype:punkcast
> WWWhatsup NYC - http://wwwhatsup.com
>  http://pinstand.com - http://punkcast.com
>  VP (Admin) - ISOC-NY - http://isoc-ny.org
> --------------------------------------------------------------
> -
>



-- 
---------------------------------------------------------------
Joly MacFie  218 565 9365 Skype:punkcast
WWWhatsup NYC - http://wwwhatsup.com
 http://pinstand.com - http://punkcast.com
 VP (Admin) - ISOC-NY - http://isoc-ny.org
--------------------------------------------------------------
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