MEGAUPLOAD.COM SHUT DOWN BY THE GOVERNMENT

The U.S. government nailed another piracy enabler today, shuttering Megaupload.com. With over one billion total visitors and 150 million-plus users, which accounted for more than 4% of total Internet traffic, the site has been closed down by the Dept. of Justice, who announced that “individuals and two corporations have been charged…with running an international organized criminal enterprise allegedly responsible for massive worldwide online piracy of numerous types of copyrighted works, generating more than $175 million in criminal proceeds and causing more than half a billion dollars in harm to copyright owners.” RIAA Chairman/CEO Cary Sherman offered his gratitude for the work put into making it happen: “The indictment unveils the true nature of services such as Megaupload and should send a clear signal to other similar illegal distribution hubs that think they can violate the law with impunity.”