Megaupload were really asking for it

[TigerUK]

Ok here's some deeper analysis on why megaupload was targeted, and explains why the law enforcement agencies came down pretty hard on them.

The jist of it, they were amateurs, they left way too much damming evidence. The owners themselves were pirating content and storing files on their servers. Their emails seemed to be hacked and anti-piracy organisations seemed to be reading all their messages.

For OCD peeps, I've got the best quotes below, full article at the end.

Mega had developed a system whereby files set to be uploaded by users were hashed in order to discover if a copy of the file already exists on the Mega servers. If a file existed, the user did not have to upload his copy and was simply given a unique URL in order to access the content in future. What this meant in practice is that there could be countless URLs ‘owned’ by various users but which all pointed to the same file......

..The indictment claims that when a copyright holder issued a takedown notice for content referenced by its URL, only the URL was taken down, not the content to which it pointed. So although the URL in question would report that it had been removed and would no longer resolve to infringing material, URLs issued to others would remain operational.

A citation from an internal MegaUpload email from February 2007 entitled “reward payments” claims to show that at least two key staff members knew that cash payments were being paid to users who uploaded infringing material including “full popular DVD rips” and “software with keygenerators (Warez)”.

This could be true, affiliates use this technique a lot, they upload a tonne of stuff on file hosting sites and link them from forums, sometimes forum users want to content but don't want to wait it out using the free system so they sign up for full accounts to get faster access.

LOL:

An email from 2006 claims to show how MegaUpload attempted to download large amounts of content from YouTube and appeared by April that year to have obtained 30% of the site’s content. A follow up email in 2007 claimed that “Kim [MegaUpload's founder] really wants to copy Youtube one to one.”

An email from August 2006 titled “lol” contained a screenshot of a MegaUpload download page showing a cracked copy of CD burning software Alcohol 120%.

Other correspondence quoted in the indictment appears to show key staff members sending each other links to copyright works hosted on MegaUpload.

LOL:

“We have a funny business . . . modern days pirates,” the exchange begins. “We’re not
pirates,” came the reply. “We’re just providing shipping services to pirates.”

https://torrentfreak.com/megaupload-what-made-it-a-rogue-site-worthy-of-destruction-120120/

 

[TigerUK]

I guess the lesson for high states IMers selling acai berry, payday loans and other stuff that could come under scrutiny by the FTC (if you're big enough, making millions per year that is).

Don't even joke about being a snake oil salesmen or ripping people off in private emails. Cos you never know when they government/enforcement agencies could be spying on your emails and preparing a bust.

 

[(O_o)]

30% of youtube? thats pretty impressive considering how much content the site has.

interesting / good idea.

 

[Insomniac]

Well dah. Prior to the DMCA, MU had basically zero legal protection. Post DMCA, their business was allowed to exist - however the dumb fucks ignored the guidelines to protection anyway.

 

[dogfighter]

Fucking rockstar.