CircleID

Federal prosecutors in Virginia have shut down one of the world’s largest Internet file-sharing sites, Megaupload.com, charging its founder and others with violating piracy laws, the Associated Press reports today. "The indictment was unsealed Thursday, one day after websites shut down in protest of two congressional proposals [SOPA & PIPA] intended to thwart the online piracy of copyrighted movies and TV programs."

From the FBI report today: "Seven individuals and two corporations have been charged in the United States with running an international organized criminal enterprise allegedly responsible for massive worldwide online piracy of numerous types of copyrighted works through Megaupload.com and other related sites, generating more than $175 million in criminal proceeds and causing more than half a billion dollars in harm to copyright owners, the U.S. Justice Department and FBI announced today."

Update from Arbor Networks:

With enough global data, you can actually see the traffic drop when the shutdown occurs. Based strictly on the traffic rates it appears that the shutdown started just after 19:00 GMT on January 19, with traffic plummeting down over the next two hours. The graphic here shows three main client regions – Asia-Pacific, Europe, and the US.

Updates:  UPDATED Jan 21, 2012 4:19 PM PDT
The MegaUpload Shutdown Effect Jan.21.2012
DoJ Targets Co's for Piracy - DDoS Attacks Unleashed Infosec, Jan.19.2012

Related topics: DDoS, Internet Governance, Law