[SOPA OPERA] the Online War–The Internet Reacts Not-So-Nicely to Megaupload Shutdown.

January 21, 2012 8:19 am
Cask J. Thomson
7 comments

The main proponent of SOPA says the House will be delaying legislation regarding the controversial bill that would destroy the Internet as we know it.

The bill will be advised for an early February release. Keep using the internet and all you can to stop the censorship of the net as we know it.

Believe it or not, Megaupload had high-profile support from celebrities, musicians and other content producers who are most often the victims of copyright infringement and piracy.

Before the website was taken down, it was endorsed by artists like Alicia Keys and Kanye West, among many others.

Infamous hacking group “Anonymous” took the US justice department site down and replaced it with a Megaupload logo in retaliation. They claim this is only the beginning of what they perceive as an online riot. Anonymous have since resorted to telling supporters that this has been the “single largest attack in its [Anonymous'] history”.

The site itself (Megaupload) is unavailable, with no message or detail into why it is down, which makes me wonder (and hope) that Anonymous will be able to access the database and display a message of some sort to viewers wishing to try visit the site. How many of you knew of Megaupload and similar sites BEFORE all of this SOPA/PIPA business? ~~The only way to even see Megaupload moments before the shutdown is through sites like Internet Archive or Google’s Web Cache.^(here)~~UPDATE: Google & The Internet Archive have now removed their cached versions and mirrors of the Megaupload site to avoid legal concerns as they were technically hosting a site that has been taken down for infringement.

I wouldn’t call this a victory just yet but this could be a vital step and it will certainly put 2012 up there as a justice-seeking 12 months with 2011’s Occupy protests behind us and definitely set to continue on during the year. This might be the decade of protest. I really wouldn’t be surprised if Dropbox was next, because although that would just be stupid, they also allow users to upload and share.

Megaupload’s founder was arrested and now awaiting trial, so lets see how this story unfolds.

_{P.S Can I have the fees I paid for my 1 year Megaupload membership back?}

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1672973784 James Osgerby

Let it begin…
kamrom dechu

I think theres something very important to mention. SOPA isn’t law yet, right? So lets assume, for the sake of argument, that megaupload was somehow deserving of this…That would mean the government was able to take down this (allegedly) illegal site…without the insanity of SOPA.

So why exactly do we need SOPA, if we can already successfully take down pirate sites (again, for the sake of argument, I’m pretending that the claim somehow had 100% merit and honesty, even though it really didnt.)? Whats the problem that needs to be fixed with SOPA? Is it..not offline enough? Will SOPA make megaupload be MORE offline than it is now?

If I didnt know better, Id say it was a completely unnecessary law, designed as little more than a power grab by an industry known to attack everything that comes into existance that challenges its current model of money making.

But if that were true, itd make the people who want it passed even more monstrous than they were, since we know now that the “pirate sites” can be taken down without SOPA. And thats just silly.
- http://www.wordswithmeaning.org WordswithMeaning.org Team
  
  absolutely!
  SOPA is not a law, it is a proposed law, and therefore you are very correct about this being an unnecessary law for the sake of pulling infringing sites down.
  
  Let’s pretend another proposed law is the banning of Coca Cola and although the law has not passed, the coke drinkers are being arrested daily for consuming the product – it would be considered ludicrous because it is not yet a law.
  
  Piracy has been against the law for many many years. Very good point, thanks for your input
  
  -
  Cask J. Thomson (author)
  - Anonymous
    
    SOPA isn’t needed because Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement was signed last year and is the reason why extraditing from New Zealand for piracy reasons was allowed. In my opinion ACTA is far more concerning than SOPA, but little attention was received and as more countries sign into the agreement we hear little.
Aqqqsdf1234

“Megaupload’s founder was arrested and now awaiting trial”

That is kind of a trite and meaningless statement, perhaps meant to evoke rage from your readers. Nobody is arrested with a trial… if someone tries to rob a bank and the cops stop him, do they put cuffs on and arrest him, or do they write down his name and give him a trial date before arresting him? Seemed like an informative read until the last sentence which left a bad taste in my mouth and made me rethink caring about what I just read.
Dannydick

If he is extradited from New Zealand, won’t this take months to take place?
Pingback: Top 6 takeaways from the Megaupload takedown | ICT Pulse

Cask J. Thomson

Cask J. Thomson was born in the United Kingdom and currently lives in Australia. He has always been an activist for freedom of speech, the right to rebel against censorship and an adverse promoter of visiting all sides of the story. As well as exhausting his skills as a writer, a graphics and visual artist as well as a musician; Cask has utilised his Computer Science experience to communicate on an intricate level with aspiring professionals and self-expressed technology lovers. On top of running a news editorial and numerous campaigns, Cask J. Thomson is also the founder of a publishing group which sets itself out as the ‘creator endorsed’ issuer respecting the much-needed requirement for trust and respect in the corporate printing world.

WordswithMeaning! (or WordMean) is the disclosure driven news editorial providing Headlines, world news, business news, technology news and the representation of a non-corporate media outlet supporting freedom of speech, anonymous commenting and no account registrations. WordMean does not charge for content and is funded by third-party advertisements as well as donations from readers. WordswithMeaning! is run by free-thinking contributors of various backgrounds and beliefs. Some content (visually and otherwise) may be explicit, obscene or offensive with respect to the news stories and opinions of the author.

[SOPA OPERA] the Online War–The Internet Reacts Not-So-Nicely to Megaupload Shutdown.

Cask J. Thomson

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