RIP Megaupload, The Fallout.

January 20, 2012

Image by: Spector1

Yesterday saw the file sharing site Megaupload being taken down by FBI. With the founder and several company officials facing charges facilitating millions of illegal downloads of films, music and other content. Megaupload is also being accused of costing copyright holders $500 million in lost revenue. Despite Megaupload being based in Hong Kong they were leasing servers in Ashburn, Va., and this gave the American authorities jurisdiction.

So while people were mourning the loss of being able to stream the latest TV series, there was a backlash from hacker group Anonymous.

This hacker group have been in the news over the past couple of years for being able to get into just about any site and wreak havoc. It seems the loss of being able to watch The Big Bang Theory got them wound up and they struck back. The result was the taking down of the FBI site, sites belonging to the Department of Justice and the website for the RIAA, Recording Industry Association of America.

The timing of this could not be more poignant. With many people in uproar over the controversial Stop Online Piracy Act, or SOPA, the raid on Megaupload Thursday proved that the feds don’t need SOPA or its sister legislation, PIPA, in order to pose a threat to the Web.

Image by: Newsweek

The internet blackout, notably fronted by Wikipedia, highlighted the impact the the SOPA and PIPA bills would have on the internet, and had a massive effect in raising awareness and helping to change the views of those in congress as shown in the above image.

But with the average age of congress rocking in at around 62 are they the right people to have any say in how the Internet is controlled? Who’s to say? Some of these guys may have been using the internet for 20 years, and “get it” just fine. It seems like those coming out in support are doing so not because they’re old, but because they’re ignorant of the deeper issues at hand.

I am not siding with piracy here, by any stretch of the imagination, but bills such as SOPA and PIPA will infringe too much on the way that we use the Internet, and groups such as Anonymous will continue to see it as their duty to attack and fight for the right to keep certain aspects of business out.

Obviously the Internet holds many opportunities for business and individuals, I hope that there can be a balance worked out between users and the large industries of music and film if they could work together both would benefit.

What do you think about SOPA, PIPA and the shut down of Megaupload? Do you think that a balance can ever by worked out between freedom and business? Let us know in the comments.