TorrentFreak

The feds shut down MegaUpload a few hours ago. Eight people we charged with criminal copyright infringement charges, and all files hosted on the site were pulled offline. However, do the feds realize that hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions of people used the site to share research data, work documents, personal video collections and much [...]

In yet another surprise move, file-sharing site MegaUpload has quietly appointed rapper / producer Swizz Beatz as its new CEO. Swizz Beatz, who’s married to Alicia Keys, is claimed to have played a key role in recruiting some of the A-list stars who endorsed the site in the controversial Mega Song campaign. The appointment of the prominent rapper is not going to be applauded by the major music labels, who describe Megaupload as a piracy haven.

MegaUpload, one of the largest file-sharing sites on the Internet, has been shut down by federal prosecutors in Virginia. The site’s founder Kim Dotcom and three others were arrested by the police in New Zealand at the request of US authorities. MegaVideo, the streaming site belonging to same company, and a total of 18 domains connected to the Mega company were seized and datacenters in three countries raided.

In their 18-page response filing at the US District Court for Northern Californian earlier this month, not once did Universal Music say why they forced YouTube to remove Megaupload’s Mega Song. Since that’s what the dispute between the two companies is all about, that was a pretty strange event. In a new filing, Megaupload makes it clear that it isn’t going to be brushed aside. The cyberlocker wants answers, and it will dig deep to get them.

Last week file-sharing site Megaupload found itself at the center of a huge controversy. After some of the world’s leading artists endorsed its service, Universal Music forced the song offline and was met with widespread accusations of censorship. Today TorrentFreak hands its Sunday guest slot to Megaupload founder Kim Dotcom, who tells us the row with Universal started much earlier than we thought….

A week ago today, Megaupload’s now-famous Mega Song was on its way to becoming a viral hit, only to be cut down from YouTube by a Universal Music takedown demand. Following the filing of a Megaupload lawsuit the song is back online, but Universal are standing firm. You can’t touch us on DMCA grounds, the label says in a new filing, adding it can take down any material, even if it doesn’t infringe their rights.

In a filing today in federal court, Megaupload founder Kim Dotcom stated that all artists involved in the now-infamous Megaupload video signed Appearance Consent and Release Agreements. Furthermore, Dotcom revealed that Black Eyed Peas frontman Will.i.am had assured him during a telephone call that contrary to suggestions in the press, he had not authorized the submission of DMCA takedown notices of Mega Song.