The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) announced yesterday the closure of the Megaupload download page after a two-year investigation that has resulted in the arrest of four people in New Zealand for an alleged crime of computer hacking.
Authorities accuse Megauploud of being part of “a criminal organization responsible for a massive global hacking network” that has caused more than $500 million in copyright damage.
The FBI has indicated that the operation revealed today has no connection with the SOPA anti-piracy bill, promoted by the US Congress, and which caused the “blackout” of several pages yesterday as a sign of protest.
In its statement, the FBI points out that this operation “is among the largest criminal cases against copyright carried out by the United States and directly attacks the misuse of a public content repository and distribution to commit and facilitate crime against copyright.” intellectual property".
At the moment, four people have been arrested in Auckland, New Zealand and raids have been carried out in the US and nine other countries, in which $50 million in computer assets have been seized.
“For more than five years,” and according to the indictment, “the organization has operated web pages that illegally reproduced and distributed in violation of intellectual property laws works including films before their commercial release, music, television programs, e-books and entertainment software on a massive scale.”
Through Megaupload and other associated sites, the defendants made profits as a result of their hacking activities of $175 million.
