Will.I.Am in a recent MegaUpload YouTube video.
If you’ve been trying to get onto MegaUpload or any of their subsidiaries, you might want to look elsewhere. Kim Dotcom (yes, that’s his real name) has been arrested in Auckland, New Zealand after the United States Justice Department filed charges against the company, calling it an “international organized criminal enterprise allegedly responsible for massive worldwide online piracy.” Along with Dotcom, three other MegaUpload executives have been arrested at the request of the US Government. DOJ also described the other three executives as “at large.”
The reason behind the arrests is allegations that MegaUpload are responsible for $175 million in “criminal proceeds” as well as a massive “half a billion dollars in harm to copyright owners.”
The charges against the company in the complaint are:
- engaging in a racketeering conspiracy
- conspiring to commit copyright infringement
- conspiring to commit money laundering
- two substantive counts of criminal copyright infringement
Being just weeks after the infamous YouTube video, pulled from YouTube, which featured many artists, such as Will.I.Am (pictured) and Kanye West, this is massive news. This post will update as more details come to hand.