Illegal File-sharing, Megaupload | featured news

Kim Dotcom, founder of the banned Megaupload filesharing site, has announced a new version called Mega designed to sidestep the American laws under which he is being prosecuted for £175m worth of alleged online piracy, racketeering and money laundering.

While Kim Dotcom's lawyers have been making steady progress in court, Mr. Dotcom has been gaining the public's favor in New Zealand... Mr. Dotcom — born Kim Schmitz and also known as Kimble and Kim Tim Jim Vestor — and three others connected with Megaupload were arrested in connection with U.S. indictments on charges involving copyright infringement and money laundering. At the time, the U.S. Department of Justice said that in all, seven people had been arrested around the world in connection with an investigation into online piracy of numerous copyrighted works, including music and films.

A court in New Zealand has ruled that the search warrants used by New Zealand police when they raided the home of Megaupload founder Kim Dotcom were invalid. Reuters reported that a High Court judge said the search warrants were “too vague” and “did not adequately describe the offences to which they related.” The judge also ruled that the FBI acted unlawfully when it took copies of data from Dotcom’s computer offshore.

Federal prosecutors say data from users of Megaupload could be deleted as soon as Thursday. U.S. prosecutors blocked access to Megaupload and charged seven men, saying the site facilitated millions of illegal downloads of movies, music and other content.

A New Zealand court has granted bail to two associates of the founder of online file-sharing website Megaupload, accused of being involved in a $175 million Internet piracy scheme.

Megaupload founder Kim Dotcom was denied bail Wednesday by a New Zealand judge who determined that the file-sharing site executive poses a flight risk, the New Zealand Herald reported.

Among the roll-call of hip-hop artists and other celebrities plugging Megaupload.com's digital storage services in an online promotional video, a cameo from the website's founder would have gone unnoticed by many.

Police in New Zealand on Friday raided several homes and businesses linked to the founder of Megaupload.com, a giant file-sharing site shut down by U.S. authorities, and seized guns, millions of dollars, and nearly $5 million in luxury cars, officials said.

The Department of Justice announced Thursday that it has conducted a major action to shut down MegaUpload, a popular file-sharing site widely used for free downloads of movies and television shows.