02/03, 7:55am
Kim Dotcom fails in bid to get out of NZ jail
Kim Dotcom, founder and chief of Megaupload has lost his appeal to be released on bail. Following a NZ court’s decision to remand Dotcom in custody pending an extradition hearing, Dotcom’s legal team appealed to the NZ High Court to overturn the original decision. However, the High Court concurred with the original ruling on the grounds that Dotcom had the means to be able to flee the country.
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02/02, 11:25pm
DotCom accuses police of punching him in the face
Megaupload founder Kim Dotcom has accused law enforcement authorities of using excessive force when he was arrested at his New Zealand residence on January 19. Dotcom claims the officers that entered his home were "quite aggressive" and punched him in the face, kicked him and stepped on his hands, according to a 3 News report.
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02/01, 10:40pm
Hackers attack Interior Ministry website
Ukrainian authorities have reportedly shut down file sharing site Ex.ua over alleged copyright violations, just weeks after US authorities pushed to shutter Megaupload. A spokesman with the Interior Ministry, Volodymyr Polishchuk, suggests the site was closed following complaints from a variety of companies, including Microsoft and Adobe.
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01/31, 11:05pm
Users asked to visit MegaRetrieval.com
The Electronic Frontier Foundation has vowed to help Megaupload users gain access to legitimate data, after the government shut down the file sharing service for its alleged role in copyright infringement. US prosecutors recently admitted that third-party hosting companies may begin deleting user data within days.
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01/30, 10:20am
Megaupload fighting to keep user data deletion
User data of the recently shuttered Megaupload site may have all their data deleted by this Thursday, US prosecutors revealed. This would reduce the ability of his clients to defend themselves in court, the lawyer representing Megaupload founders added. The site was shut down for allegedly sharing pirated content with the owners' full knowledge.
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01/28, 2:10am
YouTube filter makes false positives
YouTube's anti-piracy screening has both come under fire and gotten some relief on Friday. The system is now known from an anecdote at Vice to generate false positives if enough of a song is improperly attributed to the wrong group. When Universal-backed group Yelawolf took a sample from an After the Smoke track and had its adaptation leaked, the Universal takedown claim not only brought down the Yelawolf leak but the original track the sample came from.
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01/24, 10:45pm
Kim Dotcom considered flight risk
Megaupload founder Kim Dotcom has been denied bail by a New Zealand court. The presiding judge, David McNaughton, accepted prosecution arguments that Dotcom posed a flight risk and remanded him in custody until February 22. At that time, US authorities will put forward their grounds for the extradition of Dotcom to face criminal charges.
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01/22, 11:55pm
Megaupload has defense trouble
Megaupload saw its troubles expand on Sunday in multiple directions. The file upload service's founder Kim Dotcom pressed for bail in a New Zealand court. In a Reuters account, his attorney argued both that he had done nothing wrong and that he wouldn't be a flight risk. He added that he wouldn't try to restart Megaupload if let out of jail.
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01/21, 6:05pm
Megaupload may skip Universal for individuals
Megaupload's lawsuit opposing a takedown of a promo video may have taken an unusual turn. The company was claimed by a Hollywood Reporter source with access to the case to have dropped Universal, which orchestrated the takedown, from the suit. Only a number of unnamed people who had participated in the takedown remained.
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01/20, 10:30pm
Megaupload returns fire after shutdown
Megaupload reacted vigorously to shutdowns and arrests with action of its own. In conversation with Reuters, defending attorney Ira Rothken said Megaupload was "looking at its legal options" to bring its site back online. The lawyer objected to FBI and media industry claims that Megaupload was a criminal conspiracy and said that simply having a file upload service wasn't grounds for the raids this week.
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01/20, 5:05pm
Neelie Kroes Twits against SOPA bill
The latest to speak out against the controversial SOPA and PIPA bills is European Union Commissioner for the Digital Agenda, Neelie Kroes. "Glad tide is turning on SOPA: don't need bad legislation when should be safeguarding benefits of open net," she wrote in a Twitter message. The legislation, if passed, would give the US Justice Department to shut down sites simply suspected of sharing pirated content.
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01/19, 5:50pm
Anonymous carpet bombs Megaupload opponents
(Update: FBI too) The forced closure of Megaupload and accompanying arrests may have backfired on proponents after Anonymous launched one of its largest attacks ever in retaliation. Multiple statements from the hacking collective confirmed they were responsible for successful denial of service attacks against the websites of the Department of Justice, MPAA, RIAA, and likely arrest instigator Universal Music. All of the sites were partly or completely unresponsive as of early Thursday evening.
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01/19, 2:45pm
Megaupload forced closed
Megaupload's troubles were magnified Thursday after word emerged that it has been shut down by Federal prosecutors in Alexandria. The site is currently inaccessible. Reports have also emerged that company staff have charged with violating piracy laws, allegedly contributing to $500 million of lost revenue.
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12/16, 11:40am
Universal pulled video under private YouTube deal
The argument between Universal Music Group and Megaupload over a YouTube-hosted music video from earlier this week has raised some new issues. UMG now claims that it had the right to take down the video from YouTube not under the DMCA but rather thanks to a private contract with YouTube, Ars Technica revealed on Friday. If this holds up, it could bring a dangerous precedent, as the deal would effectively get around the DMCA's abuse protection.
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12/12, 12:45pm
Megaupload to join fight against SOPA bill, more
Following the blockage of a YouTube video on Friday at the request of the RIAA and IFPI, cloud-storage service company Megaupload has stated it will sue Universal Music for prompting what it sees as a wrongful takedown. Megaupload founder Kim Dotcom requested YouTube reinstate the music video, dubbed Mega Song, while Universal asked to pull it again. The video in question was a promotional one for Megaupload and included P Diddy, Will.i.am, Alicia Keys, Kanye West, Snoop Dogg, Macy Gray, Chris Brown, The Game, and Mary J Blige. TorrentFreak learned.
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09/23, 4:25pm
Fonera 2.0n now in US
Fon today formally rolled out its once-teased Fonera 2.0n router. The new update adds 802.11n Wi-Fi speeds but is better known for adding built-in clients for several services independently of computers. Owners can upload content to Facebook, Flickr, Megaupload, Picasa, RapidShare and YouTube when the relevant computer is turned off; it can also download BitTorrents and send Twitter updates to signal when a transfer has been completed or a guest connects to the public hotspot.
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07/14, 8:45am
Fonera 2n Router
FON today significantly improved its core wireless router by launching the Fonera 2.0n. The device appropriately has 802.11n Wi-Fi for faster speeds and longer ranges than the older 11g model. More importantly, though, it adds USB and dedicated clients for multiple services directly on the router. Owners can download from BitTorrent, Megaupload or Rapidshare to USB storage without turning on a computer; they can also upload photos or videos to Facebook, Flickr, Picasa or YouTube from an attached camera.
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04/06, 10:55am
FON outs Fonera 2.0 router
FON on Thursday held a small, informal demonstration of its Fonera 2.0/La Fonera+ router in Paris, announcing in will be made available in Europe on April 21st, with other markets that include the USA, Japan, Hong Kong and Taiwan being added in May. Compared to the original La Fonera, the new Wi-Fi router adds an extra LAN port that allows users to connect a wired device. The new device also can share 3G data network access as a Wi-Fi connection and users can set how much of their own bandwidth they want to share with other FON members.
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