File-sharing site Megaupload was abruptly shut down by Virginia prosecutors Thursday, following charges of violating piracy laws.
The shutdown comes one day after thousands of websites, including Pop ‘stache, participated in a coordinated protest against two controversial pieces of proposed legislation aiming to severely punish copyright violators on the internet.
The shutdown also revealed a surprise: hip-hop producer Swizz Beatz is Megaupload’s CEO.
Beatz’s silent-partner status wasn’t a complete surprise, as MTV.com reported the producer’s name appeared in the “About Us” page of Megaupload’s site.
Beatz, who is married to R&B star Alicia Keys and the first producer-in-residence at NYU’s Clive Davis Department of Recorded Music, helped cast Megaupload’s controversial promo video last year.
http://youtu.be/6EGWHvPl1ho
The video featured Will.I.am, Diddy, Kim Kardashian and Kanye West’s endorsement of the site. Will.I.Am later sent the site a takedown request and Universal Music Group flagged the video for copyright abuse. It was later removed.
Megaupload is accused of refusing to remove copyrighted material from their site in accordance with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. According to the indictment, the site has generated $175 million in income while causing $500 million in losses to its content copyright holders.
The New York Times is also reporting that Megaupload founder Kim Dotcom and three operators have been arrested in New Zealand. Three other people remain at large. Beatz wasn’t included on the list.
According to the Times article, the suit is among the largest criminal copyright cases ever brought by the United States.
