megaupload

Kim Dotcom wins access to seized property from 2012 raid

Megaupload founder Kim Dotcom has won another one.

A New Zealand court on Friday ruled that the warrants used by law enforcement officials to raid Dotcom's home in 2012 were illegal. Therefore, the court said, police are required to provide copies of all relevant evidence in the prosecution of Dotcom for alleged piracy. Any material that is deemed by the court not to be relevant must be returned to Dotcom.

Until now, Dotcom's defense attorneys did not have access to the seized evidence. According to Reuters, which earlier reported on the story, the attorneys asserted that there were … Read more

Low Latency No. 49: Keep your distance

Low Latency is a weekly comic on CNET's Crave blog written by CNET editor and podcast host Jeff Bakalar and illustrated by Blake Stevenson. Be sure to check Crave every Thursday at 8 a.m. PT for new panels! Want more? Here's every Low Latency comic so far.… Read more

DotCom promises splashy launch for Mega

Kim DotCom, the New Zealand-based entrepreneur, is up to his old tricks again.

In a ploy to promote the launch of the Mega cloud storage service, DotCom has taken to Twitter to promise a "press conference like no other."

The press conference will take place at DotCom's mansion, so we should probably expect the extravagant entrepreneur to lay on quite the show. Reportedly worth $30 million, the property comes complete with a fleet of vintage cars, customized shotguns and even an inflatable tank or two.

The founder of MegaUpload also mentions on his Twitter feed that he … Read more

MPAA: No MegaUpload data access without safeguards

The Motion Picture Association of America told a federal judge in Virginia today that any decision to allow users of the embattled file locker to access their own files risks "compound[ing] the massive infringing conduct already at issue in this criminal litigation" unless proper safeguards are taken to prevent the further dissemination of illegally copied material. (See the MPAA's brief embedded below.)

MegaUpload's servers with approximately 25 petabytes of data are currently unplugged, offline, and in storage at Dulles, Va.-based Carpathia Hosting.

When an FBI raid took down MegaUpload's U.S.-based servers … Read more

MegaUpload founder teases new music service, Megabox

A new music service from MegaUpload founder Kim DotCom was given the video treatment today.

Kim DotCom posted a video on YouTube today showing off a new music service that he, and what appears to be a large development team, are working on. The two-minute video includes everything from a listing of artist songs to some details on functionality, including the ability for users to upload their music to the service.

Megabox was first revealed last year as a technology that promised to transform the music industry by allowing artists to sell their own music and earn 90 percent of the revenue … Read more

New Zealand to probe spying into MegaUpload

New Zealand's prime minister has officially requested an inquiry into whether the Government Communications Security Bureau unlawfully intercepted communications as part of the case against file-sharing site MegaUpload.

Prime Minister John Key said today that the bureau acted unlawfully in assisting police to locate individuals by intercepting communications without authorization. Key said he was informed about the matter by the director of the bureau on September 17 and has referred the matter to Intelligence and Security Inspector-General Paul Neazor.

Key said he is disappointed by the bureau's actions. "I expect our intelligence agencies to operate always within … Read more

RapidShare: We'll help Hollywood, but 'not at all costs' (Q&A)

ASPEN, Colo. -- It hasn't been an especially felicitous year for the founder of file-sharing site MegaUpload: his domain name has been seized, his assets have been impounded, and Kim Dotcom faces potential extradition to the U.S. on criminal charges of copyright infringement.

That's a fate that RapidShare is determined to avoid. The Swiss company says it wants to be a legitimate hosting service that not only responds promptly to removal requests from copyright holders, but that goes far beyond what the law requires.

RapidShare's "responsible practices" policy may have pleased Hollywood when it … Read more

Video released of police raiding Kim DotCom's mansion

When Megaupload's founder Kim DotCom's mansion was raided in January, he claimed far too much force was used with unnecessary helicopters circling and elite forces arriving armed to the teeth. Now there's video to prove it.

Released by New Zealand's 3News, the video starts with a helicopter flying over DotCom's compound and landing directly in front of the massive mansion. Four armed officials jump out and run toward the house. As the helicopter takes off, ground forces are seen coming in through the gates.

DotCom's New Zealand home was reportedly worth $30 million. During the raids, … Read more

Google must delete 'torrent' from autocomplete, court says

The French Supreme Court has ruled that Google may have to censor the words "torrent," "RapidShare," and "Megaupload" from its instant and autocomplete searches, according to TorrentFreak.

In its ongoing court case with French music industry group SNEP, Google has been accused of implicitly allowing copyright violations for not filtering out these words. The SNEP alleges that when users type in names of well-known musicians in Google search, file-sharing sites get added on with the autocomplete feature.

"We are disappointed by the court's ruling," a Google spokesperson told CNET. "Google … Read more