I have to make this short, but a big... no, HUGE development today:
In one of the most massive copyright infringement cases in history, law enforcement authorities have shut down and arrested employees of one of the world’s biggest file-sharing websites, MegaUpload.com.
Megaupload founder Kim Dotcom and three other employees were arrested by authorities in New Zealand on Thursday while three others remain at large. A federal judge in Virginia ordered the seizure of 18 domain names affiliated with what the feds called the “Mega conspiracy,” knocking the website offline. About $50 million in assets were seized and 20 search warrants were executed by law enforcement officials in the U.S. and eight other countries.
Courtesy TPM
This comes on the heals of the largest internet protest ever.
Indeed, redditors have already drawn up a timeline over at /r/technology.
If it isn't clear, the impetus behind SOPA/PIPA was to stop accused foreign piracy sites of continued operation. Today's raid in New Zealand shows that even without SOPA, the MPAA, RIAA, and other heavy hitters already have the power over governments (yes, plural) to remove ANY accused site from the web.
Now, imagine what they could do with SOPA...