Megaupload Founder & Employees Indicted

The founder and some employees of the file sharing site Megaupload have been indicted by federal prosecutors. The site, which once hosted pirated copies of books, comic books, movies, software and other digital goods, has been shut down.

Below, we’ve embedded the complete indictment–alleging that the pirated material on the site caused “estimated harm” of $500 million for copyright holders. How do you think these massive piracy cases should be handled?

Here is an excerpt: “Since at least September 2005, Megaupload.com has been used by the defendants and other members and associates of the Mega Conspiracy to willfully reproduce and distribute many millions of infringing copies of copyrighted works, including motion pictures, television programs, musical recordings, electronic books, images, video games,and other computer software. Over the more than five years of its existence, the Mega Conspiracy has aggressively expanded its operations into a large number of related Internet businesses, which are connected directly to, or at least financially dependent upon, the criminal conduct associated with Megaupload.com.”

Mega Indictment

Launch a social media campaign that will build your brand and deliver results in our online Social Media Marketing Boot Camp starting June 7. Speakers include Abigail Cusick (Bravo Digital), Gregory Galant (Sawhorse Media), Alex Leo (Thomson Reuters Digital), Jim Tobin (Ignite Social Media), and many more. Read the reviews.