Major sharing website Megaupload shut down by US authorities

One of the world’s largest internet sharing services – Megaupload, has been shut down by US authorities.

Co-founders of the company –  Kim Dotcom and Mathias Ortmann – were arrested in Auckland, New Zealand along with two other employees and will appear in court today.

Megaupload management is charged with violating piracy laws.
In response to the shutdown, a hacking group known only as ‘anonymous’ have targeted 10 US government, music and entertainment websites, causing many to be shut down.

It is thought that the cyber attack was co-ordinated through web links which when clicked added that computer to part of the attack.  The sites are then flooded with more activity than they can handle, causing them to crash.

In a press statement, an anonymous source said: “The FBI didn’t think they would get away with this did they? They should have expected us.”

The Megaupload site, which boasts millions of users and celebrity endorsements such as Kim Kardashian, is reportedly up and running again according to the hackers.

Many are now drawing similarities between the hacker’s attack and the other web site blackouts seen over the past week.

  On Wednesday Wikipedia and Reddit remained offline in protest against the two proposed anti-piracy laws SOPA and PIPA.  By the looks of things, the fight isn’t over yet.

Eleanor Hooper