FEDS Close Down File-Sharing Site Megaupload … FBI & DOJ Arrest 7 Charged with Copyright Infringement and Conspiracy … So Who Needs SOPA and PIPA?

In what is being deemed the largest criminal copyright case, the US Justice Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation have shut down and seized the Web site Megaupload.  They have charged seven people  for running an international enterprise based on Internet piracy. Four individuals, including the site’s founder, Kim Dotcom have been arrested in New Zealand, three others remain at large. They have been charged with five counts of copyright infringement and conspiracy. Megaupload Ltd. isbased in Hong Kong, and its collection of websites generated more than $175 million in criminal proceeds and caused more than half a billion dollars in harm to copyright owners.

In what the federal authorities on Thursday called one of the largest criminal copyright cases ever brought, the Justice Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation seized the Web site Megaupload and charged seven people connected with it with running an international enterprise based on Internet piracy.

Coming just a day after civil protests in the United States over proposed antipiracy bills, the arrests were greeted almost immediately with digital Molotov cocktails. The hacker collective that calls itself Anonymous attacked the Web sites of the Justice Department and several major entertainment companies and trade groups in retaliation for Mega-upload’s seizure. The Justice Department’s site and several others remained inaccessible for much of Thursday afternoon.

Megaupload, one of the most popular so-called locker services on the Internet, allowed users to anonymously transfer large files like movies and music. Media companies have long accused it of abetting copyright infringement on a vast scale. In a grand jury indictment, Megaupload is accused of causing $500 million in damages to copyright owners and of making $175 million through selling ads and premium subscriptions.

The indictment can be read HERE.

Just curious, if the Feds could take down an uber web site like Megaupload, what do they need SOPA and PIPA for? So what is the need for SOPA and PIPA. Let me rephrase the question to the US Congress, what is the real reason for SOPA and PIPA?As stated at Gizmodo, it would appear that you did fine with the laws that are presently in place.

Let’s also think about the timing of this bust. It’s a pretty spectacular coincidence that the Department of Justice Task Force on Intellectual Property was able to destroy a copyright villain without any help from SOPA or PIPA the day after the internet’s giant SOPA protest. Do you hear that, lawmakers? The law, as it stands right now was able to kill Megaupload.com, no draconian censorship powers required. The power you have now—with due process—is achieving the things you say you want to do

UPDATE I: REVENGE OF ANONYMOUS  … Anonymous Goes on Megaupload Revenge Spree: DoJ, RIAA, MPAA, and Universal Music All Offline. Yikes, knocked off line it the websites of the FBI, U.S. Department of Justice.

WOW, talk about carnage and laying waste to everything in Anonymous’ path. Statement from Anonymous.

1. The following sites were taken down in response to the FBI shutting down megaupload.com
2. TANGO DOWN
5. justice.gov
6. universalmusic.com
7. riaa.org
8. mpaa.org
9. copyright.gov
10. hadopi.fr
11. wmg.com
12. usdoj.gov
13. bmi.com
14. fbi.gov

UPDATE II: What a terrifying precedent …

The Electronic Frontier Foundation, which defends free speech and digital rights online, said in a statement that, “This kind of application of international criminal procedures to Internet policy issues sets a terrifying precedent. If the United States can seize a Dutch citizen in New Zealand over a copyright claim, what is next?”

Internet Censorship: SOPA Shelved Until ‘consensus’ is Found … PIPA still Has Vote on January 24th

It’s a start, but none of us should get a warm fuzzy until a stake is put through the heart of SOPA and PIPA.

The Internet can claim a victory, but do not get out the champagne and party favors just yet. As reported at The Hill, House Oversight Chairman Darrell Issa (R-CA) said early Saturday that Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) promised him the House will not vote on the controversial Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) unless there is consensus on the bill.

“While I remain concerned about Senate action on the Protect IP Act, I am confident that flawed legislation will not be taken up by this House,” Issa said in a statement.  “Majority Leader Cantor has assured me that we will continue to work to address outstanding concerns and work to build consensus prior to any anti-piracy legislation coming before the House for a vote.”

The announcement comes just hours after Judiciary Chairman Lamar Smith (R-Texas), SOPA’s sponsor, made a major concession to the bill’s critics by agreeing to drop a controversial provision that would have required Internet service providers to block infringing websites.

However, Issa said that even without the site-blocking provision, the bill is “fundamentally flawed.”

All should watch the following VIDEO from the Cynical Brit … makes a lot of sense and should scare the Hell out of you!

Six Republican Senators have come forward to ask Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to postpone the vote on PIPA; however, Independent socialist Senator has responded that the vote should go ahead as planned.

Late today came word that six Republican senators have asked Majority Leader Harry Reid to postpone a vote on Pro IP, also known as PIPA. The senators wrote: “Prior to committee action, some members expressed substantive concerns about the bill, and there was a commitment to resolve them prior to floor consideration.”

For those of you who do not know what SOPA and PIPA is, please familiarize yourself. It impacts all that use the Internet from bloggers to Facebook, from Google to YouTube.  These two bills are supposed to prevent on-line piracy; however, like ever poorly written bill, its the law of unintended circumstances that all that currently use the Internet can already see. Do we really want Congress to pass another bill into law where it has to be passed so that we can see whats in it? Bad legislation is bad legislation. It should cause pause for all, no matter if they are on the LEFT, RIGHT or CENTER, when a government looks to restrict Freedom of Speech under the guise of a piracy bill.  This is one issue where we can all come together and “JUST SAY NO” to SOPA and PIPA!

Did Congress actually think they were going to slip such a bill that would affect so many under the cloak of darkness? Shame on all of you who backed, supported and sponsored this bill. Many of which who are in complete retreat due to the backlash of “We the People”.

Reddit and maybe Wikipedia was supposed to go “dark” for 12 hours on January 18 to protest SOPA.  Maybe they will still do so to protest PIPA.  Imagine if YouTube, Facebook and Google went dark to protest as well? Maybe that is what it will take for law makers to realize that writing BS bills will not be tolerated.

112 People Arrested in Child Porn Ring in 22 Countries … Good Riddance to Vile Rubbish

Huge bust in war old child pornography …

Europol has arrested 112 pedophiles encompassing 22 countries in connection with a child pornography ring. According to reports there have been a total of 269 suspects identified. As per the AP, the nations involved in the investigation were Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Croatia, Norway and Switzerland.

Europol says 112 people have been arrested in connection with a major investigation into child pornography that stretched across 22 European countries.

The European police coordination agency says there are 269 suspects in all in the investigation, which was carried out under the leadership of Danish police. Nineteen men aged 24 to 55 years old are facing preliminary charges in Denmark.

The investigation was known as “Operation Icarus,” targeted the worst of the worst and those sharing the most extreme and vile forms of video material, which included babies and toddlers being sexually abused and raped. GOOD GRIEF, COULD THIS BE ANY MORE VILE!

The yearlong “Operation Icarus” busted previously unknown networks of child sex offenders who were sharing the child pornography via a “peer-to-peer” system, a Europol spokesman reportedly said.

So much material was seized it will take months or even years to analyze, the Irish Times reported, adding that the material had been described as the “worst of the worst.”

15 Year Old Kyrsten Roth Missing Since 12/3/11 in Gresham, OR

15 year old Kyrsten Roth has been missing since December 3, 2011 when she was last seen at her home in Gresham, Oregon. According to phone records there were multiple calls to a phone number in Susanville, CA. It is believed that she might met with a man that she met in a chat room from Susanville, California. It is reported that the man in his 20′s posed as a teen. Sometime between 2:55 AM and 6 AM on December 4 Kyrsten left the house.

Kyrsten Roth Missing

The family said a man in his twenties might have posed as a teenager in a chat room to make contact with her, and then drove from Susanville, California, to meet her.

Gresham police said based on reported sightings she was presumed safe Sunday and could possibly be in the area. But they asked that she call home.

Kyrsten Roth Description:

• 5 feet 4 inches tall
• 155 pounds
• She was last seen wearing gray pajama bottoms, a black jacket with an Oregon Beavers patch on the front left side and an orange scarf.

If anyone has any information about Kyrsten Roth’s whereabouts please call Michelle Roth at (503) 935-4260, or Gresham police at (503) 518-2318.

Barack Obama, It is Great to be Back in Texas, eh … Kansas … Idiot Moment, Job Losses Blamed on Technology

Barack Obama … further Lost in Smallness …

Barack Obama, ever wonder how dangerous one man could be? Obama wants us to go back to the days before computers, ATM’s and smart phones. Obama will not be happy until everyone is working as a bank teller or a telephone switchboard operator. No one should ever wonder why the economy is in the state it is … Obama is clueless, worse, he is dangerous.

As reported at Powerline, while campaigning in Kansas yesterday, “President Obama momentarily forgot which of the 57 states he was in.” More from the smartest President ever …

This was supposed to be a joke of sorts and slip of the tongue. Sorry Barack, we forgot to laugh. We the People tend to do this when the economy is in the tank and millions are without jobs. The real 99% can’t go on 17 day vacations to Hawaii.

However, that was not the eye opener that made America scratch their collective head. The “WTF” moment of complete ignorance came from Obama when he blamed job losses on technology. Huh? I guess Obama blames Al Gore, who claims to have invented the Internet, responsible for job loss.

“Layoffs too often became permanent, not part of the business cycle. And these changes didn’t just affect blue collar workers. If you were a bank teller or a phone operator or a travel agent, you saw many in your profession replaced by ATMs and the internet,” President Obama said at a campaign event in Kansas.

What king of complete and total bufoon is this guy? Seriously, and the Left called Bush stupid? Has Obama no understanding that making things more efficient that the economy becomes more productive? Does Obama not comprehend how many jobs have been created by the Internet? Does he them also blame Bill Gates and the late Steve Jobs for technology innovation? Are they to blame as well for the loss of jobs. How ignorant could one person really be? In this case because the individual is the president of the United Stated, how dangerous could one man possibly be?

Please rid the United States of this President in 2012 and help get America back to success and prosperity.

SNAKES ON A PLANE … Utah Man Arrested for Allegedly Viewing Child Porn on Plane

SNAKES PERVS ON A PLANE …

A Utah man,27 year old Grant Smith, was arrested at Boston’s Logan International Airport for allegedly viewing and being in possession of child pornography. ICK!!!  According to WCVB 5, Grant Smith, an engineering professor at the University of Utah, was seated in the first class when another passenger took a cell phone pic of the perv view the child porn.

A man on a Delta Airlines flight from Utah was arrested at Boston’s Logan Airport on Saturday afternoon for allegedly viewing pornographic images of children on his laptop during the flight.

Grant Smith, 27, of Cottonwood Heights, Utah was interviewed by Massachusetts State Police just after 4 p.m. Following that interview, Smith was arrested and charged with possession of child pornography.

Legal Team for Taylor Swift Tells Gossip Site to Remove Fake Nude Pic (Topless Pic) or Face Law Suit

RETURN OF THE JEDI …

Country super star Taylor Swift is fighting back against the web site that allegedly claims they have a pic of the 21 year old Swift topless. In a post entitled, “Taylor Swift Topless Private Pic Leaked, the website Celebrity Jihad has seemed to have bit off more than they can chew. As reported at TMZ, Taylor Swift and her legal team are prepared to sue Celebrity Jihad claiming their site contains “false pornographic images and false ‘news” about the singer.

MEAN – TAYLOR SWIFT

Someday I’ll be living in a big old city
And all you’re ever gonna be is mean
Someday I’ll be big enough so you can’t hit me
And all you’re ever gonna be is mean

Why you gotta be so mean?

The Legal team for Taylor Swift has sent a letter demanding the web site remove the faux pic of the 21 year old country singer. Do people never learn? You don’t mess with Texas and country sweet heart Taylor Swift. Just ask Kanye West what happens when you take on Taylor Swift. Supposedly the web site is weighing their options.  Is it really that difficult a question to consider? At this point the website is just trying to get what they can off of the pic story. Sorry, but Taylor Swift is well branded and is genuinely a nice girl with a squeaky clean image. Sorry if gossip sites cannot accept that fact.

Taylor Swift may look and sing as sweet as she can be but make no mistake about it, Taylor Swift is a multi-million corporation who will rightfully destroy this BS gossip site that is in way over their head. Good for Taylor in standing up against this nonsense. Her image is everything and she should protect it at all cost.

Co-Founder of Apple Steve Jobs Dead at the Age of 56

Remembering that you are going to die, is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking that you have something to lose. You are already naked, there is no reason not to follow your heart. (Steve Jobs, 2005)

Steve Jobs: 1995 – 2011 … Rest in Peace

Steve Jobs, the co-founder of Apple has died at the age of 56. Sadly, we knew this day was coming as Jobs battled pancreatic cancer, but we just did not want to believe it. He recently stepped down from Apple and many knew that this day was inevitable.  However, what this man did and his vision he brought forth in life … will last an eternity. What an amazing affect this man, who never graduated college, had on all of us and the world. His family said in a released statement by Apple, Mr. Jobs “died peacefully today surrounded by his family.”

Watch Steve Jobs inspiration speech for the 2005 Stanford Commencement Address

Steve Jobs talks about death, “if you live each die as if it was your last, someday you will most certainly be right”. Jobs would ask himself every day when he looked in the mirror, if today was the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?” Whenever the answer was no for too many days in a row, Jobs knew he had to change something.

From the Boston Globe:

“He taught all of us how to transform technology into magic,” said John Sculley, Apple’s chief executive in the mid-1980s, and the man who once had Jobs kicked out of the company he’d co-founded.

After he was ousted, Jobs endured a decade of exile. But the experience taught him lessons that would, once he returned, help him lead Apple to unimaginable heights of achievement.

I remember my first Mac, actually it was a Macintosh, as I just dated myself. Typing away and trying to finish my senior thesis for history. I look back on that experience and am in awe just how far we have come in the PC world and just how before its time that Mac really was. Oh those days of the floppy disk.

Steve Jobs, you will be missed, Rest in Peace.

UPDATE I: From Michelle Malkin comes an interesting and appropriate analysis in the face of the anti-capitalist rallies in NYC and across the US juxtaposed to the passing of Steve Jobs. What would the world be like without the vision o Steve Jobs, are we supposed to be upset that he made money fro his visions and hard work? Not in the slightest.

Al Qaeda Terrorist Cleric Anwar al-Awlaki Dead … Confirmed, the ‘FACEBOOK FRIEND FROM HELL’ Killed in Yemen

Al Qaeda terrorist cleric Anwar al-Awlaki won’t be down for breakfast. According to confirmed Yemen and US officials,  the American born cleric al-Awlaki has been killed in Yemen.  Anwar al-Awlaki has been linked to many terrorist attacks on the United States, including the Fort Hood Massacre,  the attempted Christmas Day underwear bombing and the Times Square bomb plot. Al-Awlaki was killed about 5 miles from the Yemeni town of Khashef, east of the capital city of Sanaa.

The American-born radical cleric al-Qaeda Anwar al-Awlaki, a major jihadist figure who U.S. officials say inspired several terror plots against the U.S., was killed overnight in Yemen, U.S. and Yemeni officials told ABC News.

A senior U.S. official told ABC News the U.S. had been tracking al-Awlaki for some time and had just been waiting for the perfect moment to strike. A Yemeni official said al-Awlaki was killed along with an unknown number of al Qaeda confederates, possibly in a drone strike.

As we like to say … “Good riddance to bad rubbish”. The folks at Wizbang second the motion. As reported at the Jawa Report, it was first reported that Yemeni forces were responsible for the killing of the American born traitor terrorist al-Awlaki; however, it is looking more like a US drone attack.

Born in Las Cruces, New Mexico, al-Awlaki lived in the United State until the age of seven when his family returned to Yemen. Al-Awlaki returned to the United States in 1991 for college and remained until 2002.

It was during that time that as an imam in California and Virginia, al-Awlaki preached to and interacted with three of the September 11 hijackers, according to the 9/11 Commission Report. He publicly condemned the attack afterward.

UPDATE I: al-Qaida Internet recruiting just took a hit … Anwar al-Awlaki DEAD!

Anwar al-Awlaki, American-born, a gifted Muslim preacher and savvy Internet operator, became a powerful al-Qaida tool for recruiting in the West, its English-speaking voice spreading a terrorist credo via a blog, social media posts and email exchanges.

UPDATE II: Jenifer Griffin  from FOX News that it was a US missile that took him out; however, it is not confirmed what platform the missile came from, i.e. drone, aircraft, etc.

UPDATE III: WHAT??? CBS calls al-Qaida  … al Qaeda’s franchise in Yemen. Does CBS News think that  al-Qaida is like McDonald’s or Burger King … a franchise, ARE YOU SERIOUS!!!  NEWSFLASH TO CBS … AL QAEDA IS A TERRORIST ORGANIZATION!!!

Anwar al-Awlaki, a U.S.-born radical Islamic preacher who rose to the highest level of al Qaeda’s franchise in Yemen, has been killed.

Death to Tea Party Zombies … No Double Standard Here Now is There?

ITS BEING BILLED AT TEA PARTY ZOMBIELAND  … if only it was that cool and not so hypocritical. Yup, no promoting violence here against the Tea party and GOP … but that’s Ok.

As reported at the National Review Online, shoot a Tea Party Zombie and win a prize. Unreal.This is what it has come to? The LEFT went mental when Sarah Palin used bulls-eyes to target areas and politicians on  a map and called it a threat of violence, yet actually shooting Sarah Palin, Bill O’Reilly and Newt Gingrich in a virtual computer game id just A-O-K.

Hey kids, hear about the latest rage? It’s “Tea Party Zombies Must Die” an exciting new first-person shooter “Advergame.” Here’s how it’s described:

DON’T GET TEA-BAGGED! The Tea Party zombies are walking the streets of America. Grab your weapons and bash their rotten brains to bits! Destroy zombie Sarah Palin, Michele Bachmann, Glenn Beck, the Koch Brothers, and many more!

Could you imagine if such a game was created for taking out the LEFT? More at The Gateway Pundit including screen shots.