Massive imperial cyberwar operation against Megaupload

We all have probably used their services, even if just passively, by downloading something, normally user content. It's over: the FBI and similar Gestapo-like corps from the US Empire have taken down Megaupload and related services.

Although the company is based in Hong Kong, the site had been attacked first in Asia, with Hong Kong and mainland Chinese citizens unable to access the site since 2009. Since 2010 other states had attacked it sequentially: first Saudi Arabia, then Malaysia, later India and finally the USA and its horde of vassal states, which decreed the closure of the site yesterday. Subsequently, today, New Zealand arrested four executives of the company who lived near Auckland.

The accusation? Copyright infringement, go figure! What about YouTube for example? Copyright protection laws are used selectively and, while it is difficult to see a political intent in this particular case, it is most likely that competing companies have used the legal system to take out potential competence. Not in vain they were trying to expand their market share, which was already quite big (5% of Internet traffic and the 13th most visited site allegedly).

In addition to copyright infringement they are also accused of money laundering. This may warrant arrests but hardly such an attack against a major Internet hub where a lot of people has stored material of their own for sharing or whatever in the trust that it would be there for indefinite time, typically paying for the service (should customers pay for police bullying around the Internet?)

The difference between being a successful entrepreneur or a most wanted intellectual property criminal seems to be how well you pay for governmental protection rackets.

Anonymous has counter-striked and caused interruptions in the webpages of the US Department of Justice and Universal Music.

Sources: Público[es], Wikipedia, USDJ (if available).