quote
Anonyupload: faceless group steps in after Kim Dotcom's arrestLia Timson
January 24, 2012 - 1:14PM
The loose-knit hacking group Anonymous is attempting to replace the fire-sharing website Megaupload, following the latter's demise at the hands of the FBI.
Servers are being set up in Russia, according to the new website's welcome page, to provide an alternative file-sharing service called Anonyupload.
Megaupload.com was shut down by the FBI in the early hours of Friday (AEST) after charges were laid against seven individuals, three of which were arrested in New Zealand, including Megaupload's millionaire founder Kim Dotcom.
The site appears to be advocating a return to peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing, given Megaupload's centralised service was arguably simpler for law enforcement to take down. P2P users allow others to share files hosted on their own computers.
"There are many reasons why (going to one centralised service) is not good, the first is that some of you store personal information and files on machines which are not belonging to you, and that you do not have any control on. The second is that you are always going through the same wires, it means that someone could spy on it, monitors your activities, or decides to cut it off as it happened with megaupload.com. This can be avoided by using decentralised technologies, the first thing to do if you are interested in doing it, is to host your own content, on your own machines," a statement on the website says.
It also says the group's infrastructure has been set up outside US jurisdiction in Russia, and thanks Mr Dotcom for his "service" adding "try not to make that amount of money next time and it should be alright".
It appears to shun profit-making by stating that the site has a "good economic plan" based on donations: "let's try to not get into a huge system that only works with money". It appears to accept donations via PayPal.
Some commentators say the closure of Megaupload has implications for other cloud hosting or "cyberlocker" services such as Dropbox, RapidShare and Hotfile. The sites have no control over the files users upload, and users have no guarantee the service will not be targetted in a piracy crackdown.
In retaliation for the closure of Megaupload, Anonymous crippled several official websites including the FBI, the US Department of Justice, Universal Music, the Motion Picture Association of America, and the Recording Industry Association of America with distributed denial-of-service attacks on Friday. Denial-of-service attacks cause websites to temporarily crumble under the weight of millions of requests for page views, disrupting service.
The FBI site is back online, but justice.gov was not at time of publishing.
Anonymous is against the anti-piracy lobby led by music, movie and book publishers. It found allies in opposition to US proposed copyright protection bills which many, including Google, Wikipedia and the father of the web, Sir Tim Berners-Lee, say go too far in censoring the internet. Several US senators withdrew support for the bills late last week.
Voting on the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and its Senate cousin Protect Intellectual Property Act (PIPA) has been postponed, amid the outcry.
unquote
Here some words from Kim dotcom from an article he wrote in December 2011 on torrentFreak.com:
"I made mistakes when I was young and I paid the price. Steve Jobs was a hacker and Martha Stuart is doing well after her insider trading case. I think over a decade after all of this happened it should NOT be the dominating topic.
"I am 37 years old now, I am married, I have three adorable children with two more on the way (twin girls – yeah) and I know that I am not a bad person. I have grown and I have learned."
He continued: "Mega has nothing to fear. Our business is legitimate and protected by the DMCA and similar laws around the world. We work with the best lawyers and play by the rules. We take our legal obligations seriously.
"Mega's war chest is full and we have strong supporters backing us. We have been online for 7 years and we are here to stay, so no need to worry about us."
Click here - one of Kim's lawyers steps out !
We all wish you good luck Kim !
