Technology, Illegal File-sharing | featured news

US telecommunications group Verizon declares war on illegal downloaders, or pirates, who use technologies such as BitTorrent to steal copyrighted material.

Kim Dotcom, founder of the banned Megaupload filesharing site, has announced a new version called Mega designed to sidestep the American laws under which he is being prosecuted for £175m worth of alleged online piracy, racketeering and money laundering.

A court in New Zealand has ruled that the search warrants used by New Zealand police when they raided the home of Megaupload founder Kim Dotcom were invalid. Reuters reported that a High Court judge said the search warrants were “too vague” and “did not adequately describe the offences to which they related.” The judge also ruled that the FBI acted unlawfully when it took copies of data from Dotcom’s computer offshore.

Sky has become the third internet service provider to prevent its users accessing file sharing site The Pirate Bay. It follows Virgin Media and Everything Everywhere which have already taken similar action.

In the indictment filed in a New Zealand court earlier this month, the U.S. Justice Department says Kim DotCom oversaw an attempt to copy all of YouTube's videos and tried to inform on rivals.

Federal prosecutors say data from users of Megaupload could be deleted as soon as Thursday. U.S. prosecutors blocked access to Megaupload and charged seven men, saying the site facilitated millions of illegal downloads of movies, music and other content.

A New Zealand court has granted bail to two associates of the founder of online file-sharing website Megaupload, accused of being involved in a $175 million Internet piracy scheme.

Among the roll-call of hip-hop artists and other celebrities plugging Megaupload.com's digital storage services in an online promotional video, a cameo from the website's founder would have gone unnoticed by many.

Police in New Zealand on Friday raided several homes and businesses linked to the founder of Megaupload.com, a giant file-sharing site shut down by U.S. authorities, and seized guns, millions of dollars, and nearly $5 million in luxury cars, officials said.

The Department of Justice announced Thursday that it has conducted a major action to shut down MegaUpload, a popular file-sharing site widely used for free downloads of movies and television shows.