Last week's arrests at MegaUpload are continuing to send mega-shockwaves across the Webosphere, and it's turning into a mega-mess.
On Thursday, the FBI dropped the hammer on MegaUpload founder Kim Dotcom and seven of his cohorts, alleging they pocketed tens of millions by "incentivizing" illegal file sharing across its cloud storage service.
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Though it's clear from the 72-page indictment that the feds have had their eyes on MegaUpload for some time now, the timing of the bust -- a day after the Web blackout protesting two onerous antipiracy bills -- is a wee bit suspicious.
Like SOPA and PIPA, the bust comes with its own collateral damage. Along with those pirated movies and music, the feds took down noninfringing data from thousands of legit MegaUpload users, who are howling in protest and demanding -- futilely, so far -- the return of their stuff.
That's a bit like renting an apartment and coming home one day to find the police have locked you out and impounded your furniture because your landlord was operating an illegal poker game in the basement.
Picking a crappy Web landlord is not a crime, and you shouldn't have to pay for it with your data. I'm clearly not the only person who feels that way. Anonymous retaliated by launching DDoS attacks against a dozen sites, including the FBI, the U.S. Department of Justice, and Universal Music, taking them offline for several hours. Still, that's like protesting the arrest of your mom by TP-ing the police station.
