Megaupload facts for kids
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| Online | |
| Founded | March 21st, 2005 |
| Defunct | January 20th, 2012 |
| Headquarters | |
| US$175 million | |
|
Number of employees
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155 (as of 2012) |
Megaupload was a popular website where people could upload and download computer files. It was based in Hong Kong. Megaupload also had other websites. These included Megavideo, Megapix, and Megalive.
Users who did not have an account could upload and download files up to 1 gigabyte (GB). People with a free account got 200 GB of storage space. Those with paid accounts had unlimited space. After uploading a file, you would get a special link. This link allowed others to access and download the file.
Files stayed on the website for different lengths of time:
- For users without accounts: 21 days.
- For free accounts: 90 days.
- For paid accounts: forever.
The website made money from advertising. It also rewarded people who uploaded files that were downloaded many times. Ads would show up while users were downloading files.
Megaupload's Popularity
Megaupload was very popular before it closed. Many people visited the site every day.
- Unique visitors per day: 50 million.
- Page views per month: 1 billion.
- Registered users: 150 million.
The Shutdown of Megaupload
On January 19, 2012, the United States Department of Justice took down the Megaupload website. They also started legal actions against its owners and others. Police around the world arrested the company's founder, Kim Schmitz. Other key people arrested were Finn Batato, Mathias Ortmann, and Bram van der Kolk. These arrests happened in New Zealand.
The US authorities did not want them to be released on bail. The next day, Hong Kong officials froze over US$39 million in assets belonging to Megaupload.
This event got a lot of public attention. It happened just one day after a big protest against a proposed law. This law, called the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA), aimed to expand US power against foreign websites that shared pirated content.
Soon after Megaupload was shut down, the Department of Justice's website went offline. Many other organizations' websites also stopped working. This was due to a series of attacks from a group called Anonymous. These attacks are known as "denial-of-service" attacks. They overload a website with traffic so it can't be used.
A spokesperson for Anonymous said these were the biggest internet attacks in their history. They felt the timing of the Megaupload shutdown was very bad. It happened right after many websites protested SOPA by going offline for a day. Web users were ready to defend a free internet. The spokesperson noted that the government's websites went offline in just 70 minutes.
The denial-of-service attacks also hit other websites. These included Universal Music Group, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). Anonymous also attacked the website of France's anti-piracy group.
On January 19, 2012, Anonymous released a statement. They said they were behind the attacks on the websites of RIAA, MPAA, FBI, and others.
Images for kids
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Mega Manager screenshot
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The first page of the indictment, listing the defendants
See also
In Spanish: Megaupload para niños
