Swizz Beatz’s Megaupload Shut Down By The Feds
Earlier this week, the Hip-Hop world was shocked to learn super producer Swizz Beatz is the CEO of prominent Internet file-sharing service Megaupload.com. If having his cover blown wasn’t enough to ruin Alicia Keys’ hubby’s workweek, today’s news that the federal government shutdown the popular site and indicted many of his employees certainly should.
According to reports, the U.S. Department of Justice shut down Megaupload on Thursday (January 19) in an effort to stop online piracy. The federal indictment accuses Megaupload of being responsible for over $500 million in lost revenues as a result of unlawful file sharing. The shutdown is timely considering the recent Internet-wide buzz surrounding controversial anti-piracy legislation SOPA and PIPA that are currently up for consideration in the U.S. Congress.
In a statement released today, the U.S. Department of Justice described the takedown as “among the largest criminal copyright cases ever brought by the United States.” According to the statement, the site’s executives will be charged with “racketeering conspiracy, conspiring to commit copyright infringement, conspiring to commit money laundering and two substantive counts of criminal copyright infringement.”
The site’s founder, Kim Dotcom (formerly Kim Schmitz), was reportedly arrested this afternoon in Auckland, New Zealand and will be charged along with several of his company’s top executives for violating current Internet piracy laws.
Swizz is yet to comment publically on the charges and there is no indication that the prolific hitmaker has been arrested or indicted at this time.
