Megaupload shut down...

[roliath]

i didn't know though was the currency in NZ.

I wonder what else he had his money in.

The US Deparment of Justice says his personal earnings in 2010 totalled $42m as he owns 68 per cent of the Mega empire.

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/95444d64-437b-11e1-8489-00144feab49a.html#axzz1kIfQgnvK

He also won the gumball 3000, and some other shit. He was living the life.

[mstng86]

Probably delivered pizzas on the weekends.

[SMEGMA STENCH]

Haha, you have no idea.
Sites like MegaUpload are cheap and easy dumpsites man. This guy was RAKING in the though with paid accounts (premium users).

Its so easy everyone can do it.

[jw33]

http://www.digitalmusicnews.com/permalink/2011/111221airvinyl

https://plus.google.com/u/0/111314089359991626869/posts/HQJxDRiwAWq

http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/292088/20120202/kim-dotcom-megavideo-megaupload-indictment-youtube.htm

[Osiris]

Post the articles man.

[Geor!]

One of them is entirely too long, Luis and I don't feel like breaking it down, and I doubt anybody would want to read it -- it's that long.

There's another gigantic wrinkle in the MegaUpload drama. Not only is MegaUpload fighting tooth-and-nail against Universal Music Group, but they're now planning the launch of a cloud-based music locker, download store, and do-it-yourself artist service. It's called MegaBox, and it's already up in beta with listed partners 7digital, Gracenote, Rovi, and Amazon MP3.

Actually, this is technically a relaunch of an earlier concept, and a perfect re-stab at major label opponents. "UMG knows that we are going to compete with them via our own music venture called Megabox.com, a site that will soon allow artists to sell their creations directly to consumers while allowing artists to keep 90 percent of earnings," MegaUpload founder Kim 'Dotcom' Schmitz told Torrentfreak this week.
In other words, another entry into the very crowded DIY space. But there's a lot more to this story. Instead of charging artists, Schmitz wants to pay artists - even for free downloads. "We have a solution called the Megakey that will allow artists to earn income from users who download music for free," Dotcom outlined. "Yes that's right, we will pay artists even for free downloads. The Megakey business model has been tested with over a million users and it works."
And there could be more mega-artist deals ahead, of the will.i.am variety. "You can expect several Megabox announcements next year including exclusive deals with artists who are eager to depart from outdated business models."

The rest looks like a combination platter of cloud-based music storage, download sales, and discovery, though the elements may still be coming together. In a test-drive this morning, we also found lots of major label content, but only managed to stream 30-second clips (we'll leave that discussion to the various armies of lawyers...)
MegaUpload has the capital to do this, but they are also pushing some emotional capital as well. That is, a stark juxtoposition between them and traditional media interests, ie major labels like UMG. "These guys think an iPad is a facial treatment, the internet is the devil, and wired phones are still hip," Schmitz blasted. "They are in denial about the new realities and opportunities. They don't understand that the rip-off days are over. Artists are more educated than ever about how they are getting ripped off and how the big labels only look after themselves."

[Geor!]

Why was MegaUpload really shut down?
(UPDATE: Forbes covered this story a day after this was posted. (http://goo.gl/KnsW7) As did Prison Planet (http://goo.gl/t2J5N) Awesome, guys! )

In December of 2011, just weeks before the takedown, Digital Music News reported on something new that the creators of #Megaupload were about to unroll. Something that would rock the music industry to its core. (http://goo.gl/A7wUZ)

I present to you... MegaBox. MegaBox was going to be an alternative music store that was entirely cloud-based and offered artists a better money-making opportunity than they would get with any record label.

"UMG knows that we are going to compete with them via our own music venture called Megabox.com, a site that will soon allow artists to sell their creations directly to consumers while allowing artists to keep 90 percent of earnings," MegaUpload founder Kim 'Dotcom' Schmitz told Torrentfreak

Not only did they plan on allowing artists to keep 90% of their earnings on songs that they sold, they wanted to pay them for songs they let users download for free.

"We have a solution called the Megakey that will allow artists to earn income from users who download music for free," Dotcom outlined. "Yes that's right, we will pay artists even for free downloads. The Megakey business model has been tested with over a million users and it works."

[UserX]

I'm still pissed by this. Yes, there was a lot of pirated material out there, but there is just as much legitimate stuff too. This was a big site, lots of sponsors. I hope they fight tooth and nail and resume operations. Shutting down one site accomplishes absolutely nothing.

[Osiris]

Thanks Geof! Some interesting info there

[jdgregory84]

I like this Kim Schmitz lady. With technology where it's at artists can produce studio quality music without the need of big ass recording studios. Then just use a label for distribution and tour support. I remember reading some article back in the day when I used to listen to Korn and Jonathan Davis saying that "Freak on a Leash" was cryptically written about how the band itself saw less than a dollar for every album they sold.

[71chevellejohn]

I like this Kim Schmitz lady. With technology where it's at artists can produce studio quality music without the need of big ass recording studios. Then just use a label for distribution and tour support. I remember reading some article back in the day when I used to listen to Korn and Jonathan Davis saying that "Freak on a Leash" was cryptically written about how the band itself saw less than a dollar for every album they sold.

[SMEGMA STENCH]

Who's that, you?

[crapstang]

I'm sure 1mil jobs will come after this is put in place.....yeaaa....

[SMEGMA STENCH]

They think we'll need more record stores after this.

[ceyko]

This turned out to be an interesting thread.