Abuse of the Law?

Megaupload, a file-sharing site that has, so far, complied with the DMCA, and taken down content that has been flagged for copyright violations, has now been SHUT DOWN.

Yep, SOPA and PIPA have not passed into law, but why let that stop the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)? Megaupload was shut down today. They are being charged with "participating in a racketeering conspiracy", "conspiring to commit copyright infringement", "conspiring to commit money laundering" and two counts of "criminal copyright infringement".

But, are they really at fault here or is this just another attack on a legitimate service. However, it should be noted that not all file-sharing is copyright infringing. Now, what about all those Megaupload customers who were using the site legitimately? How about all those people who were using the site to expose others to their own works. Independant artists use sites like You Tube, Megaupload and others to expose people to their works. So those people can discover them and become paying supporters of these artists.

Now these people who have legitimately used the site are left in limbo. The site has been taken down. It's gone. All these artists should get together and file a class-action lawsuit against the DOJ and ICE for loss of business.

The site is down, but they have yet to be declared guilty of anything. Shouldn't the law determine innocence or guilt before removing the site? If the site is vindicated, will Megaupload have recourse to regain funds lost due to this? If they are found not guilty, I hope the sue the ICE and DOJ for enough money to make the law-makers and decision-makers open their eyes to what Due Process is all about.

Due Process. Giving those accused of a crime the ability to defend themselves. This means they are INNOCENT until PROVEN OTHERWISE. The DoJ and ICE are treating Megaupload as GUILTY until, well - nevermind, they are GUILTY. End of Story.

Yeah, lets give these organizations even MORE power with SOPA and PIPA. No thanks.

I don't want to live on this planet anymore.