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MegaUpload's closure boosts movie rentals and sales

Here's something that will make the Motion Picture Association of America happy: movie sales and rentals increased after the feds shuttered cyberlocker MegaUpload last year.

A new study by Carnegie Mellon's Initiative for Digital Entertainment Analytics shows that after MegaUpload's closure online movie revenue increased by between 6 percent and 10 percent, according to the Wall Street Journal. The study researched two major movie studios and the results were measured in 12 different countries, including the U.S.

"We conclude that shutting down MegaUpload and Megavideo caused some customers to shift from cyberlocker-based piracy to purchasing … Read more

MegaUpload substitutes show spikes in traffic since shutdown

Despite a major government crackdown on cyberlocker service MegaUpload last week, people haven't stopped using file-hosting sites, according to TorrentFreak.

They're simply migrating to similar sites.

MegaUpload was one of the most popular video destinations on the Web, with 50 million users per day. According to data from TorrentFreak, since MegaUpload's shutdown, millions more people are racking up time on sites like Filefactory, Depositfiles, Hotfile.com, and other Internet locker services.

Last week, the U.S. Justice Department and FBI shut down MegaUpload and announced indictments against seven people on charges related to online piracy, including racketeering … Read more

The mystery man behind Megaupload piracy fight

Meet the Mega man.

MegaPorn, MegaVideo, MegaLive, MegaPix, and Megaupload are all Kim Schmitz: entrepreneur, father, former hacker, former street racer, and former outlaw.

Depending on who you ask, all of these sites and brands created by Schmitz--a well-known hacker in Germany who is said to have officially changed his name to Kim Dotcom--are either part of the simple and successful Internet file-storage business he founded in 2005, or they're an extension of a vast online piracy empire that includes some of the most visited video sites on the Web--right there along with YouTube and Hulu. According to legal … Read more