Megaupload

Megaupload Ltd, best known for its (eventually closed) websites including the top-15 file hosting service megaupload.com, is an online Hong Kong–based company established in 2005 that ran online services related to file storage and viewing. The domain names were seized, and the sites associated with Megaupload were shut down by the United States Department of Justice on January 19, 2012, following the indictment and arrests of the owners for allegedly operating as an organization dedicated to copyright infringement. HK$330 million (approximately US$42 million) worth of assets were frozen by the Customs and Excise Department of Hong Kong.

The company's founder, Kim Dotcom, has denied any wrongdoing, and the case against Dotcom, who is a resident of New Zealand, has been the subject of controversy over its legality. The US judge handling the case has expressed doubts about whether the case will come to court.

The shutdown of Megaupload led to denial-of-service (DoS) attacks on a range of websites belonging to the U.S. government and copyright organizations by the Hacktivist group known as Anonymous.

On January 19, 2013 at 12:47 PM (Eastern time; 4:47 pm UTC), Megaupload was re-launched as Mega under the domain name mega.co.nz. The re-launch date was chosen to coincide with the one-year anniversary of Megaupload's takedown by the FBI.