From the Community: Megaupload shuts down, Anonymous responds and Gingrich on Roe v. Wade

We're taking a look at some of the most popular stories from the Current community, and we've rounded up some highlights to share. Check them out and add your two cents:

Megaupload finished: Feds shut down file-sharing giant without SOPA
Submitted by Vierotchka

Federal prosecutors shut down Megaupload.com, the file-sharing website that allows users to upload any media. New Zealand employees were arrested after being accused of costing copyright holders upwards of $500 million in lost revenues.

In a statement published by the US Department of Justice on the website for the Federal Bureau of Investigation Thursday afternoon, they call the charges “among the largest criminal copyright cases ever brought by the United States and directly targets the misuse of a public content storage and distribution site to commit and facilitate intellectual property crime.”

The community responds to the site shutting down only hours after thousands of sites repealed a temporary blackout in opposition to SOPA and PIPA:

Saladin: "I don't know how they expect to make a case against them. It's not as if Megaupload deliberately uploads pirated content while snickering and rubbing their hands together. Like Youtube or any other user-driven site, people upload shit and, a lot of the time, they don't pay attention to it. It might be true that they didn't police it. But it sets kind of an odious standard to be responsible for anything your users do on such a massive site."

ThirdSection: "Interestingly enough, this has done nothing to stop any of the real Internet pirates out there. Nothing. (Hint: they don't go about swapping files on ad-supported dot-com websites with physically stationary server space)"

Leen61: "Welcome to 1984. We are officially a police state. The will of the people no longer matters."

Anonymous - #OpMegaUpload - Don't Mess With Us
Submitted by Vierotchka

After the feds shut down Megaupload, Anonymous immediately launched an attack on several U.S. sites including Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Motion Picture Association of America and the U.S. Copyright Office.

On January 19, 2012 a popular sharing website named Megaupload was taken down. We were not hesitant and reacted quickly. Remaining to our word, we took down their main sources, MIAA and FBI are down.

Our Power is too strong and soon they will have to listen to the people. This is a time of action. We as a nation must come together and fight the tyrants!

Do not sit and watch Do not sit and cheer! Use your powers.

Gingrich suggests he will ‘ignore’ Roe v. Wade
Submitted by KB723

Georgia Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich suggested he would ignore the landmark Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion. Throughout his campaign, Gingrich has made no secret of his disregard for the third branch of government.

"If the court makes a fundamentally wrong decision, the president can in fact ignore it,” Gingrich declared.

The community responds to Gingrich's disregard for judicial system:

charliesommers: "Ignore the supreme court? Disregard one of the checks and balances that is built into our form of government? Isn't crap like that one of the reasons we have a republic rather than a monarchy?"

SFirman: "A president of the US can not ignore a ruling of the Supreme Court. Newt is a lier. He will never beat Obama. Why would the Republican party want him. They rode him out of the House on a rail when he was Speaker of the House, for ethics charges."

cherry5000: "When is newt going to realize that only congress can impeach federal judges not the president."

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