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Breaking - Singer Whitney Houston dies at 48

Whitney Houston, who ruled as pop music's queen until her majestic voice and... more

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North Korean Leader Kim Jong Il, 69, Has Died

Kim Jong Il, North Korea's mercurial and enigmatic leader, has died. He was 69.... more

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After Megaupload Shutdown, Anonymous Hits DOJ, Universal Sites

Anonymous was quick to target the Justice Department, Universal Music, the RIAA, and MPAA in the wake of this afternoon's Megaupload announcement, with the Web sites for all four organizations succumbing to distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks.

Justice.gov and universalmusic.com went offline around 430pm Eastern and have been largely unresponsive for the past 1.5 hours. RIAA.com and MPAA.org are also unresponsive.

"Recording Industry Association of America—Department of Justice—Universal Music—all TT, all TANGO DOWN," Anonymous tweeted this evening with the #OpMegaUpload hashtag.
Earlier today, the DOJ announced the shutdown of file-sharing site Megaupload. Seven individuals and two corporations were indicted for copyright infringement and could face up to 50 years in prison. Megaupload earned approximately $750 million for its exploits and incurred about $1 billion in damages, the agency alleged.

In its statement, the DOJ said the takedown was "among the largest criminal copyright cases ever brought by the United States."

How does Universal Music play into this? Megaupload's CEO is Kasseem Dean, better known as hip hop producer Swizz Beatz and husband of Alicia Keys. As reported by the New York Post, Beatz asked high-profile friends like Sean "Diddy" Combs, Kanye West, and Will.i.am to participate in a video promoting Megaupload, which did not sit too well with the artists' label, Universal Music Group. Last month, Universal had YouTube pull "Mega Song," prompting a lawsuit from Megaupload, according to TorrentFreak.

Anonymous has never been a fan of efforts to take down copyright infringers. The group has targeted Sony over its efforts to sue PlayStation hacker George Hotz and gone after the RIAA and the MPAA on numerous occasions.

In a statement issued this afternoon, the MPAA championed the Megaupload takedown. "This criminal case, more than two years in development, shows that law enforcement can take strong action to protect American intellectual property stolen through sites housed in the United States," said Chris Dodd, MPAA chairman and CEO.

The RIAA, meanwhile, said it was "deeply grateful" for the Megaupload shutdown. "The indictment outlines a sinister scheme to generate massive profits through the distribution of the stolen intellectual property of others," RIAA chairman and CEO Cary Sherman said in a statement.

The Megaupload takedown and the DDoS attacks come one day after many Web sites went dark in protest of anti-piracy legislation, the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the PROTECT IP Act (PIPA). The bills would allow the DOJ to go after overseas, "rogue" Web sites, but opponents argue that the measures are too broad and could harm legitimate Web sites.

The RIAA's Sherman, a supporter of SOPA and PIPA, said the Megaupload news demonstrates why the bills are necessary. "If [Megaupload] were hosted and operated, for example, in a foreign country, our government would be essentially powerless to do anything about it. That needs to change," Sherman said.

For more, see the Top 5 Objections to SOPA, PIPA and PCMag analysts' take on the bills, as well as the slideshow below, which features screen shots from Web sites that participated in yesterday's blackout.Anonymous was quick to target the Justice Department, Universal Music, the RIAA, and... more

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

A lot of good those Wednesday blackouts did for the Internet. Not. One day after... more

Vierotchka
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After Legal Battles and Controversy And the Winners are of The 69th Annual Golden Globe Awards 2012

With so much legal battles and controversial news been reporting last year about the... more

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Job Creators Find Help from Urban Music Icon

Story by Angelique Creed December 30, 2011
I reviewed an online retail clothing shop with a twist today,and I got in touch with the owner and asked if I could publish his message, to my surprise he also owns an online media press company called Hoodwatch Media. I did receive his permission to copy what I read and plaster it for the world to see Thanks Mr. Lord Hector, I love what you are doing. Angelique Creed,Chicago.

iCON® has taken the initiative to assist visitors of our online urban retail Boutique with their prospective job hunting efforts, while offering the hip hop and urban community around the globe the newest original designs for our 2012 lineup. With today's headlines listing nearly 14 million Americans unemployed, the designer and CEO Lord Hector Diono, has put together a plan to assist the unemployed and the unbreakable go getter with a daily national job listing feed, as well as a sales commission opportunity with iCON® . We have hired the world, all you need is a little start up capital borrowed or earned from your current Job, to cover the cost of your initial selected purchases of the iCON Garments.
Now our customers can also consider earning extra money by selling iCON® in there neighborhoods,at their country clubs, or even from the trunks of their car. it's simple, just visit our shops on the site
" iCON Apparel", "e-iCON Jackets Tops" or "The iCON discount shop".
Select your item(s), select the size choice, select the amount of garments you'd like to purchase, and place your order, allow 1.5 weeks for processing and delivery, and start selling your iCON wear.
Keep a spread sheet to track your sells and buyers and at the end of each calendar month (the last Friday) simply email: info@theiconshop.net your completed sells spreadsheet with the item number in word doc or PDF format provided your sells for the month meet or exceed 100 items sold. iCON will in addition to your pocketed sells earnings, pay out a 5% commission bonus to the sales associate in their city, state, or country.
Simply include with your spreadsheet, your name address, country code and telephone number.(U.S. CC is 1)
and your check will be cut upon review and confirmation of said sells. This is our way of eliminating the excuses of the procrastinators, creating a self managed job opportunity for the self motivated, while spreading the company's mission statement,
I.Can.Overcome. Negativity. iCON®
Like any independent buyer,your work ethic determines your success, after you've covered the cost of the items you'd like to sell,
your price for your icon item must net you a profit while maintaining customer satisfaction, so be mindful of that when selling your newly purchased iCON Wear. Once you've proven yourself as a self motivated, iconic independent sales person with iCON by reaching our quarterly goal of 500 items sold, you will receive at no cost to you, 100 of your genuine customized iCON Originals business cards to assist you in promoting and selling iCON.
The rest is up to you, make money, or make excuses. If you're looking to overcome the negativity from your current job or job loss, the change starts with your state of mind.
Be bitter at the hand life dealt you, our be better off because of it.
iCON is not responsible for your State or Federal Tax obligations as a subcontractor, or vendor of our company; however, if you're in a position to take advantage of this international Job opportunity then get started, because you're already hired.
Welcome to iCON®Story by Angelique Creed December 30, 2011 I reviewed an online retail clothing shop... more