Megaupload
The file locker the FBI took down
Megaupload was the world's biggest file-hosting site, founded by Kim Dotcom in 2005 and claiming 150 million registered users and about 4% of all internet traffic. The FBI seized it on 19 January 2012 in a dramatic global raid, indicting its operators for criminal copyright infringement. Dotcom launched successor MEGA exactly one year later.
Timeline [edit]
- 2005
-
21 March 2005
Launch
Megaupload launches
One-click file hosting with shareable links.
- 2011
-
2011
Peak
~4% of all internet traffic
The indictment cites 150M registered users and 50M daily visits.
-
9 December 2011
Incident
The "Mega Song" fight
Universal Music tries to pull Megaupload's celebrity promo from YouTube; Megaupload sues.
- 2012
-
19 January 2012
Shutdown
The FBI seizes Megaupload
Armed raid on Dotcom's Auckland mansion; domains seized, seven men indicted.
-
19 January 2012
Incident
Anonymous strikes back
Retaliatory DDoS downs DOJ, FBI and record-label sites the same day.
- 2013
-
19 January 2013
Revival
MEGA launches
Dotcom's encrypted successor debuts exactly one year after the raid; he later disowns it.
- 2023
-
15 June 2023
Legal
Ortmann and van der Kolk sentenced
The two co-founders receive prison terms in New Zealand after a plea deal.
How it looked [edit]
The site through time
Browse megaupload.com as it was, via the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine:
Ownership [edit]
Key figures [edit]
| Metric | Value | As of | Confidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| Registered accounts ▲ | 150 million | January 2012 | Reported Per the US indictment |
| Revenue (USD) | $175M | January 2012 | Reported Alleged criminal proceeds per the DOJ |
Confirmed official figures · Reported media, cites a source · Estimated analyst or our estimate
Why it shut down [edit]
Official line: The US Department of Justice seized megaupload.com on 19 January 2012 and indicted its operators for criminal copyright infringement, racketeering and money laundering, alleging over $500 million in harm to rights holders.
Our analysis: Megaupload monetised infringing content at unprecedented scale (rewards for popular uploads made the incentive explicit) and the US chose to treat it as an organised-crime case, not a civil dispute. The seizure worked; the legal aftermath dragged on for over a decade and legitimate users lost their files overnight.
History [edit]
The locker that ate the internet
Megaupload was a one-click file host: upload anything, get a link, share it. Founded in 2005 by the flamboyant German ex-hacker Kim Dotcom (born Kim Schmitz) and run from Hong Kong, it grew into a constellation of sites (Megavideo, Megapix, Megabox) that, by the US government's own indictment, counted more than 150 million registered users, 50 million daily visits and roughly four percent of all internet traffic.
Much of that traffic was pirated movies, TV and software, and the business leaned into it: an uploader rewards program paid cash for files that generated mass downloads, while premium subscriptions and ads brought in what prosecutors said was $175 million. In December 2011 the site trolled its enemies with the "Mega Song", a promo video featuring Kanye West, Kim Kardashian and will.i.am that Universal Music tried to force off YouTube.
The raid
On 19 January 2012, at the request of US authorities, New Zealand police helicoptered an armed unit onto Dotcom's Auckland mansion; he was found in a safe room with a sawed-off shotgun nearby. The DOJ seized the domains, shut the service worldwide and indicted seven men on charges usually reserved for mob bosses: racketeering, money laundering, criminal copyright infringement. Anonymous retaliated the same day with what was then the largest coordinated DDoS in its history, downing the DOJ, FBI and record-label sites. Millions of legitimate users lost their stored files, a collateral damage question that was never really resolved.
Exactly one year later, on 19 January 2013, Dotcom launched MEGA, an encrypted successor he later walked away from and disowned. The criminal case ground on for over a decade: two co-defendants, Ortmann and van der Kolk, were sentenced in New Zealand in 2023 after a plea deal, while Dotcom fought extradition to the US from New Zealand courts year after year. Megaupload itself never came back; its seized servers sat in storage, the files on them slowly becoming archaeology.
Similar projects
Sources [edit]
- Justice Department Charges Leaders of Megaupload with Widespread Online Copyright Infringement U.S. Department of Justice 19 January 2012 [archived]
- Megaupload file-sharing site shut down BBC News 19 January 2012 [archived]
- Megaupload Shut Down By The FBI NPR 20 January 2012 [archived]
Last verified: 11 August 2026. Spotted an error? Suggest an edit (corrections with sources are reviewed and applied).