The online seizure of streaming website Megaupload wasn't the result of the SOPA/PIPA legislation or its protests, but its timing certainly makes it seem as though it's a warning of sorts. The feds are already starting to take away bits of our internet whether we like it or not. 

Granted, MU was a very illegal and rather shady little slice of the web. Its servers were home to streaming service MegaVideo, which allowed you to watch streaming content, like copyrighted movies and television shows, for free--but not without the cost of sketchy border ads and a stream time limit. Despite being a little rough around the edges, MegaVideo was an extraordinarily popular under-the-radar alternative to paid streaming services like Netflix or Hulu Plus. It had such a high profile that the people in charge took note and worked very hard to make sure it was wiped from the face of the net, with nothing but a 404 crater left where it once stood.

That's the good news about the seizure--it wasn't easy. Authorities had to take care of Megaupload '90s-style, with warrants and thorough investigations and everything. The process was much trickier and more time-intensive than it would have been under SOPA, which would allow the government to block websites pretty much instantaneously following complaints of copyright infringement. Megaupload's disappearance isn't so much censorship--it's not like we don't have access to a website that still exists. It's gone and probably gone for good.

Of course, those who still want to get their free, pixelated movie-watching on will have no trouble finding other avenues through which to casually pirate their content. The internet is full of copies of copies of movies. People will still stream and torrent; as soon as one channel gets shut down, a dozen more will spring up. But MegaVideo and its ilk were always more like catching a movie on late night TV on the crappy CRT in your mom's basement. They never offered the same quality as their legal counterparts because the low-res was less of a server strain and hey, you get what you pay for. But apparently the film industry felt as though MU was channeling enough dollars away from them to warrant a government investigation, which makes me wonder if we'll continue to see efforts to deprive the web of its sketchy basic-cable equivalents. I can't say I'll miss them. Just so long as the government doesn't grant itself the power to blackout links on a whim, they can go after all the ad-ridden pirates they want.