One of the world’s largest file-sharing sites was shut down Thursday, and its founder and several company executives were charged with violating piracy laws, federal prosecutors said. An indictment accuses Megaupload.com of costing copyright holders more than $500 million in lost revenue from pirated films and other content. The indictment was unsealed one day after websites including Wikipedia and Craigslist shut down in protest of two congressional proposals intended to thwart online piracy. APNewsBreak: US prosecutors shut down one of world’s largest file-sharing sites, Megaupload – The Washington Post. Oh boy…this is kind of a big deal. A HUGE blow after yesterday’s awareness campaign about SOPA and PIPA. This is an example of what can happen to Google, Facebook, Youtube (Youtube especially), really any website that has even a picture of someone without expressed written permission. I’d said that yesterday was blown out of proportion a bit as they don’t really enforce the laws currently in place, but um…just kidding. Now the new question is…what’s the point of SOPA and PIPA if they already have the power to do this? Read...

The tech industry is abuzz about SOPA and PIPA, a pair of anti-piracy bills. Here’s why they’re controversial, and how they would change the digital landscape if they became law. What is SOPA? SOPA is an acronym for the Stop Online Piracy Act. It’s a proposed bill that aims to crack down on copyright infringement by restricting access to sites that host pirated content. SOPA’s main targets are “rogue” overseas sites like torrent hub The Pirate Bay, which are a trove for illegal downloads of movies and other digital content. Content creators have battled against piracy for years — remember Napster? — but it’s hard for U.S. companies to take action against foreign sites. So SOPA’s goal is to cut off pirate sites’ oxygen by requiring U.S. search engines, advertising networks and other providers to withhold their services. That means sites like Google wouldn’t show flagged sites in their search results, and payment processors like eBay’s (EBAY, Fortune 500) PayPal couldn’t transmit funds to them. Both sides say they agree that protecting content is a worthy goal. But opponents say that the way SOPA is written effectively promotes censorship and is rife with the potential for unintended consequences. Silicon Valley woke up and took notice of the implications when SOPA was introduced in the House of Representatives in October. But its very similar counterpart, PIPA, flew under the radar and was approved by a Senate committee in May. PIPA is now pending before the full Senate and scheduled for a vote on January 24, though some senators are pushing for a delay. SOPA explained: What it is and why it matters – Jan. 17,...

  Microsoft has announced that Kinect for Windowswill be made available starting less than a month away, on February 1. The hardware and software will release in an array of countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, and Spain, at a suggested U.S. retail price point of$249. If you’re wondering, GameStop is selling a 4 GB Xbox 360 Kinect bundle for only $50 more than the Windows Kinect, at $299. Kinect for Windows Available February 1 for $249 |...

Sure, Intel revealed a lot about its future ultrabook platforms at its press conference a few minutes ago, but its prototype Nikiski laptop was the star of the show. The laptop has a transparent touchpad that spans the length of the palmrest. It’s a clear piece of glass that does double duty as a touchpad for the Windows 7 laptop, but also transformers into a exterior touchscreen when the laptop is closed. Intel Nikiski laptop prototype with see-through touchpad hands-on pictures and video | The Verge Um…I...

So you got Spotify as soon as it came to the States. You’ve been jamming on those free tunes like it’s your job. Free Spotify has become a vital part of your everyday sanity-preservation strategy. Well you better get ready because there’s an end. You may not have been aware — I know I wasn’t — but “free unlimited Spotify” never really existed. What you experience as free unlimited Spotify is actually an automatic  6-month trial of Spotify Unlimited, except with ads. The real kicker? Spotify’s 6 month anniversary in the U.S. is rolling around next week. So this is a good time for a reminder. Your 6-Month Trial of Free Spotify May Be Ending Soon |...