Well the other shoe has fallen folks.

For those of you who may have forgotten Megaupload was that file-sharing site that got a bunch of big name artists to take part in a music video supporting Megaupload only to have it taken down on YouTube under some highly questionable reasons by Universal.

Of course the video was reposted, t hen taken down and then finally reposted again where it remains at this point in time.

Unfortunately though it would seem that the Feds have decided that the company needs to be taught a real lesson on who the boss is and have shut the site down along with charging its founder and others with violating piracy laws.

The indictment accuses the company of costing copyright holders more than $500 million in lost revenue from pirated films and other content. The indictment was unsealed Thursday, one day after websites shut down in protest of two congressional proposals intended to thwart the online piracy of copyrighted movies and TV programs.

via Associated Press

This action of course just happened to occur one day after the Great Internet Black-out that saw many big name websites “go dark” in opposition to the government’s proposed SOPA and PIPA legislation.

Here’s the video that Megaupload had made.

Feds shuts down Megaupload claiming more that $500 million in lost revenue is a post from: The Inquisitr

In a last ditch attempt to arrest the terminal decline in CD sales, Universal Music has decided to make CD’s cheaper than digital downloads.

According to AllThingsD

The world’s biggest music label is pushing a plan to sell all its CDs at a retail price of $10 or less, Billboard reports. Given that all the big labels are currently selling discs at wholesale prices of $10 to $12, that’s a big price chop

An update notes that Universal hasn’t confirmed the strategy yet, only that the company will begin “looking at such variables as greater selection at sharper pricing on front-line releases. We expect to begin the test in Q2.”

There is some evidence that price cuts do work, but isn’t this a case of too little, too late?

The shift away from physical media to digital distribution hasn’t been about price exclusively, although that’s obviously a factor for some. The main driver is a shift in consumption of music to players that support digital music only. While most people may still be able to play a CD via their computer, fewer and fewer would actually own a dedicated CD player (indeed, do they still make them?) Convenience is the key: a download works straight away vs the need to rip a CD. They’re also more convenient, being available 24/7 on demand, and come at a lower marginal cost to the consumer: you have to travel to a music store to acquire a CD, an exercise that costs money. You might be able to order a CD online, but then you add shipping. A digital music download: press a button, do not pass go.

If the move does see an increase in CD sales, it can only be a short term blip because despite the best efforts of the industry, physical media will soon be dead.

Too Little, Too Late: Universal To Make CD’s Cheaper Than Digital Music is a post from: The Inquisitr

Universal is to produce a movie based on the classic Atari game Asteroids.

Lorenzo di Bonaventura (Transformers, G.I.Joe) and Matt Lopez (Race to Witch Mountain) will be developing and writing the movie respectively.

Variety reports that Fox and Sony also bid for the rights to the movie version of the game, which begs the question why?

For those of you not old enough to remember Asteroids, the game was a huge hit for Atari in 1979. The game involves a space ship shooting asteroids and flying saucers…. and nothing more. Even by the standards of the day, Asteroids wasn’t overly exciting to look at either, with the original using vector graphics and a two-dimensional black and white view.

A better choice would have been Space Invaders…well, if you absolutely had to pick an old game as the basis for a movie. A video showing how you played the original Asteroids as follows;

Universal to produce movie based on the classic Atari game Asteroids is a post from: The Inquisitr

Universal Pictures are said to be considering a film version of Battlestar Galactica.

Fans of the current TV series though shouldn’t get too exited: the proposed film version will be set on the original 70′s TV series.

An official announcement in the coming weeks. We’ll keep a close eye on this one as it develops.

(via)

Battlestar Galactica movie could be made is a post from: The Inquisitr