The Megaupload Takedown

Here. (HT: Instapundit.) Here. (HT: Democratic Underground.)

1. IMO this is part of the push to get SOPA passed. Will it work, or will it backfire? Given Republican deference to all things law enforcement, they might back off their newfound opposition to SOPA. Fingers crossed.

2. The victims are foreign nationals who were arrested in New Zealand. The pretext is apparently that a server was hosted in the US: or maybe Amerika isn't bothering with a pretext.

3. Why in the world are foreign governments putting up with this? There are all kinds of phony protests about US imperialism, but for real imperalism...nothing. Hopefully foreigners will protest to their governments the way Americans are protesting about SOPA.

4. Meanwhile, Obama has angered an ally and trading partner rejecting the Keystone pipeline.

5. Context: bupkis happened to the Americans who crashed the world economy.

6. When the chickens come home to roost because of such arrogance, it won't be pretty.

7. In some ways this is worse than Watergate. It is being done on openly a global scale with legal pretexts.

8. Not to forget the maneuvering about Assange and Wikileaks.

9. Having gotten the foregoing off my chest, I acknowledge that the news is very preliminary.

Afterthoughts 20120120:

10. The Megaupload founder Kim Schmitz is a piece of work.

11. NZ police were "happy to assist" the FBI even though there is no intention to try the arrested people under New Zealand law. Maybe NZ is happy for a pretext to get rid of somebody with Schmitz's rap sheet. Or maybe people got suborned.