Skip to main content
Back to the takedown index

Megaupload seizure

January 2012, Piracy and IP
Led by United States Department of Justice

Extended pass entry, last reviewed August 21, 2026

What was taken down?

18 domains were seized; servers in multiple countries were taken offline or frozen pending the case.

See what happened

What happened to the people?

Officials reported 7 charged.
1 charged and 4 apprehended named in the public record.
Group accounted for: Partial

See people and accountability

Did it stay down?

Not established in the public record. No later activity is recorded against this entry.

See what happened afterward

DOJ indicted Megaupload and associated individuals for criminal copyright infringement and money laundering, seizing 18 domains and coordinating searches and arrests, including in New Zealand.

Date
January 2012
Target
Megaupload, file hosting service
Activity
Piracy and IP
Operational lead
DOJ
Partners
FBI, NZ Police[1]
Jurisdiction
Not established
Outcome
18 domains were seized; servers in multiple countries were taken offline or frozen pending the case.
Status
Completed
Legal mechanism
Federal criminal indictment (E.D. Va.); domain seizure warrants; New Zealand search/arrest warrants
Group accounted for
Partial

Infrastructure

18 domains seized.

18
domains seized
Identifier Recorded as Status Notes
Not published 18 domains Seized, United States 18 domains associated with the Megaupload service.[1]

Domains and onion addresses are shown defanged. Where the record gives a count but no identifier, the count is shown in place of one. This list carries only what appears in the cited sources.

1
charged
4
apprehended

Named in the public record: 1 charged and 4 apprehended.

Figures count individuals named in charging documents and official statements, each person once per outcome. People alleged to be involved but not publicly identified are not counted.

Reported and named. Officials reported 7 charged. 1 charged and 4 apprehended named in the public record. The two figures come from different places and are never added together. Officials publish a headline total, and this index counts only the individuals it can name from the cited record.
Person Role Current public status
Megaupload executive Arrested
Charging authority
Not established in the public record
Main charges
Not established in the public record
Case number
Not established in the public record
Arresting authority
New Zealand Police
Arrest location
Auckland, New Zealand
Extradition status
Not established in the public record
Conviction or plea
Not established in the public record
Sentence
Not established in the public record
Segment
Core operator
Sources
[1]
Full record
Everything indexed for Bram van der Kolk
Megaupload executive Arrested
Charging authority
Not established in the public record
Main charges
Not established in the public record
Case number
Not established in the public record
Arresting authority
New Zealand Police
Arrest location
Auckland, New Zealand
Extradition status
Not established in the public record
Conviction or plea
Not established in the public record
Sentence
Not established in the public record
Segment
Core operator
Sources
[1]
Full record
Everything indexed for Finn Batato
Founder and controlling figure of Megaupload ChargedArrested
Charging authority
United States Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Virginia
Main charges
Racketeering conspiracy; Copyright infringement conspiracy; Money laundering conspiracy
Case number
Not established in the public record
Arresting authority
New Zealand Police
Arrest location
Auckland, New Zealand
Extradition status
Not established in the public record
Conviction or plea
Not established in the public record
Sentence
Not established in the public record
Segment
Core operator
Sources
[1]
Full record
Everything indexed for Kim Dotcom
Megaupload executive Arrested
Charging authority
Not established in the public record
Main charges
Not established in the public record
Case number
Not established in the public record
Arresting authority
New Zealand Police
Arrest location
Auckland, New Zealand
Extradition status
Not established in the public record
Conviction or plea
Not established in the public record
Sentence
Not established in the public record
Segment
Core operator
Sources
[1]
Full record
Everything indexed for Mathias Ortmann

Bram van der Kolk

Megaupload executive. Current public status: Arrested.

Charging authority
Not established in the public record
Main charges
Not established in the public record
Case number
Not established in the public record
Arresting authority
New Zealand Police
Arrest location
Auckland, New Zealand
Extradition status
Not established in the public record
Conviction or plea
Not established in the public record
Sentence
Not established in the public record
Segment
Core operator
Sources
[1]
Full record
Everything indexed for Bram van der Kolk

Finn Batato

Megaupload executive. Current public status: Arrested.

Charging authority
Not established in the public record
Main charges
Not established in the public record
Case number
Not established in the public record
Arresting authority
New Zealand Police
Arrest location
Auckland, New Zealand
Extradition status
Not established in the public record
Conviction or plea
Not established in the public record
Sentence
Not established in the public record
Segment
Core operator
Sources
[1]
Full record
Everything indexed for Finn Batato

Kim Dotcom

Founder and controlling figure of Megaupload. Current public status: Charged and Arrested.

Charging authority
United States Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Virginia
Main charges
Racketeering conspiracy; Copyright infringement conspiracy; Money laundering conspiracy
Case number
Not established in the public record
Arresting authority
New Zealand Police
Arrest location
Auckland, New Zealand
Extradition status
Not established in the public record
Conviction or plea
Not established in the public record
Sentence
Not established in the public record
Segment
Core operator
Sources
[1]
Full record
Everything indexed for Kim Dotcom

Mathias Ortmann

Megaupload executive. Current public status: Arrested.

Charging authority
Not established in the public record
Main charges
Not established in the public record
Case number
Not established in the public record
Arresting authority
New Zealand Police
Arrest location
Auckland, New Zealand
Extradition status
Not established in the public record
Conviction or plea
Not established in the public record
Sentence
Not established in the public record
Segment
Core operator
Sources
[1]
Full record
Everything indexed for Mathias Ortmann

Rows expand to show charging authority, case identifiers, custody status, and sources.

Group accounted for: Partial

Seven individuals indicted, including Kim Dotcom; extradition proceedings from New Zealand were protracted and not fully resolved for years.

See the organizations and roles behind this action

Not established in the public record. No later activity is recorded against this entry.

Numbered markers throughout this entry link to the source that supports the claim beside them.

Official sources

  1. [1]
    Megaupload indictment and seizure announcement

    US DOJ / USAO EDVA, January 19, 2012, Source grade S2

    Establishes the 18-domain seizure, the seven-defendant indictment, and coordinated New Zealand arrests.

    No address recorded for this source. Publisher, title, and date are given so it can be retrieved from the publisher.

Coverage note. Added from deep-research aggregation pass (reports covering ~75-78 worldwide incidents). Not independently re-verified source-by-source in the same manner as the original 38-incident core; source_quality is capped at S2/P2 pending a dedicated verification pass, per the project's own recommended-next-steps methodology.