BERLIN - The recent U.S. shutdown of the Hong Kong-based file-hosting service Megaupload has led other file sharing sites to tighten their content sharing practices, for fear of facing criminal charges. Seven of Megaupload's executives were charged with copyright violations, racketeering, and money laundering, while CEO Kim Dotcom, a German-Finnish citizen, was arrested along with four others and could face up to 55 years in prison. Hackers have retaliated, leading some, like the ubiquitous "Anonymous," to claim credit for attacking the Justice Department's website. But while pirating copyrighted material for free entertainment continues to raise global hackles, a party that borrows from such open-source practices to create a more transparent government has fired up politics in Europe.
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Berlin's Pirate Party takes city by storm
