In December I wrote about Megaupload founder, Kim Dotcom: a gigantic, pale, playboy German hacker. Then, I focused on what he was called in Hollywood circles: Dr Evil. Right before the article went to print, Kim Dotcom decided to release a music video featuring a promotional Megaupload jingle starring Kanye West, Kim Kardashian and P Diddy. I promptly edited my piece, both pleased and bewildered at the absurdity of the whole thing. Now, we’re in the midst of this SOPA whirlwind.

Yesterday’s internet blackout that was supported by, to varying degrees, Wikipedia, Google, Reddit and others, has brought mainstream attention to a growing problem festering in the US Senate – censoring the internet by attempting to destroy online piracy.

Late this afternoon, the news broke through Gizmodo and the WSJ that Megaupload had been completely shut down. Seven Megaupload employees have been arrested and the site is wholly inaccessible. What seemed like an temporary victory for sanity and the free-flow of information online yesterday, when Obama announced a complete halt on the SOPA bill, is now a moot point.

As I see it, Kim Dotcom has positioned himself as the entertainment industry’s enemy number one. With a stacked list of A-list artists and celebrities that have supported his quick, easy and democratic system of sharing huge amounts of media, he became too loud a critic to ignore. With their streaming video platform Megavideo which, up until early this afternoon, contained every episode of everything ever aired on American television available, Kim Dotcom may have had a very good chance at dismantling big business’ terrestrial media. Now it’s clear that Kim has a gigantic legal mountain to climb.

What’s most alarming about this new wave of online persecution is the “seize now, ask questions later” approach that the American authorities have been allowed to get away with. In late 2010, a slew of hip-hop blogs were shut down by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) bureau in the US without proper investigations or hearings. More than a year later, in December 2011, ICE admitted it was wrong to seize one site in particular, DaJaz1.com, and it’s now back online.

Even further back in 2007, street rap mixtape personality DJ Drama had his studio raided by local authorities and was taken into custody simply because he was accused of copyright infringement. This is a man who, with the blessing of major labels, releases promotional mixtapes for rappers about to blow up in the mainstream. He’s a huge part of how Lil’ Wayne got to be Lil’ Wayne.

Admittedly, DJ Drama’s operation and Kim Dotcom’s mega-file-sharing empire are worlds apart but these two incidents still strike at the same central issue: a complete misunderstanding of the way digital content works, how this new ecosystem of online media operates and why copyright laws need to be updated. One need only look to VICE’s recent coverage of SOPA supporters’ own copyright infringement to get a crystal clear understanding of that.

Clearly, of all the online copyright infringement targets ever targeted by US authorities, Megaupload is the biggest get of them all. Earlier today, if you went on Megaupload.com, you’d be greeted by American royalty cheerfully proclaiming their love of the service on video. Even Snoop Dogg! “Whaddup doe! Megaupload! ‘Cause it’s keeping the kids off the street! And I use Megaupload!”

It will certainly be interesting to see, in the coming hours and days, what impact (if any) these A-list personalities that jumped onto Kim Dotcom’s pirate ship will have as the story unfolds. With such big names at least superficially in Megaupload’s corner it will be hard for the mainstream media to ignore the story. What started as a geeky file-sharing site rapidly became a major player in online media distribution with the support of the world’s most recognizable entertainers. Now, if we are meant to treat corporations as individuals, it’s been imprisoned. I expect Kim Dotcom won’t take this lying down but it’s not looking good for him nor is it looking like an open internet can survive in this backwards political climate.

Editor’s note: Patrick is cursed but prophetic. He filed an earlier version of this piece hours before it was announced that Megaupload had been shut down. He wondered, then, what impact celebrity would have in the inevitably fight over copyright infringement: he was right and that day is today. We thank him for quickly writing a new, updated article.

Patrick McGuire has written about popular culture for a number of notable publications. Follow him on Twitter at @patrickmcguire.