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Amid recent protest, US already able to shut websites

Internet protest was silent in 2008

By Hiawatha Bray

 |  Globe Staff  

  January 23, 2012

Google, Wikipedia, and the millions of Americans who joined last week’s protest against giving government new authority over the Internet may have missed something: Federal agencies already have that kind of power, at least over websites registered in the US. Under a 2008 law, federal authorities can seize the assets of a company charged with copyright violations. The US Justice Department exercised that muscle on Thursday, when it shut down Megaupload, one of the Internet’s most popular file-sharing sites.

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