Federal authorities announced on Thursday that they had arrested seven people associated with the file sharing site Megaupload.com on counts of copyright infringement and running an international crime ring.

One of those arrested was the site's founder. According to authorities, the website, which allows users to anonymously share large files with others, earned upwards of $175 million in income while causing $500 million in copyright damages.

From the New York Times:

Four of the seven people, including the site’s founder Kim Dotcom, born Kim Schmitz, have been arrested in New Zealand, the Justice Department and Federal Bureau of Investigation said on Thursday; the three others remain at large. The seven — who a grand jury indictment calls part of a “Mega Conspiracy” — have been charged with five counts of copyright infringement and conspiracy, the authorities said.

The charges, which the government agencies said represented “among the largest criminal copyright cases ever brought by the United States,” come at a charged time, a day after online protests against a pair of antipiracy bills being considered by Congress — the Stop Online Piracy Act, or SOPA, in the House, and the Protect I.P. Act, or PIPA, in the Senate.

In response to the charges, the Justice Department and the FBI released a joint statement Thursday saying that this was one of the largest criminal copyright cases ever in the U.S.

From the Los Angeles Times:

Ira Rothken, an attorney for MegaUpload, said in an interview that he only learned of the actions in a press release this morning and had not yet read the entire indictment. "Our initial impression is that the allegations are without merit and MegaUpload is going to vigorously contest them," he said. "We have deep concerns over due process and assets being taken without the opportunity for a hearing."

According to the indictment, the operators of MegaUpload earned more than $175 million in illegal profits and caused an estimated $500 million in harm to copyright holders.

The site is advertised as having more than 50 million daily visitors, according to federal authorities.

Four of MegaUpload's operators have been arrested in New Zealand, while three more remain at large. The seven each face a maximum of 55 years in prison.

Not everyone was pleased with the arrests--including several Silicon Valley workers who were already testy from yesterday's 24-hour shutdown of Wikipedia in protest of SOPA and PIPA in Congress.

From CNET:

IRC chats supported by the Anonymous collective show people discussing the DOJ site being down and talking about other U.S. government sites to target, including the Recording Industry of America (RIAA), the Whitehouse, FBI, Copyright.com, Viacom, Anti-piracy.be/nl, Vivendi.fr, Hadopi.fr and ChrisDodd.com, the site for the former U.S. Senator who now heads up the RIAA. Some of those sites were accessible but opening very slowly.

The activists are angry about two proposed antipiracy bills backed by the music and movie industries, SOPA and PIPA, that critics say would give authorities broad power to shut down Web sites for the mere accusation that they had pirated content on them.

"Seems like some friendly ships are launching torpedos justice.gov as we speak. The site seems down to us! (via @AnonOpsSweden)," Twitter accounts associated with the Anonymous online activist group posted today.

Another tweet by the AnonOps account said: "Tango down! universalmusic.com & justice.gov// #Megaupload."

"Anonymous/Megaupload backlash update: http://RIAA.ORG is now Tango Down | #OpPayback #OpMegaupload #SOPA #PIPA," another tweet from that account said.

The Department of Justice and the FBI have yet to comment on the alleged hacker attack.