Mediaboss Marketing

February 17, 2012, 4:26 pm By BEN SISARIO

A revised indictment against the file-sharing site Megaupload was announced on Friday, with new charges against the site’s operators and some new details about the investigation. In addition to the five counts of conspiracy, money laundering and criminal copyright infringement in the original indictment last month, the seven men being charged — including Kim Dotcom, the site’s founder — face three new infringement charges and five wire fraud charges.

The new indictment, which was filed Thursday in Federal District Court in Alexandria, Va., adjusts some numbers, apparently after a closer review of evidence: Megaupload had only about 67 million registered users, not the 180 million earlier claimed, and only about six million users ever uploaded files. One of the most egregious users, named VV, uploaded 16,950 files over six years, yielding 34 million views and “numerous take-down e-mails, including 85 notices from one representative,” the Justice Department said in a statement.

Five of the seven members of what the government calls the “Mega Conspiracy” have been arrested after a raid on Mr. Dotcom’s mansion in New Zealand on Jan. 19, and are awaiting trial.

A Return to eMusic: Domino Records, an independent label whose acts include Animal Collective and Franz Ferdinand, has returned its catalog to the digital retailer eMusic after an absence of a little more than a year. Domino was one of three prominent indies, along with Merge and the Beggars Group, to withdraw from eMusic in November 2010. Those labels gave no clear explanation for their departure, but some hinted at the time that the recent arrival of the major labels to eMusic — long a haven for independent music — had altered the site’s business terms. Merge and Beggars remain absent, but in a statement, Adam Klein, eMusic’s chief executive, said, “While we are in conversations and have great relationships in the industry, we cannot give an update at this time.”

Ben Sisario writes about the music industry. Follow @sisario on Twitter.

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Digital Notes: New Charges, and More Details, in Megaupload Case