Bwin.Party Accused of Ties to Megaupload, ends Advertising Deal

Bwin.Party has been accused of ties to Megaupload.com which was shut down by the FBI on 19th January after indictments on internet piracy and intellectual property infringements.

Megaupload.com was one of the biggest online file storage service providers in the world. The US Department of Justice (DoJ) has accused the site and its founders of running a worldwide piracy ring and profiting over $175 million in illegal profits from its subscription sales and advertising.

Three of Megaupload’s founders were located in New Zealand and were detained by local authorities following a formal request from the US authorities. Three other accused are still at large. The court case is drawing a lot of attention from the world media and has sadly put a negative spotlight on Bwin.Party - one of the most respected companies in the online gaming industry.

The company is located in Gibraltar but is listed on the London Stock Exchange and it is the largest traded online casino operator in the world. The firm was created back in March 2011 by a merger of Bwin Interactive and PartyGaming. The company used to advertise on Megaupload’s websites and that’s how its name got dragged into this story.

Bwin.Party uses online advertising to promote its products and does so on thousands of different websites all over the world. John Shepherd, Bwin.Party’s head of communications said: “we had no knowledge about any of the alleged activities undertaken by Megaupload”. The company terminated any contractual obligations it had towards advertising on Megaupload websites “as soon as we heard” about the site being closed down by a court order last week.