There had been earlier civil actions against Limewire and Napster, Shera said, but the difference here was that the Megaupload case was a criminal action. This had involved the "nuclear option of taking down websites, seizing assets, shutting down a business even before the accused has a chance to know they are being accused."

Shera questioned whether due consideration was being shown to third party rights or whether criminal proceedings delivered an appropriate remedy.

"Win or lose, Megaupload is down and the business is probably destroyed."

Vikram Kumar took up the theme of the novelty of a criminal copyright case, saying it represented a "fundamental shift that we have to start thinking about."

"We are not used to seeing copyright matters treated in a criminal context," he said, adding that many people had "reacted emotionally" to the use of armed police in the Dotcom raid.