alt Hacker NewsIt started around 2008 when they had one of the most permissive landscapes in Europe with pressure by the US using the Special 301 whatchlist. Then Obama increased the pressure with Zapatero and after a couple of tries the timeline you describe was set in motion.
Thanks MPAA and RIAA as usual.
The attempts to end anonimity and to end cash flow are ideological and pretty surely did not come from the USA.