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Feds Shut Down Megaupload.com


Orpheus

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It's not really shut down though is it? Granted all you can do is upload and download files if they are yours and you have to login as well. Uploaded.to has stopped American users from using the site as well.

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Filesonic's down too now.

It seems that's not all.

http://torrentfreak.com/cyberlocker-ecosystem-shocked-as-big-players-take-drastic-action-120123/

and http://torrentfreak.com/filesonic-kills-file-sharing-after-megaupload-arrests-120122/

[hide=Cyberlocker Ecosystem Shocked As Big Players Take Drastic Action]

In the wake of last weeks Megaupload shutdown, some of the biggest names in the market are taking drastic action. During the last 48 hours many sites have completely withdrawn their systems for paying uploaders when their files are shared with others, but one of the most dramatic moves came first from Filesonic and today Fileserve. Both services now forbid people from downloading any files they didnt upload themselves.

 

While the shutdown last week of Megaupload and the arrest of its founder and management team was certainly dramatic, a situation of perhaps even greater gravity is beginning to emerge.

 

Over the past 48 to 72 hours, the operators of many prominent cyberlocker services have been taking unprecedented actions that can not simply be explained away by mere coincidence. The details in the Megaupload indictment clearly have some players in the file-hosting world spooked.

 

One of the key allegations is that between 2005 and mid 2011, Megaupload ran a program that rewarded users for uploading infringing material. A cited internal email allegedly shows staff members discussing cash payments going to people uploading full popular DVD rips and software with keygenerators (Warez).

 

Although Megaupload stopped paying out rewards in July 2011, that didnt stop the site from getting raided. Other cyberlocker services are clearly hoping they will be more lucky.

 

Last evening Filesonic, a top 10 player in the file-sharing world with a billion pageviews a month, not only withdrew its affiliate rewards program, but also banned any third parties downloading files. Simply put, users can now only download files from the service that they uploaded themselves.

 

But according to reports, theres no guarantee of that. Account owners report that their files are being mass deleted, thats if their entire account has been banned already.

 

Fileserve, another leading player, also ended its affiliate program this weekend. Additionally, this morning TorrentFreak received news that Fileserve has now joined Filesonic in banning all 3rd party downloads.

 

fileservenuke.jpg

 

I just paid for a premium account and can now only download my own [bleep]ing files an unlimited number of times, said one angry user. What use is that?

 

Other users of Fileserve are experiencing an even further degraded level of service. Reports describe mass deletion of their uploads and the banning of accounts on apparent Terms of Service violations.

 

fileservenuke2.jpg

 

But the changes at these two services appears to be just the tip of a very big and very complex iceberg. Developments at other file-hosting services are widespread.

 

As previously reported, Uploaded.to banned all US IP addresses in what appears to be an effort to distance itself from US jurisdiction. Its affiliate program is still listed as operational but the same cannot be said about those run by some of its competitors.

 

VideoBB and VideoZer have both reportedly closed their rewards program and according to reports have also been mass deleting accounts and huge numbers of files. Other sites closing their affiliate programs and/or deleting accounts/files include FileJungle, UploadStation and FilePost.

 

Another interesting development involves so-called release blogs, sites that report on leaked material but either provide links to the material on cyberlockers or allow their users to do the same. The number of overall releases hasnt changed much but the links currently being posted on some of these sites show less variety and volume than they did this time last week.

 

Do you know of other file-hosts/cyberlockers taking similar action? Send us your stories and screenshots to the usual address.

 

Update: Smaller host UploadBox calls it quits. All files will be deleted on January 30th. Feel free to download the files you store with UploadBox until this date.

 

[/hide]

 

[hide=Filesonic Kills File-Sharing Service After MegaUpload Arrests]

Filesonic, one of the Internets leading cyberlocker services, has taken some drastic measures following the Megaupload shutdown and arrests last week. In addition to discontinuing its affiliates rewards program and not yet paying accrued money to members, the site has disabled all sharing functionality, leaving users only with access to their own files.

To users of systems like BitTorrent, file-sharing means just that the sharing of files with others. But this weekend users of Filesonic, one of the Internets leading cyberlocker services, sharing files is currently a thing of the past.

 

According to a shock announcement by the site, all file-sharing functionality has now been disabled, leaving current users only with access to files that they have personally uploaded. Many hundreds of thousands (probably millions) of links all around the web have now been rendered useless, at least temporarily.

 

But the bad news for the sites users doesnt end there. In the last few hours, before file-sharing was disabled, Filesonic also ended its rewards program, meaning that uploaders to the site no longer earn money when people download their files. A moot point perhaps, since no-one will be downloading files anyway.

 

However, there is the matter of what will happen to the reward money that was sitting in uploaders accounts before the rewards program was discontinued. Will it be paid out, or will it simply disappear? Many users fear the latter.

 

No File-Sharing at Filesonic

 

filesonic-message.jpg

 

This combination of news all adds up to a pretty big deal. Filesonic isnt just some also-ran in the world of cyberlockers. The site is among the top 10 file-sharing sites on the Internet, with a quarter billion page views a month.

While there has been no official explanation from the site as to why the above actions were taken, all eyes are turned towards events of the last week the closure of Megaupload and the arrest of its founder and management team.

 

Like Megaupload, Filesonic appears to be based in Hong Kong and its clear that the authorities there already worked with the US government to shut down Kim Dotcoms operations and seize his assets there. Filesonic is also believed to have some US-based servers.

 

In December, Filesonic announced it had partnered with Vobile, a provider of content identification services. All uploads to the service were said to be being checked for copyright infringement before users were able to share them publicly, although it is unclear if this system was ever implemented by the site.

 

The events of the last week have turned the cyberlocker world upside down and there is quite literally panic among users and site operators. Stay tuned for our detailed report tomorrow the Megaupload takedown appears to be a game-changer.

[/hide]

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Okay, thanks for the heads up, re-downloading my music collection (which I lost a few weeks ago) before the apocalypse.

Matt: You want that eh? You want everything good for you. You want everything that's--falls off garbage can

Camera guy: Whoa, haha, are you okay dude?

Matt: You want anything funny that happens, don't you?

Camera guy: still laughing

Matt: You want the funny shit that happens here and there, you think it comes out of your [bleep]ing [wagon] pushes garbage can down, don't you? You think it's funny? It comes out of here! running towards Camera guy

Camera guy: runs away still laughing

Matt: You think the funny comes out of your mother[bleep]ing creativity? Comes out of Satan, mother[bleep]er! nn--ngh! pushes Camera guy down

Camera guy: Hoooholy [bleep]!

Matt: FUNNY ISN'T REAL! FUNNY ISN'T REAL!

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It seems that the plot thickens.

 

With their current powers, they no longer have room to justify the existence of SOPA, PIPA, or even the ACTA.

For Christ's sake, stop with this freedom of expression crap. Go to a Syrian protestor and tell them your freedom to expression is being infringed upon because you can't use a website which was being used by a minority of its users to host pirated material. Bring a camcordor because I would love to the see their reaction.

 

So, because my situation is not comparable to someone else's that means it's trivial? We complain about this because we don't want to reach the stage where the Syrians are glad they have it better off than us. Sure; you can not stand up for those wanting freedom of speech on the internet, you can not stand up for those wanting freedom of speech in their homes, but when they want to torture you for something that could possibly be misconstrued as non-beneficial to your leaders don't expect us to even bat an eyelid.

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I don't understand the mega box thing. Where will the money come from to pay the artists for free downloads? If it is coming from piracy on another arm of the company, then it should still not be allowed.

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It seems that the plot thickens.

 

With their current powers, they no longer have room to justify the existence of SOPA, PIPA, or even the ACTA.

For Christ's sake, stop with this freedom of expression crap. Go to a Syrian protestor and tell them your freedom to expression is being infringed upon because you can't use a website which was being used by a minority of its users to host pirated material. Bring a camcordor because I would love to the see their reaction.

 

So, because my situation is not comparable to someone else's that means it's trivial? We complain about this because we don't want to reach the stage where the Syrians are glad they have it better off than us. Sure; you can not stand up for those wanting freedom of speech on the internet, you can not stand up for those wanting freedom of speech in their homes, but when they want to torture you for something that could possibly be misconstrued as non-beneficial to your leaders don't expect us to even bat an eyelid.

 

Your situation isn't trivial because we have it better than others, it's trivial because freedom of expression and freedom of speech and so on does NOT cover you to steal pieces of work. And that's what the majority of megaupload was used for.

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I have to say I agree with Vulxai's general sentiment here.

 

The people who use these sites to get copyprotected material for free can't really complain when someone stops them from doing something that was illegal in the first place, especially when its a reasonable law.

 

Besides, its not like you can't get whatever it was you were getting someplace else, and I don't see that changing. People will always be trying to make file sharing possible, and people will probably continue to make stuff available that they shouldn't until the law finds a way to bust down the door and sue the pants off everyone who uploads copy protected property.

 

The MegaBox thing looks neat. I'd be interested to see how the business model works in detail. It sort of reminds me of Netflix, who not being affiliated with any studio, seem to recognize that offering the best service for the lowest price is a better plan than trying to screw everyone out of every last penny possible.

 

And if they can provide some music for free, and still pay the artist (I assume the artist probably gets less money if its a free download) would be a great way to help newer bands get out there and establish a fan base, since it wont cost people anything to (legally) try their music out, and the artist is still getting something for it.

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What I find depressing is the fact that the legitimate uses of the site (which constitutes a significant amount of MegaUpload, etc.) has been compromised. Why can't these actions be more targeted? I don't see how the e-version of carpet-bombing the site is supposedly 'optimal', considering that the purpose of the site extends beyond piracy.

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What I find depressing is the fact that the legitimate uses (which constitutes a significant amount of MegaUpload, etc.) has been compromised. Why can't these actions be more targeted? I don't see how the e-version of carpet-bombing the site is considered optimal, considering that it's purposes extend beyond the alleged piracy.

They probably had no other choice though. They can ask MegaUpload nicely to remove copyrighted materiel, but if they (MU) doesn't do it, there's little else the FBI can do other than just taking the site down.

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They could have warned them, though. I also don't see how it's fair that their assets were seized before they were proven guilty, but I'm no law expert.

Matt: You want that eh? You want everything good for you. You want everything that's--falls off garbage can

Camera guy: Whoa, haha, are you okay dude?

Matt: You want anything funny that happens, don't you?

Camera guy: still laughing

Matt: You want the funny shit that happens here and there, you think it comes out of your [bleep]ing [wagon] pushes garbage can down, don't you? You think it's funny? It comes out of here! running towards Camera guy

Camera guy: runs away still laughing

Matt: You think the funny comes out of your mother[bleep]ing creativity? Comes out of Satan, mother[bleep]er! nn--ngh! pushes Camera guy down

Camera guy: Hoooholy [bleep]!

Matt: FUNNY ISN'T REAL! FUNNY ISN'T REAL!

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They could have warned them, though. I also don't see how it's fair that their assets were seized before they were proven guilty, but I'm no law expert.

I imagine its an evidence thing. They seize them during the case so that nothing 'disappears' before it can be presented at trial.

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Makes sense. I'm sure they'll be duly compensated if they're not proven guilty anyway.

Matt: You want that eh? You want everything good for you. You want everything that's--falls off garbage can

Camera guy: Whoa, haha, are you okay dude?

Matt: You want anything funny that happens, don't you?

Camera guy: still laughing

Matt: You want the funny shit that happens here and there, you think it comes out of your [bleep]ing [wagon] pushes garbage can down, don't you? You think it's funny? It comes out of here! running towards Camera guy

Camera guy: runs away still laughing

Matt: You think the funny comes out of your mother[bleep]ing creativity? Comes out of Satan, mother[bleep]er! nn--ngh! pushes Camera guy down

Camera guy: Hoooholy [bleep]!

Matt: FUNNY ISN'T REAL! FUNNY ISN'T REAL!

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Makes sense. I'm sure they'll be duly compensated if they're not proven guilty anyway.

Good joke. Unfortunately they aren't obligated to compensate anything.

 

In any case, time to download like mad. I refuse to lose because of this crap. That said, I can still find music I want, it's honestly not that hard, all the takedowns are doing is slowing down aquisition time at worst.

I was going to eat hot dogs for dinner tonight. I think I will settle for cereal.

 

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I just use a Youtube downloader, so unless they really want to go toe-to-toe with Google, I'm good.

 

They've already tried once.

Obviously that worked really well for them. I guess corporations with billion dollar profits are a bit harder to take down. My money would be on youtube being the last holdout of all the uploading sites. (not counting photo uploading sites)

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Makes sense. I'm sure they'll be duly compensated if they're not proven guilty anyway.

Good joke. Unfortunately they aren't obligated to compensate anything.

 

In any case, time to download like mad. I refuse to lose because of this crap. That said, I can still find music I want, it's honestly not that hard, all the takedowns are doing is slowing down aquisition time at worst.

 

 

I just use a Youtube downloader, so unless they really want to go toe-to-toe with Google, I'm good.

 

Hmmm............It's not exactly hard to see why the entertainment industry wants to put a stop to copyright infringement nor why these file sharing sites are starting to shut down :rolleyes:

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Hmmm............It's not exactly hard to see why the entertainment industry wants to put a stop to copyright infringement nor why these file sharing sites are starting to shut down :rolleyes:

Yeah it is. If they tackled the root problem of all this - their ridiculous DRM, pricing and restrictions they'd probably find a few more people turning away from piracy because they're being provided a reasonable alternative. Think of stuff like Netflix. It's relatively cheap and you get a lot out of it (not so much here in the UK yet, but it's a start). If accessing content was made easy and reasonably priced there would be less people pirating. Of course some people will, but people have always pirated and always will.

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I disagree Racheya. As long as the 'reasonable alternative' is free, then no other service will take its place. Netflix as far as I'm aware is fully rolled out in America, yet piracy is still as rampant there as in the UK where the service doesn't exist. Piracy of games still exists even with extremely easy to use (and cheap) services such as Steam for games as well. The root of the problem is that goods should not be offered for free, as it massively devalues them, leading to a situation like this. There was no quarrel with pricing and availability before free piracy was available. It is only now that people think it is their 'right' to get something for nothing, even when somebody has gone through a lot of effort to produce it, that this comes up.

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I disagree Racheya. As long as the 'reasonable alternative' is free, then no other service will take its place. Netflix as far as I'm aware is fully rolled out in America, yet piracy is still as rampant there as in the UK where the service doesn't exist. Piracy of games still exists even with extremely easy to use (and cheap) services such as Steam for games as well. The root of the problem is that goods should not be offered for free, as it massively devalues them, leading to a situation like this. There was no quarrel with pricing and availability before free piracy was available. It is only now that people think it is their 'right' to get something for nothing, even when somebody has gone through a lot of effort to produce it, that this comes up.

This is relevant.

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I disagree Racheya. As long as the 'reasonable alternative' is free, then no other service will take its place. Netflix as far as I'm aware is fully rolled out in America, yet piracy is still as rampant there as in the UK where the service doesn't exist. Piracy of games still exists even with extremely easy to use (and cheap) services such as Steam for games as well. The root of the problem is that goods should not be offered for free, as it massively devalues them, leading to a situation like this. There was no quarrel with pricing and availability before free piracy was available. It is only now that people think it is their 'right' to get something for nothing, even when somebody has gone through a lot of effort to produce it, that this comes up.

This is relevant.

 

 

Indeed. So while all of the top 5 downloaded games are available on Direct Download services, they were still downloaded over 3 million times each. I cannot speak for price, but they would definitely not be hard to come by through these systems. However, when offered with two options, it is obvious which many people choose to go for:

 

a) Download game x for £40 from Steam

b) Download game x for £0 from a torrent

 

Now while many do choose to buy them, games will be pirated when it is such an easy option. because of this, ways of downloading need removing.

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11/1/2009: People who illegally download music from the internet also spend more money on music than anyone else, according to a new study. The survey, published today, found that those who admit illegally downloading music spent an average of £77 a year on music £33 more than those who claim that they never download music dishonestly.

So at least when it comes to music, piracy doesn't seem to cause a devaluation, since downloaders are still willing to pay for it. It would have been interesting to have gauged every surveyed person's interest for music, though, since the ones saying they don't download illegally might just be the ones that don't care about music to begin with.

Matt: You want that eh? You want everything good for you. You want everything that's--falls off garbage can

Camera guy: Whoa, haha, are you okay dude?

Matt: You want anything funny that happens, don't you?

Camera guy: still laughing

Matt: You want the funny shit that happens here and there, you think it comes out of your [bleep]ing [wagon] pushes garbage can down, don't you? You think it's funny? It comes out of here! running towards Camera guy

Camera guy: runs away still laughing

Matt: You think the funny comes out of your mother[bleep]ing creativity? Comes out of Satan, mother[bleep]er! nn--ngh! pushes Camera guy down

Camera guy: Hoooholy [bleep]!

Matt: FUNNY ISN'T REAL! FUNNY ISN'T REAL!

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Another possibility, and I am playing devils advocate here, is one of basic honesty.

 

Someone honest enough to admit that they download music illegally, might also be the sort of person who is honest enough that when they find something they like, they go out and actually pay for it. In other words, these might be the people who use the free downloads as a way to sample music before paying for it.

 

I agree that a follow up about how 'into' music they are would be helpful.

 

Anyway, just throwing out something for everyone to think about.

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I don't think admitting you're a pirate requires much honesty.

Matt: You want that eh? You want everything good for you. You want everything that's--falls off garbage can

Camera guy: Whoa, haha, are you okay dude?

Matt: You want anything funny that happens, don't you?

Camera guy: still laughing

Matt: You want the funny shit that happens here and there, you think it comes out of your [bleep]ing [wagon] pushes garbage can down, don't you? You think it's funny? It comes out of here! running towards Camera guy

Camera guy: runs away still laughing

Matt: You think the funny comes out of your mother[bleep]ing creativity? Comes out of Satan, mother[bleep]er! nn--ngh! pushes Camera guy down

Camera guy: Hoooholy [bleep]!

Matt: FUNNY ISN'T REAL! FUNNY ISN'T REAL!

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