Megaupload shut down

[StanislavJ]

If any models are hosting their videos on Megaupload, t'ain't there no mo'.

http://thehill.com/blogs/hillicon-valle ... megaupload

 

[Just_mark__]

Taxpayers money well spent

 

[SoTxBob]

from what I read, the action had very little to do with porn. They were pulled BC they were allowing hosting of Hollywood movies sometimes the day of release....

"Prosecutors accuse the defendants of illegally hosting movies including "Thor," "Bad Teacher" and movies in the "Lord of the Rings," "Twilight" and "Harry Potter" franchises. Some of the files were uploaded just days after a film's theatrical release, according to prosecutors."

Its nice to think their getting stepped on had something to do with the "small people" of the internet, but when a world giant franchise of movie producers want something done, it usually gets done.

 

[Shaun__]

from what I read, the action had very little to do with porn. They were pulled BC they were allowing hosting of Hollywood movies sometimes the day of release....

"Prosecutors accuse the defendants of illegally hosting movies including "Thor," "Bad Teacher" and movies in the "Lord of the Rings," "Twilight" and "Harry Potter" franchises. Some of the files were uploaded just days after a film's theatrical release, according to prosecutors."

Its nice to think their getting stepped on had something to do with the "small people" of the internet, but when a world giant franchise of movie producers want something done, it usually gets done.

Having seen the movie Thor I can understand how hosting that deserves to get you shut down.

 

[Bocefish]

Their lawyers are probably scrambling to file bankruptcy so they don't have to give out any refunds.

 

[AshaSnow]

Do you think it will come back up soon? I mean, with the amount of uproar on reddit, from anonymous, and from who knows how many people who had a lot invested into using megaupload.....this can't really go through and be valid, right? It's fucking ridiculous.

 

[Shaun__]

Do you think it will come back up soon? I mean, with the amount of uproar on reddit, from anonymous, and from who knows how many people who had a lot invested into using megaupload.....this can't really go through and be valid, right? It's fucking ridiculous.

I think it will be down a long time, and may possibly never come back. It may take years just to get the extradition part of this settled, because they have money to fight the us government every step of the way.

 

[bawksy]

The thing I'm most curious about is why they weren't protected by the DMCA's safe harbor provisions. I mean, in the grand scheme of things, the website with the most copyrighted, "pirated" content is Youtube. Sure, the media companies have attempted to sue Youtube for a billion dollars, but the feds haven't kicked their doors in. Why the special treatment for Megaupload?

 

[LadyLuna]

I never thought it was shut down due to the porn, but that doesn't mean that those of us who were using it to send files to people can still use it.

Youtube is now owned by google. If google can't keep youtube from being shut down, then we know the world is ending.

Youtube has legal viewing of copyrighted shows, and since being run by google it's become impossible to illegally upload copyrighted movies and shows in anything longer than 9 minute blocks. It also doesn't allow x-rated content anymore. Megaupload allows for the download of full movies in one click, and allows porn and such.

 

[Erragal]

I am so thinking about moving to Canada now days

 

[Jupiter551]

I think they picked someone to make an example of, in case the SOPA bill fails, they're trying to prove they still have power. What saddens me is that in the article it states that NZ police arrested employees of megaupload, and others are still yet to be apprehended (as if they're fugitives, dangerous criminals). Sure, there are extradition treaties but come on NZ, do you really have to just arrest your own citizens because another country says so?

There's big money behind this bill and sadly, money CAN buy governments - or at least people in public office. I found it ironic in one article the guy who started the SOPA bill called users who had paid for Megaupload subscriptions, and advertisers who'd paid for placement "corporate pawns" of Megaupload who made $175million out of "stolen" intellectual property. Now that's what I call rich. The people who are trying to regulate and censor the internet even outside their own country, with the movie and music industry behind them throwing money down their greedy throats have the gall to call others "corporate pawns".

Why not Youtube? Too high profile, too much used by too many people for legitimate purposes every day. That would create a public opinion shitstorm they wouldn't DARE go near, Megaupload is high profile enough to make a point, and (slightly) unsavoury enough that politicians can stand up and say "we did the right thing!".

 

[Jupiter551]

Article from an online NZ newspaper goes into more detail about the charges and stuff against the owner/employees who were arrested there
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10780033

 

[LadyLuna]

My beef about this is:

The reason given for it is that the site cost them so much money. However, how many of the people downloading the stuff for free would've had the money to buy it legit if the free downloads weren't there? We don't know. But I bet it's less than people think.

 

[Bocefish]

Never underestimate the lobbying powers of greedy Hollywood billionaires. If Megaupload didn't use leased servers in Virginia, the U.S. would have had no jurisdiction nor grounds for indictment from what I've gathered.

Several sister sites were also shut down, including one dedicated to sharing pornography files.

Hmmm...

The five-count indictment, which alleges copyright infringement as well as conspiracy to commit money laundering and racketeering, described a site designed specifically to reward users who uploaded pirated content for sharing, and turned a blind eye to requests from copyright holders to remove copyright-protected files.

For instance, users received cash bonuses if they uploaded content popular enough to generate massive numbers of downloads, according to the indictment. Such content was almost always copyright protected, the indictment said.

The Justice Department said it was illegal for anyone to download pirated content, but their investigation focused on the leaders of the company, not end users who may have downloaded a few movies for personal viewing.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/I/ ... 0-01-32-22

 

[Jupiter551]

My beef about this is:

The reason given for it is that the site cost them so much money. However, how many of the people downloading the stuff for free would've had the money to buy it legit if the free downloads weren't there? We don't know. But I bet it's less than people think.

I completely agree - it's a highly spurious argument to claim loss of revenue from every pirated copy of anything. There are literally dozens of books, dozens of films and dozens of video games that I simply would not have chosen to try if I was forced to pay for them all - I couldn't afford it!

I have on the other hand pirated a game that sounded interesting (not interesting enough to shell out $90 on mind you - standard price for a game here) and then later either bought a legit copy or its sequel etc; this has happened several times, and likewise with ebooks. So there are plenty of examples where piracy actually generated revenue for the copyright owners.

I pirate stuff that I'm on the fence about. Movies I wouldn't go see, games I normally wouldn't give a chance. At the very least, if they're good they'll get word of mouth marketing - more than they would have got from me otherwise.

 

[RainbowBryte]

Damn it, now where will I host my videos?

 

[MadisonLeigh]

Damn it, now where will I host my videos?

Try Mediafire for now, no guarantees that it won't be shut down in the future but it's a temporary solution

 

[LadyLuna]

Some more info on it:

http://opinion.latimes.com/opinionla/20 ... -case.html

 

[StanislavJ]

Damn it, now where will I host my videos?

Try Mediafire for now, no guarantees that it won't be shut down in the future but it's a temporary solution

Mediafire is often mentioned as one of the top "piracy-friendly" hosting sites, so I wouldn't doubt that they are also in the crosshairs.

Anytime you use a third-party hosting service, you run the risk of sudden shutdown, if not for legal reasons, then for financial. Always a calculated risk.

 

[MyCamgirl]

The thing I'm most curious about is why they weren't protected by the DMCA's safe harbor provisions.

Because MU was not really removing the content from the servers. Instead they were simply shutting down links. But the files were still there and they knew it because MU system was designed to work this way. When someone tried to upload the same content, the system would re-use the previous file that should have been deleted before. You can't do that. Once you get a DMCA complaint, either you file counter-claim or remove the content for good. FBI took some servers to use as evidence.

Never underestimate the lobbying powers of greedy Hollywood billionaires. If Megaupload didn't use leased servers in Virginia, the U.S. would have had no jurisdiction nor grounds for indictment from what I've gathered.

They also had servers in Netherlands, where DMCA is not even valid, but this didn't stop FBI from raiding the Dutch datacenter.

 

[Jupiter551]

Yeah also I'm not aware that mediafire gives download incentives for popular files - the fact that it can be proved they were profiting more from copyrighted files being uploaded than personal user data is a pretty big part of the case.

 

[MadisonLeigh]

Damn it, now where will I host my videos?

Try Mediafire for now, no guarantees that it won't be shut down in the future but it's a temporary solution

Mediafire is often mentioned as one of the top "piracy-friendly" hosting sites, so I wouldn't doubt that they are also in the crosshairs.

Anytime you use a third-party hosting service, you run the risk of sudden shutdown, if not for legal reasons, then for financial. Always a calculated risk.

Right, but if a model needs somewhere to host her videos today, it's an immediate solution. A lot of models don't have the knowledge or inclination to purchase web space. I know I haven't felt like I needed it since I would only use it for video links, but I plan on purchasing some now.

 

[Jupiter551]

Damn it, now where will I host my videos?

Try Mediafire for now, no guarantees that it won't be shut down in the future but it's a temporary solution

Mediafire is often mentioned as one of the top "piracy-friendly" hosting sites, so I wouldn't doubt that they are also in the crosshairs.

Anytime you use a third-party hosting service, you run the risk of sudden shutdown, if not for legal reasons, then for financial. Always a calculated risk.

Right, but if a model needs somewhere to host her videos today, it's an immediate solution. A lot of models don't have the knowledge or inclination to purchase web space. I know I haven't felt like I needed it since I would only use it for video links, but I plan on purchasing some now.

I don't know how mediafire is piracy friendly - a lot of pirate links (like to take a relevant example "blogs" listing videos of camgirls) to places like FileSonic, HotFile or Megaupload exist because the webmasters make traffic from their links to the host site being used. They make money from it, the site gets traffic and uses that to promote adspace.

Mediafire has no ads. None. They also have no affiliate programs which is why it's unprofitable for large scale pirating to use the service. There's no search option, you need a direct link to someone's files. In other words pirates have absolutely NOTHING to gain by using mediafire.

It is however extremely file storage-friendly. I only use the free version, because I can still host files up to 200mb and I can host files OVER 200mb for free by just cutting them into parts with winrar. There's no limit to concurrent downloading for free users, unlike pretty much ANY other site on the internet, so if you have a 1gb file posted in 5 200mb parts free users can download all the parts at once. You can password individual files, you can group files together into folders and password the folders.

Oh and you know that annoying shit where you dodge all the ads and find the download button and then it tells you free users have to wait for 30 seconds, then you click "slow download" and have to enter some captcha thing...not on mediafire. There's no waiting, no ads, and no captcha, for anyone. Free users also have the same download speed as anyone else. Oh and free users can store unlimited amounts of data (in 200mb chunks).

If I never see another RapidShit link it'll be too soon.

 

[Mfcwatchdog]

A captcha is to prevent automated downloads and it's used to verify a human is asking for the request but .... Software like OCR (optical character recognation) can defeat captchas in some cases..... anyway i found a nice read

http://news.yahoo.com/file-sharing-shut ... 11395.html

 

[Jupiter551]

Yeah my sympathy for them dropped when I read the owner had a late model rolls royce phantom drophead coupe, and a helicopter.

 

[StanislavJ]

Now another similar site has unilaterally disabled the ability to share files:

"In the wake of the Megaupload takedown, Filesonic has elected to take preventative measures against a similar fate. The front page and all files now carry the following message: 'All sharing functionality on FileSonic is now disabled. Our service can only be used to upload and retrieve files that you have uploaded personally.' Whether or not this will actually deter the U.S. government from taking action remains to be seen."

I think you may see other sites rethinking their m.o. in light of Megaupload's fate -- transitioning from a file-sharing service to a mere file-storage service.

These sites can certainly be used for "piracy" purposes, but they are also used by those who do own the rights to their ownn material (like MFC models) to share them with others. Hell, there are businesses that use such sites legitimately to store/share large files among their own people. A classic case of "throwing out the baby with the bathwater" -- the deep-pocketed corporate media conglomerates don't care if innocents get shafted as long as they believe it thwarts piracy.

The only way to be certain of being able to offer safe, uninterrupted access to your files is to own and control your own server.

 

[Jupiter551]

Now another similar site has unilaterally disabled the ability to share files:

"In the wake of the Megaupload takedown, Filesonic has elected to take preventative measures against a similar fate. The front page and all files now carry the following message: 'All sharing functionality on FileSonic is now disabled. Our service can only be used to upload and retrieve files that you have uploaded personally.' Whether or not this will actually deter the U.S. government from taking action remains to be seen."

I think you may see other sites rethinking their m.o. in light of Megaupload's fate -- transitioning from a file-sharing service to a mere file-storage service.

These sites can certainly be used for "piracy" purposes, but they are also used by those who do own the rights to their ownn material (like MFC models) to share them with others. Hell, there are businesses that use such sites legitimately to store/share large files among their own people. A classic case of "throwing out the baby with the bathwater" -- the deep-pocketed corporate media conglomerates don't care if innocents get shafted as long as they believe it thwarts piracy.

The only way to be certain of being able to offer safe, uninterrupted access to your files is to own and control your own server.

Yeah cos filesonic was doing the exact same thing - offering incentives for link referral and such

 

[Keithy]

Once the site received a take down notice and then did not remove from their servers the pirated content is when they broke the law. Doing this constantly and then paying the users for uploading the known pirated content is what gets them in big trouble.
I have more trouble seeing how this was a surprise more than anything else.

It also doesn't help that Dotcom has a vanity plate that says "GUILTY" as well as one that says "MAFIA" nor does it help him that he refused to open the door for police, who then cut through several security doors and electronic locks to open his safe room where he was sitting with a sawed off shotgun.

 

[BrotherNature]

For those who are on the fence and download things you would not normally buy, do you have issues with people downloading your videos if they weren't going to buy them anyway?

 

[aerynwalker]

It's not looking good... copy/paste from models only thread I posted in:
If you have questions about sites not listed let me know and I can do some digging, find out their stance since megafail.

Red: Don't use / closing
Orange: Unsure
Green: Will not be closing (however I'm not sure if you can host adult content in Japan and China)


MegaUpload - Closed.
- FileServe - Closing does not sell premium.
- FileJungle - Deleting files. Locked in the U.S..
- UploadStation - Locked in the U.S..
- FileSonic - the news is arbitrary (under FBI investigation).
- VideoBB - Closed! would disappear soon.
- Uploaded - Banned U.S. and the FBI went after the owners who are gone.
- FilePost - Deleting all material (so will leave executables, pdfs, txts)
- Videoz - closed and locked in the countries affiliated with the USA.
- 4shared - Deleting files with copyright and waits in line at the FBI.
- MediaFire - Called to testify in the next 90 days and it will open doors pro FBI
-Org torrent - could vanish with everything within 30 days "he is under criminal investigation"
- Network Share mIRC - awaiting the decision of the case to continue or terminate Torrente everything.
- Koshiki - operating 100% Japan will not join the SOUP / PIPA
- Shienko Box - 100% working china / korea will not join the SOUP / PIPA
- ShareX BR - group UOL / BOL / iG say they will join the SOUP / PIPA