Announcement

[Avvy]

http://search.yahoo.com/r/_ylt=A0oG7lrfmBh...cted-shuttered/

Yup. Mediafire and Rapidshare may be next.

What do you guys think of this?

[sabao]

Could be bad news for all the other file sharing sites, but then again Megaupload could very well be just the exception. I mean, compared to Rapidshare and Mediafire, Megaupload had a lot of other sister sites that were specifically made for shady business like their porn and video streaming sites.

[Arctic Heart]

Danget! </3

[CrayDragon]

If they so much as lay a finger on the porn sites, I swear to gods...

[Chaike]

If they so much as lay a finger on the porn sites, I swear to gods...

As long as there aren't any roleplaying videos with copyrighted characters, they should be fine.

Also, I rarely used megaupload.... mediafire on the other hand...

[EvilEagles]

No. Not Mediafire please ...

[Pryde]

I need a "Like" button for CrayDragon's post.

[Getdizzy]

I imagine megaupload was targeted more for megavideo.

Mediafire also takes down infringing files if they catch them, so I don't think they will be in trouble.

[fmstwre]

I just find it hilariously ironic how the go after Megaupload the day after SOPA protests from various websites. I find it almost like the government finds it humorous to do such a thing.

[Zadorain]

It is definitely interesting timing. I don't know how much this matters, but I'm pretty sure that MegaUpload's terms of service released them from liability of material uploaded. In other words, users were supposed to be entirely responsible for legal mishaps regarding the content they upload. However the accusation itself is cleverly worded to claim that the "Mega Conspiracy" supports and participates in these activities, rather than saying they're in the wrong for hosting the site that has people who participate in these activities.

[sabao]

MU was targeted in particular because of the traffic it gets, I reckon. News sources claim the closure was because of refusal to remove copyrighted material after numerous notifications and allegedly a premium user program that actually encourages uploading of said materials. I really don't know how true the latter is, but yeah, their Megavideo sister site was a den for a lot of ripped stuff.

As for the matter of their ToS, I reckon it just saved time and resources to prosecute MU for negligence, instead of a full blown witch hunt for each and every user responsible for uploading copyrighted content. As far as I know, all sites do carry the same clause, but all the same they're fully aware that their content ought to be monitored.

And on a more serious note,

If they so much as lay a finger on the porn sites, I swear to gods...

This.

[Rixis]

Touch is actually correct. The reason megaupload really got in trouble is because of the recent video put out on the internet, apparently the big music industry companies got angry because the video had high-profile support from celebrities, musicians and other content producers who are most often the victims of copyright infringement and piracy such as Kayne west and Alica keys and even kim kardashian.

This is also what made the site unique and ofcourse the companies that these people belong too in more ways than one are actually the ones losing money from site like this, not the artist themselves...so thats why they have no problem supporting site like megaupload but it makes sense that this would seem like a slap in the face to the company by the very people they have contracts with.

[amerkevicius]

Megaupload appears to have been involved in dirty tactics, and I hated downloading anything from it, but their actions may have put a target on more reputable sites. Some news articles I've read (again, probably written on the opinion of other people) suggested this was the fed's new war on drugs, and that other sites may very well be next.

Not much we can do, though, so I guess it's just a matter of "wait and see". My concerns is for RM communities that allow users to continue to use rips (graphics and music), even though credit is established. I'd hate for something to slip by and the next thing we know RM communities get shut down.

Paranoid? Perhaps. But as others have stated, I find the timing very odd indeed.

[Kaptain J]

This just in: Anonymous has hacked into the official FBI website in retaliation.

[CrayDragon]

This just in: Anonymous has hacked into the official FBI website in retaliation.

In hindsight that might actually be a really bad idea. But it may be the first thing they've done I actually agree with.

[Reinhard]

I'm not in any position to make insightful commentary in regards to recent events, but it is something of a shame. The music I tend to enjoy is largely unavailable for purchase in my country, or simply doesn't exist in a purchasable format. Unsurprisingly, that basically means it amounts largely to game, visual novel, or independently developed soundtracks.

I didn't use it often, but Megaupload was the primary resource tapped by the individuals in possession of such materials.

At least I still have that Firefox addon, so there's a silver-lining. I wonder how long that will last.

Related; I've heard other sites have started to go offline, though the names escape me. I don't believe they were legally charged with anything, but the moderators/operators may have willfully terminated them for the time being? Uncertain of veracity. Pardon my intrusion.

[MarxMayhem]

Related; I've heard other sites have started to go offline, though the names escape me. I don't believe they were legally charged with anything, but the moderators/operators may have willfully terminated them for the time being? Uncertain of veracity. Pardon my intrusion.

Not offline, but made moves to avoid being raided like Megaupload.

[Getdizzy]

Not offline, but made moves to avoid being raided like Megaupload.

Hahaha. Man after reading the summary of the megaupload indictment, I have to wonder how deeply these other services that are freaking out were into straight up encouraging piracy.

The megaupload takedown was very legit. With an investigation and plenty of incriminating evidence that points to the fact that they willingly and knowingly were participating in illegal activity. I get that some of these actions taken by these other companies could be panicked overreaction, but I'd be willing to bet part of it is because some of them KNOW that they have the same amount of skeletons in their closet.

I wish people would understand that piracy is not a right. I'm all for freedom of speech, but that isn't freedom of piracy. Being able to take down any website based on a few complaints = silly, being able to take down a website after a lengthy investigation and plenty of incriminating evidence = justice.

[Joerao]

I wish people would understand that piracy is not a right. I'm all for freedom of speech, but that isn't freedom of piracy. Being able to take down any website based on a few complaints = silly, being able to take down a website after a lengthy investigation and plenty of incriminating evidence = justice.

Exactly. All the assholes who support 'file sharing' would change their tune if they were the ones losing billions to piracy. A relative of mine who works in the software industry estimates that 80% of the users of his company's software in Asia downloaded it illegally.

[ricer]

No need to worry, there are lots of megaupload alternatives out there. I've spent some time to research and compile this list. Megaupload was one of the best file hosting sites, fast speeds, unlimited downloads during happy hours, large storage limits, etc. I lost a lot of files including school and work documents. I made a list of real alternatives to megaupload. I only listed sites with minimal restrictions for downloading, large storage limits, and high popularity/reliability. The Alexa rank is an indicator of how popular a site is, I included it to distinguish the popular/reliable sites from new unproven file hosting sites.


http://jumbofiles.com
Benefits: 500GB storage space, unlimited parallel downloads, can resume broken downloads, download accelerator support
Restrictions: 1GB file size limit
Other positives: No CAPTCHA, no timer, remote http upload, FTP upload
Alexa rank: (4837) friend introduced me to this site last month, great features, still using them today.

http://fileflyer.com
Benefits: Unlimited storage space
Restrictions: 2GB file size, no file manager, only 1 download at a time (no parallel downloading)
Other positives: No CAPTCHA, no timer
Alexa rank: (22284) not as popular as the other sites here but they are seemingly owned by the makers of the popular Download Accelerator Plus.

http://2shared.com
Benefits: Unlimited parallel downloads, can resume broken downloads, download accelerator support
Restrictions: 1GB file size limit, no file manager
Other positives: No CAPTCHA, no timer, can search files
Alexa rank: (3307) I love being able to search the files at this site and you can "watch" what files are being downloaded.

http://zshare.net
Benefits: Unlimited storage space
Restrictions: 1GB file size limit, 50 seconds timer, only 1 download at a time, download accelerator support
Other positives: No CAPTCHA, no timer
Alexa rank: (1937) one of the oldest file hosting sites online since 2005, still using them today.

http://ifile.it
Benefits: Unlimited storage space, up to 2 parallel downloads, can resume broken downloads
Restrictions: 300MB file size limit, have to enter ReCAPTCHA to download
Other positives: No timer
Alexa rank: (2576) got a nice file manager, I don't use them that much now after they started requiring ReCAPTCHA to download files.

http://sendspace.com
Benefits: Unlimited storage space
Restrictions: 500MB file size limit, only 1 download at a time
Other positives: No CAPTCHA, no timer
Alexa rank: (1385) downloads are limited and slow but they have Android and iPhone apps available for their site.

http://mediafire.com
Benefits: Unlimited storage space, unlimited parallel downloads, can resume broken downloads, download accelerator support
Restrictions: 200MB file size limit
Other positives: Fast downloads, I can max out my 6mbps DSL!
Alexa rank: (66) the next biggest file hosting site after megaupload, very popular and trusted by many users around the world, I upload to here regularly.


If you know of any other file hosting site with below 5000 Alexa ranking, minimal download restrictions, and large storage space, let me know so I can update this list. Real alternatives and free user friendly sites only, not sites like rapidshare with 5 minute timers and hours of wait time between downloads.