Now it's Filesonic, the witch hunt was officialy begin.

[Right Hook]

I wouldn't be too worried guys, something will replace them, maybe not in the same form but something will come. Where there is the possibility to make money there will always be someone ready to exploit it. As for me, I'm not too worried, I don't download movies or shows and while it'll suck if I can't stream them anymore, I'll just watch them when they premier or go to the theater for movies which I actually enjoy doing. I am adamant about buying all of my games, not because I consider myself some great honorable man but because I can afford too (I'm not rich, I don't have that much extra money but I can afford it like most people can if they are being honest with themselves). The only place it would really suck would be music but I guess I'll just limit the bands I like, I'll stop supporting bands who I only somewhat enjoy because I'm only willing to pay money for music I really like, the rest I've just downloaded and then supported the band by telling others about it or going to one of their shows but I guess I probably won't be able to do that as much if all my money is wasted buying other music. If anyone hasn't watched the newest episode of the Jimquisition, you should probably get on that, it is relevant to this thread.

 

[oktalist]

Prohibition seemed like a good idea, and remember what happened with that. As soon as you start clamping down on something this big, it becomes something that organised crime can start taking advantage of.

 

[Radeonx]

NONE OF THEM ARE WORKING!!

Great, now I'm offcially bored for the next few months.

You totally SHOULDN'T use bittorrent instead of direct downloads like Megaupload and stuff.
'Cause torrenting that would be immoral and illegal.

The funny thing is, this was supposed to be the reality only if SOPA passed, and yet, here we are.

I hate to tell people "I told you so," but....

I'm pretty sure the big gripe about SOPA was less about all of the pirate sites being taken down and more about all the shady backroom stuff the government is now allowed to do with the internet.
Maybe I'm confusing it with another bill, because I stopped following SOPA once I realized that it was never going to pass, but I believe it allowed them to get most of your information and see a ton of stuff that they shouldn't be seeing. Or maybe everyone just loves free shit and doesn't wanna give it up. One of the two.

 

[bakan]

Anyway, I don't really care about Megaupload or FileSonic. I care more about Fair Use being removed. No more Let's Plays, no more walkthroughs, no more reviews...no more clips of quotes from movies to to emphasize how we feel on a subject!!!

Apparently i can haz cheezburger, but i can't haz intrenetz.

Let's Plays etc already get taken down, e.g. Tales of Xilia videos get taken down for copyright infringement - even though you might think that you are helping advertising those games for free...

 

[Meight08]

and everybody goes into a tizzy and tries to confirm they have dmca protection.
Thus censoring themselves without the cost of taxpayer money.
So stop screaming.
"ITS THE END OF THA INTERNETZ"
And accept the internet is gonna change like the wild west
and either we find a peaceful solution or we get forced into censorship
and get less than we could have gotten had we cooperated with politicians for better anti piracy laws.

I think we've already seen what politicians feel are "better anti piracy laws."

And people like to shit all over the "Think about the non-pirate users" claim, but yeah, what about them? What if people who had self-created content, like reviews or whatever, hosted on those sites? Under the "better laws" you want, if the happened to have a clip or whatever in them, there's a very real chance that those files could get removed or the entire site taken down. Youtube already has to deal with this stuff all the time with DMCA claims on stuff that is obviously fair use.

Bring on the brave new world where publishers, labels, the FBI, whoever write the laws and can shut down stuff at a whim. Who needs internet startup companies when we have doddering old publishers to keep providing us with quality content at reasonable prices.. oh wait. Can't wait till The Escapist get's shut down and we can get our gaming news from Fox, that'll be glorious.

The fuck!
you think i want censorship stop pulling fake claims out of your ass!
We stopped sopa and pipa we can continue to do so again until we get a law that makes us say.
With better laws i mean laws that are superior to sopa and pipa in every way and improve the internet.
"Mmhhhm this might actually work and it cant be misused like sopa and if this passes the internet might actually become a safe place and possible cripple piracy"
What if we stopped a non intrusive well worded law that would have only protected consumers and publishers alike?
And Hollywood makes a gigantic push for a law worse then sopa and we are unable to stop it.
Gratz we just got screwed and we could have easily gotten of with something better.
Either we Work with politicians and people with experience with the web and help create a law that can only kill sites like pirate bay and the likes.
Or we keep fighting till we lose and we will all be fucked instead of annoyed with the ocassional temporary shutdown or fbi inspection of a website.
Now Choose your fucking posion!
1:A law that only sometimes causes mild annoyance for internet users.
Like seeing the escapist down for a day untill the intro songs of earlier zp songs get removed.
or a site that unwittingly broke a review embargo and has to remove/modify it.
2:A law that murders the internet get hundreds of people jailed for all their money and get felony charges.
And shut down the escapist,ign,gametrailers,gamestop,twitter,youtube and facebook.
I know what posion im gonna pick do you?

 

[Sandytimeman]

Doesn't Which hunt imply innocents on the part of the victim? The fact of the matter is megauploads was in the wrong on the way they made money off copyrighted content. Youtube doesn't give out partnerships to people who upload copyrighted content but thats basically what mega did.

Because Mega got caught doing things that were against the law, they have paid the price. These other services are just trying to keep their own nose clean. And thats cool by me.

Except for the fact that you are missing all the innocent victims hurt by this being small businesses, bigger businesses, start up companies, and individual artists and developers, and people reliant on file sharing to conduct their business and fill in the gap so that they can access their files in the cloud.

What you forget is that the attack on this isn't so much on file sharing but also on cloud computing, the very technology we are meant to rely on to conduct business and solve that "oh I forgot my presentation/homework" problem.

Do not forget how many people who honestly can't get any decent work in this terrible economy are reliant on these servers affiliate program to generate revenue that supports their business. Many websites I go to were reliant on these services to pay the bills and are now asking for donations or they are going to go offline cause they can't support this alone. They were reliant on the consumers consuming their goods and services.

Also don't forget a good deal of content you can't get on a national basis cause the retailer even if online cannot legally sell their goods abroad. Remember that whole "Rapelay" issue? Well take out the sex but there is still the impossibility to actually get goods from other nations simply because they cannot sell consumers across the world a legitimate copy due to laws and regulation.

So there are many repercussions that you aren't thinking about when it comes to the big picture. I'm not being all doom and gloom here but it certainly is a step backwards in what we can do online than simply "downloading" stuff from the internet. It is telling is specifically what we can and cannot do online and prevents any pursuit of education or profit towards storage solutions to which is a big problem for both big and small businesses and individuals.

Note I do feel those small business's pain in that I used to run and own a startup site (918thefan.com for reference).

And I completely understand the pain as we used Megauploads to transfer video files around during projects and such. They now use an FTP server for that, but in the beginning yeah Megauploads really helped us out.

I guess what I'm saying is that people seem to be over-reacting to mega getting taken down. They were taken down for completely legit reasons (ie allowing alot of copyrighted works to make money for people other then the copyright holders)

from the way the ops post looked it seems just like the sites trying to police themselves from similar problems. Not legal action being taken against them.

Should all free file sharing be done away with? No of course not. Should the government have to look over every single file to make sure its not copyrighted material? No.

I'm just saying that file sharing sites need to make it apparent that, they will only allow you to share materials that are you own, and if they get sent a letter by a copyright holder take further action. Be more pro-active in the way that Youtube is and how youtube has been avoiding futher legal action taken against it.

I'm not trying to imply that I don't think file sharing shouldn't be allowed.

 

[O maestre]

Sites that hold copyrighted material get taken down. Why is this a big deal? You want the content, pay for it.

This springs to mind...

Meh, it doesn't bother me. I pay for all my stuff.

funny and appropriate, CnH is always there for the occasion

but in all seriousness, you seem to be stuck in the narrow view that all these sites ever did was distribute pirated material. i myself and associated friends have used 4shared to upload some of our former bands music. in general while there was a alot of copyright infringement, 4shared was a treasure trove for finding out about media that was not purchasable elsewhere. it might surprise you, but i relied on 4shared almost half as much as youtube for finding new content, especially created music from non english speaking countries like brazil.

so good for you that this doesn't effect you, and here is a scooby snack for being such a good consumer. i however wish you would consider conceding to the fact that moves like this are culturally stunting, and in the end i see a move that has potentially prevented lost revenue of the few, but has instigated a path that will without a doubt stunt if not downright shatter global culture .

this and any other initiatives will prove to be imprudent, piracy like prostitution will always find a way to thrive no matter what they do. but the idea of creation, sharing and then reshaping and re-sharing that has sustained the entirety of human culture since the beginning of our civilization, will no longer be a free process. i assume that if it were up to these corporate people, every single thing created, past,present and future should be syndicated.

lastly i hope i was not too condescending and did not cause any permanent offense, i just cannot stand the flaunting of apathy. i am not blind though, piracy is a problem, but this is not the solution we need, at best it incites greater enmity between designated "content distributors" and people. at worst it is the first(several) step(s) towards what i described in paragraph above.

 

[esperandote]

Now i'll have to wait a year to watch my favorite series chapters to be aired here .

 

[BiscuitTrouser]

Anyone defending this thief is woefully misinformed of his crimes.

Oh the irony is astounding. He's not being charged with theft (because copyright infringement isn't theft, despite what plenty of retards on this site say) ergo he is not a thief. Megaupload has nothing to do with torrents, so I don't know where you got that from. He also hasn't sold anyone else's work, he sold access to file hosting which some people used to host copyrighted works.

I never claimed he was a thief for piracy, thats not really theft, i agree. However the fact is that through rewarding trafic with real money (or bit tokens that can be exchanged for money) he was effectively paying pirates to post stolen videos, people were making a lot of money through stealing and posting movies online. He made a lot of money through ad revinue from these videos and movies. I think that too is wrong, to profit from others work, even if its indrectly.

"But according to prosecutors, the accused conspirators deliberately employed a business model that encouraged the uploading of illegal material.

They say that Megaupload paid users for uploading pirated material in full awareness that they were breaking the law. In addition they failed to close the accounts of known copyright infringers.

The indictment includes chat logs with conversations between company executives, which include statements like: "we have a funny business . . . modern days pirates " "

Is my issue. Nicely summarised.

 

[bjj hero]

I dont get the "OMG its the end of the internet!" comments. There is more to the net that pirating games and other media.

Likewise those saying "Ill be bored now". Try going outside once in a while. There is more to life than piracy.

 

[evilneko]

I think because it's a Swedish hosted website? The US has no jurisdiction over it.

Except megaupload was hosted in Hong Kong, and the US somehow had jurisdiction there (servers seized etc.)

I'm no expert on international law, but how can the FBI throw their weight around in New Zealand and Hong Kong like that?

You ever see the Dark Knight? Batman has no jurisdiction.

I'm still a bit annoyed, halfway through Fate/Zero and Shana III and they pull this......I hate waiting 3 years for licensing to come into effect.

Psst, no new eps of Fate/Zero til April anyway. And stop streaming your fansubs, there's a better way.

 

[Daystar Clarion]

Sites that hold copyrighted material get taken down. Why is this a big deal? You want the content, pay for it.

This springs to mind...

Meh, it doesn't bother me. I pay for all my stuff.

funny and appropriate, CnH is always there for the occasion

but in all seriousness, you seem to be stuck in the narrow view that all these sites ever did was distribute pirated material. i myself and associated friends have used 4shared to upload some of our former bands music. in general while there was a alot of copyright infringement, 4shared was a treasure trove for finding out about media that was not purchasable elsewhere. it might surprise you, but i relied on 4shared almost half as much as youtube for finding new content, especially created music from non english speaking countries like brazil.

so good for you that this doesn't effect you, and here is a scooby snack for being such a good consumer. i however wish you would consider conceding to the fact that moves like this are culturally stunting, and in the end i see a move that has potentially prevented lost revenue of the few, but has instigated a path that will without a doubt stunt if not downright shatter global culture .

this and any other initiatives will prove to be imprudent, piracy like prostitution will always find a way to thrive no matter what they do. but the idea of creation, sharing and then reshaping and re-sharing that has sustained the entirety of human culture since the beginning of our civilization, will no longer be a free process. i assume that if it were up to these corporate people, every single thing created, past,present and future should be syndicated.

lastly i hope i was not too condescending and did not cause any permanent offense, i just cannot stand the flaunting of apathy. i am not blind though, piracy is a problem, but this is not the solution we need, at best it incites greater enmity between designated "content distributors" and people. at worst it is the first(several) step(s) towards what i described in paragraph above.

No, I agree with you, I'm just not as concerned about it as everyone else it seems, because I can never get the image out of my head that most people using these sites are just pirating everything.

 

[DeimosMasque]

Yeah I found out about filesonic yesterday when one of the customers for custom content told me he couldn't download his set. I fortunately had another method to get it to him but filesonic was my primary method of distributing content, that I myself own the copyright on.

I find it sad that filesonic felt they needed to do this especially since just last month they had written a blog post about how proud they were to offer a service that allowed independent artists of all variety to distribute there work and even had a Submission of the Week contest.

 

[rob_simple]

Fuck... Shit just got real.

M'yes, sites that have for years been making money off distributing copyrighted material are being taken down, clearly we are living in a totalitarian communist state now. Now if you'll excuse me I need to purchase some lubricant before the stormtroopers come knockin' at my door. Oh my ;D

You know, I was actually starting to grind my axe when I first opened this thread, but now that you mention it...

Well shit, guess I have to start paying for stuff again.

 

[evilneko]

yes it got real indeed.

as an Engineer where you have to move and share files that are to big to be send by email you're fucked. i am fucked.

Umm. It's really easy to do that with AIM and Skype. External hard drives. Yousendit.com also works really well and I'm fairly positive that it rarely gets used for piracy due to its structure (like attaching your name, address, and e-mail to it).

skype and aim can be really, really slow.

filesharing sites are like external hard drives and you can lock your content pretty good on them too. and the plus side is that you don't have to keep a server up and running 24/7 since they already do that for you. but the biggest plus is that its pretty damn easy to use and we sometimes have to work with people who say that they aren't that 'tech-savvy'.

i will try out yousendit. it sounds like dropbox.

from the looks of it we will have to set up an extra server and pray that these non 'tech-savvy' people take their time and follow our instructions or at least to google how to connect to our server from a vpn client.

What, you don't have a website you can just toss shit up on and send people a link via email? There's a whole world of alternatives, many of them highly unlikely to come under the evil eye of copyright enforcers.

 

[katsabas]

It is kind of hard to back the US government since everyone and their mom knows that at least for movies (cause let's face it, that's what they are most 'upset for') like expendables that hold next to nothing of value still manage to make money even if they do get illegally downloaded. Same goes for the majority of hollywood pictures. They make the most of their money during the course of the first few weeks. Don't want people to pirate your movie during or after the viewings period ?

Stop charging so much per ticket. Last time I went to a movie, it cost 12 euros just to get in the theater. When the fuck is the US government gonna realize that what they are 'protecting' has become a fucking luxury ? Of course people will snap and go for the free way.

Plus, most of the companies backing certain current bills right now are not studios but publishers. So...

 

[Zagzag]

Sites that hold copyrighted material get taken down. Why is this a big deal? You want the content, pay for it.

It's because of how annoying it is. I am currently collaborating with many other people on a project (read Skyrim mod), and we are relying on file hosting to be able to do this. Nothing that we are doing is in any way remotely against the law, and since I only know these people through the internet there really isn't any other way of sending such large files to each other. If this project has to stop because of this I will be genuinely annoyed, even though I have never pirated anything in my life...

 

[redisforever]

Godsdamn it, so that's why I couldn't download that porn tasteful art film.

DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAMN YOU FBI!

Why, though, is the Pirate Bay still legal? Why is that a thing?

They're just linking to content that links to illegal content, not actually hosting it.

Also, Pirate Bay is Swedish, and doesn't care about US laws.

OT: Damn. Hey, government, stay out of our business, please!

 

[lacktheknack]

And the Anonymous fury begins.

Maybe I should take a vacation until the Low Orbit Ion Cannon is burned out.

 

[evilneko]

Sites that hold copyrighted material get taken down. Why is this a big deal? You want the content, pay for it.

It's because of how annoying it is. I am currently collaborating with many other people on a project (read Skyrim mod), and we are relying on file hosting to be able to do this. Nothing that we are doing is in any way remotely against the law, and since I only know these people through the internet there really isn't any other way of sending such large files to each other. If this project has to stop because of this I will be genuinely annoyed, even though I have never pirated anything in my life...

Dropbox, SpiderOak, etc. Plenty of alternatives. You could even use SkyrimNexus.