Monday, January 23, 2012
Well, that was quick. Last week, the U.S. government shut down file-sharing site Megaupload, arresting and charging the site’s operators with a massive criminal conspiracy to commit and enable piracy. The New York Times said the crackdown “sent shivers down the spines” of other online storage sites, such as Dropbox, Mediafire, and Rapidshare, since their models, like Megaupload’s, could also allow users to share pirated material. While RapidShare is unconcerned, at least one file-sharing site was scared straight out of its business model. As of Friday, FileSonic was “the world’s best file-sharing site”:
No more. Over the weekend, the site disabled its sharing function, so that users can only “upload and retrieve files that you have uploaded personally.” Its tagline now identifies it only as “the unlimited storage company.”
Filesonic removes functionality from its site, to avoid Megaupload's fate
“The goal of the Megaupload indictment is to push and prod other companies to take copyright infringement more seriously,” law professor Orin S. Kerr told the NYT. Rather than try to crack down on users who are sharing files that infringe copyright, FileSonic is just going to get out of the business of file sharing all together — even though it is a legitimate business model.
FileSonic users can’t be too happy to have one of the main features of the site taken away. But the company must be less worried about its breach of contract with existing users than it is about getting the Megaupload treatment.
By: DocMemory
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