US Shuts Down Megaupload - More File Share Sites Fall

[Keith Jordan]

God help the users of RnBXclusive.com

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-17039722

SOCA’s holding message to users who had been frequenting the website was taken offline at the conclusion of the first phase of the operation on 15 February.

This implies there is at least another phase and that could be painful for some web users! Anyone used it?

[snifferdog]

Not me - I'd never heard of the site before now.

Is anyone here continuing to use alternatives to Megaupload or torrents now that it's clear there's a crackdown?

[danielcaux]

More than ever actually, I'm afraid that my access to all this knowledge has its days counted, so I'm trying to get the most out of it while it lasts. I feel so bad for being so lazy all this years and don't download as much as I should have. You know, the funny thing is that all this fight against torrents and file lockers only works in favor of the real pirates, the underground cartels that are selling DVDs on the streets for a profit. When people find that they can't longer watch movies online for free what are they going to do? Run for the cheapest alternative of course: pirate dvds; those sellers must be joyfully jumping on one leg right now, sales must be thru the roof after megaupload went down. Remember how a decade ago the streets were filled with pirate music CDs, but a few years after, when a lot more "normal" people caught up with file sharing software and web resources like youtube that made it easier to access mp3 and music for them almost all music oriented pirate CDs disappeared from the streets? I bet they are coming back with a vengeance.

I wonder who is really behind all this? But more importantly why are they enforcing it all in such a vicious way right now? It looks even worse than last century crusade against recreational drugs! If they keep going like this I may find myself forced to never buy any kind of record or movie DVD ever again, 'cause quite honestly I can't support this type of conduct. I find all this very nasty, a direct attack against freedom of information, and that in my opinon is a much worse form of organized crime against society than piracy or e-sharing copyrighted material, if that last thing can even be considered a crime at all.

"Members of the public can become facilitators of organised crime by obtaining property or services from its perpetrators," a Soca spokesman said.

Holy shit! We all are now criminals! Welcome to the past!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SkYl_AH-qyk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M6MGVpl5ux8


I hope I hadn't commit a crime or become a facilitator of organised crime just by posting those links!

It seems that music, films, literature, art and culture in general will be again an exclusive benefit accessible only to the wealthy. Expect new copyright laws that grant rights for a couple of centuries, not so much for the artists but for the labels and record companies that will be profiting from them.

Once upon a time the laws used to be created for the overall benefit of society, now it seems that they are custom designed for the benefit of corporations. It's a brave new world indeed.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wqcizZebcaU

More relevant than ever!

[Keith Jordan]

If copyright owners charges a reasonable fee and made their wares available on a platform that was easily accesible and actualy caught up with the marketplace for consuming digital media like films and music, then these torrent sites would not be so popular! I wouldnt mind paying £2 to download a perfect copy of a film. I do pay a subscription to Napster each month and have for years to legally listen to the music I want to and the copyright holder gets paid. These companies need to stop protecting their old sales channels through controlling what we consume through magazines and TV and encourage the viral nature of the marketplace online! Yes! Catch up silly publishers! That is why you siffer, because these free illegal sites offer the platform that people want to use.... instant entertainment, not waiting 3 days for a postman to deliver or going to a bricks and mortar outlet!

Mothers!

[moom]

Alas, Keith, not all people have a credit card or can get it. I guess losing that obligation (in order to pay for stuff online) is part of what you call "making a platform "easily accessible"". You know what, I'm sick of those very lo-fi movie recordings, especially filmed in a theater on a potato, so I actually would agree paying for a high-quality film and without having to have a credit card or other BS like that. However, then again, I dunno what about you guys, but here in Estonia there's lots of places to buy a DVD. If music and, more than that, games are overly expensive here, then DVDs are, vice versa, quite cheap. It's just that there's no movie I'd watch on a regular basis or something like that; I mean, there ARE movies I like and have watched a lot, but to actually own a copy... it would be gaining dust, so no. I'd much rather lend a copy - also quite cheap.

[Keith Jordan]

You sound like a prime target for the rentals market, Moom.

[snifferdog]

Seeing as it's also possible to pay for things with one's phone, a pre-pay credit card or a prepay card such as what Apple, Zynga, eMusic etc. sell in shops, your argument fails to hold H20.

[my breakfast.]

Remind me of the last time a film did badly financially because of piracy? I thought they did badly because they bombed at Cannes, not because the scrotty DVD release got ripped and shared....

Some websites reporting this crack me up. The morality of online piracy? Give me a break!

[danielcaux]

Actually right now I think most people I know buy more movie DVDs than ever before in their entire lives. It just happens that they are buying pirate DVDs, cause they offer them at an affordable price. A decade ago, when pirate DVDs weren't around every corner in the street, they would NEVER buy a DVD at retail prices. Ever. So exactly what's the industry losing there?

The industry just needs to stop being so greedy and sell their products at a decent price or with an added value over the pirate options: better packaging, decent booklets, etc...

Take for example Tool, not that I like them much, but you feel compelled to buy their CDs, because they kinda are little works of art. I can't imagine being a Tool fan and buying only a pirate CD or downloading their mp3. If they really like the band they are going to buy those CDs, whenever they can. If they don't really like the band they may download a couple of songs, but they would have NEVER bought the CD anyway.

[moom]

You sound like a prime target for the rentals market, Moom.

Their worst nightmare, actually

Just come at me, boys

[snifferdog]

Maybe "Sell 'em cheap, stack 'em high" might work? Let's face it, the horse has bolted and people will always manage to find a way around the barriers that have been put up. It might be time for them to cut their losses and let people buy legal versions of albums and films for a couple of pounds.

What also gets my goat is DRM. I spent a while helping a friend recently who had bought an audiobook off a site and wanted to burn it onto a CD so she could listen to it in her car. Something that's allowed according to the site she bought it off. Trying to get the thing to work was a challenge, shall we say

Six or seven years ago, I bought a couple of songs off a music site that my ISP used to run. Ones that had DRM. They've since shut the site, I've changed computers since then and reformatted the hard disk a couple of times. And guess what, the songs don't work any more. Goes to show no good deed goes unpunished.

[danielcaux]

Well, why don't you buy them all again! Just pretend those files are like a defective old record or CD that needs replacement!

SOCA would approve!

[snifferdog]

They won't approve of what I allegedly did to get them again

[Stephen]

If we go to jail over this then at least we'll have some nice music on the iPod to help while away the time.

[snifferdog]

You think "they" will let you go to a nice prison where they let you use an iPod?