Megaupload Shut Down, 6 Arrests. • Non-Gaming • News and Politics • Eurogamer.net

INSOMANiAC 19 Jan 2012 20:10:57 4,732 posts
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Who needs SOPA? it's already in action!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-16642369

To be fair, it was amazing it went as long as it did, basically hosting pirate material.

Edited by INSOMANiAC at 20:11:51 19-01-2012

Dirtbox 19 Jan 2012 20:12:56 92,595 posts
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dominalien 19 Jan 2012 20:14:35 10,703 posts
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Nothing. They'll concentrate on the one, like they did with thepiratebay, make a high-profile case out of it (successful or not, doesn't matter) and the rest will operate in peace until the time for the next big action comes again.

INSOMANiAC 19 Jan 2012 20:15:03 4,732 posts
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Well Megaupload was allegedly the 13th most used site in the world at one point so I'm guessing they've gone afte the big boys to try and scare the others.

I suspect sites like 'Veetle' may be next for the axe

Dirtbox 19 Jan 2012 20:16:21 92,595 posts
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Deleted user 19 January 2012 20:16:27

@ecu - Too much trouble to attack all the small ones, focus on the big names. Reason fr SOPA

INSOMANiAC 19 Jan 2012 20:17:31 4,732 posts
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He must have made a few quid, that place was riddled from head to toe with Ads and pop ups

WoodenSpoon 19 Jan 2012 20:17:37 12,360 posts
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All the other ones seem to have terrible speeds though, megaupload was always reliable.

Aretak 19 Jan 2012 20:19:05 10,391 posts
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Wow... that really sucks, actually. MU was the best file hosting site out there, free of most of the stupid limitations sites like Rapidshare place on free users.

Dirtbox 19 Jan 2012 20:20:45 92,595 posts
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Syrette 19 Jan 2012 20:22:43 51,181 posts
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Dirtbox wrote:
Turns out that some super well respected hiphop producer was the head of MU.

http://www.factmag.com/2012/01/19/swizz-beats-is-the-ceo-of-megaupload/

Explains how they managed to get those artists together for that song.

INSOMANiAC 19 Jan 2012 20:23:09 4,732 posts
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I occasionally downloaded niche animal porn from there.

Squirrel arse.

Khanivor 19 Jan 2012 20:26:10 44,800 posts
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Can't say I'm surprised or pissed off. They were hosting fucking loads of pirated material. TBH, I'm amazed that these types of sites aren't taken down more frequently as they don't have the excuse of not hosting the material like a torrent site does.

Syrette 19 Jan 2012 20:28:33 51,181 posts
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Khanivor wrote:
Can't say I'm surprised or pissed off. They were hosting fucking loads of pirated material. TBH, I'm amazed that these types of sites aren't taken down more frequently as they don't have the excuse of not hosting the material like a torrent site does.

It's not like they screen/know exactly what gets uploaded though, and they take down copyrighted material if the label or whoever get in touch with them.

Plenty of people use them for legitimate things.

Aretak 19 Jan 2012 20:30:20 10,391 posts
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Khanivor wrote:
Can't say I'm surprised or pissed off. They were hosting fucking loads of pirated material.

As does and as will any similar site now or in the future. Are you saying that there shouldn't be any sites where people can upload files at all? And if not, what can such sites possibly do when people are uploading passworded RAR files, other than remove them if someone reports them?

HisDudness 19 Jan 2012 20:30:27 1,760 posts
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That sucks. Megavideo was great for streaming on the PS3 browser.

FWB 19 Jan 2012 20:30:38 56,369 posts
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Does all of this mean one can bring down a gun manufacturer when some nutter goes on a rampage?

Khanivor 19 Jan 2012 20:30:44 44,800 posts
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Perhaps they should have screened things. Then, of course, much of their business would have evaporated...

Aretak 19 Jan 2012 20:34:34 10,391 posts
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Khanivor wrote:
Perhaps they should have screened things. Then, of course, much of their business would have evaporated...

Again, how are they supposed to screen RAR files that are inaccessible without the password? You can't even look inside of them, let alone extract them.

Dirtbox 19 Jan 2012 20:36:28 92,595 posts
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Deleted user 19 January 2012 20:37:29

As long as mediafire stays, gravy.

MrDigital 19 Jan 2012 20:37:50 1,885 posts
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I'm curious how easily the US managed to shut it down and arrest these people. It's a Hong Kong based business, and those involved lived in New Zealand, but the FBI were able to swiftly arrest these people and shut down the site, as opposed to just having it blocked to certain people.

Very impressive, and slightly scary at the same time...

Edited by Geesh at 20:38:30 19-01-2012

Aretak 19 Jan 2012 20:40:58 10,391 posts
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Dirtbox wrote:
You can see what the contents is without a password.

Nah, there's a checkbox you can tick in WinRAR to hide the contents too, making you enter the password before it'll let you look inside.

/edit/ Not that everybody uses it of course, but it's a click away for anyone.

Edited by Aretak at 20:41:36 19-01-2012

FWB 19 Jan 2012 20:43:05 56,369 posts
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Whether you agree with guys hosting or not, it is horrific that the US is arresting these individuals. If countries want to support these crackdowns then they should be chasing these people down themselves. To allow the Americans to operate beyond their borders in this way is pretty fucking scary.

Dirtbox 19 Jan 2012 20:44:00 92,595 posts
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Dirtbox 19 Jan 2012 20:45:02 92,595 posts
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Khanivor 19 Jan 2012 20:45:45 44,800 posts
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Of course you can find examples which give a hosting site an excuse but hardly any pirated material I've ever downloaded required a password. I'm sure they could make a reasonabel argument concerning encrypted files but it's gonna be harder to explain away something like Call.Of.Duty.4.rar

Machetazo 19 Jan 2012 20:48:09 6,373 posts
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dominalien wrote:
Nothing. They'll concentrate on the one, like they did with thepiratebay, make a high-profile case out of it (successful or not, doesn't matter) and the rest will operate in peace until the time for the next big action comes again.

THIS...Will, also mess the modding scene up no end. That type of archives are regularly stores for things when their creators move on, or no longer choose to directly support them, they can still be obtained by posting a link to there. Hope for back-ups, but that's a shame that's directly stifling creativity and expression/support of gaming media, incidentally.

Edited by Machetazo at 20:49:41 19-01-2012