torrentfreak.com — The feds shut down MegaUpload a few hours ago. Eight people we charged with criminal copyright infringement charges, and all files hosted on the site were pulled offline. However, do the feds realize that hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions of people used the site to share research data, work documents, personal video collections and much [...]
Jan 20, 2012 View in Crawl 4
ottolenzJan 20, 2012
This could be a strong and sad argument against "Cloud Computing"
graderguyJan 21, 2012
And an even better argument for BACKUPS. Sheesh, anyone who would trust a backup to an anonymous server somewhere is just dumb. You should have real, physical backups of your stuff on removable drives, dvd's or whatever. Backing up ONLY to the cloud? You got what you deserve.
craig1958Jan 21, 2012
The cloud is a useful tool to access your data from multiple locations. I have plenty of data in the cloud, but every bit is also backed up locally. I can't imagine having a single copy of anything valuable; and I certainly can't imagine having the single copy in the cloud.
mredofcourseJan 21, 2012
No, it's a strong and sad argument against the Fed trampling over the rights of the innocent. Cloud computing offers many advantages and functionality that make it highly desirable.
@graderguy,
The point isn't that people put the sole copies of files on Megaupload, but rather they developed a system for either backing up or transferring files using Megaupload and the Feds have messed with this, resulting in innocent people being forced to sign up for other services and reconstruct their system/profile/backup. All without warning. All without the opportunity for Megaupload to defend itself in a court of law.
lemonrindJan 20, 2012
This is the same government that just passed a law allowing for the unlimited detention of its own citizens for any reason. Why should this surprise anyone?
casspaJan 20, 2012
At the very least it'll be entertaining watching how this suit plays out.
MrFrogyJan 20, 2012
They are the feds - there is no recourse and no compensation. On a side note, there was 100 times more oversight on this operation than there would be under SOPA/PIPA in the same situation. This was ridiculous, and the laws written by the entertainment industry would have been a nightmare.
thoughtsonthisJan 20, 2012
I don't think they care.
macbookformeJan 20, 2012
Seconded
mitsanagaJan 21, 2012
ready to do anything about it yet. you just said it yourselves. they don't care if they ruin your lives, so why should theirs be keen and peachy. obviously being peaceful with the them hasn't been all that effective, except for occasions. maybe its time you guys go hit them were it hurts each of them the most. hit their pocketbooks!
andysasylumJan 20, 2012
The feds are known for how awesome they are.
nickchopperJan 20, 2012
Interesting angle, and so very true!
hazelwood_4Jan 20, 2012
It is amazing how the feds can just go in an shut something down. The BIG part is they didn't show any respect for the peoples data that was held there! SAD!
rufiohoJan 20, 2012
wow... so true. Poor people who lost all of their data :(
sheopleherderJan 20, 2012
I know where their files are! They are in the omnipresent cloud that is supposed to protect everyone's info everywhere... Oh wait, nope, they are in the basement of the FBI (shouldn't it be the CIA?) building. What about all the foreign citizen's who the FBI essentially just stole data from? Should be fun to see how they handle that.
CageDoctorsJan 20, 2012
As for these people getting their files back, I'm taken back to a phrase my father used to use quite a bit: 'S--t in one hand, then wish in the other. See which one fills up first.'
I hope they get them back but don't see it happening.
Kwazy88Jan 20, 2012
Oh, collateral damage... how much I've missed you...
koushiroJan 20, 2012
Yeah, this caused a huge problem. It was a cyber locker, not a piracy website...
anomaly100Jan 20, 2012
Don't hold your breath.
bobosmitorJan 20, 2012
I doubt they will.
waitasecJan 20, 2012
Welcome to the Cloud! You were warned.
cb810Jan 20, 2012
Hey Feds... whatcha gonna do? Better get some interns sorting through the hundreds of millions of files and picking out the stuff you don't need to confiscate.
raidy11moonJan 21, 2012
And that ladys and gentlemen is why i do not store everything in the cloud!.. Im old fashion: hard drives, usb, dvd, even CD's
breadfredJan 21, 2012
Some data I keep paper copies off as well...
JS76Jan 20, 2012
Does anyone have any statistics on the number of files uploaded to MegaUpload and how many of them were taken down for copyright infringement issues? I'm curious to see just how rampant the problem that caused this action was.
mredofcourseJan 21, 2012
I guess now without trial, without any judicial review, without opportunity for appeal, without any authorization or consultation with the other 2 branches of government, the executive branch is able to do the following to US Citizens:
1) Detain you indefinitely (wiki NDAA).
2) Kill you (wiki Aulaqi).
3) Seize or erase any data/information you've created.
I guess though for that 3rd point, they need to first get the order from the highest branch of government (corporations).
dralezeroJan 20, 2012
Fine example of disrupting collaboration on research and innovation. Sure there are other services, but having to switch around services constantly and lose files and reorganize your project as sites keep getting shut down, really creates problems for business.
Closed AccountJan 21, 2012
morons....always keep a backup of it....even if it is compressed....
xinoJan 24, 2012
Do you even understand the concept of a backup? A file needs at least one copy to have a backup. If you upload to megaupload and then delete your local copy, then you don't have a backup.
Closed AccountJan 24, 2012
yeah..i never trust things like icloud cause i'm afraid things like this will happen. and if you are doing an important report...uh oh...you'd be sol.
i always keep a copy and after one year i compress that data and put it on an sd card. efficent and handy.
gimiesomeJan 22, 2012
The feds....Whats ours is ours and whats yours is also ours.
nowmarkbdJan 22, 2012
i see
nowmarkbdJan 22, 2012
i see
thefirewireJan 21, 2012
Good old America, Policing the world at other peoples expenses.
screwkevinJan 21, 2012
Damn it, where am I going to download all my Linux distros now? ;)
blankmikeJan 21, 2012
The only technical part of this is the comments *here* about cloud storage. I agree with most of what is said here. Storage of files on the cloud is of questionable intelligence. If people store their files on machines owned by someone else (or located at the business of someone else) then they really can't complain if the government shuts down the hosting site. They can't complain if someone without permission reads their files. It's common sense to say if people don't have physical control of their data it is possible for it to get into unwanted hands or even be copied or damaged.
Apart from this part of the issue the rest is politics not tech.
xinoJan 24, 2012
Why can't people complain? Because you said so? So if you said "You can't complain about what a babysitter does to your child. It's common sense to say if people don't have physical control of their kids, it is possible for them to get into unwanted hands or even be damaged." would that mean we would have no right to complain either?
StonnaJan 21, 2012
Our government makes laws to justify the injustices they are already commiting. NDAA was passed but they were already holding bradly manning
MadocComadrinJan 22, 2012
NDAA was just as Obama said, affirming the AUMF. I'm not saying that the AUMF is justified; rather, that the crap started earlier.
geefullJan 21, 2012
I'm not a pirate but I watch the ongoing battle between vested interests and personal rights because I believe it's fundamental to all our ongoing freedoms wherever we live/work.
I'm also not too much of a high techie and I'm not in America so there are a couple of things I don't understand.
Why take the entire site offline rather than just arresting the owners and freezing their bank accounts etc.? presuming they have sufficient legally viable evidence.
I know that Megaupload had poked the MPAA/RIAA? in the eye recently by proving they use DMCA as an anti-competitive tool rather than a legal one (which is a big worry with SOPA/PIPA -that an American company could reach out and ruin a smaller upcoming innovator somewhere else without quality evidence or possibility of legal redress). It looks like SOPA/PIPA were expected to be passed almost on the nod.
The timing makes it seem that this was done almost to spit in the eye of those who oppose SOPA/PIPA.
American vested interests seem to be using up Americas political capital at an enormous rate (what with a British site holder who did nothing illegal in Britain, on British servers having been granted for extradition earlier this month and now this). Why would anyone looking to work on the net not try to avoid any American involvement in future. It must be a huge encouragement to try to bypass American companies.
The other thing is that there are now building a number of instances where people not involved in illegal activity have been materially damaged by these actions, is it possible there could be an eventual class action?
What this action has done to the ordinary users of Megaupload is exactly the same thing the 'anti-piracy' brigade complain about the 'pirates' doing isn't it?
rudegarJan 21, 2012
I'm not a pirate but my parrot is :P
aristotle0dudeJan 21, 2012
Come on. Virtually nobody was using Megaupload to "store" their personal files.
It was used mainly for warez
10452bghfJan 20, 2012
4 letters explain your rights...........
EULA...read it and weep...bye bye personal research data, work documents, personal video collections and much more....Comment is buried, click here to see the rest.
dralezeroJan 20, 2012
i use drop box but have my own backups outside of my local drop box folder. i backup my gmail too. you just never know. big outage, shut down, data loss, hack, etc.
graderguyJan 21, 2012
And anyone who doesn't do as you do is just plain ignorant. C'mon folks, if you can't physically touch your backup media it's not worth the 1's and 0's they consist of.
breadfredJan 21, 2012
I keep backups - in the cloud and at home. However, I do not think any of my friends have any other backup than the cloud - and I would bet that 99% of email users do NOT store their emails locally; let alone back them up. It is not that they are ignorant - they just do not realize how fickle the cloud can be.
mredofcourseJan 21, 2012
I don't recall signing a EULA with the federal government.
10452bghfJan 21, 2012
bingo...........go sue megauploads..........as OP is weeping for his docs (of course in a delusional matter) because this is a stunt for saying the feds interrupted his research into "time traveling" and now he cannot go back in time to backup his research docs and his kitty videos...........
shreejayaJan 21, 2012
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libertusmJan 20, 2012
Hypocrites, liars, thiefs!
It was all just for copying software and downloading movies.
At least, dare telling the truth why you want this service back and why you Really are against sopa/pipa.
Comment is buried, click here to see the rest.
Kwazy88Jan 20, 2012
Trololol