RapidShare Threatens Suit Over Piracy Allegations

Hugh Pickens writes "PC Magazine reports that RapidShare, named as a contributor to digital piracy by a MarkMonitor report, has threatened to sue for defamation. 'This defamation of RapidShare as a digital piracy site is absurd and we reserve the right to take legal action against MarkMonitor,' says RapidShare in a statement. 'RapidShare is a legitimate company that offers its customers fast, simple and secure storage and management of large amounts of data via our servers.' MarkMonitor, a Web site that specializes in 'enterprise brand protection,' says in their study that the most-trafficked domains engaged in digital piracy included three sites — rapidshare.com, megavideo.com, and megaupload.com — that combined yielded 21 billion pageviews per year. RapidShare acknowledged that copyrighted files do get uploaded to its site, however 'these users are in the absolute minority compared with those who use our services to pursue perfectly legitimate interests.' RapidShare says that it does not open and view the files of its users, and contains no search function so that other users may look for content."

Comments

More harm than good?

[rts008]

While I support the original intent of both copyright and patent laws, I also think both have exceeded their bounds, and need reform.
The original intent was to BOTH foster creativity and innovation while protecting both, it has currently devolved into protecting/fostering those with the most money.
Major reform is needed.
One thing I learned from my GrandDad[among many, numerous things], was that only stagnant water breeds mosquitoes. Think about the concept seriously for a moment, it is enlightening.

Maybe it seems new to you all, but it's a culmination of 100 year old insight and wisdom to me.
Sonny Bono/Disney should have been stopped in retrospect, but that's how hindsight seems to work!

Re:More harm than good?

[CitizenCain]

If all of that stuff is so stagnant, why are you bothered about the copyright lease being so long? Look for cheap or free indie media.

You're missing the point of that adage. The mosquitoes don't stay in the stagnant pool of water once they've bred. They fly off and bite anyone they can find.

Likewise, absurd lease lengths on copyrights don't just effect the works the protect, but impact the entire media realm. Why bother funding new, creative media when you get the copyright on Mickey Mouse extended for another 90 years and keep milking that cow? Or, for that matter, why bother creating anything at all, when you can become a patent troll and makes tens of millions of dollars by suing other people for bothering to create something. (And so on.)

Re:Perhaps Not Defamation

[Anonymous Coward]

Just in my own personal experience, I've never seen Rapidshare used for legal means.

No offense, but that probably says more about you than it does about Rapidshare.

*.R00

[metalmaster]

I've pondered on this since the first story broke, but can a company be liable for hosting partial files? A lot of the links i see for rapidshare are partial archives. By themselves they do no harm

Everything can be used for Piracy.

[Haedrian]

Everything can be used for "Piracy".

Before we had tapes, then Floppies, then CDs, then P2P and websites...

I can send illegal files by email, by handing them over on a thumb drive...

Its easier if we just add "Everything" to the list of Piracy and let it be done.

Re:Understandable

[SuricouRaven]

Plus it wouldn't work. Soon it'd be full of encrypted RARs of filenames like aiegflaeaergfaer.rar, or possibly sales_reports.rar... no way anyone could tell what they are unless they are a member of the private forum where the link and decryption password are posted.

Re:Perhaps Not Defamation

[Kilrah_il]

This is called selection bias. People who use RS for legitimate use, share the links with the intended recipient only. The files are not searched by anonymous people throughout the web on these sites. I don't know about you, but I wouldn't search http://rapidsharesearcher.com/ for "Presentation for 2011 shareholder meeting.pps".
You are using sites that are used by people who d/l illegal files to show that RS is used for illegal d/l. If you look into Toyota's site, you would see that most of the searches on that site are for cars made by Toyota. Ergo, most people drive Toyota!