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Sharebeast, the Largest US-based Filesharing Service, Has Its Domain Seized
An anonymous reader writes: The RIAA says that the FBI has seized the domain of file-sharing service ShareBeast, shutting down what it said was responsible for the leaks of thousands of songs. The site now only displays a notice saying the FBI acted "pursuant to a seizure warrant related to suspect criminal copyright infringement." In a statement, RIAA CEO Cary Sherman called the seizure "a huge win for the music community and legitimate music services. ShareBeast operated with flagrant disregard for the rights of artists and labels while undermining the legal marketplace."
never heard of um.
have you seen my sig? there are many others like it but none that are the same
More people over more time have shared music than tried to restrict it.
And record labels have had "flagrant disregard" for the natural rights of musicians for quite some time now.
If you're an artist and you want money, set up concerts. If you want more money, ask for people to pay directly to your bank account, or via a credit/debit card processor. No record label nor RIAA has anything to do with improving the music community.
... is like tying a bloody steak to your dick and running through a pit of hungry lions; it only results in a razor-toothed fellatio.
It's well past time the RIAA were shut down.
Just how much is the music industry actually worth? I suppose there's no hope of crowdfunding enough to buy them out, but maybe if a few philanthropist billionaires were willing to help ...
wtf were they thinking?
USA is probably the worst place to operate something like this.
In the free world the media isn't government run; the government is media run.
But really, hosting something like that in the U.S. was stupid. Who in that company didn't think that the MAFIAA wouldn't get the goverment to crush them like an ant at some point?
Left MS Windows for Linux Mint and never looked back!
Vote for Bernie in 2016!
I find it interesting that the RIAA and other similar groups seem to have to comment on these things. I can't think of a single industry outside of the entertainment industry that's so congratulatory (and self-congratulatory) over the law coming down in their favour.
Copy"right" is an artificial construct that was created with the intent to further the arts and sciences for the public good and was only suppose to last for a limited period of 7 years. As the original excuse and intent is not with us today it is time to end this monopoly and the violence that comes with it. Like the drug war it fuels violence against the people who have chosen to disregard it as an unjust law which denies us all our natural rights to communicate freely. It is a threat to democracy and what it stands for. Like child pornography it is being used as an excuse to implement censorship that has further denied political minorities and others there rights to free speech. Across the world seemingly democratic countries including Canada, the UK, the United States, and much of Europe have fallen into this cesspit it just can't get out of.
Call you senators, write your congressmen, and ask them to end the copy monopoly and restore our rights as human being to exist and communicate in any which way we see fit. Nobody should be entitled to a monopoly at the expense of the people. End the violence already.
... a huge win for the music community and legitimate music services. ShareBeast operated with flagrant disregard for the rights of artists and labels while undermining the legal marketplace."
Look, I agree that ShareBeast (first I've heard of it, though, so how big was it exactly?) was screwing over the artists. But the RIAA has just as much contempt for the artists as anyone - even more than pirates, since the pirates at least appreciate their works - and there's no end to the stories of hardworking musicians who've been bankrupted by RIAA execs with lots of big promises and lots of fine print in the contracts.
Just sayin'... I expect a similar statement to be made about the RIAA and its members when they eventually crash and burn.
no comment
Who in their right mind would host a file-sharing site in the US? Why not just put on a pair of fake antlers and run around in the Wisconsin woods on the first day of deer season?
You are welcome on my lawn.
They're never going to get it: No matter how many websites they shut down, no matter how many little kids and old grannies they sue, no matter how much they ball up their fists and turn red in the face with rage, they're never going to stop people from filesharing. They couldn't stop people from making cassette tapes of their vinyl LPs, they couldn't stop people from making mix tapes for their friends, they couldn't stop people from burning backup CDs of music they paid for, they couldn't stop people from ripping CDs and sending the files to their friends, and they can't stop people from stripping the gods-be-damned DRM from digital music they bought-and-paid-for so they can do some of the things above with it. Similarly the television industry couldn't stop people from making Beta and VHS tapes of OTA shows, they couldn't stop TiVo and the whole DVR revolution. The MPAA couldn't stop the cracking of the DVD encryption key, they couldn't stop the cracking of Blueray discs, and they can't stop people from pirating movies that haven't even been released in the theatres yet. You can't stop it; the more you try to stop it, the more paying customers you piss off, and the more of them may decide to stop paying. The more you charge to cover your so-called 'losses', the more paying customers you piss off, and the more people who may decide to stop paying you. Accept the inevitable: Some copying, backing-up, pilfering, and pirating is going to happen no matter what you do, and the more draconic you get about trying to 'stamp it out' the worse the problem is going to get, as your obsessive-compulsive, quixotic quest pisses off more and more people. Furthermore: there is nothing that you can create to 'protect your IP' that isn't going to be dismantled, analyzed, and broken within about a week of your releasing it into the wild. We've seen it again, and again, and again, ad infinitum with music, video, and game software. Give it up and accept the inevitable: Filesharing is here to stay. The only way to stop it completely is to kill every single human being on the planet. For fuck's sake, JUST STOP.
They are not even close to the biggest. CNET is the biggst and it's operated by RIAA, MPAA, Sony and a lot of others.
Here, everybody remember this from 2012? All the details are there.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y6wTmQpGRS8
And why is it that any time somebody uploads copyright material, that they are shut down in a heartbeat, yet the child porn manages to stay up for years on end?
It looks like the FBI and Justice Department, and Border Patrol are all working for the Drug and Human Traficking cartels. How else can we explain their pattern of behavior?
Many believe "military action is in order". I hope not, but I hear people say hings like that all the time.
" ShareBeast operated with flagrant disregard for the rights of artists and labels while undermining the legal marketplace... and that's our job." RIAA CEO Cary Sherman
There have been exactly zero pro-RIAA posts. So it isn't alarming unless you're pro-RIAA, and are alarmed at how everyone here knows about the immoral shit they do.
Under pressure from publishers Google has been acively censoring many of the 'link listing' sites
Ironically, to located files nowadays one has to dig deep into the 'chilling effect' listings in finding the right files to dl
In a society in which rule of law held sway, it would not be possible for the FBI or any other governmental agency to simply seize a domain; Sharebeast would have to first be convicted of having broken a law that specified seizure of the domain as a possible penalty, or the RIAA would have to win some sort of civil suit against Sharebeast first.
The RIAA operates with flagrant disregard for the rights of artists and labels while undermining the legal marketplace.
2,692 files are still accessible from here and here. Grab 'em while you can folks!
Can the FBI take over a company's retail shops, black out the windows, lock the doors and put up FBI seizure signs over it if they're suspected of criminal activity?
I don't see how that's any different than taking a domain name.
Aaaaaaand 3 new sites to replace the one taken down will appear in 5... 4... 3...
So a lot like RIAA's members then.
The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
fuck you talking about? Bahamas is that bit between fucking Florida and fucking Cuba. It's nowhere near fucking China.
(with fucking apologies to Gordon fucking Ramsay).
Political debates have me rolling my eyes so much I think I got optical whiplash. I should sue. - Foamy The Squirrel
"[...]while undermining the legal marketplace."
Isn't that SOP for every music label, when it comes to every other music label?
Are songs now secret?
Most ACs are not even worth the keystrokes to insult them. Be generically insulted by this and ignored otherwise.
Now that streaming services exist and are pretty cheap, why would I ever want to download (or purchase) a song any more?
I hate pirates. Everyone who works for a living should now celebrate the end of a sleezy website that stole from the working man and woman. Hip hhip hooray!
Only the labels are likely to have complained. That's where the money really is. When they complain that they are not getting enough money from something, the RIAA and FBI jump. The artists complain you can be sure they will be ignored.
Do you guys eat soy burgers more, or something else? (patties made from wheat, almonds, peas, etc?) If one of you ever visits Canada, try the original Sol Cuisine burgers!
There are, of course, the legal ramifications (*cough*FourthAdmendment*cough*) regarding seizure without a court's say in the matter. (IANAL, etc, etc...)
There is also the fact that those that really cared about this site probably know the site's IP, and with that in hand, who cares what they do with the domain? Add the IP to your local /etc/hosts file (or its Windoze equivalent), and you're golden.
I'm pretty sure at this point that the RIAA (and MPAA for that matter) spend far more in legal fees from their delusions than they actually make in profits.
When politicians are involved, everyone loses.
Huge win? New domain registration takes what two minutes or less? BTW. newer even hear this service before..
Funny that the FBI doesn't seem in a hurry to seize the domain names of Facebook and Twitter. After all, aren't those sites used extensively for "criminal activity", like ISIS recruiting ? Surely this should be placed higher in the FBI's priorities than simple illegal file sharing, no ?
A clear demonstration that politicians are more interested in protecting their source of revenue than anything else. How surprising.
Okay, so the Feds seized the domain names. Why don't the pirates continue to operate with just their IP? Not that I'm advocating it. Just wondering.
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But you can never leave
Hey look, I have already got chest pains. Making me laugh so hard is both unfair and cruel. I thinkl the late Mr Zappa has serious competition in the whole "Zappa-esque" humor category...
You win the top cookie for today!
...I had to stoop for my plight...
This is pure genius.
Write more songs so they'll end up on sharebeast followups...
> responsible for the leaks of thousands of songs
So shut down the Internet.
The associative chain of causality is but a tool for the powers that be to leverage at will.