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."

Comments

who?

[ganjadude]

never heard of um.

Re:who?

[Snotnose]

Ayup. If some domain that has never made a top 10 list of torrent search engines is the best they can do, then I have to wonder how many millions of $$$ and hours of manpower they're wasting on useless BS.

Maybe TPB and other sites should set up some honeypots to attract the attention of the feds? Sounds like a few hundred $$$ invested will result in a few million $$$ wasted. Asymmetrical warfare and all that :)

Re:who?

[The_Laughing_God]

I found myself asking the same thing, so I checked Alexa (I'm certain there are better sites to check these days). It was rated #8546 worldwide (#9215 in US) in a fairly steady decline since its peak around #4250 in November of last year. Those are "okay" but unimpressive numbers, and it's pretty much been steadily dying. By comparison, a specialty news site like torrentfreak.com is #3808 globally (#3012 US) and reaches the top 2000 when stuff is hitting the fan.

Sharebeast's user base (by IP) was 25.7% US, but 21.4% Indonesian. UK (5.3%), India (4.7%), and Saudi Arabia (4%) also had "significant" shares. The most popular search terms leading to it are not English terms.

Source: http://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/...

As I said, I'm sure that there are better sites for domain metrics these days, and I can't even see most data Alexa lists because I don't have an Alexa Pro acct. I'd welcome better data from anyone who monitors domain metrics regularly/professionally.

But it really doesn't look like the Feds took down any sort of powerhouse, more like a dying target of convenience (unless they were really worried about Indonesian piracy)

(Incidentally, I was surprised to see Alexa report that slashdot.org (#1672 globally, #1272 in US) gets 40.6% of its visitos from India (where it ranks #302) but only 29.4% from the US)

What is "the music community"?

[Anonymous Coward]

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.

Shut them down

[harryjohnston]

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 ...

In the USA? Seriously?

[myowntrueself]

wtf were they thinking?

USA is probably the worst place to operate something like this.

Re:In the USA? Seriously?

[popo]

But was the company actively involved in the illegal activity?

It was it just some users.

Because YouTube is also home to hundreds of thousands of pieces of pirated material on any given day.

And my personal favorite copyright violation tool is Pinterest, whose entire business involves republishing and distributing copyrighted works.

Re:In the USA? Seriously?

[WoodstockJeff]

I don't see evidence that they were HOSTING in the US, just that their domain was ".com". The COM top level domain is US, and the domain was seized, not the servers.

If you know the IPs that the domain USED to point to, you can probably still use their system.

Re:In the USA? Seriously?

[Daemonik]

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.

Yeah, how about arresting the RIAA employees and band reps who leak these songs out onto sharing sites to drum up interest in new groups or new albums from old bands?

Re:In the USA? Seriously?

[Trax3001BBS]

Because YouTube is also home to hundreds of thousands of pieces of pirated material on any given day.

I captured a video from Battle Field 3, flying the F-35. The F-35 has a warning tone when damaged, some company claimed rights to this sound; allowing them to place ads on that video (which as far as I can tell haven't done yet - but it sees little traffic).

Re:In the USA? Seriously?

[phantomfive]

But was the company actively involved in the illegal activity?

Probably. To understand the legal arguments, the Limewire case is instructive. Essentially to be guilty you need two things:

1) Aid others in copyright infringement.
2) Intend to do so.

Youtube avoids guilt by providing several tools for copyright holders, and also by actively removing infringing movies. Thus although they are aiding infringers, you can't prove that's their intent. They don't have to be perfect at it, just good enough to avoid the legal standard.

I don't know how Pinterest avoids copyright infringement lawsuits, but your characterization of their business model made me laugh: it's so true.

RIAA statement

[Kyogreex]

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.

...you keep getting what you got

[PopeRatzo]

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?

Whatever Happened to Rule of Law?

[K. S. Van Horn]

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.

Re:Whatever Happened to Rule of Law?

[ihtoit]

when the real public backlash starts, they'll bring the plight of the children into it, compare anyone who disagrees with them to Hitler, accuse them of being Holocause deniers or climate change deniers, the usual discredit tactics loser trolls like to employ. Only they'll be using it to distract from the fact that yes, absent a bench warrant for seizure, the FBI did in fact break the Law by depriving an innocent concern of business by removing its ability to operate! And remember folks, in the United States, as everywhere else under the rule of Constitutional Law, every person is innocent until proven guilty. Until you remove the rose-tints and see what is REALLY going on.

hmmmm

[MightyMartian]

ShareBeast operated with flagrant disregard for the rights of artists and labels while undermining the legal marketplace

So a lot like RIAA's members then.

Re:Bahamas is not US it CHINESE!

[ihtoit]

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).

Re:More BS

[Antique Geekmeister]

>> and the 'great white male' is slowly but surely dying out.

> How the actual fuck are you calling me 'racist"

I can't imagine why anyone would call you racist. I must not be "great white maile" enough to imagine hatred for genetic or sexual class would possibly make anyone think you're even biased, much less racist.

That's not how any of this works...

[Timex]

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.