Major Cyberlocker EX.UA To Shut Down Amid Police Crackdown (torrentfreak.com)

An anonymous reader quotes a report from TorrentFreak: Earlier this week, news broke that following a complaint from the MPAA, local piracy giant FS.to was raided by police, with more than 60 servers seized and 19 people arrested. That investigation is still ongoing but now an even bigger target has folded in its wake. Founded in 2009, EX.UA is Ukraine's largest cyberlocker and one of the largest sites in the country, period. With millions of visitors each day the site is a much-loved resource but very shortly the platform will close its doors for good. In an announcement to users, EX.UA's owners said that it was time to throw in the towel after 12 months of trouble for the site and potential legal trouble ahead. "Over the past year EX.UA has had a chance to feel the direct threats, blackmail (including at the international level), and DDOS attacks. These actions jeopardize the personal information and personal files stored by users on the service," the site announced. EX.UA's operators say they have always tried to operate with respect for the laws of Ukraine, including dealing with takedowns quickly. However, the site does not approve of the system of distribution and rights management in place in the country and says it was one of the site's goals to raise this issue in Ukrainian society. Just recently, Ukraine passed a law which will allow copyright holders to block allegedly infringing sites without obtaining a court order. This, EX.UA says, is a sign of "uncivilized lobbying" and will only result in less respect for copyright. Faced with a change in the law and a desire to respect it, EX.UA's operators say that they will shut down the site. Users have just under two weeks to save their files.

Comments

And Russia is the bad guy?

[Anonymous Coward]

I guess it's easier to screw over the Ukraine when we can point fingers at Russia.

Is it just me

[rsilvergun]

or are all the Ukraine pirate sites getting shut down? Thoughts on why?

Re:Is it just me

[Anonymous Coward]

Probably ongoing part of the same rash of servers getting shut down. It's more so that Ukraine has an over abundance of pirate sites & organized crime not the country being targeted specifically. If there is a place that is a hotbed of illegal activity then law enforcement will naturally gravitate to it as well.

Re:Is it just me

[Anonymous Coward]

They were hosting this image which is now illegal in Russia and Little Russia.

Re:Is it just me

[Anonymous Coward]

Obvious. This is another compensation for the western support against Russia.

Re:Is it just me

[qaz123]

On demand of Ukraine's Western allies.

Re:Is it just me

[Anonymous Coward]

Well, the servers will be reborn/Phoenix somewhere else.
What we need is bitslice servers hat serve slices of files across countries and continents.
A lawyer will truthfully state that nothing is being served because some percentage was joined elsewhere.
Smart Ukrainians will drive and set up elsewhere. Shutting down jobs wlll not be popular.

In the meantime real VPN's will grow. I dont trust vpns either, but robust solutions are coming.

Re:Is it just me

[fustakrakich]

robust solutions are coming.

Not while we depend on the ISP to screw us over. They will block everything they can't read.

Should have stayed with Russia

[Anonymous Coward]

Your politicians took the bribes from the US to part ways with Russia, now you get to enjoy the wonderful world of American IP law.
Have fun!

Re:Should have stayed with Russia

[cpghost]

Your politicians took the bribes from the US to part ways with Russia, now you get to enjoy the wonderful world of American IP law.

That's exactly the point. On the other hand, Russia is also cracking down on file sharing sites: remember AllofMP3.{com,ru} folding under US pressure/blackmail, or, more recently, their draconian laws on personal identification for users of Russian-based Internet services?

Pirates?

[Anonymous Coward]

I thought those were off the Gulf of Aden, not in Ukraine?

Ah, you're an RIAA shill, those have a different language. Sorry for the noise.

OT: do they pay well? Where do I apply?

Seemed like a good idea at the time

[RuffMasterD]

It must have seemed like a good idea at the time, but this has to be the fastest, simplest, legal way ever invented to block all government sites. No court order means the allegations don't even have to be substantiated. I suspect this law will be repealed very quickly if copyright holders accuse Ukrainian government sites of infringing on their rights.