FBI shuts down Megaupload, makes arrests

[dozer]

@Dozer, take the others advice, stay away from P2P networks and torrents. Private ftp & Filehosts way to go. 28.8k ? no way... you can walk to the server with a thumbdrive in hand to get files faster.

In my experience, obscure archive filenames and password protection *with* encryption keeps them alive longest.

LOL...yeah, and I wouldn't need to break a sweat on that walk either, Optikin!

Yes, private ftp servers.....that's precisely what I was thinking of in my original post (vis-a-vis some sort of PM-networking or other less visible 'mesh' between us).

I think the point, or perhaps, "the payoff", is in making it a lot more WORK for the draconians.  Or...hmm...put it this way, making it >non-automatable<.  That might be the key right there.  If someone actually has to -pay- people to hunt....'stead of just turning a script or spider loose...

That 'threshold' (of increased obfuscation, less visible SOP methods, etc..) might be the 'sweet spot' balance between hassle, and survival, that we'd want to target.

I fully agree with you that obfuscated filenames etc. absolutely do keep files up on the hosts longer.  Considerably longer, in my experience.

P2P-- huh...well now that's two experienced opinions....you and CC.....yet I must tell you that my own experience has been otherwise.  In regards to things that've had aspirin applied by others (e.g., ZWT, et al), I've found ed2k network to 'produce' as well as the links here...or perhaps even a bit better this past year, during which the links have been going down increasingly quickly.

Of course, those links to stuff done by others are only a subset of what we're about here.  I think of that stuff not as the 'main act' here, but more as a simple courtesy between us.  "hey, just ran across this link for a clean and working rar...here it is brothers".  What keeps me excited about SS is our people who -create- powerful aspirin, and for the most delightfully desirable high-complexity items too!  Tip o' the hat to the bun-man, et al.  Way to go guys!  

Even though I don't have the skillset in that area to be part of the effort, it's still exciting, and fun, to be part of the team, even from the sidelines.  Waterboy, I guess...lol.

Well, I'm heading offline for a bit.  Just an hour or two away from wiping this 7-year old win2k installation, and doing a custom integrated XP install...and then...  Yeah, reinstalling every single freakin complex app all over again from scratch.

sigh...

See you guys when I come out the other side in a week!

or if not....then hoist one in my memory, eh?  

Posted on: July 08, 2012, 06:08:45 18:08 - Automerged
CC;  Usenet, you bet.  When I first began using the 'interweb', mostly for patent-research, that's where the files were, usenet.  And wasn't I all charged-up to install that spankin' new 14.4k modem too!...LOL

whups...I just 'dated' myself there, eh? 

1991, I think...epay and scamazon didn't even exist...huh...odd to think on that.  I was working with BBS's before that; running tbbs myself.  sheet....I recall once being thrilled  by upgrading to a -1200b- modem...rofl...

Anyway, usenet is definitely worth trying out on a pilot basis...get a feel....work out kinks.  It really didn't work very well back when, because the software sucked, and so did the services/servers.  It was a huge time-suck for anything sizable...and frustrating as hell.  It works a LOT better now than it did in '91.

Torrents;  yup, same here CC.  If someone runs a good place to pick up links, they work very well.  Set it, forget it, a few days later the package has arrived.

Foxy, I was born a country-boy, then spent 25 yrs in a sizable urb (2.5 mill), and finally came to the same conclusion you just spoke, and bailed.  The gains are simply not worth the costs.  Yeah, it's wonderful to be able to hit the bakery for fresh french bread, right around the corner, but...  To give up serenity, joy, health...  No, not for me anyway.  Not any more.

'course, I'm just -aching- for that sweet urban 7mb/s dsl right now, aren't I?...lol...

huh...deep web...never thought about that.  Because I'm ignorant of it.  Heard of it, clicked to a wiki page once and skimmed for a few minutes, so I know it exists...and that's about it.  I'd be real interested in someday reading an assessment of its potential for us; from a member who does have in-depth knowledge.

later dudes

[CocaCola]

And wasn't I all charged-up to install that spankin' new 14.4k modem too!...LOL

whups...I just 'dated' myself there, eh? 

1991, I think...epay and scamazon didn't even exist...huh...odd to think on that.  I was working with BBS's before that; running tbbs myself.  sheet....I recall once being thrilled  by upgrading to a -1200b- modem...rofl...

I remember my first 150 baud modem for my Atari 800, and the upgrade to the 300 baud while scouring magazines looking for BBS numbers...  Trying to always find a local one that wouldn't get me in hot water with big long distance charges on the parents phone bill...  And at least on the software my Atari was running you could watch the data scroll when you were downloading a program, most people type faster...  But, when you remember that cassettes where still a popular input method for the computers and Zaxxon took 20 minutes to load from a cassette, the long downloads were all part of the game...  As I said in a previous post here, file sharing has always been there and no matter how many sites they shut down will always been there, it's just a cat and mouse game...  The dial up BBS boards of long gone days were my first experience with public file sharing, and in the end nothing much has really changed...

[optikon]

I remember my first 150 baud modem for my Atari 800, and the upgrade to the 300 baud while scouring magazines looking for BBS numbers...  Trying to always find a local one that wouldn't get me in hot water with big long distance charges on the parents phone bill...  And at least on the software my Atari was running you could watch the data scroll when you were downloading a program, most people type faster...  But, when you remember that cassettes where still a popular input method for the computers and Zaxxon took 20 minutes to load from a cassette, the long downloads were all part of the game...  As I said in a previous post here, file sharing has always been there and no matter how many sites they shut down will always been there, it's just a cat and mouse game...  The dial up BBS boards of long gone days were my first experience with public file sharing, and in the end nothing much has really changed...

Ahh the memories! The time you describe was a bit before mine.., I came onto the scene when a 14.4k baud modem was the thing to have and expensive too!... US robotics and maybe one other brand.. yes, BBS's, I ran one with all the latest software that was zipped up using DOS version of PKZIP. You could download several 1.44Mb files and it could take hours or days. I remember that having two 80Mb hard drives was an "endless" amount of space.. lol.. DOS was king, Windows 3.1 with "multitasking", the guys down the street were running OS/2.. what was that? ahh the days.....

You are right though, filesharing is persistent and lots of us were brought up on it... new protections schemes developed all the time, new schemes defeated....

[solutions]

It was only the job security of the IT idiots that made DOS and Windows popular.  King?  There was better. MacOS, AmigaDOS were superior. 

When I was on the committee defining ADSL/DSL my modem at home was a kickbutt 33kb Viterbi coded "beauty". I designed the blueprints for my house on my cX (with 23 inch NEC multisync CRT) - I'd set up the upload to the blueprint shop before going to bed, since it tied up the phoneline for 10 hours to do so and it obviously would not fit on a floppy using sneakernet.

[solutions]

Looks like depositfiles is now useless

[Magnox]

Not a file hosting site I know, but it looks like Demonoid has been taken out by the US now...

http://www.zdnet.com/demonoid-busted-by-the-police-7000002208/

If it's true, I'm I'm guessing it is, then the Ukranian police have probably broken the law themselves, with their government sucking up to the US.

[nidhisahu]

... Finally Demonoid.com is Removed ...

http://hexus.net/business/news/legal/43473-demonoid-torrent-site-removed-another-one-bites-dust/

I am sad because it is one of finest clean site for good torrents.

[solutions]

"FileSonic and Oron, two prominent file-hosting services, have been dragged to court by adult entertainment company Flava Works. In a complaint filed at a federal court in Illinois, the cyberlockers are joined by 26 John Doe defendants who stand accused of sharing copyrighted material. These files were also allegedly shared on several other cyberlockers including FileServe, Hotfile and RapidShare."

and

"For Oron, this is the second lawsuit brought against the site this summer. Last month adult studio Corbin Fisher sued the company for no less than $34.8 million for alleged copyright infringements. As part of a settlement, Oron then offered to assist the studio prosecute its own users."

More here:

http://torrentfreak.com/filesonic-oron-and-their-users-hit-with-piracy-lawsuit-120730/

[CocaCola]

... Finally Demonoid.com is Removed ...

There are lots of rumors floating in regards to Demoniod...  Yes, the servers got taken off line and confiscated, and the domain(s) are for sale but there has been no major announcement of arrest...  Thus to say they are gone for good might be a little premature as there is lots of speculation that the owners where planing on launching new 'sharing' sites in the near future anyway and this 'bust' might just be the turning point for a rebirth of sorts...

Only time will tell...

And Solutions those pesky adult movie studios have been worse than the RIAA recently in the torrent arena, they love mass mailing extortion letters to IPs they harvest...  Letters that go like this "Pay us $3000 for illegally sharing our video or we will sue you into the poor house...  Financing and monthly payments welcome" They are the scum of scum... Interesting to see them pull a change up and go after hosting sites...

[solutions]

heh heh heh

"The government, which seized the domain names for simply including links to copyrighted content, dropped the Rojadirecta claim, seemingly due to a recent ruling by Judge Richard Posner. Posner, one of the nation’s most respected judges, knocked down charges that a video bookmarking site was infringing copyright law, just because its users linked to copyrighted videos."

http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2012/08/domain-names-returned

[Sideshow Bob]

Perhaps this is well known but anyway
"Kim Dotcom announces Mega, successor to MegauploadEncrypted service due for launch in January will replace filesharing site that led to prosecution by US authorities"http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2012/nov/01/kim-dotcom-announces-mega-megaupload

[CocaCola]

Interesting work around...  If the host can't identify the content (and is not directly notified that it's infringing) they should be protected from liability under existing safe harbor laws...  That is, in a black and white world, but I'm sure the lobbyist will distort existing laws or rush to get new ones in place to remove those safe harbor protections...

[solutions]

I can point my finger at a book on a library shelf, with the title clearly visible on the spine. How is this any different??

I can check out a book from a library and as long as I don't sell it, or copy pages and sell them, I'm a good boy. How is this any different?

Thousands of counts of copyright infringement if I sweep the pointing of my finger down a shelf aisle. New library rules coming via lobbyists: no talking, no finger pointing, no chewing gum, no book borrowing, and no viewing of even the copyrighted book covers without paying a royalty fee first...

The dinosaurs have stupid arguments. Don't fall into their stupidity by reacting to it, rather than simply pointing out their idiocy.

[chicane]

Megaupload and the Government's Attack on Cloud Computing

Yesterday, EFF, on behalf of its client Kyle Goodwin, filed a brief proposing a process for the Court in the Megaupload case to hold the government accountable for the actions it took (and failed to take) when it shut down Megaupload's service and denied third parties like Mr. Goodwin access to their property. The government also filed a brief of its own, calling for a long, drawn-out process that would require third parties—often individuals or small companies—to travel to courts far away and engage in multiple hearings, just to get their own property back.

Full article
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2012/10/governments-attack-cloud-computing

[CocaCola]

How is this any different?

The difference is that libraries are a public/government educational service...  They not only hold that 'good for society' and 'benefit to society' cards but they also hold the 'First Sale Doctrine' and 'Fair Use' exemption in their pockets as well as a few other exemptions under law...  Put it all together and there is likely a less than zero chance any court in the country would find them in direct or even indirect violation of Copyright...  And mind you the 'Fair Use' exemption under law is not defined, the criteria to determine what is 'Fair Use' is outlined but that is where it ends...  The law doesn't say how much or how little of the 'Fair Use' criteria has to be met to make it Fair Use or a Copyright violation...  This means the Judge and Jury can decide on a case to case basis on whim if they choose, meaning the 'good guy' card is probably a solid get out of jail card on it's own...

Posted on: November 02, 2012, 09:33:05 21:33 - Automerged

Megaupload and the Government's Attack on Cloud Computing

Yesterday, EFF, on behalf of its client Kyle Goodwin, filed a brief proposing a process for the Court in the Megaupload case to hold the government accountable for the actions it took (and failed to take) when it shut down Megaupload's service and denied third parties like Mr. Goodwin access to their property. The government also filed a brief of its own, calling for a long, drawn-out process that would require third parties—often individuals or small companies—to travel to courts far away and engage in multiple hearings, just to get their own property back.

Full article
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2012/10/governments-attack-cloud-computing

I hope that EFF makes some headroom on this and it spawns out from there...

Having first hand experience with this when my laptop was seized and held for 22 months while they denied me access to not only my personal but also my business data on that computer, was not a fun experience...  Even thought they dropped all charges against me and dismissed the entire case against me after dragging me through the legal system for 14 months (as they tried to get me to plead guilty to something that never happened) they refused to release the laptop until they were good and ready to do so, and only after I had filed multi-motions to do so and the Judge finally had enough of their excuses and threatened to find the State in contempt if they didn't hand it over...

[Xwing]

Megaupload is alive and is coming back 

http://kim.com/mega/