So long Rapidshare?

File-hosting behemoth Rapidshare may go the way of the OiNK. It's lost a case against GEMA -- essentially Germany's RIAA -- in which a judge declared it is in fact responsible for copyrighted material hosted (usually temporarily) by other users using its servers.

 

While GEMA has already issued a press release explaining that this means all policing Rapidshare does must be preventative and not after-the-fact, the specifics of how Rapidshare must rid itself of piracy is unclear. Rapidshare claims to host 4.5 petabytes of material at any given moment, which would make preemptive strikes on copyrighted material essentially impossible.

 

Many expect Rapidshare to shut down completely if it's made specifically responsible for filtering all files before they're posted; keeping the site open would no longer be practical. Still, the kids are already trading ideas as to how Rapidshare, and the huge population of bloggers and friends that use it, can stay afloat. Between things as simple as alternate filenaming and as complicated as hidden-wallpaper RSS scripting (what?), no one can honestly expect filtering a service like Rapidshare to work, which makes this seem much more like a murder attempt than aggravated assault.

 

Rapidshare is currently taking the case to the Düsseldorf court of appeals.

Posted in: RAP CITY , RAPIDSHARE
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5 Responses

January 30, 2008 at 2:49 a.m.

i could imagine all file sharing sites being shut down in the coming years

January 30, 2008 at 4:52 a.m.

Just to clarify, GEMA isn't really equivalent to the RIAA. GEMA is a performance rights organization (or PRO), much like ASCAP, BMI and SESAC in the U.S., which means it monitors performances of its members' songs, collects licensing fees from whoever's using those songs, and distributes money back to the members. GEMA also handles mechanical licenses in Germany, something that the aforementioned American organizations do not do.

The RIAA, on the other hand, is not involved in the collection and distribution of performance or mechanical royalties. It's a trade group that represents record labels.

This would seem to be part of a larger issue that finds PROs 'round the world trying to argue that a music download, legal or otherwise, should be considered a "performance," and therefore any file-sharing site should be paying licensing fees to its home PRO.

May 22, 2008 at 4:50 p.m.

If Rapidshare, Zshare, Megaupload, etc. all shared ad & subscription revenue with the owners of the content they are distributing, maybe they wouldn't be hounded.

Everyone who downloads from there should know: they ARE making money, and none if it goes to creators of music.

September 5, 2008 at 6:01 p.m.

Hmm, so kinda like the major labels then...

October 2, 2008 at 6:58 p.m.

if anyone is dumb enough to sign on to a major label then they deserve to have their music pirated/shared/whatever. the world is moving away from the major labels and bands/artists need to get involved in their business.

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