hello guys, i'm just wondering is running a file sharing business has become illegal business i think all of you know what happened to megaupload and most of the key players in such industry are almost closing like fileserve and filesonic and the rest are hosting their servers outside USA is it risky to run such service???
File sharing is not illegal - what is illegal is the sharing of copyright files or files you do not have permission to share. I would say it is very risky nowadays, more so if you offer a payment scheme to those you can get a large amount of people downloading their files. The ones moving away from the United States for hosting is feeling the threats with what happened with Megaupload but if you was still planning on hosting one - you want to make sure that anything that is illegal in your country and the country the servers are is never even uploaded in the first place and you should not have any issues.
but most of people who run filesharing feeling the threats because of what happened to megaupload i hope the usa government find a solution for such threats especially after the SOAP
99.9% of what goes on a file sharing sites is illegal... You guys know good and well you do not go to file sharing sites to swap puppy photos.... and megaupload did not get huge traffic from puppy photos, it was because of the illegal files that were shared.... and swapping files that you do not hold the copyright on is considered illegal...
Good idea - filesharing is being heavily monitored in many parts of the world now, and although illegal downloads are still happening (many by users who don't even realize what they're doing - ie: music downloads by youngsters), I suspect soon we'll see more and more people being fined and even jailed - it's a dying business to be in, not the time to start something like this IMHO.
No, it's not illegal. Anti-piracy units just think they are above the law. File sharing sites will either move offshore or become a 'file storage' site (like Dropbox) in the USA. I see file storage as being the future, I love Dropbox. However, I don't really see the difference between Dropbox and Rapidshare - so I'm not sure why they seem to class Rapidshare as a 'rogue' website (I guess it's because of it's history).
It does not matter where you host your illegal file sharing, or aka file storage...the us govt gives our hard earned tax dollars to foreign countires called foreign aide; the us does this so we can bribe other countries into doing what we would like, or just to be our friend, and if your country in on that list that receives money from the us govt; lets just say if you involve the us govt, then there is no place you can hide from them.... and when i mean you involve the us govt, that means you allow us citizens to visit your illegal site; do not think you are in a safe haven.... if the us wants you bad enough, then they will get you, but then again, we provide foreign aide to terrorist countries also so the terrorists can have jobs while little sally is going hungry because her father can not find work in the us... only if i could sing how broke we are, and we continue to provide financial support to the world.... now you have to ask yourself if the risk is worth it...I would say if you have to move so deep underground to hide from the us, and always looking over your shoulder, then you probably already know the answer to the question...
To answer OP: yes. It is risky. You have to do everything to appear legit from day one. This means actively scouring your product for illegal warez and other copyright stuff. Just saying that you don't host the illegal downloads is not enough. Providing links to illegal stuff is probably illegal. The finer points vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. But in general the big studios, RIAA, and the software and game makers are pulling the strings of the governments and trade groups. If you're the one profiting in any way (even if it's just clout) from illicit files moving around then you're gonna get a warrant.
I am not certain what the laws are concerning linking only, but in my opinion, that person is just as guilty as the party that is hosting the illegal files, because without linking, their site would not go very far in search engines, and those that are linking are helping the pirates...
I like Dropbox but I would never try to get into that business. With Google (Google Drive) and Microsoft (SkyDrive) offering large amounts of free space to average users and other giants like Amazon and Apple with file storage offerings, it is hard to see how a small independent file storage site will survive, let alone be profitable.
Shuman202, Good question. File sharing sites in and of themselves are not illegal, but often they contain illegal content like copyrighted material. It is risky to host such a site because it may be difficult to monitor what users are uploading. The owner of a site is ultimately responsible for the content contained within the site, so someone hosting this type of site could be setting themselves up for legal problems. Here are some useful links: http://www.webhostingtalk.com/showthread.php?t=966404 http://www.cio.wisc.edu/security-filesharing.aspx Hope this answers your question, Shawn
Its not illegal so as long as you make sure your website doesn't contain copyrighted content its fine. But its not only for file sharing websites, its for every website that contains copyrighted content.
sharing porn or copyright material might be illegal, rest dont about other activities also file sharing not giving much money these days as they giving before.