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Rapidshare Shares Uploader Info with Rights Holders

In Germany, the file-hosting service Rapidshare has handed over the personal details of alleged copyright infringers to several major record labels. The information is used to pursue legal action against the Rapidshare users and at least one alleged uploader saw his house raided.

Like many new releases, Metallica’s latest album “Death Magnetic” was uploaded to the popular file hosting service Rapidshare one day prior to its official release date last year. Since users don’t broadcast their IP-address or distribute files to the public directly though Rapidshare, it came as a surprise when the police raided the house of an uploader a few weeks ago.

At first it was unclear how the identity of the uploader was revealed, but today German news outlet Gulli said it had found out that this was likely to be accomplished by creative use of paragraph 101 of German copyright law. It turns out that several record labels are using this to take legal action against those who share music on Rapidshare.

Previously the paragraph was only used by rights holders to get the personal details of those who share copyrighted works on file-sharing networks. It basically enables the copyright holders to get “permission” from a civil judge to ask ISPs to disclose the personal details of a user behind a certain IP. Now, however, this also seems to be the case for file-hosting services such as Rapidshare, which is based in Germany.

This of course opens up the possibility for rights holders to go after a wide range of file-hosting services and potentially even BitTorrent sites. Indeed, everyone who now uploads a torrent file to a site hosted in Germany is at risk of having his personal details revealed. Although it will be impossible to prove that the uploader actually seeded the file it might be seen as assisting in copyright infringement.

Pretty much all torrent sites keep track of the IP-addresses of their (.torrent) uploaders, and if the rights holders can get the IP-address of people who upload to file-hosting services such as Rapidshare, they can easily extend this to BitTorrent sites hosted in Germany. A dream come true for copyright holders, but a nightmare for the privacy of Internet users.

Too bad for Metallica’s Lars Ulrich who only just started sharing files himself.

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  • ad

    So RS will be down in a matter of months. They share info about ppl which is only reason that RS is so popular. They shot themselves in the foot.

  • Lemons

    This is bullshit. Some dude gets his house raided because he uploaded to rapidshare? I mean comon. THis guy was not the head of a major torrent tracker, he was some unlucky sob on rapidshare. WTF!?!?!?

  • Lemons

    and ad, i agree.
    No one in hell will up to RS now that they are forfitting your data. It will loose popularity and go down. fucking dickheads.

  • z

    Lessons to be learnt:
    - don’t use rapidshare, they are too willing to collude with the scum
    - upload torrents from behind a proxy

  • Lemons

    Yes i suppose. Whenever i do or do not take part in the illegal activity i may or may not take part in, i use https and sftp for downloading…

  • Aniki

    the cancer is spreading…

  • mocka

    I will never upload to rapidshare again.

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  • the.dwarfer

    it’s the old, old story, the pioneer of a cool new business model based soley on piracy spawns dozens of clones then turns to the darkside and then goes ‘legal’ (see napster, kazaa, bittorent inc). rapidshare is the new digital devil. hotfile, megaupload and dozens of others will take their place.

  • FatGiant

    More so, I will not use their services ever again, either up or down. To me, is like they disappeared.

  • Jolly

    Isn’t there this well known tracker in Germany that simply doesn’t keep logs? (http://opentracker.blog.h3q.com/about/) With trackers that apparently under German law not record our IPs how will they ever plan to use the same German law against us?

  • Lemons

    Well i have no need to use RS in the first place, but what will happen to sites like wareznet that have thousands of files and copy righted material on RS?

  • jago

    HEY!

    Rapidshare is located in Switzerland and NOT in GERMANY!

    The first is ‘small an neutral’, the latter ‘big and misunderstood’.

    Given that this simple fact is wrong, I start doubting the whole story.

    Get your facts right ERNESTO! Gulli is also no news outlet but a fucking big sausage-fest for idiots.

    ok…let me summarize: they talked to a SWISS judge who then forces Rapidshare to hand over the IP. Then they have to go to a GERMAN judge who has to force the german ISP to hand over the address for that IP.

    Sounds pretty complicated, given that as far as I know GERMAN law, this is not allowed.

    But I am open to comments.

  • anonymous

    Can’t people upload to RS through proxies?

  • Joe

    Damn, humanity should change its views upon freedom. We’re just like cattles. They want to control every bit of information.
    Ironically, humanity has proven in history that it can express freedom in countless ways. Ok, so they want to take control over the internet… control it, sons of bitches! We have ingenuity that can transform this into something even better.
    We passed the times when masses were easily controlled…

  • Amazingbees!

    There’s a reason it’s called RapidShit

  • max

    @13 how can you run a tracker and not have a record of the peers and seeders?

  • Hynkel

    Horrible move on Rapidshares part :D

  • Bob Newt

    1. You have to pay for Rapidshare
    2. Downloading for free is annoying
    3. All files are split into a million parts

    Rapidshare should have been dumped from the get-go!

  • Lemons

    Yes but they did offer free hosting, so i dont see where you get that you have to pay….

    Either way, many places do have site premium accounts, where premium accounts are shared inside the site, or people of a certain status on the site.

    RS is fucked now though, and so is that guy. I just dont understand why they would give up the info…

  • Anonymous

    Ah well, bye-bye rapidshare!

  • jack

    that’s bullshite

  • RAPE RAPE RAPE

    This is why you shouldn’t be a dumbass who uses a piece of shit direct download site like RapidShare. For fuck’s sake, there’s been far better alternatives for years now. MediaFire ring a bell? No? Well of course it doesn’t, because if you use RapidShare you’re too fucking stupid to use a good site like MediaFire.

  • anon

    this also means they are able to get information about who downloaded a certain file?

  • Ralonto

    Gg Rapidshare, will lose over half of its customers within the coming year.

  • Fin

    They cant arrest all of us.

  • iago

    Rapidshare is located in Switzerland and NOT in GERMANY!

    The first is ‘small an neutral’, the latter ‘big and misunderstood’.

    Given that this simple fact is wrong, I start doubting the whole story.

    Gulli is also no news outlet but a f444ing big sausage-fest for nerds.

    In Summary:
    They talked to a SWISS judge who then forces Rapidshare to hand over the IP. Then they have to go to a GERMAN judge who has to force the german ISP to hand over the address for that IP.

    Sounds pretty complicated, given that as far as I know GERMAN law, this is not allowed.

  • Jim

    Unfortunately for both sides, it’s a cat and mouse game. Each side is trying to out maneuver each other, but the file sharers are just going to jump from one platform to another and eventually stay one step ahead of the legal system.

  • TorrentHolocaust

    Eh, but wait a minute…
    I’m using Rapidshare myself!!
    [faints]

  • jago

    Who wrote this article?

    Did any research go into it? I know this is the internet and all but just writing pure unfiltered gossip is really bad!

    Either there is any proof whatsoever or there is not.

    And I do not see any proof so far. zippo!

    My guess is, the author wants to bash One-Click-Hosting in general after BitTorrent got this major hit.

    One has to pity Pirate Bay – because nobody uses their service to find Copyrighted material, since their search engine is so very bad.
    Ok, they ‘host’ a lot of torrents – still the verdict was unfair.

    Most people get their torrents via Google – and nobody sues them!

  • Nigel

    So much for rapidshare, if any of this is true those folks are done for.

    Nigel

  • Eleriel

    do not grieve the passing of rapidshare. they were living on borrowed time anyway.

    this is just them deciding to pull the lifesupport-system’s plug on their own. you know “rather quick, painful and with a bang than slowly… more painful, and with a whimper”.

  • xman323

    @20:can’t agree more
    RS is lame

  • SplishSplash

    @ Jago
    Hypocrite.

  • Brian

    Time to never again use RapidShare.

  • anon

    There is one thing nobody mentioned: people who download stuff from the internet should encrypt their hard drives (I highly recommend Truecrypt).

    Police can’t do shit about encryption, they can’t force you to give them access. No access, no proof, no guilt.

  • mephisto

    Thanks for this, I posted it on totally fuzzy too with a link.

  • #YLS#

    Ignore TorrentHolocaust, where some anti pirates can at least have an oppinion he/she is 100% troll.

    As for this, well, RapidShare is probably going to drop in usage like flies, only for a short while…

    Looking at this properly though, most company’s don’t even bother to contact mininova in taking down torrents due to the large amount of effort involved, it’s not like all companies will go all out on RapidShare.

    More importantly, unlike Bittorrents, RapidShare isn’t a P2P system so I’m sure many will just take to proxy server’s in China or the such to make their uploads.

    In the long term, there’s a good chance this will come to nothing but a few lost customers.

  • DirtyD

    there are so many holes in this story. i need more proof before i abandon rs.

    i found this article written by the team that represents rs. it is directly related to that 101 law and contradicts the statements given in this article. how can industrial scale exist without knowing who uploaded the file? there is no way for the RIA to associate any two uploaded files. only rapidshare knows this info and when asked about a particular file they will remove it.

    here is a link to the translated article
    http://74.125.53.132/translate_c?hl=en&sl=de&u=http://www.wb-law.de/news/it-telekommunikationsrecht/895/lg-frankenthal-setzt-dem-zivilrechtlichen-auskunftsanspruch-des-101-nr-9-urhg-erneut-hohe-huerden/&prev=/search%3Fq%3DChristian%2BSolmecke%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official%26hs%3DIpX&usg=ALkJrhhhDR1EshodBAaI1BWz-x8JDi9X5Q

  • randò_óm

    Looks like RapidShare is in for some RapidFAIL!

    Boosh!!

  • Widget

    Rapidshare is actually really nice and worth the €6/month or whatever they charge, it’s just that most kids don’t have a way of paying for it over the internet (being minors and all).

    It doesn’t look like they’re going after downloaders still though, and supposely they gave up trying to sue half the world, so it’ll probably only affect the hardcore uploaders and sites like warez-bb and forumw.

  • UltraleetJ

    hmm, where is rapidshare’s privacy statement. If so they seem to forget about what they’ve done, I guess. Plus, I just burned 10 cds of music albums and now 8 friends have them. Looks like tomorrow I’ll make some more and keep on spreading these. So, go, raid all of my friends, raid teh whole freaking world.

  • Anonymous

    I don’t download music illegally, I just buy it off iTunes when I feel like it but I wonder if the RIAA would get me confused with rapidshare because I’m donloading my 367 songs from iTunes that I lost when my hard drive crashed.

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  • Bipanda

    This article has a skeptical stance from me from the get go first and foremost no proof whatsoever another simply fact is that rapidshare is located in sweden.. while this case is prosecuted in germany.. ring any bells? This is a blatant attack of unfiltered gossip on the once click file sharing community after the p2p file sharing world took a hit from the TPB trial

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  • Widget

    Wait, is this the same company that hosts rapidshare.de or not? I thought they were the same, and I’ve never even heard of Rapidshare being hosted/based in Sweden…

  • SucksSoBad

    Man that really sucks….Rapidshare has been around for a long as time so they have very very established mirrors… I was able to download really fast….I dont know any other (within the DDL domain only….) that can keep up with its speed….

    Not too mention im over in the mid east right now….where bittorent traffic is monitored and routinely shut off ur internet connection because its against the TOS….and its the only internet available to me at my site…..so I used ezshr and the traitourous rapidshare. And the later wowed me with its speed on the connection……

    ah but cest la vie……..

    goodbye RS…. sorry that you became such a punk…..fuckin pusssies…

  • NoOne

    Boycott Rapidshare! Use another file hosting service, possibly behing a proxy, but teach Rapidshare a lesson!

  • Bit

    Rapidshare loss in buisnuss= loss for the phished acc’s seller

    RS isn’t going down, its still the most relible method of http transfer.

    Torrents are much faster, as an uploader I’ll just take a little more caution with RS. I only upload legal files that I exchange for AIO packs and what not.
    On the main torrent site is where the real “infringement” party begins

    Happy sharing and remember buy what you like ;)

  • papa

    Rapidshare.com has nothing to do with Germany. Rapidshare.de is a different story since it is in Germany. So, let’s review: .com has nothing to worry about, .de needs to be concerned.

  • Bryan Collins

    Cheap P2P FTW!

  • deadbeef

    @45 encryption won’t really help because the court will just tell you to decrypt your hard drive or you’ll be charged for obstruction of justice and not just illegal material.

  • CCC

    if you upload file to rapidshare , make sure go through a proxy (that on another country) . it will add some legal issue (because of different country) to the chaser .
    for example:

    you(country 1) –> proxy(country 2) –> RS (country 3)

  • not wrong

    @62

    in most legal systems you won’t be told to decrypt your own hard drive.

    if told to do so you can simply say you have forgotten the password. if using something like Truecrypt, by the time they ever decoded it the statute of limitations should be up lol

  • Firebird77

    Hi
    http://www.gulli.com/news/rapidshare-abmahnung-f-r-2009-04-25/
    Read it -> Understand it.

    The Servers of Rapidshare.COM are in Frankfurt (Germany). Rightsholders in Germany get to German Court, want the “Zivilrechtlichen Auskunftsanspruch”, get it from a judge, go to RS.COM (Servers in G-E-R-M-A-N-Y) for IPs, go with the IPs to German Providers, get names. Happy times.

    @jago
    “Either there is any proof whatsoever or there is not.”
    Follow the Link above, our article has the evidence. But it´s in German. Have fun

  • hans

    get the facts, people. rapidshare is a swiss company. swiss is not in eu country and in switzerland downloading is leagal, only uploading is not. so i doubt your story has any true value.

  • Firebird77

    @hans
    And again, only for you
    Rapidshare IS a Swiss-Company.
    A Swiss-Company with alot of Servers in GERMANY. And can only refer to the source.

  • my 2 cent car crash.

    “Too bad for Metallica’s Lars Ulrich who only just started sharing files himself.”

    Ain’t Karma a Bitch?

  • hans

    so its a german problem. they only provided the names from german uploaders. so far i understand is this the case.

  • Ndta

    1. Yes Rapidshare is a Swiss Company
    2. Servers are hosted in Germany that’s why they also have to respect german lavws
    3. Yes downloading is legal here, thats why ONLY the UPLOADER got raided

  • larsisabastard

    Why would anybody want to download metallica’s bullshit anyway? Lars should read his comments on the cover to And Justice For All and realize what a sellout piece of shit he is.

  • Ghandy

    to jago: Still they have loads of server farms in Germany which is the reason why they were forced to disclose the IP.

  • Ndta

    Wikileak has the PDF
    https://secure.wikileaks.org/wiki/Ermittlungsverfahren_wegen_Metallica_Upload_zu_Rapidshare%2C_10_Dez_2008
    “Description (as provided by our source)

    This german enactment is based on data from rapidshare.com

    Rapidshare.com has given the data of the upload from an filesharer to the police. “

  • Boycott

    it’s simple, boycott all RIAA and MPAA products, they are doing their best to destroy the internet as a information exchange medium, they can’t own it so they want to destroy it.

  • Andrew

    Too much bad news in recent times.

  • Amanshivaya

    Isnt so easy to notice simple plan of those who want to destroy all possible net sources for commen people to dl.Fight back in own way as they do….We should all boycot those artist such is Metallica profounders of this actions,puppets of cost-effective comercial lie’s…As one person we can do much less untill we fight back all together in our own way…..

  • joker

    What do you know, you get paid to be caught this is really a big joke. Lets all boycott rapidshare and see how long they can last.

  • Ralonto

    @35,

    Idk, they might still be able to use download logs to show that sort of stuff? But idk the law on what is acceptable evidence and what not.

    Btw if you use Truecrypt be sure to use HIDDEN VOLUMES! That means create a normal volume and within this a hidden volume. The police CAN and WILL force you to give up the password, but if you have all your dls in hidden volumes then you just give the password for the normal volume only (of course put some stuffs in there). That’s plausible denial.

  • ugh

    Questions :s

    First off… I live in the US and I use rapidshare to download “stuff” but i never use it for uploading.

    Should I be afraid? (that’s defiantly what the entertainment industry wants…. but should i REALLY be afraid?)

    also… what is a “troll” post?

  • Amanshivaya
  • Amanshivaya

    dont forget to translate this link page to english or own language…………………:)

  • someone

    rs is just like any other severs, they can get any severs to give up info about there users think about it!

  • Amanshivaya

    Let’s boycott them ALL :p

  • Amanshivaya

    They all exsite cause of US….so would be the way WE people want or no other …..they all coming from among us ….dont forget that

  • 7SeVeN7

    hey here`s an angle you all havent considered:

    owners of Rapidshare.com figure,”ok we`ve made millions for ourselves now its time to GTFO…

    “leak” the info bout that persons ip to the police, that person gets busted , rapidshare tells its up/downloaders “hey sorry we gotta close cause of this threat of being busted, an sorry to those who have an on going acct. with us but we cant give you your money back”

    RS owners get out with little hassle and keep their millions

    little far fetched?

    meh what do i know……….

  • 7SeVeN7

    BTW RS blows chunks

    FF hack for megaupload much better and free……

  • RS (ocasional) user

    1. There is RS.de also, in Germany; could this be about that one?
    2. How about uploading split archives protected by passwords, having names thats have nothing to do with the content? You get the link and pass from forums, but the police won’t check all trillions of files uploaded on RS; that could reduce the risk …

  • Nef

    Tried RS, but it sucked.

    Slow, complicated. No thx.
    Good riddance.

  • joeplain

    as I can see there are TWO distinct rapidshare services:

    rapidshare.de and
    rapidshare.com

    different rules, prices and country

  • i has an rs account

    rapidshare is good if you have a paid account, with a download manager i can download pretty much anything i can think of (thanks to warez-bb) at my full speed. but i think the only reason its good now is because of the sheer number of people who upload to it. if every uploader just started using megaupload or one of the other 10 or so file hosting sites, then i could od the same thing. rapidshare have no niche any more, so i’m guessing theres a fair chance they did this on purpose, especially with the decline in internet revenue these days. keep the police happy and run away with all our moneyz

  • i has an rs account

    sorry, i meant 100′s, not 10′s of hosting sites lol. there are loads of them.

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  • rs sucks

    I just got this email from rapidshare

    Your RapidShare account is being terminated due to violating the terms
    of service. Illegal downloads are being hosted on our servers, voiding
    our terms of service. We have detected and deleted these files, and are
    now in the process of terminating accounts that have downloaded or
    stored these files. This is to ensure that more illegal content does not
    appear on our servers. We do not support or encourage the usage of
    illegal programs, music, or other media. The terminated account will
    appear on Rapidshare servers for 2-3 days but you will not be granted
    access to it.

  • Anonymous

    Downloaders don’t have anything to worry about as they are protected by German privacy laws (=no chance to get IP / data behind it). If you are from another country it probably doesn’t matter anyways and if you’re still not sure, just use sharebee.com (unless you’re to fkn greedy for RS points) for uploading: voila gratis uber proxy.

  • Anonymous

    Conclusion: don’t upload to Rapidshare = don’t give money to them.

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  • Firebird77

    @RS (ocasional) User
    “You get the link and pass from forums, but the police won’t check all trillions of files uploaded on RS; that could reduce the risk …”
    The Police won´t, bot the lawyers of the Musicindustry (in Germany especially Lawyer Rasch) do that!

    @Anonymous
    “Downloaders don’t have anything to worry about as they are protected by German privacy laws (=no chance to get IP / data behind it).”
    That´s simply wrong. The §101 UrhG could be used as well against Downloaders and so even their IP-Adresses can be revealed. BUT: It would be pretty hard, due to the defition of the §101 UrhG (can´t explained it in english atm). And the most important thing: Getting Uploaders (the Sources) ist much better than getting Downloaders. Due to the “damage” uploaders create (Uploader: Damage x Times of Downloads – Downloader: Damage 1x)
    http://www.gulli.com/news/rapidshare-abmahnung-f-r-2009-04-25/ ->Translate->Read->Understand
    Ernesto explained it already pretty good (thx therefore).

  • iLiekCaek

    Hello ********,

    Your RapidShare account is being terminated due to violating the terms of service. Illegal downloads are being hosted on our servers, voiding our terms of service. We have detected and deleted these files, and are now in the process of terminating accounts that have downloaded or stored these files. This is to ensure that more illegal content does not appear on our servers. We do not support or encourage the usage of illegal programs, music, or other media. The terminated account will appear on Rapidshare servers for 2-3 days but you will not be granted access to it.

    * Please do not respond to this message as it is a automated service.

    RapidShare.com Abuse Office

    RapidShare AG | Gewerbestrasse 6 | CH-6330 Cham | Schweiz
    Tel.: +41 41 748 78 80 | Fax: +41 41 748 78 99

    :)))))

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  • Anonymous

    @83 firebird
    No it’s absolutely impossible. Prosecuting uploaders is only possible, because some courts stretch the meaning of “commercial” to the max, arguing that if you offer something at the same time as it’s being released (or even before) you act like a commercial competitioner, while other courts say only more than 200 movies/3000 mp3s (=3000€) are commercial. If you download you obviously don’t make it publicly available, thus it’s a totally different offense, that may even be covered by your right to make private copies.

  • Blanchimont

    Solution simple;
    1. Use secure encryption on the file(s), with a software that uses secure enough algorithms (truecrypt/etc)
    2. Split the archive in two/more pieces
    3. Name all pieces differently and in no relation to the content.
    4. Make sure you upload them to a file hosting as far as possible from your actual location
    (4b. Extra step: Upload them to different filehosts. If you’re paranoid…)
    5. Try make sure the link(s) and password(s) are available only to the target recipient (person(s)/forum(s)/etc)
    (of course, if the place you share your links at is ‘infiltrated’ it’s pretty hopeless…)

    Also, 0.(before 1.) Make sure the files don’t have metadata/tags in them that might give the source away (tags in audio files (wmp >.>…)/invisible markers on printouts, and you just happened to have given all your info for the sake of that ‘insurance’ when purchasing that printer…/etc)

    … happy sharing^^. Not idiotproof, just a little common sense…

  • Anonymous

    @84

    wtf dude

  • Anonymous

    @84

    bye rapidshare dont let the door hit ya on the ass on the way out

  • from blackberry

    That’s gonna hurt rapidshare…

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  • Adam

    @84, if you got that email then you were phished, not cancelled. i spoke iwht RS about a similar mail last week, they told me they don’t ever send those out and the mails they do don’t use those templates.

  • Larry G.

    I find it ironic that nobody here understands where the actual source of all Internet content (i.e. movies, TV programs, music, etc.) originate from–newsgroups!

    That’s right! Why are you paying for rapidshare when all it’s doing is redirecting you to newsgroups which you can do yourself for free! All bit torrent content too originates from the same newsgroup uploads and then everybody distributes them. It’s a joke that people are paying extra to third parties on top of paying for their regular ISP accounts to access newsgroups and download the exact same files.

    Ever here of NZB searching? You can do it yourself with free software and freeware newsgroup software! I hate bit torrent especially those private bit torrent sites that make up all these strict crazy rules on usage. Where do you think all that content came from in the first place? Newsgroups!

  • QsM

    Sucks, but seriously what kind of idiot would upload to rapidshare? You have to be out of your mind.

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  • Megaupload

    Death to Rapidshare…
    Long life to Megaupload!!!

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  • Encryption is worthless

    BTW people, encryption is worthless. when you unecrypt the file it writes the unencrypted version to your drive, which then like everything else, can be restored after deleted or reencrypted.

  • sugar cane

    So mediafire is the best alternative?

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  • Bloodyscot

    The problem is not with Rapipshare but with the courts. Judges(and goverments) are getting alot of pressure and if one judge doesn’t see their way they find away to get it before another judge who will. Much of this is questionable or illegal but once their get the information it is hard to do much.

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  • lowlifescum

    fuck rapidshare to hell.

  • Sigh

    #92 LOL from newsgroups? What are you? 12?
    All the groups in the warez scene are on closed FTP sites, where the content is traded to smaller sites via FXP.

    And THEN it’s spread to usenet, p2p services and hosting sites like RS:

  • BarfBag

    Ehm Larry G get your facts straight!

    Things don’t come from newsgroups they come from scenegrp’s. A person grabs a scenegrp rls and puts it on the newsgroups or a torrent network.

    So please don’t talk about stuff you know absolutely nothing about.

    Sorry for my poor english it isnt my first language.

  • Anonymous

    Rapidshare is about to lose all their revenue… they’re retarded.

  • meme

    never liked rapidshit

    STOP using it!

    megaup is way better.

  • Stuart Hannig

    hahaha you commie piraters are in deep deep poop :D

    I pirate but I don’t upload I only leech download. Rapidshare is great let the uploaders get the blame and I can download as I want.

    Suckaz

  • Demo

    congrats RS you just killed your fan base.

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  • ugh

    at # 103

    Are you retarded? with out uploaders you will have nothing to download

    also, you insulted your self in the first sentence. good job

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  • EthicalBob

    Wow.. people are crying because they (in the immortal words of Jane’s Addiction), “been caught stealin’…”

    Poor, cheap bastards. HAHAHAHAHAHAH

  • anonymous

    thats the risk you take uploading copyrighted material to somewhere. no point whining about it, s’all in the game

  • Anti-Rapidshare-Trooper

    You retarded Rapidshare fags deserve eternal punishment and never-ending torture. You pathetic scum thought you’re above Gnutella (that includes LimeWire you brainless dirt) and BitTorrent. You thought you’re more clever, safer, faster and whattheheckyou. Now Rapidshare rears its ugly centralistic head and you get flak galore. Go to hell, you goddamn traitors!

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  • hmmm

    lol let me get this straight so this law only affect people living in Germany .?

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  • Fail

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RapidShare

    RapidShare is a Swiss-owned one-click hosting pay- and free-service (with certain restrictions and limitations) website that operates from Switzerland and is financed by the subscriptions of paying users. Rapidshare is one of the world’s largest file-hosting sites with millions of files stored on its servers. According to Alexa, Rapidshare.com is currently the 17th most visited website globally.[1]

  • Fail

    From RS TOS…

    “II. Upload Regulations

    (1) Basically, users may save any file at RapidShare irrespective of the file format or of the file contents. Excluded, however, are files the possession and/or circulation of which is illegal, such as

    * – child pornography content,
    * – works the download of which violates third party copyrights;
    * – racist or violence-glorifying works,
    * – instructions to criminal offences against public peace.

    This list is not conclusive.

    (2) RapidShare will block access to such contents immediately after obtaining knowledge thereof and will delete them after an examination phase of 14 days. Furthermore, it will delete files which are identical to previously deleted files.

    (3) With regard to users who violate these upload regulations, RapidShare is entitled to terminate the contractual relationship without notice , to block the access of the respective users to its services and/or to delete accounts of such users including all contents.”

  • Black-Beard

    Re:#105 about #103 Retarded? Leecher? More like IMBECILE & MAGGOT. This thing is a self-proclaimed pirate & leecher & laughs at the people sharing things with this fool?

  • Ronald

    So much for rapidshare

    *goes back to Megaupload and Mediafire*

  • ARPIT SHARMA

    THANK GOD I AM LIVING IN INDIA
    IN IDIA WE ALL GET DYNAMIC IP ADDRESS ( YEH NO ONE CAN TRACK US ! )

  • lewl

    I’m not sure about Germany, but in America, that’ll be hard to hold up in court. Uploading to rapidshare isn’t synonymous with file sharing. I use a premium version of Rapidshare so that I can have access to a few of my files from multiple locations. Until they (Rapidshare) starts handing over information on “file x being downloaded by this IP” I’m not sweating it. Let’s see what the court proceedings have to say…

  • 116

    am ok my internet connection is hidden from my address meaning i dont pay for my internet nor does my ip address, they can track me all they want but they wont pinpoint my location due to my location being somewhere else, as for RS ave contacted and asked for a refund due to the nature of there breach of contract,

  • Wut

    You know all of those annoying “This file has been blocked for containing suspected illegal content” messages you see?

    Guess what, that’s Rapidshare getting rid of the evidence when asked for uploader details.

    You’re the most gullible bunch I’ve ever seen, though I expect nothing less from torrent users.

  • NiceShot

    Expect Rapidshare to disappear in 6 months. Their only value is anonymity. Why don’t these dipshits every get it.

  • gd

    There’s way too much competition out there for these tards to be doing this.

  • cotonishu

    I hate RS for their “free” service, having such free servers like MF or ziddu… WE are the guilty one, because we download from that rapidshet, we should let it die…

  • X3R0

    ALTHOUGH IM QUITE HAPPY TO THIS PATHETIC XCUSE OF A FILE HOST GO DOWN THE DRAIN……..IM WORRIED THT THIS WILL MEAN THT ALL OTHER HOSTS WILL START TO SHARE USER INFO WITH M#$@@#$F#@$ing RIGHTS HOLDERS……PPL JUS DON WANNA SHARE NYMORE

  • Hollyw00t !

    ROTFLOL @ the whole Lars Ulrich enjoying a bottle wine whilst downloading Death Magnatic in 30 minutes!

    Wine? WTF happened to the Jagermeister and beer?

  • Funkster

    Thank god Depositfiles is russian

    http://depositfiles.com/signup.php?ref=funkster2

    I never thought I’d say this, but: Go Russia!

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  • PsyClone

    Agreed total BS. And the 2.66GB limit is also BS. I’ve switched over to mediafire & still if I upload I’d say use a proxy or free wifi, Sucks his house was raided, I mean they take everything! When they do that!

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  • LOL Larry G

    @Larry G
    Err… Actual source… Newsgroup… Originate… Wait… What!? LOL. Educate yourself before you want to make others understand!

    Ever heard of scene groups?

    That’s right! Scene groups!

    LOL Now that’s what we call the ultimate ironic… Thanks for the laugh.

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  • Anonymous

    rapidshare was the best I dont care what others say, I found more stuff on rapidshare than any other site

  • PROGGO

    Good news.
    “Filesharing” is a word that someone came up with to make greedy people seem friendly. “We don’t steal, we are just nice to each other and share what we have”.

    I never understood how so many people could fall for that argument. As if it was true. Ha! Filesharing is only about one thing. To get others work for free. Disgusting.

  • RapidDownloader

    I tought rapidshare was anonymous?? or isnt it???

    What about megashare?

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  • Anonymous

    @84 (and all who got their accounts “suspended”): It’s called getting key logged or phished. Email RS for your account back.

  • Blitz

    @121 Hollyw00t !

    Lars is obviously a cheap bastard: 1 bottle of wine for 6 people???

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  • don’t-you-read-the-news?

    Quite some months ago, Rapidshare modified its rules so that anonymous, unpaid uploads could only be accessed 10 times. Which is fine for sharing with your 10 closest friends, but completely ineffective for sharing with the world. After 10 downloads, RS locks any file uploaded anonymously.

    Any generally-available content on Rapidshare from the last few months will be tied to paid-account information. So uploaders don’t have to be identified through IP address — they can be identified via credit card/paypal details.

  • O.B. Dan

    Rapidshare…the good:

    1. It was not loaded with pop-ups; ergo, not a major carrier of adware, malware, and such.

    2. Music files downloaded from RS were corrupted a lot less frequently than other servers.

    3. Its free version was very workable, and not hard to circumvent its limits and restrictions.

    4. Some blogs had found ways to upload massive files; it was just a matter of time before that procedure became well-known.

    5. Free or paid, downloading was a fairly simple procedure.

    The bad:

    1. The paid version was no bargain, and frankly, not worth the price.

    2. The free version was slow, especially if you used Internet Explorer.

    3. It was always an easy target for self-righteous deleters and trolls.

    4. For free users, there was no way around that “one at a time” limit, at least not that I ever found.

    5. Worst of all, apparently its size and popularity made it the #1 legal target. Site shutdowns are nothing new.

    Rapidshare didn’t offer up uploader info, it was ordered by the courts. Granted, RS didn’t fight too hard. And in Germany, Switzerland, USA, wherever, the big-bucks companies will always get the courts to rule in their favor, right or wrong.

    It’s not your average downloader who has saved a fair amount of free music, bootleg or copies of legit stuff. It’s the bigger uploaders they’re after.

    It was just a matter of time.

    So say goodbye to Rapidshare, and move on. Some uploaders (the ones not currently facing legal action) will move on, and find other servers.

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  • zarathustra

    “The security of personal data is very important to us, especially in these times. That’s the reason why we will not spy out the files that our clients faithfully upload onto RapidShare, not now nor in future. We are against upload control and guarantee you that your files are safe with us and will not be opened by anyone else than yourself, unless you distribute the download link. RapidShare, of course, is against the distribution of illegal files and as soon as we are informed about illegal distribution, we delete these files and put them on a filter. But the general control of uploads is out of the question for us, because we think that especially in these times data privacy comes first. “

  • fizzle

    SHIT!
    Mediafire is the bomb!
    I wish more people would upload there.

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  • Hss

    If anyone should be arrested it’s rapidshare owners, they are hosting illegal files.

  • Anonymous

    132 Apr 28, 2009 at 02:35 by zarathustra

    Nice howyou quote a puff piece from RS!

    Too bad though that it is now for well over a year(!) known that RS has granted the Pro-Media GmbH (lawyer Rasch!) Admin access to the RS system.
    The Contentindustry can delete what ever they please themself. And I would not doubt that they can see who uploaded the stuff too.

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  • King Dong

    i knew these tools are going down the fucking drain once they changed there limits to shit, yet i stopped using it but fucktards keep uploading shit to rs, so i had to get it. now i find this out. Fuck STOPPPPP USING RS YOU IDIOTS

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  • Azrael

    Emailed Rapidshare… :

    http://i39.tinypic.com/5mk9wi.png

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  • inpulz

    its not the regular rapidshare.com, it is rapidshare.de and rapidshare.com is located and founded on switzerland, so relax

  • inpulz

    in switzerland, and the rapidshare(de) who have been raided is in germany

  • somnolence

    I’ve often wondered why people download music through Rapidshare anyway. I’ve never been able to, mainly because the only pay service I will use is Amazon at times. I just will not go the premium user route. Anyway, to me, megaupload is so much better. Anytime rapidshare popped up, I just say, oh well, wasting your time.

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  • KillerX3189

    First The Pirate Bay now RS.. Next is MegaUpload.. What the fuck is going on? Swine flu, sites going down, the economy it failing, people going out of business, low supplies? The second millennium is way too fucking greedy and lazy.

  • Hunterkiller

    Greetings, from where I sit, I can see two rapidshares. There is Rapidshare.com which is located in Switzerland . Then there is Rapidshare.de which is locate in Germany.

    I am guessing that it’s the German one that got hit.

    I can see that if the law says they MUST release then they MUST, no question unless it is unconstitutional, and I have no knowledge of German law but twenty years as a police officer, ten as Chief of Police and a Paralegal degree with a year working for the District court here in my home state does give me a bit of knowledge of how the law overall works.

    Anyone uploading a document, or multimedia file that has a copy-write must understand that they are breaking the law, just the same as if you were to shoplift this file be it a DVD or CD of music. To expect the owner of that copy-write to just sit back and do nothing as his product looses value because it is available for no charge on the internet then complain when action is taken is living in a fools paradise.

    Granted I too download copy-written files all the time, but I am very aware that I am violating the law, and as such putting my pocketbook and my freedom on the line each and every time I do this.

    You too should understand this not sit and complain to Rapid-share or any other file sharing outfit. It is not their desire to give up this information however when a writ is served they really have no choice. My son works for a major internet service provider and used to handle the warrants here, but since the government here in the US has opened this up under the homeland protection act, warrants are no longer required, any person in the United States is now subject to having their computers raped by the federal government with no notice or consent, and action can be taken against you for each and every file, song, or flick that resides on your hard drive and is visible to the investigator who back traces you via your IP address and manages to open your system to seek illegal files.

    It’s crap but that is the way it is here in the good Old US of A under King Obama!

  • Yer ma

    Wow Obama is a powerful man to structure the whole legal system like that in 100 days! I had no idea. It must be because he is a socialist.

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  • Sigh

    #142 It has been verified numerous time, it’s the .com site and not the .de site.

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  • fools

    Did anyone actually think rapidshare would protect your personal info from copyright holders? What webhost would?
    If you upload copyrighted material to ANY site you better know how to remain anonymous or be willing to suffer the consequences.

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  • Valgrindar

    As if Rapidshit wasn’t bad enough beforehand…

  • Euphoric

    Total bullshit….For noobs: you can always use secure connection to rapidshare site: httpS://rapidshare.com

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  • grammar nazi

    @#5 (Lemon)

    An encrypted connection only helps against eavesdropping, not against the receiver of the file to store your IP address.

    One more view of mine that surely has not changed because of this news item: screw rapidshit.

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  • Anonymous

    Of wat!
    yeah, canceling all 3 of my accounts.

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