TorrentFreak

RapidShare is fighting through a crisis after a massive downturn in business forced it to fire three-quarters of its workforce, an insider has revealed. After being labeled a “rogue site” by the U.S. Government, in 2011 the file-hosting service reportedly burned through half a million euros lobbying in the United States to save its reputation. The company is now struggling to find a new path after severing ties with millions of former users.

RapidShare has announced a business model change that is causing panic among its non-premium users. After offering unlimited storage space to customers using its free service, the Swiss-based file-hoster is about to implement tough new limits. This Wednesday all free customers will be limited to just 5GB of free storage if they choose not to pay for a premium account. All excess files still hosted will be deleted forever April 3.

Under continued pressure to take additional anti-piracy measures, file-hosting site RapidShare introduced a new business strategy last year. The model restricted the ability of all users to engage in third party public distribution, the most popular way of sharing copyrighted material. As a result the company experienced a significant drop in traffic and, according to a spokesman, a significant drop in copyright infringement too.

Swiss-based file-hosting service RapidShare is about to take a drastic step in its ongoing efforts to drive away pirates. Starting later this month free users of the service will be limited to sharing just 1 gigabyte a day while paid users will be allowed to transfer up to 30 gigabytes to the public. RapidShare CEO Alexandra Zwingli says that the new measures will prevent abuse by persistent copyright infringers.

File-hosting service RapidShare has lifted its download restrictions for free users. The slowdowns were implemented in the aftermath of the Megaupload shutdown and were supposed to drive pirates away from their service. However, according to Rapidshare CEO Alexandra Zwingli, they have been traded for more efficient counter measures.

Over the past few hours many users of the Swiss-based file-hosting service RapidShare have been unable to reach the site. The problem appears to be affecting UK customers. RapidShare is currently looking into the issues, but as of yet are unable to find a problem at their end. “We have thoroughly looked into the reported [...]

File-hosting service RapidShare admits that the file-hosting business has its challenges, but says that linking sites are the real problem. The company advised the U.S. Government last week that law enforcement should crack down on these websites, instead of writing new legislation that may stifle innovation. To address these piracy concerns, RapidShare’s Chief Legal Officer Daniel Raimer is meeting with technology leaders and law enforcement at the Technology Policy Institute forum in Aspen today.