Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

10 years ago the Feds shut down Megaupload

torrentfreak.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

61–70 of 80 posts

Re: 10 years ago the Feds shut down Megaupload

#61

Post by ReaLNero »

shmde wrote: post #46
ReaLNero wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I never really understood how MEGA is any better. Sure, personal files are encrypted, and thus it's hard to detect pirated files that I upload for myself. But a lot of piracy happens with publicly downloadable files, which MEGA can definitely decrypt and search for copyright violations. I'll be honest -- I've used both MEGA and Megaupload for piracy, and MEGA makes it easier.

> But a lot of piracy happens with publicly downloadable files, which MEGA can definitely decrypt and search for copyright violations. This is straight up wrong. Mega cannot decrypt files and search for copyright files just like that. They need to have the key for that. I have shared a lot of copyrighted stuff on mega and the links are still available publicly but in closed forums( still active ). mega would've taken…

So you're saying the file URL for publically downloadable files contains the decryption key?

Re: 10 years ago the Feds shut down Megaupload

#62

Post by antifa »

kube-system wrote: post #42
azalemeth wrote: post #4

The successor, mega.nz, is genuinely a great service. I know doctors who use it for (legally) sending patient scans, with the key sent OOB, for example. It has a nice linux CLI, mega-cmd, and is intelligently made, cheap, and widely available.

I don’t understand why anyone would trust MEGA when there are other good storage options without the baggage.

Back in the day, MEGA offered 50GB for free and the product was actually pretty good. Sad to see new users don't get that generous of an offer.

Re: 10 years ago the Feds shut down Megaupload

#63

Post by jpgvm »

ReaLNero wrote: post #61
shmde wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> But a lot of piracy happens with publicly downloadable files, which MEGA can definitely decrypt and search for copyright violations. This is straight up wrong. Mega cannot decrypt files and search for copyright files just like that. They need to have the key for that. I have shared a lot of copyrighted stuff on mega and the links are still available publicly but in closed forums( still active ). mega would've taken…

So you're saying the file URL for publically downloadable files contains the decryption key?

Usually but not always. If omitted from the URL parameters then it has to be provided for decryption.

Re: 10 years ago the Feds shut down Megaupload

#64

Post by DoItToMe81 »

shmde wrote: post #46
ReaLNero wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I never really understood how MEGA is any better. Sure, personal files are encrypted, and thus it's hard to detect pirated files that I upload for myself. But a lot of piracy happens with publicly downloadable files, which MEGA can definitely decrypt and search for copyright violations. I'll be honest -- I've used both MEGA and Megaupload for piracy, and MEGA makes it easier.

> But a lot of piracy happens with publicly downloadable files, which MEGA can definitely decrypt and search for copyright violations. This is straight up wrong. Mega cannot decrypt files and search for copyright files just like that. They need to have the key for that. I have shared a lot of copyrighted stuff on mega and the links are still available publicly but in closed forums( still active ). mega would've taken…

I once downloaded copyrighted material to my drive. I never gave the key out, yet a few days later it was no longer downloadable due to said copyright violation. Has Mega's encrypted design been audited?

Re: 10 years ago the Feds shut down Megaupload

#65

Post by jokethrowaway »

ykevinator2 wrote: post #17

I don't understand why we taxpayers decide to pool our money to pay for a staff of employees to ensure that we can't have free music and movies. I would prefer free music and movies over more federal payroll. It's like we all pitched in to ensure Kim Kardashian can have more money.

Because the rich owners of media companies can pay your government, the only entity with a monopoly on violence to act against your interest.

I don't condone piracy and I think the people infringing on an EULA should be punished if brought to a court by the infringed party.

This doesn't mean that the government should do the job for the, spy on you or even just make the job easier for them. Persecuting piracy is not convenient because the company involved is selling a lot of copies of their work, and therefore making money.

There is no reason for society to bear the cost of this exercise, if not corrupted government officials.

Re: 10 years ago the Feds shut down Megaupload

#66

Post by jokethrowaway »

scarface74 wrote: post #20
ykevinator2 wrote: post #17

I don't understand why we taxpayers decide to pool our money to pay for a staff of employees to ensure that we can't have free music and movies. I would prefer free music and movies over more federal payroll. It's like we all pitched in to ensure Kim Kardashian can have more money.

Would you be okay if large for profit companies didn’t have to abide by open source licenses? What’s the incentive to make movies or music just to be given away for free? Would you work for free?

I think we both agree both situation are wrong.

If a company doesn't abide the OSS license of my software I need to sue. I want companies to sue me for eg. redistributing their content without permission. Not being fined by the government with my own money.

Re: 10 years ago the Feds shut down Megaupload

#68

Post by jamjamjamjamjam »

rOOb85 wrote: post #59
ctippett wrote: post #55

My parents live relatively close to Kim’s mansion in Auckland and every now and then I’d see his car driving around (instantly recognisable with his “KIM.COM” personalised number plate). New Zealand, at least back then, wasn’t known for fast (residential) internet. I thought it amusing such a global file-sharing juggernaut was headquartered so close to home.

If I'm remembering right, Kim spent a SHITLOAD for a fiber connection to his home. He was a huge gamer and wanted super low latency. I also remember Kim finding out he was being watched because he noticed his ping went up and traceroute showed an additional hop.

That’s some poor surveillance if it’s noticeable by ping increase

Re: 10 years ago the Feds shut down Megaupload

#69

Post by shmde »

DoItToMe81 wrote: post #64
shmde wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> But a lot of piracy happens with publicly downloadable files, which MEGA can definitely decrypt and search for copyright violations. This is straight up wrong. Mega cannot decrypt files and search for copyright files just like that. They need to have the key for that. I have shared a lot of copyrighted stuff on mega and the links are still available publicly but in closed forums( still active ). mega would've taken…

I once downloaded copyrighted material to my drive. I never gave the key out, yet a few days later it was no longer downloadable due to said copyright violation. Has Mega's encrypted design been audited?

Did you import the copyrighted material from someplace else ? The base link + key was given to you by somebody else ? If YES then copyright holder got hold of the base link and notified mega. This is common.

OR

You uploaded copyrighted material to your own computer to your own cloud, downloaded it and the file got taken down ? This is not possible. If yes then I am in trouble.

Re: 10 years ago the Feds shut down Megaupload

#70

Post by DoItToMe81 »

shmde wrote: post #69
DoItToMe81 wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I once downloaded copyrighted material to my drive. I never gave the key out, yet a few days later it was no longer downloadable due to said copyright violation. Has Mega's encrypted design been audited?

Did you import the copyrighted material from someplace else ? The base link + key was given to you by somebody else ? If YES then copyright holder got hold of the base link and notified mega. This is common. OR You uploaded copyrighted material to your own computer to your own cloud, downloaded it and the file got taken down ? This is not possible. If yes then I am in trouble.

Most likely the former. It was a while ago and I barely recall how it happened.
Post reply on HN