Megaupload Implications are plain scary for Cloud Storage
1–10 of 34 posts
Re: Megaupload Implications are plain scary for Cloud Storage
#2We need to distinguish between primary storage, syncing, backup, distribution, and other cases. I wouldn't even call MegaUpload "cloud storage"; I would call it more of a CDN. If Akamai went down, people wouldn't complain about losing data, because Akamai isn't used as primary storage.
Likewise, the US DOJ makes a distinction between uploader-pays and downloader-pays business models, so we must also.
Re: Megaupload Implications are plain scary for Cloud Storage
#3How about using some common sense? Megaupload was primarily focused on enabling, and even incentivizing, piracy. Although bashing on the government is popular in our community, I don't think there is very much precedent that would indicate they would close something like Dropbox out of the blue.
Re: Megaupload Implications are plain scary for Cloud Storage
#4Does anyone know if all Megaupload content was defaulted to being publicly available? This seems to me the most obvious signal for suspicious behavior. I'm aware that with Dropbox, you can publicly post things, but in this case it's the individual user which is "choosing" to distribute the content and thus it would make sense that the user would be the one held liable. I'm not a lawyer, just exploring what might appear to clarify some of the distinctions that might help prevent abuse of anti-piracy laws.
Edit: Youtube, as a counter example, (I think) makes everything public by default, but they enforce the DMCA pretty heavily.
Re: Megaupload Implications are plain scary for Cloud Storage
#5The author, like many other commenters in the past week or so, is wasting words by saying "this is scary - what if it happened to Dropbox and I lost access to all those files!"
Let's not forget Dropbox is just a replica of local storage. That's the whole model. It's more meaningful to discuss whether or not this could happen to S3. I don't see anyone legitimately worried about that, because it's quite obviously a very legitimate business with tens of thousands of legitimate customers (just like Dropbox). Articles like these portend to get you thinking about the broader implications of a takedown, but in truth they cloud clear thinking with what are essentially scare tactics.
Re: Megaupload Implications are plain scary for Cloud Storage
#6Does anyone know if all Megaupload content was defaulted to being publicly available? This seems to me the most obvious signal for suspicious behavior. I'm aware that with Dropbox, you can publicly post things, but in this case it's the individual user which is "choosing" to distribute the content and thus it would make sense that the user would be the one held liable. I'm not a lawyer, just exploring what might appe…
once you uploaded something you got a link with a unique ID which you could share. Other people could not access your file without knowledge of this unique link as you could not search for specific files (unlike Youtube). As far as I know there was also a list of Top Downloaded files but those didn't resemble the truth as they were carefully selected by Megaupload (to make sure that only legal content would be listed)
Re: Megaupload Implications are plain scary for Cloud Storage
#7How about using some common sense? Megaupload was primarily focused on enabling, and even incentivizing, piracy. Although bashing on the government is popular in our community, I don't think there is very much precedent that would indicate they would close something like Dropbox out of the blue.
How about being innocent unless proved guilty? Megaupload went down without any trial, and even though the site was obviously used for piracy (was it really?), that should still be proven in court and then only the illegal section of the website should be removed from web.
Re: Megaupload Implications are plain scary for Cloud Storage
#8The author, like many other commenters in the past week or so, is wasting words by saying "this is scary - what if it happened to Dropbox and I lost access to all those files!" Let's not forget Dropbox is just a replica of local storage. That's the whole model. It's more meaningful to discuss whether or not this could happen to S3. I don't see anyone legitimately worried about that, because it's quite obviously a ver…
> Let's not forget Dropbox is just a replica of local storage. That's the whole model. It's more meaningful to discuss whether or not this could happen to S3.
Well, every Dropbox account has a `Public` folder with direct HTTP access.
Re: Megaupload Implications are plain scary for Cloud Storage
#9> I’m the first to agree that any website obviously engaged in piracy (vs. having independent users leverage the platform in unintended ways) should be shut down
So if you wanted to start a website like this and maximise your business and legality - the simple answer is to just let people use it for piracy and pretend you dont know it is happening? This seems slightly silly to me..
Re: Megaupload Implications are plain scary for Cloud Storage
#10The author, like many other commenters in the past week or so, is wasting words by saying "this is scary - what if it happened to Dropbox and I lost access to all those files!" Let's not forget Dropbox is just a replica of local storage. That's the whole model. It's more meaningful to discuss whether or not this could happen to S3. I don't see anyone legitimately worried about that, because it's quite obviously a ver…
> Let's not forget Dropbox is just a replica of local storage. That's the whole model. It's more meaningful to discuss whether or not this could happen to S3. Well, every Dropbox account has a `Public` folder with direct HTTP access.
Sure. But Dropbox could be taken down and you lose nothing