How RapidShare Plans To Avoid MegaUpload's Fate 97
concealment writes "On November 27, RapidShare will start putting a tight cap on outbound downloads for its free users. Paid members will still have 30 gigabytes in outbound downloads per day, but everybody else will be capped at one gigabyte. The change is expected to further deter pirates from using RapidShare to distribute copyright material on a large scale."
Re:This sounds like a money grab (Score:5, Informative)
This explanation is incomplete, of course, since presumably the uploader is also on the hook for copyright violation, and you have to register an account to upload anything (I think), but there are few uploaders and many downloaders, so the explanation above could still work on average.
Who registers accounts with real personal data?
This post brought to you by Mr. Jesus Christ, Downing Street 10, Washington DC, Russia.
Re:This sounds like a money grab (Score:2, Informative)
Not exactly. Read this move carefully:
In the future RapidShare will use a classic hosting model which means that not only the storage space but also the traffic created will be paid solely by the owner of the file. The prices will not change. With RapidPro you automatically have unlimited traffic for your own downloads of your files and the downloads by your contacts. Additionally you have 30 GB public traffic per day. The recipients of your files have no download limitations whatsoever regardless of if they have RapidPro, a free account or no account at all! [rapidshare.com]
They're really limiting the total downloads of a file by people who aren't in your contacts list. So really you need to pay for an account and get other uploaders to add you to their contact list, otherwise you'll still get snocked trying to download other's files when they reach the daily cap.
Not paranoid enough (Score:5, Informative)
Since they can probably:
1. Locate the retail card reseller from the account number
2. Cross-reference security video with receipt time stamp
3. Look up your license plate number or enhance your face
So make sure you walk or ride your bike, and maybe wear a fake mustache. In the future, all mustachioed cyclists will be suspected of piracy.