file sharing

If you do not trust online storage drives for file syncing across your devices or are frustrated with storage limits, there is another player in town. BitTorrent has released a new alpha version of its Sync software, which supports syncing folders across the Internet without going through an intermediary like Dropbox, Cloud Drive, or iCloud.

The Sync software uses the standard BitTorrent decentralized file-sharing technology to establish a secure file-synchronizing routine between your various devices. It does so by use of local peer discovery, peer exchange, and static known hosts as well as DHT and classic BitTorrent trackers to establish … Read more

Intrigue and suspense movie thrillers are made from stuff like the story of Gottfrid Svartholm Warg. And for Warg, it seems like his story may be coming to an end.

The Pirate Bay co-founder was charged today with conspiracy to hack into several Swedish agencies and allegedly attempting to make an illegal online money transfer out of a local bank, according to Swedish news site The Local.

"A large amount of data from companies and agencies was taken during the hack, including a large amount of personal data, such as personal identity numbers (personnummer) of people with protected identities,&… Read more

Dropbox updated its desktop client for Macs and PCs yesterday, bring added functionality to the Dropbox window you access either via your Mac's menu bar or your PC's task bar.

The old desktop client was good for getting you quickly to your Dropbox folders or the Dropbox Web site, but it wasn't good for much else. With the Dropbox 2.0 desktop client, you get easy access to your folders and the Web site, along with the ability to initiate sharing a file and accept or decline invites without needing to visit the Dropbox interface. Meanwhile, the … Read more

We Dropbox users have gotten very accustomed to our boring yet reliable Dropbox desktop clients (download for Windows, Mac, Linux 32-bit, and Linux 64-bit) chugging along tirelessly, syncing files and folders between computers and devices with no muss or fuss, that it was with some trepidation yesterday that I updated to version 2.0, the brand-new release from the online-hosting service. The new update gives the system-tray-based app a slight cosmetic makeover--the utilitarian menu as been supplanted with a more modern UI that includes links to your Dropbox folder, the Dropbox Web site, three "recently changed" files, and … Read more

Recently, cloud-storage service Box was offering free 25GB accounts to new customers.

I meant to write it up, but other things got in the way. Good thing, too, because now Box is offering free 50GB accounts to new customers. My foot-dragging is your gain.

Before I go any further, take note that the signup page says "Dell Exclusive Offer." There's no indication you need to actually be a Dell customer or employee or anything like that, but there's always the chance Box will get flooded with unintended/unwanted sign-ups and decide to end or even rescind … Read more

Running out of space on your hard drive? Hey, even in these days of seemingly endless gigabytes, it happens.

Bitcasa is a new service that aims to supplant your hard drive with unlimited cloud storage. And by supplant I mean replace -- kind of.

I'll circle back on that in a minute. For now, consider this: a year of Bitcasa no-limit storage normally runs $99, but right now you can get a year of Bitcasa Infinite for $69. If that doesn't immediately butter your bacon, how about a 10GB Bitcasa account absolutely free?

Update: As eagle-eyed reader brotherj2k … Read more

Thousands of legitimate files are being blocked and removed from users' Mega accounts, even when the file is legal for sharing, according to a report.

TorrentFreak tested the situation, uploading a number of files free for sharing, including, amusingly, a video explaining fair use and a copy of Mega founder Kim DotCom's own music single. All were removed within minutes, with TorrentFreak receiving e-mails from Mega explaining that a take-down notice had been issued on the files.

The problem is that Kim DotCom recently took to Twitter to claim that Mega was receiving only 50 copyright take-down notices a … Read more

Fredik Neij, Gottfrid Svartholm Warg, and Peter Sunde, founders of popular file-sharing site The Pirate Bay, are about to hit the big screen.

A documentary on the notorious site, titled "TPB AFK" (The Pirate Bay Away From Keyboard), will debut February 8 at the 63rd Berlin International Film Festival.

The filmmakers will also release the documentary online under a Creative Commons license, allowing others to share and use the film in their own works for free. A date has yet to be announced for the online release. … Read more

Entrapment is one of MegaUpload's claims in its legal battle against the U.S. government. The feds are now saying this claim is "baseless."

"Megaupload's allegations are baseless, as even a cursory review of Megaupload's pleading and the search warrant materials at issue disproves the allegation that the government misled the court as part of a conspiracy to entrap Megaupload," the government wrote in a Friday filing (PDF).

MegaUpload, which was founded by Kim DotCom, is the highest-profile service to be accused of criminal copyright violations by the U.S. government -- and … Read more