rapidshare

RapidShare: We'll help Hollywood, but 'not at all costs' (Q&A)

ASPEN, Colo. -- It hasn't been an especially felicitous year for the founder of file-sharing site MegaUpload: his domain name has been seized, his assets have been impounded, and Kim Dotcom faces potential extradition to the U.S. on criminal charges of copyright infringement.

That's a fate that RapidShare is determined to avoid. The Swiss company says it wants to be a legitimate hosting service that not only responds promptly to removal requests from copyright holders, but that goes far beyond what the law requires.

RapidShare's "responsible practices" policy may have pleased Hollywood when it … Read more

Google must delete 'torrent' from autocomplete, court says

The French Supreme Court has ruled that Google may have to censor the words "torrent," "RapidShare," and "Megaupload" from its instant and autocomplete searches, according to TorrentFreak.

In its ongoing court case with French music industry group SNEP, Google has been accused of implicitly allowing copyright violations for not filtering out these words. The SNEP alleges that when users type in names of well-known musicians in Google search, file-sharing sites get added on with the autocomplete feature.

"We are disappointed by the court's ruling," a Google spokesperson told CNET. "Google … Read more

The 404 823: Where those things have multiple uses (podcast)

Don't latch onto an unsecured wireless network on your Android device, because hackers have found an exploit that puts your personal information at risk. Is anyone else as tired of hacker mongering as we are?

In other pirating news, Netflix has finally beat out BitTorrent as the most trafficked site on the Internet, which proves that people are willing to pay for streaming content, if it's easily accessible.

We have a bunch of iPad 2 accessories to give away today from Hard Candy Cases and The Joy Factory. Enter to win a prize simply by following either company as well as The 404 on Twitter and tell us why you need a cover for your iPad 2. Also, be sure to mention us at the end of your tweet so everyone can see it! Good luck!

The 404 Digest for Episode 823

Kid tells Grandfather that Twitter is a search engine, and these are his searches. The insecurity of Android's open Wi-Fi protocol. CNET Report: Netflix swallowing peak Net traffic fast. Not so fast: Sony's PlayStation Network hacked again!

Episode 823 Subscribe in iTunes (audio) | Subscribe in iTunes (video) | Subscribe in RSS Audio | Subscribe in RSS Video… Read more

Study: Pirated content sites attract billions a year

Web sites hawking pirated software and other digital goods are luring in about 53 billion visits each year.

That's according to a report (PDF) released yesterday by MarkMonitor, a company that protects online brands for its corporate customers.

Piracy sites made up the majority of the 53 billion visits, while those selling counterfeit goods such as fake prescription drugs and luxury items accounted for a considerably smaller amount of traffic: about 92 million visits a year.

MarkMonitor identified 43 sites as engaging in digital piracy. Among them, three sites--Rapidshare.com, Megavideo.com, and Megaupload.com--accounted for about 21 billion … Read more

Buzz Out Loud 1221: Unbumble the Internet (podcast)

Phrases are coined left and right on today's show, from our plans to unbumble the Internet to the chat-room created phrase "gestApple," to describe the behavior of everybody's favorite door-busting-down, Ellen-berating iPhone-maker. Plus, "three-day-old tuna." It's a fun one. Also, six things you need to know about Facebook Connections (it violates your privacy six ways to Sunday) and the ensuing storm of tablet competition.

Subscribe with iTunes (audio) Subscribe with iTunes (video) Subscribe with RSS (audio) Subscribe with RSS (video) EPISODE 1221

Six Things You Need to Know About Facebook Connections http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2010/05/things-you-need-know-about-facebook … Read more

Toolbar detects rapidshare files

Simple and straightforward, this free Firefox add-on detects and highlights rapidshare files. Though we would have liked to have seen more customization options, it did its job well.

RS Tool introduces a toolbar to your Firefox browser. For what few buttons it brings to the table, it took up a lot of room, and it would have been nice to integrate it with another toolbar to save space. On the toolbar, you'll find a drop-down menu with links for help, to contact the publisher, and to upgrade. No other customization options are offered to make up for the dead … Read more