FileSonic disables file sharing in wake of MegaUpload arrests
Digital locker's service can now only be used to upload and retrieve files users personally uploaded.
Following the MegaUpload shutdown and indictments last week, FileSonic, one of the Internet's most popular file-sharing services, has disabled its sharing functionality.
The service can "only be used to upload and retrieve files you have uploaded personally," according to a note posted on the site's home page. FileSonic also suspended its affiliates rewards program, which paid users when people downloaded their files.
Some users on Reddit say the online digital locker has already begun deleting files and even accounts, as ZDNet's Zack Whittaker notes.
TorrentFreak called the development "a pretty big deal. Filesonic isn't just some also-ran in the world of cyberlockers. The site is among the top 10 file-sharing sites on the Internet, with a quarter billion page views a month."
The site offered no official explanation for the abrupt change, but some users blame the MegaUpload action for creating an atmosphere of fear in the file-sharing community.
The U.S. Justice Department and FBI shut down the popular Internet locker service MegaUpload on Thursday and announced indictments against seven people on charges related to online piracy, including racketeering conspiracy, conspiring to commit copyright infringement, and conspiring to commit money laundering. Federal officials accuse the defendants of pocketing millions of dollars in illegal profits and costing the film industry more than $600 million in damages.