# Filesonic shuts down file-sharing capabilities



## RupeeClock (Jan 22, 2012)

> Summary: Only days after the Megaupload website was taken offline by U.S. authorities, similar businesses are scrambling to protect themselves before any action is taken against them.
> FileSonic, one of the most popular file-sharing websites on the Web, has announced that it is has disabled “all sharing functionality”, and that its service can “only be used to upload and retrieve files you have uploaded personally”.
> The company’s Facebook page has also disappeared. According to users on Reddit, it is believed that many accounts and files were deleted today.
> It is thought that this measure has been put in place in response to the wider crackdown on file-sharing sites by U.S. authorities.



Source: http://www.zdnet.com...-the-dust/67670

Following Megaupload's Takedown and Uploaded.to closing its doors to US citizens, things are looking grim.


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## Tom Bombadildo (Jan 22, 2012)

As long as MediaFire, Rapidshare, and Fileshare are still up I'm ok...but FileSonic was one of the most popular! Man...


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## Foxi4 (Jan 22, 2012)

There's still torrents, Usenet, RapidShare etc. The "big players" are still in the game, the smaller ones just prefere to avoid confrontation.


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## Hells Malice (Jan 22, 2012)

Why not just shut down completely. How fucking useless is that. No ones going to use them anymore.
This is slowly making older VNs and animes a real bitch to find DDLs for.

Really hope Mediafire keeps intact.


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## R2DJ (Jan 22, 2012)

I'm pretty sure there are lots of .ipa files on Filesonic. Last time I had a jailbroken iPhone was a year ago so bear with me, but yeah, most of the apps I DL'ed came from Filesonic. Sad to see them go, but it's better to be safe than sorry I guess.


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## RupeeClock (Jan 22, 2012)

Hells Malice said:


> Why not just shut down completely. How fucking useless is that. No ones going to use them anymore.
> This is slowly making older VNs and animes a real bitch to find DDLs for.
> 
> Really hope Mediafire keeps intact.


If they completely shut down, people wouldn't be able to retrieve their important files, and at least now they can still act as a sort of storage locker...


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## Hells Malice (Jan 22, 2012)

RupeeClock said:


> Hells Malice said:
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> 
> > Why not just shut down completely. How fucking useless is that. No ones going to use them anymore.
> ...



AKA...be fucking useless, lol. It'd make more sense to get a external HDD, or use any other hosting site in the off chance you might want to distribute something.
Their drop in business is going to kill them regardless, they might as well go out with cash in their pocket, as opposed to bankrupt.

They should have just given a date for their closure, so people could retrieve any important files before then.


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## pyromaniac123 (Jan 22, 2012)

Bloody bollocks. Where am I going to download the rest of the .hack games for ps2 >.


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## crystal107 (Jan 23, 2012)

I feel sorry for people who actually paid premium, especially those who paid the year in advance lol.. they just got robbed


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## xist (Jan 23, 2012)

Are Fileserve and Filesonic related companies? I'd always assumed it to be the case despite never having any evidence to support it.


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## Thesolcity (Jan 23, 2012)

pyromaniac123 said:


> Bloody bollocks. Where am I going to download the rest of the .hack games for ps2 >.<



Torrents. 
My only beef with torrents is the availability of the content its users provide. Especially with older content you see few to no seeds.


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## rehevkor (Jan 23, 2012)

Rubbish. I can understand them protecting themselves against piracy, but legitimate uses are getting damaged too. I went searching for a program someone made for coverting a game's media files to wav, ALL the links where to Megaupload. So as far as I can tell the program is gone from the internet forever.


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## Terminator02 (Jan 23, 2012)

xist said:


> Are Fileserve and Filesonic related companies? I'd always assumed it to be the case despite never having any evidence to support it.


FileSonic and Wupload are the same owners. 

Fileserve, Filejungle, Uploadstation, videobb, videozer = all the same owners

stolen from comments on a blog (aka not reliable)


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## xist (Jan 23, 2012)

Terminator02 said:


> FileSonic and Wupload are the same owners.
> 
> Fileserve, Filejungle, Uploadstation, videobb, videozer = all the same owners



Seems that Wupload and Filesonic may indeed be related in some manner...
http://takedownpiracy.com/2011/07/update-on-filesonic-and-wupload-being-so-similar/


Don't know about the others....and that's one determined site...


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## kthnxshwn (Jan 23, 2012)

Hells Malice said:


> RupeeClock said:
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There are tons of sites that function the same way FIlesonic currently does. Them leaving it open to retrieve files is definitely not "fucking useless"


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## Foxi4 (Jan 23, 2012)

kthnxshwn said:


> Hells Malice said:
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> > RupeeClock said:
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What he had in mind is that the files uploaded on Filesonic servers were not uploaded there with the intention of safekeeping - they were uploaded with the intention of sharing and are now rendered absolutely useless to those who uploaded them.

I'd also like to underline that such a sudden change of policy could cause an uproar among people with active subscription for the site - essentially, they signed up for a different kind of service then they recieve as of now, the service that they intended to pay for has been discontinued before the end of their "contract" was reached. This could mean anything from refunds to lawsuits.


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## Hells Malice (Jan 23, 2012)

kthnxshwn said:


> Hells Malice said:
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Read my last sentence. Obviously staying open so people can retrieve their files (and subsequently upload them somewhere less shitty) is a good idea, derpderp. But staying open in that state *for an extended period of time* is completely retarded. Unless they're going to turn around in a month and cease the restrictions, there's simply no point staying open. The cost would very likely either outweigh their profit, or they'd break about even (which isn't a good business model).

EDIT: and yes Foxi that's what I was getting at, I suppose I could have stated that, whoops, lol.


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## s4mid4re (Jan 23, 2012)

How does this function? Is it just like dropbox (you can only up/download if you have access to the account)? If so, couldn't you just create an account, upload stuff, give the account info to another person so that he/she can download the up'd contents?


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## Foxi4 (Jan 23, 2012)

s4mid4re said:


> How does this function? Is it just like dropbox (you can only up/download if you have access to the account)? If so, couldn't you just create an account, upload stuff, give the account info to another person so that he/she can download the up'd contents?


Terms of Service forbid sharing accounts, y'know.


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## Tom Bombadildo (Jan 23, 2012)

s4mid4re said:


> How does this function? Is it just like dropbox (you can only up/download if you have access to the account)? If so, couldn't you just create an account, upload stuff, give the account info to another person so that he/she can download the up'd contents?


You could, but it's more risky that way. Plus Filesonic could log the different IPs accessing the same account etc etc.


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## s4mid4re (Jan 23, 2012)

Pinkie232 said:


> You could, but it's more risky that way. Plus Filesonic could log the different IPs accessing the same account etc etc.


So you can't even use proxies? /:




Foxi4 said:


> Terms of Service forbid sharing accounts, y'know.


Makes sense...


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## Foxi4 (Jan 23, 2012)

I don't think they would be able to detect sharing your account with 2-3 people, but when all of a sudden they'd detect downloading numerous files simultainously from very different IP's, they'd immediatelly think there's something wrong.


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## nl255 (Jan 23, 2012)

s4mid4re said:


> Pinkie232 said:
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> > You could, but it's more risky that way. Plus Filesonic could log the different IPs accessing the same account etc etc.
> ...



Does anyone download the same file from multiple different proxies?  I know some download accelerators might but that is easy to account for as those accelerators do multiple _partial _downloads as opposed to account sharing which would have multiple _full_ downloads of the same file at the same time.


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## Hells Malice (Jan 23, 2012)

s4mid4re said:


> How does this function? Is it just like dropbox (you can only up/download if you have access to the account)? If so, couldn't you just create an account, upload stuff, give the account info to another person so that he/she can download the up'd contents?



Well, I suppose, the question here is, why is your avatar so adorable.
Wait...no.

...um
the question is...
question...

Right. The question is, why go to so much trouble, when you could just go somewhere else? Not really worth the fuss of account sharing and ban dodging when you could just go somewhere that openly allows you to share files via links.


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## Foxi4 (Jan 23, 2012)

nl255 said:


> s4mid4re said:
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> > Pinkie232 said:
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The servers register the ammount of simultainous connections, not whether or not the file was fully downloaded.

I believe they'd release their own accelerator for that purpose if they had it in mind.


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## Oveneise (Jan 23, 2012)

THIS SUCKS. Where am I going to find Forest now?!


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## s4mid4re (Jan 23, 2012)

nl255 said:


> s4mid4re said:
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sharing account =/= multiple, simultaneous downloads from the same account

You could be using a single account to share pictures with your family (you up them, while your family dl's it). Point being, "sharing" is still possible.


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## Bobbyloujo (Jan 23, 2012)

I dislike my government.


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## blahkamehameha (Jan 23, 2012)

Megaupload and Filesonic both down (for all useful purposes anyways.)

AKA

Time to pirate the living hell out of the internet while we still can.


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## Tom Bombadildo (Jan 23, 2012)

Bobbyloujo said:


> I dislike my government.


Your government had nothing to do with it (besides an outside influence on the decision).


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## steve1974 (Jan 23, 2012)

I cancelled my filesonic subscription tonight, was a good site while it lasted.


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## Bobbyloujo (Jan 23, 2012)

Pinkie232 said:


> Bobbyloujo said:
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> > I dislike my government.
> ...


Yes? It was my government's actions that caused this...


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## Tom Bombadildo (Jan 23, 2012)

Bobbyloujo said:


> Pinkie232 said:
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They did not force Filesonic to shut down their file-sharing privileges. They were not the cause, but they were an influence to the decision.


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## Foxi4 (Jan 23, 2012)

It's called Indirect Consiquence.

FileSonic removed the functionality out of their own free will, it was their choice, however it was the closure of MegaUpload that convinced them to do so. If MU was not closed by the F.B.I, FileSonic would operate normally today.


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## Koumori_Knight (Jan 23, 2012)

Such are the wages of free society and a free internet.

I am certain that Filesonic accidentally hosted child porn, so its just as well.
[/Sarcasm]


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## Fellow (Jan 23, 2012)

If Mediafire eventually goes or shuts down in some capacity or another, that'll be it for me.


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## AceWarhead (Jan 23, 2012)

We might as well download everything while we can.


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## kupo3000 (Jan 23, 2012)

There goes one of the few upload sites that actually lets you resume while as a free user.


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## kthnxshwn (Jan 23, 2012)

Hells Malice said:


> kthnxshwn said:
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My reply highlights the idea that many sites function this way. It's basically an online way to store YOUR files. Don't have a flash drive on hand? Upload them to FileSonic and download them at the secondary computer. Many sites work this way and it's not "fucking useless" as you would put it.


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## DJPlace (Jan 23, 2012)

god damn when is this going stop?!? is it because of those fat ass bastard's in the hall's of congress doing nothing but playing with each other?!? man i bet anon's going do something for this again... i know SOPA's out for a while i bet it's that other thing that started with a P i can't recall who it was through...


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## Warrior522 (Jan 23, 2012)

Okay then, time to buy a few dozen 2 terabyte drives and download ALL THE FUCKING THINGS!!!


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## jalaneme (Jan 23, 2012)

AceWarhead said:


> We might as well download everything while we can.



i have 2 backups of everything so i am all good, only problem is hard drive corruption and that will be that.


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## lukands (Jan 23, 2012)

Where did Filesonic host their servers.....if that perhaps matters?


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## Sheimi (Jan 23, 2012)

Time to download what you can. :/


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## Mindzpeed (Jan 23, 2012)

No my roms and my music    At this rate an important part of me will fade away....

I dont want to pay taxes for importing things.


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## spark1223 (Jan 23, 2012)

It would safe to assume others may decide to disappear as well, I think megaupload was a scare to get this to happen so they don't need SOPA for piracy. I'll be a big video site will be next (other than megavideo of course).


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## Hop2089 (Jan 23, 2012)

Congress needs to drop dead in their sleep and be replaced.



kthnxshwn said:


> Hells Malice said:
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You might as well use Carbonite instead or another more reliable storage service which just does file storage in the cloud.


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## kthnxshwn (Jan 23, 2012)

Hop2089 said:


> You might as well use Carbonite instead or another more reliable storage service which just does file storage in the cloud.


I'm talking small files you need to transfer once or something you've just finished at home, but need at school. Being 2.5GB, you can't store it on your 2GB flash drive, so you need an alternative. In comes FileSonic.


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## lukands (Jan 23, 2012)

Looks like Fileserve is doing the same


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## Gintoki Sakata (Jan 23, 2012)

My input to this:

*Filesonic basically shuts down itself*

Q: Was it the right move?
A: Yes it was.

Q: Why?
A: Because common sense says it's simply not worth it to continue with their services, risking to experience the same fate of Megaupload. Filesonic has made millions of cash, why should they risk to lose it? It's better to shut down and enjoy life with their money, isn't it?

Q: How does the future of file sharing websites looks like?
A: Not so good. In my opionion they will be either shuting down their serices as well or at least remove their affiliate program. Since uploaders can't earn money anymore with sharing files, the number of warez links will most likely experience a huge decrease. After all, why should uploaders wasting their free time with uploading warez if they won't gain anything from it?


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## RchUncleSkeleton (Jan 23, 2012)

damn, this sucks. thanks a lot MPAA.


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## Hop2089 (Jan 23, 2012)

RchUncleSkeleton said:


> damn, this sucks. thanks a lot MPAA.



Sign the petition, the White House is doing a great job of cleaning house.  Your signature will make a difference between Obama making Dodd resign and even go to jail for bribery and Dodd running free continuing his tyranny.


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## Thomas83Lin (Jan 23, 2012)

^^Damn this blows, were can i sign the petition \link?


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## Majorami (Jan 23, 2012)

I better re-download personal files that I keep on media fire before that one goes down too.


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## Hop2089 (Jan 23, 2012)

Go here

http://gbatemp.net/topic/319216-white-house-petitioned-to-investigate-mpaa-bribery/


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## nl255 (Jan 23, 2012)

lukands said:


> Looks like Fileserve is doing the same



Where did you see that?


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## Hop2089 (Jan 23, 2012)

Almost all file sharing sites have closed their affiliate programs and 4shared has deleted multiple files.


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## lukands (Jan 23, 2012)

nl255 said:


> lukands said:
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> > Looks like Fileserve is doing the same
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Uploader files disapperaing very quickly


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## Gintoki Sakata (Jan 23, 2012)

Hop2089 said:


> Almost all file sharing sites have closed their affiliate programs and 4shared has deleted multiple files.


What file sharing sites?


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## blahkamehameha (Jan 23, 2012)

it looks like the golden age of piracy is coming to an end


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## Hells Malice (Jan 23, 2012)

blahkamehameha said:


> it looks like the golden age of piracy is coming to an end



Not really. Torrents are a better medium anyway. This may very well just  strengthen them. But I really, really doubt every site will be closing down. It's just going to be a pain in the ass finding a DDL for the time being.


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## Majorami (Jan 23, 2012)

Hells Malice said:


> blahkamehameha said:
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> 
> > it looks like the golden age of piracy is coming to an end
> ...


They're a "better" way to download, but not the best for piracy 100% of the time. IPs are open and many rather than private and secure like HTTP download sites. Torrenting a movie makes it hell of alot easy for your ISP to profile you and send you stern warnings via email to stop (they'll contact the billholder's email). Not all ISP's actually police like that but some do and the threat is of being dealt with via law is real. I've gotten an email just 2 months ago after torrenting like 10 GB of movies, so they are watching.

And yet I download 15GB in a single day of PSP games via HTTP, and apparently I'm safe.

Anyways, although P2P downloading such as torrent is better/more effecient, it always isn't the safest, atleast when piracy is concerned depending on your ISP's policies and how they enforce them.


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## blahkamehameha (Jan 23, 2012)

This may be leading a little away from the topic, but don't ISP's who catch you downloading a movie or something via torrents usually give you a "knock it off" warning first?


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## Fellow (Jan 23, 2012)

blahkamehameha said:


> This may be leading a little away from the topic, but don't ISP's who catch you downloading a movie or something via torrents usually give you a "knock it off" warning first?


My ISP did, I'm using Comcast.


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## SickPuppy (Jan 23, 2012)

I don't think that any ISP cares what you download. You pay their bills. But when a copyright holder makes a complaint to your ISP, then by law the ISP has to give the copyright holder your private info. Usually the ISP gives you a warning, probably because the copyright holder told them to. But my guess is that if you keep pissing off the copyright holder, then more serious action is taken. I got a warning letter from my ISP, so I quit doing torrents all together. I think that the main point of the warning letter was, that I was making copyrighted materials available for download.


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## Hells Malice (Jan 23, 2012)

Majorami said:


> Hells Malice said:
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> > blahkamehameha said:
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I forgot some poor bastards actually have ISPs that care.
Shaw could care less what I download, haha. Me and two others in my household pirate stuff quite frequently. My dad and sister pirate quite a few movies, and I pirate tons of games/software. Been doing it for years upon years, not a single peep from 'em.

It's a better method, you just need to fill certain...requirements, to make full use of it, I suppose.


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## Majorami (Jan 23, 2012)

Hells Malice said:


> Majorami said:
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I use Charter, they appear to care. Its still a great service. 2.5 MB/s speed-wise. But if I want to watch a movie or download an import game, I generally have to use HTTP. Though I'm not a big movie fan. Just TV Shows and Games.

PSP games are among the only files that I do download that are oftern multi-archive now since MegaUpload is down, so its not like I really miss torrent.


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## Vigilante (Jan 23, 2012)

Mediafire and other torrent sites are still alive.
Still nothing to worry about.


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## Westside (Jan 23, 2012)

Damn it, I paid for a 3 months subscription.  My favorite wii iso sharing site used filesonic...


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## klim28 (Jan 23, 2012)

Anti-anti piracy peeps haha

Hoping Mediafire stays alive


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## xist (Jan 23, 2012)

It's funny....elimination of a massive amount of filesharing didn't require an act like Sopa or Pipa. All it takes is one MASSIVE court case with years of prison time as a potential penalty....filehosts are dropping like flies.


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## BoxmanWTF (Jan 23, 2012)

o_o
you're kidding me...
I JUST found chd dreamcast games on filesonic and THIS HAPPENS?!!


Spoiler



FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU


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## abel009 (Jan 23, 2012)

fileserve joins the club, ur unable to download from their site no more,,fuuuuuuuuuuuu


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## Valwin (Jan 23, 2012)

abel009 said:


> fileserve joins the club, ur unable to download from their site no more,,fuuuuuuuuuuuu




nvm your right  damn good thing last night i  was feeling that fileserv was next so i download my Zone FLash collection from it


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## Phoenix Goddess (Jan 23, 2012)

abel009 said:


> fileserve joins the club, ur unable to download from their site no more,,fuuuuuuuuuuuu



Just noticed, as well


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## abel009 (Jan 23, 2012)

Phoenix Goddess said:


> abel009 said:
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> > fileserve joins the club, ur unable to download from their site no more,,fuuuuuuuuuuuu
> ...


Fuck, fileserve was my second choice behind megaupload, the internet is dieing slowly


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## HiroshiYamauchi (Jan 23, 2012)

Don't be so dramatic guys, i'm sure that there will be better, safer and mode reliable forms of piracy...i mean, file sharing in a near future. It has always been like this...when a door closes, a new one opens.


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## shakirmoledina (Jan 23, 2012)

to my knowledge this is only one remaining and that is wupload. if it goes out then no more obvious piracy on the internet.
though i can mention filejungle as a famous host along with hotfile.


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