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razorboy · 28th January 2012

Unplugging: SOPA and Megaupload raid reverberate in cyberspace

Posted on January 28, 2012 - 10:49 by Lily Angelle

Unplugging: SOPA and Megaupload raid reverberate in cyberspace | TG Daily

It certainly has been a lively couple of week for music fans worldwide, with the threat of SOPA/PIPA bills and the Megaupload raid.

Some sites were blacked out in opposition of the bills, while millions of Internet users signed an online petition powered by Google. Due to the overwhelming amounts of protests, it seems that Congress has postponed the SOPA/PIPA legislation - at least until further notice and revision.
A* major threat to online music sharing and popular search engines like Google and Wikipedia, the SOPA/PIPA bills were created to address anti-piracy issues on the 'Net, but people are obviously not having it.
When websites all across cyberspace blacked out their sites out of protest, people all over the nation took to the streets to protest.

Politician took notice of the massive amounts of opposition they’re faced with, and postponed their vote on the legislation, which was set to happen January 24th. Although we can breath a little easier knowing SOPA/PIPA has been put on hold for now, senators have proposed a similar act that seeks to regulate access to particular sites.

In fact, federal authorities have shut down a major Hong Kong file-sharing company, Megaupload. Claiming that they’ve earned over $175 million through the illegal sharing of movies, television shows and e-books, executives at Megaupload have been indicted on multiple counts.
But this sudden attack was not without retaliation from hacker group Anonymous, which shut down the Justice Department’s website. The shuttering of Megaupload is a major accomplishment for anti-piracy enforcers in Washington, as it was the 13th most visited site on the Internet.
So, what does this mean for music lovers like us? Well, shortly after Megaupload was downed, other file sharing sites backed down, signaling a possible end to free music downloading in the future.

The file sharing community feels very threatened at the moment, even more so now, since Filesonic and Upload to withdrew from the race.

With messages now on their homepages reading, "All sharing functionality of FileSonic is now disabled," or "Our service is currently unavailable in your country. *Sorry about that," it is becoming clear that the file sharing communities we partake in are in trouble, and it could mean the end to free music and movie downloads. It’s unclear whether Filesonic and Upload.to are permanently disabled, or if they’re just waiting for the anti-piracy threats to blow over, but for now, only time will tell.

28th January 2012	#21
razorboy Gear addict Joined: Jul 2009 Location: Kanuckistan Posts: 429	Unplugging: SOPA and Megaupload raid reverberate in cyberspace Posted on January 28, 2012 - 10:49 by Lily Angelle Unplugging: SOPA and Megaupload raid reverberate in cyberspace \| TG Daily It certainly has been a lively couple of week for music fans worldwide, with the threat of SOPA/PIPA bills and the Megaupload raid. Some sites were blacked out in opposition of the bills, while millions of Internet users signed an online petition powered by Google. Due to the overwhelming amounts of protests, it seems that Congress has postponed the SOPA/PIPA legislation - at least until further notice and revision. A* major threat to online music sharing and popular search engines like Google and Wikipedia, the SOPA/PIPA bills were created to address anti-piracy issues on the 'Net, but people are obviously not having it. When websites all across cyberspace blacked out their sites out of protest, people all over the nation took to the streets to protest. Politician took notice of the massive amounts of opposition they’re faced with, and postponed their vote on the legislation, which was set to happen January 24th. Although we can breath a little easier knowing SOPA/PIPA has been put on hold for now, senators have proposed a similar act that seeks to regulate access to particular sites. In fact, federal authorities have shut down a major Hong Kong file-sharing company, Megaupload. Claiming that they’ve earned over $175 million through the illegal sharing of movies, television shows and e-books, executives at Megaupload have been indicted on multiple counts. But this sudden attack was not without retaliation from hacker group Anonymous, which shut down the Justice Department’s website. The shuttering of Megaupload is a major accomplishment for anti-piracy enforcers in Washington, as it was the 13th most visited site on the Internet. So, what does this mean for music lovers like us? Well, shortly after Megaupload was downed, other file sharing sites backed down, signaling a possible end to free music downloading in the future. The file sharing community feels very threatened at the moment, even more so now, since Filesonic and Upload to withdrew from the race. With messages now on their homepages reading, "All sharing functionality of FileSonic is now disabled," or "Our service is currently unavailable in your country. *Sorry about that," it is becoming clear that the file sharing communities we partake in are in trouble, and it could mean the end to free music and movie downloads. It’s unclear whether Filesonic and Upload.to are permanently disabled, or if they’re just waiting for the anti-piracy threats to blow over, but for now, only time will tell.