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Posted on 01/27/2012 12:31:08 PM PST by dickmc
The takedown of the file-sharing site over copyright violations provides a warning about being careful where you store stuff.
Megaupload file seizure shows why many cautious about the cloud
Megaupload users are crying foul after their personal files, not necessarily copyright-infringing material, stored with the file-sharing service was seized on Thursday along with a trove of illegally distributed copyrighted works.
Some of those users took to Twitter complaining about the loss of their files, as first reported by TorrentFreak. "I had files up there...gone forever..and they were personal recordings! No copyright infringement!" said Twitter user J. Amir. Another user complained that her work files were now gone, and others used more colorful language to describe their predicament.
The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation called the Megaupload seizure and the arrests of four of its key employees in New Zealand one of the "largest criminal copyright cases ever brought by the United States." Federal authorities, dubbing the alleged criminal acts the "Mega Conspiracy," accuse the site of harming copyright holders in excess of $500 million in damages and claim Megaupload earned more than $175 million for its investors and employees.
Before its closure Megaupload had 180 million registered users and an average of 50 million daily visits, claimed a total visitor history of more than one billion, and accounted for about four per cent of all global Internet traffic, according to the indictment filed in U.S. District Court in Alexandria, Virginia.
Megaupload was one of many sites run by the company including Megavideo, a popular site for finding free streaming video of pirated television shows and movies.
Regardless of Megaupload's policies, it appears at least some users were storing files with the company and not bothering to back up the files on a local hard drive. As these users recently discovered, it turns out to be a bad idea to store files with a cloud service that allegedly relies on piracy for a big part of its revenue.
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Incidentally this alert and link came via Risk Digest which regularly tabulates and summarizes actual risks that occur to the public due to improper application of computers and technology. It is a free, very interesting, reporting summary service to subscribe to ...and... can be found at http://catless.ncl.ac.uk/Risks
I had not really made up my mind about clound computing, but this just did it for me.
the cloud?
you’d have to be a special kind of stupid to think any data held in the ‘cloud’ would not be constantly monitored and analyzed. additionally, to believe that your data wouldn’t be held hostage until a monthly fee is paid is just naive
on top of that, any data not ‘officially approved’ would also disappear
Irrespective of what the law enforcement authorities did it's almost guaranteed that Megaupload was storing some stuff for criminal elements, and for mentally unstable people somewhere.
It's not over yet. There are stockholders and other investors; there are complainants ~ and revenge is a dish best served cold.
We will probably not even hear about any of it ~ but that's the real lesson. If you are running a data storage business make sure your clients are not dangerous.
Sorry, but the cloud is great with common sense because it makes things readily available anywhere on any device. Just use common sense and a hybrid approach.
1. If private in nature and you wouldn’t want anyone to see it then don’t put it on cloud.
2. If desired, make a local copy of anything you don’t mind being on the cloud, but that you want to maintain control over (for email this can be done with .pst files etc.).
The cloud is great, but only part of an overall solution to data availability.
I’ve look at cloud computing from both sides now,
From up and down, and still, somehow,
It’s cloud-computing’s illusions I recall,
I really don’t know cloud-computing at all.
If you are running a POSTAL DELIVERY business make sure your clients are not dangerous.
So, how'd that work out for ya?
I agree with this. If it's important, store it on a Storage HD. They aren't forcing you to only use the cloud.
One of my good deeds was to make sure that boxes of Kotex lost in the mail, or refused at delivery were quickly rerouted to charities that serve women's prisons. Not everybody is prepared to deal with that question ~ probably why I got asked about it.
USPS customarily bends over backwards to avoid offending or angering customers ~ I gave that up when I retired. Customers are all retards who want a government subsidy and no competition.
Worst customer I ever encountered was this jerk in Oregon who bred fighting chickens and would send them to South Carolina to fight operators. You could use Express Mail to do that back then. If his agent found that the chicken was sick on delivery at the post office, he'd just abandon the chicken. USPS got stuck for the bill too since these things were sent COD ~ Do you have any idea what you do with an abandoned and upset fighting rooster in a cardboard box?
That was the one time I went home and wrote personal letters to the Virginia and South Carolina Congressional delegations asking them to support legislation to ban animal fights, and to ban chickens from Express Mail.
I gather South Carolina itself finally decided they didn't need that business.
What was really upsetting about this was that by the time a chicken got from Oregon to South Carolina it was too late to send the chicken back to Oregon if it was refused. That meant Oregon had been selected by the breeders to avoid potential conflict with law authorities in South Carolina who could do something about breeding fighting chickens but not stopping the fights. It was a clever, but very cruel trick.
“Megaupload users are crying foul after their personal files...was [sic] seized...”
Lie down with dogs, ya just might get up with fleas.
And Kim Dotcom looks to be a charming fellow. Here’s hoping he enjoys a federally sponsored U.S. slim-down.
You’re so silly.
Yahoo email is cloud software and so is SalesForce. For some things, it’s unbeatable.
Fact is, this Hong Kong based file hosting company was on the fringe of "cloud computing". This is where people went to store illicit files such as pornography and pirated movies and music, etc. That's not to say that everybody that had an account with Megaupload was doing something illegal, no doubt, they signed up some naive law-abiding customers as well, but it was a well known haven for those that were trafficking in illegal files. Savvy computer users knew to stay away and stick with reputable cloud storage solutions - such as those offered by Google, Amazon, EMC and Apple.
Cloud-based storage is the way to go. I can now access my files from any device that has an internet connection. To me, it's all about access to my data, not a total backup solution. I still back up all my files locally so that in the unlikely event my cloud storage disappears, I'll have it all backed up elsewhere.
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