FileSonic: Another File Sharing Site Goes Down

It appears the recent arrests and shut-down of popular file sharing site MegaUpload may be making other sites question their positions after another popular file sharing site, FileSonic, has appeared to have bowed to pressure about illegal file sharing on its network, now only allowing personal upload files to be retrieved.

This message now appears on the site:

“All sharing functionality on FileSonic is now disabled. Our service can only be used to upload and retrieve files that you have uploaded personally.”

Whether this could be the beginning of the end for other popular file sharing sites like Fileserve, Mediafire or Rapidshare is yet to be seen.

MegaUpload was shut down on Friday morning and several people involved with the site were charged with violating piracy laws. The site was accused of costing copyright holders over $500 million in lost revenue from pirated music and other content. The shut-down came only a day after websites such as Wikipedia and Reddit shut down services in protest of proposals (SOPA/PIPA) intended to stop online piracy.

MegaUpload, which launched in 2005 and is one of the most popular “locker” services on the Internet, lets users anonymously transfer large files — and has generated $175 million in income for its operators through subscription fees or advertising.

Hacktivist collective Anonymous retaliated by taking down a number of music, film, copyright and government websites, inlcluding Universal Music and BMI (which is responsible for collecting license fees on behalf of songwriters).

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