Can locker sites survive in a world without total freedom to go and share any file of choice?
Under the DMCA, online service providers who promptly respond to takedown requests, terminate the accounts of repeat infringers, and take certain other steps are legally immunized from liability for the infringing actions of their users. In principle, sites that qualify for the safe harbor don’t have to do anything else to police piracy on their network. But RapidShare has chosen to go “above and beyond” what the DMCA requires. It urges other locker sites to do the same.
But the Recording Industry Association of America has a different perspective. “We welcome the fact that RapidShare recognizes that its service is used as an illegal distribution hub for copyrighted material and that it has a shared responsibility to prevent this theft,” an RIAA spokesperson told Ars. “Unfortunately the new measures announced fall short if the goal is indeed to meaningfully and effectively reduce the massive amount of copyright theft occurring on its service.”
See also:
RapidShare, MediaFire distance themselves from MegaUpload
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-57416538-93/rapidshare-mediafire-distance-themselves-from-megaupload/
