Scary Times: MegaUpload shutdown, SOPA, PIPA and ACTA

By amrayu On January 26, 2012 · 21 Comments · In News

GYABOOOOOO!!!

As some of you may have heard, MegaUpload.com, a popular filesharing service was shut down last week. I won’t rehash the whole story, but let’s just say MegaUpload.com was indicted on charges of copyright infringement. You can read the story here. The timing of the shutdown was right on the heels of the SOPA/PIPA protest which has caused quite a stir on the interwebs. The timing is definitely odd and scary, but I’ve heard reports that it was a mere coincidence. As a result of the MegaUpload shutdown, several companies in the same industry have scaled back their services.

Here’s an excerpt from Readwriteweb.com of the effects so far:

Popular sites like FileSonic and FileServe are preventing users from downloading files uploaded by anybody other than themselves. Uploaded.to, another service used for hosting and sharing files, has stopped accepting users from U.S.-based IP addresses all together. In total, Evolver.fm’s Eliot Van Buskirk counted nine different file-hosting services that have made some kind of substantial change to their functionality since the MegaUpload shutdown.

So, how does this affect the drama community?
Several ways…

  • Direct download links are somewhat harder to download from now because other filesharing sites are spooked by the MegaUpload shutdown.
  • Links to files uploaded to MegaUpload are now dead. All that bandwidth and time spent uploading… down the drain.
  • Fansubbers/downloaders who relied on these services will need to look for alternatives like torrent or IRC.
  • Streaming sites like DramaCrazy and MySoju can’t say they are legally protected by the “safe harbor” provision of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). MegaUpload a legitimate business used the same excuse, but that didn’t stop the Feds from shutting them down. And let’s be honest here, we all know they’re uploading and posting the content on their sites.
  • Popular torrent sites have been under heavy fire lately too. So, D-addicts.com is likely at risk.

The MegaUpload shutdown has definitely affected many of our releases here, but all hope is not lost! More recent releases were uploaded to MultiUpload which propagated the files to other free filesharing sites. So, if you’re here to download from the DDLs on this page here, ignore the MegaUpload links and download from MultiUpload.

Will we reupload releases to replace the MegaUpload links? I think the best thing to do now is to let the dust settle a bit before wasting resources to replace MegaUpload links. If you’re desperate, there’s always torrent. We may enlist YOUR help with reuploads in the future. :) Please help us if it comes down to that.

What are your thoughts on the whole situation? Scary? Not so scary? Business as usual?
There’s also a lively discussion about this on D-addicts.com. Feel free to chime in. ;-)

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  • http://twitter.com/anisjunaidi Nurul Anis Junaidi

    Scary. The world is just a click away -no more.

  • http://twitter.com/YueSoEul Yue

    is there any chance of downloading legally? I’ve depended on fansub (hardsub) so, I never knew if there’s a site where you can legally download RAW. It’d be nice, I don’t mind paying.

  • http://twitter.com/sarsfansubs sars-fansubs

    That would be nice to have, but unfortunately the Japanese drama industry makes it tough to license outside of Japan. It is doable since there’s a few Japanese dramas available on legal sites like DramaFever and Crunchyroll, but this is streaming. I wouldn’t mind paying either…

  • Thebutterzone

    Seeing a similar problem on my fansubbed anime (hardsub AVI) side. This season has gone almost completely to hell and I’ve had to resort to streaming. Not sure how much of this is Nyaa’s fault or what, because some other versions are showing up there. In an ideal world, licensing would only be required to redistribute HD broadcast quality unsubbed material. Fansubbers aren’t profiting off putting TLs on low quality copy, or cutting out the sponsor title screens/announcements, just commercials most of the time… Mameshiba, anyone?

  • http://twitter.com/sarsfansubs sars-fansubs

    The drama community survived without DDL before and I think we can survive after. Maybe it’s better to switch to softsubs at this point. -_-;;

  • http://twitter.com/YueSoEul Yue

    Streaming is painful for me. My internet have constant hiccup where it would freeze. That’s why I always prefer downloads. Then there’s the issue with rubbish translation, it kills to the point I want to gauge my eyes out. Besides, it’s not like I don’t go out and buy the DVDs when they’re out. And I definitely DO NOT distribute the shows I downloaded. It’s only for my own personal library. I wish Japan would allow legal download, I can pay, I have no issue with it. Same goes for Korea, it’d be heaven – plus, I’m running out of hiding place to stuffs my DVD boxes in hehehe…

  • Thebutterzone

    I have the same problem with streaming, except the hiccups are because I only have a Mac Mini G4. You might want to try using the Firefox add-on DownloadHelper. It sits in the header and footer toolbars and changes color when it detects pages with streaming content you can download. Then you click the icon for a download menu and get them directly while the streaming player is paused.

  • Thebutterzone

    Yeah, just a low quality RAW for each episode that everybody can download for free, then each sub group would time their .ass or whatever to that. Like a good amount of the d-addicts shows I watched in 2010-2011.

  • http://twitter.com/YueSoEul Yue

    I’ve tried everything, really. But, streaming is not a choice for me. Most of the time it drives me crazy and at other time it simply doesn’t work. Plus, the bandwith to stream would kill my internet quota. I really do hope that the whole mess would clear up, being drama deprived is not fun.

  • http://twitter.com/sarsfansubs sars-fansubs

    I haven’t seen anime or asian dramas offered this way…legally at least. It would be heaven if they did offer it! I do know that Japanese and Korean sites are offering video-on-demand services, but these are available in Japan or South Korean only. 

    Also my Samsung TV, there’s an SBS TV app that allows a video-on-demand service.

  • Anonymous

    Definitely very scary. Let’s hope that torrent sites, especially d-addicts, will remain safe!

  • http://twitter.com/zucute zahrotul uyun

    buffering while streaming will suck  internet quota badly… the best choice is download material from fansub. and also we can get hardsub or softsub perfectly. most of votary of drama arent korean nor japanese.. so, the fansubber would be their life-safer :)

  • Tama

    Though I understand why they feel the need to crack down on people, I don’t agree with it. I think we should have the right to be able to download and watch the shows, honestly we would not be able to see half the stuff here in the states that we get online. It’s not like they broadcast these shows for us on regular tv. I think they should focus on my important issues instead of the anime and drama communities.. it’s not like we are really hurting anyone.

  • Tama

    more important…. not my LOL bad typo there

  • http://twitter.com/sarsfansubs sars-fansubs

    I don’t think they are targeting the drama and anime communities with the MegaUpload shutdown, SOPA/PIPA/ACTA. They are targeting filesharing in general which in turns affects drama and anime communities. T_T I think things will just go back to how they were before direct download… torrent and IRC, but even torrent sites are not safe.

  • http://twitter.com/sarsfansubs sars-fansubs

    All we can do is hope for this! Or perhaps start a closed torrent community like Jpopsuki.

  • Smashednwrecked

    Shenanigans… That’s all I’m gonna say. I hope that they don’t take away our “internet freedom” by following every single thing we do on the internet. That’s the last thing I heard before I stopped following the news about this whole thing.
    I guess it’s a little bit scary but I live in a country that doesn’t really have a law against file sharing. I just talked to my brother who’s taking law and he said we should be safe. lol I hope he’s right but anyways, I think it’s a little bit sad that the asian drama community is also affected. Americans…

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1004321363 Joyce E. Villeda

    Thank goodness I compressed and saved some of my dramas even though I burned them on DVDs!!!  I’m going to check what complete series I have.  I’ve downloaded from SARS for a few years and always wanted to help as payback for keeping the dramas coming.  If I can help by sharing what I have so you can upload them somewhere else, I would love to help!

  • Ebsoul4

    The thing is ACTA you have to worry about Japan signed the treaty and so did the US. It has to be approved by beligum and if approved wouldhave it automatically enforced. Which means there would be rapid slow down time the average time for an anime release to even get from japan to us is like six years after all the negotiating. People really don’t want to wait that long for it.

  • Titicamara82

    Fileserve’s links are back.

  • Jc

    Just like 911, I think this extreme action is an attempt to justify passing a law to gain the ability to shut down any site they wish easily. Remember the recent riots, some of which have caused leaders to fall, were organized on Facebook. How long has file sharing been going on? 10+ years… and they wait for now to make such a strong response. BS. That is the real motive.