Another file sharing site bites the dust: FileSonic disables all sharing
FileSonic must have been scared straight by the world-wide bust of Megaupload and the arrest of several of their people in New Zealand for extradition to the United States and the seizure of all their assets. From all looks on their web site today, they have turned into a legitimate cloud storage site.
Visitors to the site are greeted with a rose-colored information bar near the top of the page that says “All sharing functionality on FileSonic is now disabled. Our service can only be used to upload and retrieve files that you have uploaded personally.” That’s right; you can no longer share your files with your friends or with the whole world for that matter.
Even more interesting is the statement in the lower right of the main page: “FileSonic is pleased to announce that it has partnered with Vobile® Inc. in an effort to effectively filter copyrighted content using VDNA® Digital Fingerprinting technology.”
Even more interesting is the way FileSonic is selling this scanning and detection of copyright to its users. They are claiming they are doing this to protect your own files from being illegally shared!
Yeah, you do own your own files that you have created as they are your own intellectual property. Since a lot if not the majority of users on FileSonic were sharing content other than their own, this is a pretty cool way of letting everyone know they are now complying with the US Federal law.
“FileSonic is pleased to announce that it has partnered with Vobile® Inc. in an effort to effectively filter copyrighted content using VDNA® Digital Fingerprinting technology.
By indexing your video and audio files (for which you are the intellectual property owner) through Vobile, the digital fingerprinting technology will allow FileSonic to block your copyrighted materials from being illegitimately shared through its service. For more information about the technology behind Vobile’s MediaWise ® solution, click here.”
Do you think the feds will come after FileSonic or will they use then as a poster-child on how illegal file sharing can be turned into a legal business?
