File-sharing services cut off sharing movies

PanARMENIAN.Net - Caution is spreading among popular file-sharing services known for letting users circulate pirated Hollywood content, USA Today reports.

FileSonic, FileServe and Uploaded.to have abruptly cut off the sharing of movies, games and other software just days after the Justice Department closed down Megaupload, the largest such site.

"It looks like the chilling effect has already started," says Dennis Fisher, editor in chief of security blog Threatpost. "Maybe one of the reasons the U.S. government is going after companies alleged to be hosting infringing content is to serve as a deterrent for others engaging in similar activity."

FBI and Department of Justice officials do not discuss ongoing investigations.

File-sharing services, also referred to as cyberlockers, enable users to easily upload, store and share large files on a server in the Internet cloud. This includes movies, music, gaming applications, software tools, multimedia presentations and the like.

But cyberlocker companies have not come up with a good way to consistently stop copyright infringement. "As soon as you let users trade files back and forth, you really don't have much control," says Wade Williams, senior security analyst at firewall supplier Palo Alto Networks.

FileSonic, based in the UK, posted a message on its website: "All sharing functionality on FileSonic is now disabled. Our service can only be used to upload and retrieve files that you have uploaded personally."

Last December, FileSonic began scanning user uploads in an effort to stop copyrighted material from going on the site.