It is this argument (and a few others) that they have used as they have continued to push for more restrictive laws covering copyright, patents and other IP. However in reality what sites like Mega represent is a direct threat to the revenue stream that the content industry wants to hold and we are not talking about in terms of illegal downloads here, but in real, original and fresh content. If you have paid attention to the way the industry (software and entertainment) has been moving you will notice that they are all pushing the cloud as a means for getting everything. This includes your operating system, productivity software, games, movies, music… like we said everything.  

On the surface the excuses are that they want to avoid piracy and also reduce consumer costs while boosting security; the problem is that all of these are borderline lies. Piracy has existed since the dawn of time in one form or another. Even back in the days of the 9600 baud modem there were digital pirates and hackers out there. Nothing has changed since then and to be perfectly honest, nothing will in the future. The big difference between then and now is that it is easier to reproduce the digital content and that production costs for the companies that make the content spend less in creating their offerings. Unfortunately, the content industry keeps asking for more and more money for what they have to offer despite the sad fact that the quality of these products has dropped through the floor.

Still the iron grip that cartels like the MPAA, RIAA, and the BSA have on the industry is extreme. It is almost impossible for an independent company to get ahead in this industry. This is despite the fact that there has never been a time when tools to make quality independent films, music and software have been less expensive or more readily available. The problem is getting your work out to your audience without having to sell your soul to do it. This is what most artists or actors have to do if they want to stick with the current business model. Sites like Youtube, Mega, and others help these artists by giving them a venue for their product This is why the copyright and content industry wants to control and restrict these services so much.

While they are working to control (or simply ban) the independents they are working with companies like Apple and Microsoft to create an “affordable” eco system or their existing products. This is why you are seeing an increase in cloud interest from both of these companies. At one point Microsoft wanted to remove all media playback support from Windows 8 with the exception of approved streaming services, but thankfully the feedback from consumers was so great they put it back in as an add-in pack.  We would not be surprised to see Microsoft try this again with their next OS once they get people hooked on their service.

Getting back to Megaupload, the threat they represent to the industry can be seen in the fact that in less than an hour they had 100,000 new subscribers to their service. As of this writing the new Mega is working to balance the extreme load from all of the users that are trying to access the servers. For many people the site and service have been offline (we have tried to connect multiple times) still we are pretty sure that the gang behind the new Mega will sort things out and once the initial rush is over things will become more stable. At least they will be until someone tried to attack the service or the content industry tried to close this one down as well (especially with the teasing that Kim Dotcom is doing with the MPAA and Megamovie).

We have been saying it for the last week, the MPAA, RIAA and others will be embarking on a fresh campaign against piracy and in turn internet freedoms this year. Even with the re-birth of Mega this year will be a rough one as we are sure that the US DoJ (at the request of the MPAA) will be working to close down more sites and if the new Mega is not on their list I would be extremely surprised. Still, from everything we have heard the new setup is not going to be easy to attack or take down (legally) as it will be hidden using cloud services and in areas that the US is not able to reach easily. So, for now head over to Mega (if you can) and sign up.

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