FIREDRIVE MYSTERY DEEPENS, IOS AND ANDROID APPS DISAPPEAR

Popular video and cloud-hosting site Firedrive (previously Putlocker) appears to have lost all useful functionality. For almost a week the site has faced issues, and now most if not all videos have been replaced by movie studio intro titles. Only adding to the confusion, Firedrive's new iOS and Android apps have disappeared.

Bugs, glitches and technical issues are real-life problems for all web-based operations. As a result, most websites are vulnerable to downtime, whether that’s for a few minutes or a few hours.

In the file-sharing space the phenomenon is very common indeed as these entities, torrent and ‘cyberlockers’ in particular, often face unique challenges. These special issues can often lead to unexpected downtime, although with the advent of social media many sites have improved their communications with users.

That being said, tens of thousands of Firedrive users currently have no idea what has happened to their site.

Firedrive, which was previously known as Putlocker before a rebranding exercise earlier this year, started behaving strangely last week. User reports to TorrentFreak initially complained that the site was simply down, but a couple of days later, with no official announcement forthcoming, things took a turn for the strange.

It’s well known that Firedrive is used by some to host unauthorized copies of movies. It’s unclear just how many but thousands of sites around the world carry links to Firedrive that allow the viewing of mainstream movies with nothing more than a web browser. However, users trying to access those links are currently facing disappointment.

Since before the weekend, many (perhaps all) video files on Firedrive have been replaced with 13-15 second intros used by the major movie studios. TF tested a few random links we found using Google and found intros from Sony, Warner, Universal and Dreamworks, instead of the movies that claimed to be there.

However, users searching for the apps on either the App Store or Google Play are now met with silence. ITunes reports that the app is only available in Canada yet switching to that location reveals that it has been removed. Searches on Google Play for the Android versions yields nil results.

Ever since their press release Firedrive simply hasn’t been working and the only posts on Firedrive’s Facebook page are from angry users complaining about everything from lost files to hackers having taken over the site.

“All I can say is thank god I didn’t pay for this bullshit and to think was just about to go pro and pay,” wrote one. “Never happening now even if it does come back with my files intact, which I doubt will happen! Anyone into a class action suit, I have 100s of hours of work lost could only imagine what paying customers might have lost!”



Look at the comments on Facebook and you'll see it's down.

This is the reason I haven't been posting mirrors for a while. I'm a Firedrive Pro customer, and all my files are lost. Thanks god I have always backups.


Firedrive Facebook

 

LOL, love this one

 

this is the least that can happen to ALL cloud services.
i will never send a single personal file to any cloud service, even if its just a pic of me, crapping.

 

This things teach you that none of the cloud services are secure 100%. Mega isn't either. Remember that it is owned by Kim Dotcom wich his last cloud service Megavideo was taken down by FBI without previous notice and all the movies hosted there, copyrighted or not, were lost.

And we have seen many file hosting companies going down, changing names, or even changing of owners lately.

The best and more secure option is to buy an external HDD and make backups there.

 

Nooo!!, I had three full accounts of warez (samples, vst, tools, etc), they fucked my existence

 

I would add if you want to protect privacy AND securise files, backup them, encrypt them, put them on an hard drive and give the HDD to a family member or very close friend.
No one else than you can decrypt those files. And if the HDD is stolen...you buy another and forget about your useless (to others) files.

This way, even if your home burn, or is totally emptied, you still get a REALLY secure files backup.
That's called off-site backup archiving. And this kind of method is used for years by armies (and more) all over the world.
They don't centralize anymore. They learned it the hard way, like all of us, one day or another.
One source is a bad idea. And giving access to potential enemies is another bad idea.

I'm really sad for those who lost their files. It remembers me when i crashed my first hard drive...no backup at all

 

LOL

and MAYAS didn't see that coming !! nor Nostradamus.
*seeks some help how to fill a class action*

 

no offense.. but seriously?.. people have to be pretty stupid to use a cloud-storage as if it will "safely" or "privately" store shit... *no*


this boggles my mind *yes*

now... If you use cloud-storage BUT, know the threats.. well... obviously you aren't stupid... you are just taking a calculated risk, that's all.

 

That's crazy because I read this a day or two ago that stated they were having some issues and nobody was talking about it. Now it seems that they've been hacked or having some serious technical issues.

Sorry Menorah, that really sucks man.