RapidShare Declared Legal In Court, With a Twist

fraggle83 · Mar 28, 2012

Hi Mates!

Thought some of you could be interested on this ...

A Higher Regional Court in Germany has ruled that file-hosting service RapidShare operates legally in Germany.
The verdict is the result of a long-standing legal battle between the Swiss-based file-hosting service and music
rights group GEMA. It’s not all good for RapidShare though, as the company now has to monitor external websites
for incoming links to infringing files.

In the aftermath of the Megaupload shutdown, people have been keeping a close eye on court cases involving other
file-hosting services, RapidShare included. During the past several years RapidShare has made tremendous efforts
to cooperate with copyright holders and limit copyright infringements. But this couldn’t prevent the company from
getting involved in a handful of lawsuits against rightsholders.

Two week ago, a press release published by copyright holders claimed that RapidShare had suffered an enormous defeat
in court. However, now that the court has published its final decision, RapidShare is claiming a victory of its own.

In the verdict of RapidShare’s legal dispute against the music rights group GEMA, the Higher Regional Court in Hamburg
explicitly recognizes that RapidShare’s business model is legal. This news is music to the ears of the file-hoster.

“For the first time the Hamburg Higher Regional Court has followed our line of argument on key points and has
conferred legal legitimacy on our service, just as other courts have done over a considerable period of time. This
is a significant result for us,” said RapidShare CEO Alexandra Zwingli.

The court further ruled that RapidShare has no obligation to proactively monitor files that are uploaded by its users.
Instead, the company has to monitor external sites that link to copyrighted files on RapidShare, and ensure these files
become inaccessible.

This is not a problem according to the cyberlocker.

“That is exactly what RapidShare has already been doing for many years. If the Anti-Abuse Team identifies a download
link on such pages which results in a file that has clearly been published illegally being on the company’s servers,
the file in question is immediately blocked.”

Aside from monitoring forums and linking sites for infringing links, RapidShare has made several other adjustments to its
service to decrease unlawful use. Most recently, the company limited the download speeds of “free” users to drive away pirates.

Nevertheless, RapidShare objects to the fact that they have to carry out this monitoring based on a court order, and they will
therefore take the case to the Supreme Court.

“We are doing this of our own accord because we have a strong interest in ensuring that our service remains clean. We believe
that being obliged to carry out such actions is questionable from a legal perspective. For this reason we will appeal the verdict
to clarify the issue of proactive monitoring of external websites at the highest judicial level,” Zwingli said.

The eventual decision of the Supreme Court may have massive implications. Not only for RapidShare, but also for the many other
file-hosting services that operate in Germany.
Click to expand...

Original post + cyber-citizens comments HERE.

Kind Regards!

Ads Master

xoso · Mar 30, 2012

ROTFLMFAO.

It's true, RS's business model is 100% legal even in the U.S. Since its actually the end users that violate law and they have absolutely no responsibility to police their users under any law.

I do find the comment from Cyberlocker being both funny as hell and sad as hell. What they described has already been bypassed so bots just cant index forums/blogs through different forms of safelinking.

In the end you can say what you like About Rapidshare being all about the money but in the end they are still making it and still giving you the goods while waving a middle finger to governments across the world.

Mstar · Apr 12, 2012

This is a sensible legal ruling! Going back to underground sites, is the way to go. Look at what happened to ASSiGN. We can't just piss in the business world's face and get away with it. Dozens of Google listings of free software? It got outta control. Time to squeeze out the idiots/idiot sites, who have no respect for the groups.

I remember when we used to get a Paradox or Radium release and kept it close to us, only giving it to your most trusted friends. A release once in a while. That is what started this process. This "Mac please" and "it doesn't work" stuff is ridiculous.

Time to rethink the future of Warez, IMO.

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RapidShare Declared Legal In Court, With a Twist

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RapidShare Declared Legal In Court, With a Twist

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