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MarkMonitor has released a new report that says cyber-locker direct download websites are responsible for more piracy than even BitTorrent networks, and RapidShare is one of the major offenders.
The study also listed megavideo.com and megaupload.com as culprits in the ever increasing online piracy problem.
RapidShare and many other file sharing websites were also recently listed in a US government report of "bad" websites.
While the MarkMonitor reports uses figures such as "146 million page views per day" and "53 billion page views per year", these are actually RapidShare's total visitor figures, and these figures do not break down how many of these page views are for legitimate downloads.
RapidShare responded by threatening to sue MarkMonitor for defamation. "Apart from getting wrong what the company's business model is, there are some serious questions about the study's methodology," RapidShare said in a statement. "For example, the authors conclude that RapidShare has to be the biggest digital piracy site from looking at the number of page visits, totally ignoring the fact that millions of customers use the service for perfectly legitimate purposes. Private customers use RapidShare to share their personal pictures, videos and documents or to make backup copies of their hard drives. Business clients rely on our services to exchange large files with colleagues at different sites, with clients or with service providers or to make available free programmes or programme updates to its customers."
The MPAA welcomed MarkMonitor's report and called for more governmental action. RapidShare also recently sought government help, by hiring the services of lobbyist to go up against the entertainment industry lobby.
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The study also listed megavideo.com and megaupload.com as culprits in the ever increasing online piracy problem.
RapidShare and many other file sharing websites were also recently listed in a US government report of "bad" websites.
While the MarkMonitor reports uses figures such as "146 million page views per day" and "53 billion page views per year", these are actually RapidShare's total visitor figures, and these figures do not break down how many of these page views are for legitimate downloads.
RapidShare responded by threatening to sue MarkMonitor for defamation. "Apart from getting wrong what the company's business model is, there are some serious questions about the study's methodology," RapidShare said in a statement. "For example, the authors conclude that RapidShare has to be the biggest digital piracy site from looking at the number of page visits, totally ignoring the fact that millions of customers use the service for perfectly legitimate purposes. Private customers use RapidShare to share their personal pictures, videos and documents or to make backup copies of their hard drives. Business clients rely on our services to exchange large files with colleagues at different sites, with clients or with service providers or to make available free programmes or programme updates to its customers."
The MPAA welcomed MarkMonitor's report and called for more governmental action. RapidShare also recently sought government help, by hiring the services of lobbyist to go up against the entertainment industry lobby.
More:
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