Rapidshare deletions

But have any of you guys experienced the same i.e. that files you hadn't posted on a board yet have been flagged/deleted from Rapidshare

Rapidshare inspects the files and deletes them. Not sure how they go about doing that exactly but I believe, based on what I've seen so far, that they do it based on the names of the uploaded archive files (ZIP and RAR) as well as the size and names of the files inside the archive. You can look inside a password protected archive but you can't do anything with it unless you have the password so that's how I believe they are doing it.

But have any of you guys experienced the same i.e. that files you hadn't posted on a board yet have been flagged/deleted from Rapidshare

It could happen, Rapidshare bans files based on the MD5 hash (it does NOT care about filenames). What it means is, if a file goes down on someone's account, that same file goes down on everyone else's accounts. Say you uploaded a file to your account, but someone else also uploaded the same file and posted the link and that file gets complained on. That file would be deleted from all users accounts regardless whether they posted it or not.

The thing to do is make sure your files are unique: compress the archives yourself, put in filler content, etc.

AFAIK your suggestions don't hold up, Rapidshare does not search its hosted files (other than matching the MD5 hashes to a banned file list) and it does not make an index of its files available.

There are many myths going around, but as a long time Rapidshare user, I never had any reason to believe that Rapidshare bases its deletions on anything other than COMPLAINTS.

To me, anything else is just myth.

BTW, one need not be the copyright holder to make a complaint, and not only copyrighted files get deleted. Rapidshare's TOS also forbid any porn, pure and simple. As far as Rapidshare goes, any porn = "illegal content".

drolli wrote:

Yeah I can see what you mean, when I made the first post i sort of had the idea that maybe Rapidshare did search their servers for forbidden files. But as i've thought about it really makes no sense whatsoever - First Rapidshare would have to use a lot of resources - either manpower or processor power, and it would infact make their legal situation worse than doing nothing.

That stems from the DMCA legislation (I know rapidshare is based in switzerland but most ISP's and others in europe uses DMCA as defacto law) where the copyright owner sends a DMCA notice and then the server provider deletes the file , and after that it's a matter between (in the case of Rapidshare) the uploader and the copyright owner.
And infact by searching their servers they make themselves privy to knowledge they shouldn't really have. DMCA gives providers like Rapidshare the loophole to say: we don't know whats on our servers, so we have no liability but if you tell us about an infringement we will delete it and make sure it doesn't get uploaded again.

So in the case of my deletions, I think it's like you said: I uploaded files with the same MD5 hash as others that were deleted and that's why they were so rapidly deleted.

Regards

RabidSquirrel

RapidShare will not control Uploads

October 26, 2008
160 million files have already been uploaded to RapidShare. A number that proves, that the world depends on moving important data from A to B. A number that also proves, that RapidShare with its fast and easy services also addresses users that are no computer nerds.
RapidShare is the first technology worldwide that made sending big files so easy, so fast and so secure. The files can be stored as long as needed and can be recalled from anywhere in the world, they are strictly confidential and can only be accessed by the user that originally loaded them up, or alternatively can be distributed among thousands of people quickly and easily.
With a couple of billion page impressions per day we know, that we as a leader will have to pave the way for this new technology. We are aware of the fact that we therefore have big responsibility. If, for example, it had been regulated by law to control all copies before the first photo copier was invented, it is very likely that these machines would have never hit the market. That's why we are doing everything to enable this new technology - which is still very young, but already inspires millions of people every day - to be part of our future and make life more comfortable.
The security of personal data is very important to us, especially in these times. That's the reason why we will not spy out the files that our clients faithfully upload onto RapidShare, not now nor in future. We are against upload control and guarantee you that your files are safe with us and will not be opened by anyone else than yourself, unless you distribute the download link. RapidShare, of course, is against the distribution of illegal files and as soon as we are informed about illegal distribution, we delete these files and put them on a filter. But the general control of uploads is out of the question for us, because we think that especially in these times data privacy comes first.