Driven by increased crackdowns on BitTorrent sites such as The Pirate Bay, software pirates are fast-moving their warez to file-hosting Web sites.
Sites such as RapidShare, Megaupload, and Hotfile let anonymous users upload large files such as cracked software for free.
Hyperlinks to the software can then be distributed by pirates via Web sites, instant messages, or social media sites such as Twitter, said Vic DeMarines, vice president of products at anti-piracy software vendor V.I. Labs.
« It’s incredibly easy to use. And what you get is essentially your own private FTP server, » DeMarines said. […]
« For us, everything is just a file, no matter what, » a spokeswoman told The Times in March. DeMarines said Rapidshare does comply with the Safe Harbor Provisions of the U.S.’ Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) by quickly taking down pirated files when notified by the copyright holders. […]
Peer-to-peer networking (P2P) does still remain the largest channel for distributing pirated software, movies and other digital content. Ipoque said it enables between 43% to 70% of piracy, depending on the region of the world.
The most popular network remains BitTorrent, which is used by six out of 10 P2P users, V.I. Labs said. […]
http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9139210/What_s_replacing_P2P_BitTorrent_as_pirate_hangouts_