By Emma Jolliff
The arrest of Kim Dotcom last week sent shockwaves through the internet's file sharing community, with many similar sites appearing to duck for cover when Megaupload was shut down.
But one internet commentator says it is only a temporary lull because fear will not stop illegal file sharing.
Banners popped up on other similar sites saying ‘sharing functionality has been disabled’ when Kim Dotcom and his Megaupload colleagues were arrested last week
Vikram Kumar, CEO of Internetnz, says other operators have become far more cautious.
“Many of them have either stopped people from sharing files altogether or they‘ve got various ways of removing material that already exists on them,” says Mr Kumar.
Since Megaupload was shut down, hundreds of thousands of users have flocked to other file hosts or ‘cyberlockers’ like rapidshare and hotfile.
“They’re out ordering Ferraris right now their sites have doubled in traffic and doubled in size since Megaupload has closed,” says technology commentator Steve Simms.
“Essentially it's a place where you go and store your valuables or your files, you get a key or a link and you can keep the key or share it with everyone else,” explains Mr Kumar.
But plenty of legitimate users have been caught up in the crackdown too.
The files are still on Megaupload's servers but the have been seized by US authorities, so that material's effectively lost for the time being.
“There’s a lot of collateral damage,” says Mr Kumar, who says fear of authorities will not solve the problem of illegal filesharing, which giving people access to material they want at a price they are willing to pay.
“TV shows in New Zealand typically come six months to two years after they are released in United States, and that’s the gap where teenagers and others go to look for it online,” says Mr Kumar.
And if you ask whether the arrests have made it hard to find copyrighted material online? He says the answer is no.
3 News