Megaupload Closure Punishes Legal File Sharers

Updated on January 31, 2012 at 2:19 AM by Hex19

Since the FBI shut down popular sharing site Megaupload, 50 million users have been unable to access their uploaded data. It's not surprising that many people used the site for nefarious purposes, but included in this group are members that used the site only to share legal files that they had the rights to. A report on Slate today reports that all of the data on Megaupload, legal and illegal, may be deleted as early as this Thursday. Federal law enforcement has frozen Megaupload's funds and assets, so it is impossible for them to continue to pay data storage and hosting fees.

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Netflix Replacing Chief Marketing Officer

Netflix has announced that they are searching for a new Chief Marketing Officer, after Leslie Kilgore vacated the position. Netflix was involved in some of the worst marketing mistakes in recent memory last year. The DVD by mail and online streaming company outraged customers with drastic price increases, and showed it had no idea what it was doing when it decided to spin-off part of their business into a new company called Qwikster, before swiftly abandoning the entire idea. For these reasons, Netflix is actually nominated for "Fail of the Year" at next week's Hex19 Awards.

Some aspects of the marketing strategy at Netflix have been very positive. The company has been a front runner in sponsoring new media projects, like podcasts and web series. I hope that whoever inherits the CMO position continues to place an emphasis on internet based advertising.

(via Engadget)

A Sad Day for the Internet: Megaupload Shut Down

Just one day after the blackouts when sites such as Wikipedia and Reddit shut down in order to protest SOPA and PIPA, an internet giant has been silenced. Megaupload, one of the most popular file-sharing sites on the web was shut down today after being accused of costing copyright holders hundreds of millions of dollars. Charges have been filed against everyone involved, all the way down to the site's graphic designer and many employees have already been taken into custody. If this sticks, any website or service used for file-sharing could potentially be at risk.

It looks like even if SOPA and PIPA aren't passed, it could be a dark year ahead for the internet.

(via TorrentFreak)

Alienware and Razer Lead the Way on New Gaming PC Form Factors

The personal computing industry is constantly fighting the fact that their products are turning into a commodity. Success at retail has more to do with securing the right quntities of components for the right prices. Consumers just wan't the most powerful package for the cheapest price. Two gaming oriented companies, Dell's Alienware brand and Razer, are trying to buck the trend with some new untraditional PC form factors.

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Soprah is Feeling Generous

After a long day of learning about copyright law and protesting SOPA, I figured you're probably in need of some relaxation in the form of laughter. I present the most benevolent and generous distributor of unfair copyright law, Soprah!

Why Canadians Should Worry About SOPA (and What They Can Do About It)

If you spend any time on the internet at all, you've probably heard of the "Stop Online Piracy Act" (or SOPA) and its deplorable piece of partner legislation in the US Senate, the "Protect Intellectual Property Act" (or PIPA). If you attempted to access many large sites around the internet today, you would have noticed that many of them are blacked out in protest of of these new American bills. Perhaps you hail from a different part of the globe—like we here canadians at Hex19—and you're wondering why you should concern yourself with the dull intricacies of American politics. Here's why SOPA will have massive implications for not only the USA, but also for Canada, and for the internet as a whole.

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