German court orders Rapidshare to filter user uploads
 

German court orders Rapidshare to filter user uploads

Published about 18 hours ago


In the United States, most online services are spared the burden of filtering their users' content. As long as they promptly take down files on request and follow other requirements laid out in the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, online service providers don't need to proactively monitor the files they host for infringing content.

But German law may be different. TorrentFreak reports that a court in Hamburg ruled last week that the popular file-hosting site RapidShare must proactively filter files uploaded by its users. While the full ruling has not been released, a statement says RapidShare is required to block its users from uploading a list of 4,000 files known to be infringing.

The case was brought by a group of German booksellers, who celebrated the ruling. "The judgment confirms that Rapidshare must take effective measures against the use of illegal content on its service," said a German bookseller's association. But a Rapidshare spokesman criticized the celebration as premature, pointing out that the decision's implications won't be clear until the written opinion is released.

RapidShare hasn't said if it will appeal the ruling, but if it does the law may be on the file-sharing site's side. Last month, an EU court ruled that the pervasive monitoring required to make such a filter effective would run afoul of Europe's strict privacy laws.


Free translation of a German newspaper article;
The German court ruled that uploading and storage of copyright protected material is not illegal, as long as it is for personal use.
It becomes illegal, the moment the download link is distributed.

This is the reason why Hotfile allows only the uploader to download his own files. The other bitlockers are not that far yet.


PS, How about this idea;
To start with; Don't use the titles in uploaded material.
Why not encrypt uploaded material? Easy to do with WinRar or WinZip.
This will take care of the privacy of any uploaded files with a personal nature.