RIP Megavideo

As you all may know, piracy around the internet is a hot issue now-a-days. With the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and other such bills, the media sharing age may have come to an end. Although it hasn't passed, that still hasn't stopped the federal government from cracking down on piracy sites.With this mind, I have sad news to report:the government has shut down the popular media sharing site MegaUpload and the sister video streaming site MegaVideo.

Now, in case you didn't know, MegaUpload was a site where user could upload files to share with the world, basically a peer to peer (P2P) site. It limited downloads to one download at a time, and had a wait time for those with only the free access, although for premium user, you could download multiple files and no wait time. It was popular for sharing anime, music, and other such files with the world, even with its stipulations. Megavideo, like its sister site MegaUpload, allowed users to share files, though MegaVideo streamed videos rather than allowing users to directly download the file directly. It too had stipulations, such as if you watched 72 minutes of video, you had to wait, usually 54  minutes. Even though with these stipulations, people made bypass sites that didn't have the 72 minute limit, and it was useful for watching anime because anime episodes on Megavideo were not as often taken down like they are on Youtube, and people could upload full episodes, movies, and basically what ever they pleased.

The news came Thursday to me in the form of a chat room, with people buzzing about how Megavideo was shut down. I also noticed how one of my videos that was supposed to be from MegaVideo was not working. Curious, I started looking around as to the exact cause of the shut down.

The reasoning for shut down: If you guessed piracy, you guessed right. The US Federal Government shut down the site, claiming that the site was making money off pirated material. True, users could pay for premium accounts in order to watch how much video they liked, with no time limits.Also, the prosecutors that the copyright holders could have caused over half a billion dollars in sales loss. But the employees at MegaUpload have been estimated to have made as much as 42 million dollars off the site, and when the federal government raided the founder's house in New Zealand, they took 8 million dollars that were in a case, cars, artwork and guns. Though most of the site was hosted in New Zealand, prosecutors are starting to investigate that there are servers in Virginia and all over the world.

So who is in the wrong in my mind? As a user of the site, and as it allows free downloads and streaming for those who are seriously broke, I honestly have to say both parties are wrong. Don't get me wrong: I am grateful for the free videos and all, but the way it was conducted was sort of illegal. The copyright law is a strange thing; it says that all right go to the copyright holder, and it cannot be reproduced with out the owners permission. However, in the internet age, it has been ifferred that yes, you can reproduce it, but only if you are not A:Taking credit for it or B: making profit off of it. MegaUpload did the latter half by making people pay for unlimited downloads or unlimited streaming. However, the site should have realized this, and had unlimited bandwidth and not had a problem with this in the first place. Also,I do not like how the government feels that it can take down sites just because of online piracy, especially those hosted mainly in other countries. It would be one thing if it was hosted all in Virginia, but all the way in New Zealand, that's ridiculous.

But, overall, it is a sad, sad day for those craving free online T.V. Shows and movies. All I'm going to say is that I hope that they do not try and shut down other sites, because the Government has already taken many other file sharing sites off the web, including Napster and Limewire. In all honesty, I can see how somewhat, the entertainment industry thrives on these sites because with out them, who would know what's out there, and potentially buy them?

On one last note: I hope that this isn't the end to free movies, music, and file sharing all together. 

Transmitted Through Radio Waves

Sometimes, the radio can be a much more entertaining source of media than even a computer, especially when you have a radio that can get not only FM and AM station, but also some foreign stations. When my friend and I started tuning the radio to not only local stations, we discovered that perhaps in America, we think we might hear everything, but in actuality we don't.

When scanning the foreign stations, the sad part is that fac they are kind of hard to find, and when you do, they have a lot of static. However, when you find a radio station that is clear enough to actually know it is a radio station, it a feeling of joy that you cannot describe. It feels like that there are other radio stations in the world beside the ones that we know locally.

Several times, my friend and I pick up British Stations, and even though they are static-y as heck, it is still amusing to hear what is going on in the world. Though they are mostly news, we will still attempt to tune in to these stations.

Also, several times (to my amusement), we have found the Spanish stations. Where they are based, I honestly  hae no idea, and even sometimes I cannot understand them, even though I do try. I blame it on Spanish being on of these languages that if you come in the conversation in the middle, you will be lost to be honest. However,, I actually look forward to finding more of the Spanish stations, and improving on my Spanish.

Along with Spanish stations, we once found a Japanese station. It was quite amazing hearing the story, though sadly I only understood bits and pieces. It was amusing to know that even though its a couple thousand miles away from I live, it can still reach on the radio waves.

The radio is actually quite amazing. Did you know the government can send things through radio waves? True, while it maybe beeps and blips, it is still amusing to know that they can actually send things through the radio. And although it maybe unintelligible to human ears, to the ear of a computer, it can be most anything, from pictures to official government documents.

It's amazing what the radio can do. It can give us news, music, and, with the right type of radio, there are endless possibilities to what you could tune in to. So, grab your radios, and have fun.