Swiss based cyberlocker company RapidShare is on the warpath this week after a research report from the brand protection company MarkMonitor branded it as the leading digital piracy site with 13 billion page visits a year. RapidShare says that it might sue.
The company is agitated by the report because it has worked hard over the last year to combat digital piracy by working closely with rights holders. The company even implemented a variety of take-down tools and measures similar to what YouTube uses.
When it had to, the company also went to court to clear its name: it has won cases in US and German courts. Those courts ruled that RapidShare is a "legal business." But those efforts have not stopped trade groups such as the RIAA and MPAA from marking RapidShare as one of the largest piracy havens. The research report from MarkMonitor simply throws gas on the fire.
The study concluded that RapidShare is the largest "digital piracy site" with a massive 13 billion pageviews. The report was so offensive to RapidShare that it says it might sue MarkMonitor for defamation.
"This defamation of RapidShare as a digital piracy site is absurd and we reserve the right to take legal action against MarkMonitor. RapidShare is a legitimate company that offers its customers fast, simple and secure storage and management of large amounts of data via our servers," the company said this week.
The company also said that it has hired a Washington lobbyists firm to raise awareness of what the company does.
"The study confirmed our resolution to actively raise awareness about what RapidShare is and what RapidShare does. Therefore, we have mandated a Washington-based lobbying firm some weeks ago. We are optimistic that this decision will eventually pay off" RapidShare added.
RapidShare was particularly agitated by the fact that the MarkMonitor report excluded YouTube since both sites offer the same system for rights holders to make a claim against content and have it taken down if it infringes. In an interview with mediapost.com MarkMonitor’s vice president of communications Te Smith said that she did not consider websites like YouTube piracy sites as they 'have procedures in place where brand owners can take down the material.'
TorrentFreak asked for clarification on that statement because RapidShare does offer the same protections and services to rights holders as YouTube does. While the company did not comment on that fact, it did say it stands by its report.
Source: TorrentFreak
