MegaCopyright

Nearly any teenager, and a lot of adults know about the "mega" web sites. MegaUpload, a file sharing site, MegaVideo, a video sharing site, and a few others. These websites were constantly used to exchange media, especially the kind that was purchasable, but the public using this site were too cheap to buy. This isn't to say I myself haven't, in the past, downloaded a few files from the quick and easy site. Youtube videos of songs had links to these websites, allowing anyone to have it for themselves.

But if you go to these pages now, you'll find a simple image explaining that they have been shut down, and the persons who created it, have been found. Kim schmitz from Germany is the main man responsible.

"According to legal documents filed in California, where Schmitz, 37, is engaged in a copyright battle, he rents cyberlockers to the masses, and nobody disputes that many millions of people from across the globe use Megaupload to store or access unauthorized copies of TV shows, feature films, songs, porn, and software." (Cnet)


 But no matter how much you, or I, would love to point a finger at this man and say "What a criminal!" or "What a genius," or simply "Wow he's busted," we tend not to think about our own participation.
Is it more the fault of this man who created a file sharing site, or all the people who took 99¢ songs for free? As I said before, it can all be used for evil. The site could have been good, although I doubt Mr. Schmitz was at all concerned about the piracy while he was making steady income from the advertisements, represented by his mansion.

Photo: Audiboost.com

But who's to say it couldn't just be for people to share their electronic works publicly? After all, the files were only posted because of the individuals who posted them.

So who is more to blame? The upload-er or the download-er?