Hotfile has begun taking a harsh stance on copyright infringement, says TF, with the cyberlocker deleting premium accounts, along with all the files in them. Furthermore, the company is not paying out money earned in the site's rewards program. The MPAA recently filed a lawsuit against Hotfile and its owner, claiming that "in less than two years, Hotfile has become one of the 100 most ...
Read full articleOriginally posted by biglo30:I don't(didn't) own a premium HF account, but the way they went about it to cover their arses is bull$$##it. The only reason they became the popular site they are today, is because those people uploading tons of stuff, and expect to be rewarded. HotFile new what kind of files were trafficking their servers. They didn't become one the largest/most popular file storing site as a result of people uploading X-mas or barbecue pictures. They were right to take action, just not the way they did it. They sold a service, and when they couldn't take the heat, they reneged. Will see how their business will "flourish" from here on...with all those tons of BBQ pictures floating through those servers and being exchanged, generating revenue....
This seems very fair and you get really argue thier reasons.
Originally posted by dEwMe:Why would they give back money these people broke their agreement and in fact could be prosecuted, fined, and possibly jailed? As others have mentioned this is going to impact Hotfiles business and will cost them money as there is litigation that could be imposed on them presently and in the future as well due to this illegal activity. You can bet lawyers have already labored over this issue with the plaintiff’s involved so they owe nothing to the premium members to blame for this action. If you read their agreement I'll bet they are fully within their rights and there is a no money back provision in it. A little common sense can go a long ways.
The thing is the website made their money on the traffic. Instead of paying those people that posted whatever it was that generated that money the website is just keeping it all themself? I guess I can see them not wanting to pay people for posting copywrited stuff but it doesn't sound like they are giving the money back either...
Originally posted by Mr-Movies:Of course they were "within their rights", it still doesn't make it "ethical". Action needed to be taken, but not keep the money and play innocent, blame the uploaders only, when in fact HF was well aware of what was going on. They could've deleted the files, pay their balances, and give out warnings. Even if being suspected of murder, you're still innocent until proven otherwise, you don't just get executed.
Originally posted by dEwMe:Why would they give back money these people broke their agreement and in fact could be prosecuted, fined, and possibly jailed? As others have mentioned this is going to impact Hotfiles business and will cost them money as there is litigation that could be imposed on them presently and in the future as well due to this illegal activity. You can bet lawyers have already labored over this issue with the plaintiff’s involved so they owe nothing to the premium members to blame for this action. If you read their agreement I'll bet they are fully within their rights and there is a no money back provision in it. A little common sense can go a long ways.
The thing is the website made their money on the traffic. Instead of paying those people that posted whatever it was that generated that money the website is just keeping it all themself? I guess I can see them not wanting to pay people for posting copywrited stuff but it doesn't sound like they are giving the money back either...
Originally posted by patrick_:yeah, i feel bad for those premium users
They should just delete the file, and stop rewarding, like megaupload does. No need to cancel the premium account.
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