RapidShare has increased the download speed of its free service, as the company feels there are more efficient ways to stop pirates from flocking to their services after the demise of Megaupload.
Shortly after law enforcement raided and shuttered Megaupload, RapidShare, fearing they would then become to the next "go to" destination for pirate users of Megaupload, and thus become the next target for US prosecutors, took the drastic step of throttling all free downloads to a snail paced 30 kB/s. The idea was that the slow speed would frustrate the "I want it and I want it now" pirates, that they would then flock to another file hosting service.
Ever before the demise of Megaupload, RapidShare has actively sought to clean up the company's image and to present themselves as the most responsible file hosting company among the competition. By taking a tough no-nonsense attitude towards piracy, RapidShare has made great strides in convincing rights holders that hostilities between the two industries need not exist. In April, RapidShare also published an industry manifesto that aimed to provide the "right" path forward for the industry as a whole, partially in response to the chilling effect of the Megaupload closure.
But users of the free service noticed this week that downloads suddenly started to become faster, and many wondered if a shift in strategy had taken place.
And it seems that was certainly the case.
"We can confirm that we have removed all download limits for free users, which is part of a new strategy," RapidShare's CEO Alexandra Zwingli told TorrentFreak.
The new strategy will entail "more efficient counter measures", with further details be to released towards the end of 2012.
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