Do not use Rapidshare use Youtube

[tommm]

Today I tried to download a file from Rapidshare.

I received the following message:
"Your IP-address 80.4.224.7 has already downloaded 93798 KB.
You have reached the download-limit for free-users. Want to download more?
Get your own Premium-account now! Instant download-access! (Or wait 43 minutes)".

This is a nightmare and a complete idiotism. My last download from Rapidshare was 6 days ago... not today. This would be my first download since Saturday and now is Friday. Therefore the message from Rapidshare is false.

In that case, if there are more same IP adress, they need to find a better
identification method.
I wanted to join them, but their incompetence stopped me, I can not trust them.

[scotdenell]

I don't know,,,,,RS used to be nice about a year or so ago.

I guess that they just got sooooooo much abuse.

I can't say i'm not thankful for RS, but I do think that they are a little expensve.

YES, if you can download the same amount with YT, then I think i'm going to try it:thumbsup:

[tyler]

I started hating RS about a month ago when they greatly reduced their session limit. Now every time almost after I download just one file, it will say I've recieved my free quota and I have to wait 1 hour to reset my bandwidth.

I recommend www.sexuploader.com cuz it doesn't have the pop-ups nor the session download limit, and it allows files up to 500 MB to be uploaded

[stilettohead]

I thought this was a pictures forum..?

tommm, it's possible that you have a shared proxy and another user on that proxy has a rapidshare membership, which is why you're getting a message telling you that you've reached your download limit. I had the same problem with my connection at home... until I decided to pay for a rapidshare membership. Stop whining and pay the 10 euros.

:pbbbbblt:

[dm4535]

Yeah, 10 euros won't kill you, given the immense value of the stuff you get for free on here.

[tommm]

Thank you very much for your quick and helpful answers.

"Scotdenell" YT is free... there is no any charge for usage.

""Stilettohed" I have a laptop only, with WiFi connection to the internet. I do not know whether I have proxy or not. Only one is sure: I never set IP address and other parameters. These are setting automatically...
In that case if the mentioned parameters are not unique parameters, Rapidshare must/should find a better identification method...

If they do not do this I can imagine that their IT-group is incompetent, they need to learn more about customer identification... and networking.

Thinking -for example- of the banks: woud you be very happy if your bank details were not unique (it means not only you could use your money but other persons also)?

"DM 4535" Why I pay for something when exists free solutions also?

Therefore I offer: Try to use YT and/or try to find another free server for file-sharing.

[flapjak]

Agreed, I frequent this and other boards and so frequently people complain about services and content that they paid nothing for.

I myself don't want to here about it. Many have the nerve to demand of posters to give them free stuff on Quickshare or twenty other servers in addition to Rapidshare for every file. I think that is obnoxious do demand that extra work. (I'm not saying that you did that, Tomm!)

I have a membership with rapidshare and have never had a problem, can download four videos at a time as fast as my cable modem can handle them. It is a tiny price to pay for all the gigs of amazing free content out there. And if you say you "can"t afford it" - bogus! You have a computer and broadband, you can afford that.

I have yet to see any charities for the internet foot fetish porn deprived. :crying2:

[Champion]

Oh stop whining... lol.. When you get that message that "you already downloaded xxxxkb.... " it will say...something like pay for a membership, or wait one hour... so when I get that message, I just look at the clock,and minimize the window until after a hour...then click the refresh button and I get the file. Shouldn't be a big deal since we all know you guys are sitting there looking at trample pics all night long.. :-D

[tyler]

RS is getting worse and worse and there's better upload services which offer more with less hassle (like megaupload or sexuploader).

I will never be a victim of Rapidshare for all the times they ripped me off for free. Think about it guys, I pay good money for broadband and I want to get my money's worth. That won't happen if I get tricked and pay for a new file share service each time some website says "buy our premium features".

You know how much I hear that phrase at every site I go to. There's more friendly file d/l alternatives that don't bug you with those ultimatem's as much as RS and it is a no-brainer for me to prefer the cheaper and more robust solution.

I'm too busy for RS's weakening/shortening session policies, so the inconsistency and changes they make after getting people used to a higher d/l session limit is something that miffed me lately. And I had no problem with them before that when I could d/l a few files and then get the message... but after each single file d/l is too much, and thus is a valid complatint, especially when other competitors are so far ahead of them, and especially when the topic of this thread is focused on bashing Rapidshare, LOL!

The demand will migrate toward the other file upload services over time and i am thankful for that :) In the meantime, I will use rapidshare for free when I can, but it will be much less due to their own technical restrictions, and in the same spirit of that, my enthusiasm for them will be correspondly less

[groundview]

My way around the rapidshare file limit, is to sign-off (I have dial-up) clear the internet temp cache and then sign back on. Then you can download more!

[footlicker01]

Rapidshare Sucks Ass!!!

Footlicker

[.18]

yeah let's pay RS 10 euros this month, then 30 days time another 10 euros or just give RS a huge lump sum for the year... I don't think so, I wouldn't give a penny to a company so blatantly making a fortune from people sharing warez. Besides that I haven't been able to download shit from RS for weeks just get the "Download-session invalid." message. They are just getting greedier now they are allowing 300 MB warez uploads but not increasing download limit, soon everyone will be paying rapidshare like you pay for satellite/cableTV.

[flapjak]

Hey, I'm certainly not a big company, but where does this sense of entitlement that you deserve to get services for free? Rapidshare is a business, and so are the others, who ultimately try to make money off of advertising, but not if no one buys their sponsors' products and everyone leeches off of their servers. I don't like monopolies either, but you are going to complain about greed, then go ahead financially support a lower cost service like Megaupload - instead of whining that you're not happy with the intentionally limited and imperfect free services they all provide, which are intended only as teasers to join up. These companies provide something we want that has value to us (and is not essesntial such as food, water, shelter btw!), and it costs them money up front to buy equipment, maintain them, pay employees, etc. They don't have to do the entire world-wide web consisting of millions of people charity, and don't fool yourself, NONE of them want to.

If you want something ultimately, you've got to pay, whether it be rapid or another so-called "less greedy" server that would be more than happy to be as successful.

I can't help but think that this attitude of entitlement is what drove folks like Stryder right off the internet. It wasn't even worth whatever profit he may have made with his business with to have to deal with the headache of so many complainers.

[.18]

rapidshare are getting rich off people sharing warez, no two ways about, that is illegal what they are doing, I wish rapidshare would just f*ck off and stick to their rapidforums... (which is a service to us that is legal)

[flapjak]

Oh well, the legal thing is an entirely different issue. I'm surprised that you take that side of the issue. If Napster is any example, then at some point this file sharing will be banned and we'll all be paying for not only the services but royalties for the content (even little clips!) Not much fun for any of us, but especially those who want it all for free!

But why pick only on rapidshare - all of the companies who do the same service are also "illegal."

[.18]

I don't mind a little file sharing here and there - hosted on small sites that don't offer paying accounts or make much of a profit, sites that aren't bent on giving people extended premium access for uploading a ton warez, therefore the people going down the download route are going to cave in and just pay rapidshare, since it is 1000 bigger, hosting more files than any other similar site.

So rapidshare is just illegally profiting far, far too much for my liking.

[tyler]

But why pick only on rapidshare - all of the companies who do the same service are also "illegal."

You're right, all the companies must make money (naturally), and all of them are guilty of warez issues in their own respects (which is a different issue and affects free-loaders just as well).

The reason Rapidshare is a target (and assholes in my opinion), is that they have abused their percieved monopoly. They've taken their original free-loader specs and decreased them.

I respect companies who, when they grow (like rapidshare has done), that they pass on some of that success to spread to their overall demographic. You have to include leeches as part of RS's overall demographic to because they also generate revenue off of click ads that are indiscriminate of paying or non-paying surfers.

What rapidshare has done with their success though, is they've degraded priviledges of their freeloader demographic (some of which includes their paying consumers, who've simply let the subscription lapse a month or two). A contentious example of a reduced priviledge is their recent decision to dramatically decrease their download session limit (which ultimately forces the hour long wait to appear even sooner after free users reach that limit).

I think other companies who may be smaller than rapidshare are better just on that one point of contention alone (ie session d/l limit). But individual features of one over the other is not really the biggest reason I believe that RS deserves the criticism. It is the baseline expectation they set initially and then reduced later as they became a percieve monopoly... by reducing features in order to try and increase their bottom line.

That is low-down, especially, when other companies are increasing their features sets as they grow (for example megaupload went from a 250MB cap to 500MB cap at they grew bigger). Rapidshare did the opposite with a key point of contention (because they felt they were big enough to do it, which they were) and that is why they are scum in my book.

I can understand your desire to defend the big guy cuz you are a part of their system and it is to your benefit for others to help grow their piracy collection, so you can download at the fees they charge. But I'm looking at it from the stand point of a leech user who has other options. Many leechers will prefer the upload service that is best for the free users, which probably encompasses a lot of people on the net.

It will no doubt have to be a factor for consideration for people who upload files in the future. I don't mind that people express legitimate opinions about rapidshare, cuz it reveals more about who they are as a company. With enough complaints and over time, maybe those who upload and share content will start to upload on other better file servers for the sake of receiving less complaints.

You're very right about companies needing to make money and make their businesses work, but you're forgetting a key element that affects the entire way that businesses work, and that is consumer relations/impression.

What is starting to unfold more and more with RS is that you're seeing people voice their dislike and I think RS is so deserving of that type of dislike much more than other file shares, simply for their deciept factor (of changing a key contention point for the worse when they had a monopoly).

So my biggest point is that consumer complaints is a very valid part of how businesses work, and if RS is getting more complaints, I will simply say that is a part of what they instigate through their business strategy... and I will remove much more of the blame (for complaints) from the leecher's who just wanna get their rocks off for free.

You never really hear too many other complaints about the other file shares, at least not to the degree of RS, and mind you they are bigger, but I still think proportionately RS still gets the bigger percentage of complaints when you factor in their respective consumer/leech demographics.

I really can't believe that Paypal processes as a merchant for them even though RS is distributing so much porn. That is a separate thing for RS to be worried about, but even Paypal caters to the monopoly over the little guys, LOL

[tiptoe_on_my_twolips]

then simply DO NOT download any of the file there.. the REST of us WILL Thanks

[iwantkylietowalkonme]

I think rapidshare is great. I downloaded a 60 Mb clip with speeds over 300 Kb/s. Took only a matter of minutes Take this is comparison with other share sites such as megauploader where I have been regaled with d/l in the 5- 19 Kb region.

[tyler]

then simply DO NOT download any of the file there.. the REST of us WILL Thanks
Why not, if the files are free? There's nothin wrong with downloading free files when you're able to (even if it's only part of the time).

...And you can group leechers right there with "the rest of you" (whoever that might encompass, oxymoronically), cuz leechers will still use RS regardless of your suggestion "not to"... only many more of them will use it w/complaints in correlation to RS's feature degradations.

Rapidshare restricts leechers but it does not prevent them, so I'm not sure if "NOT using it" is a realistic alternative ;)

A realistic alternative would be to migrate file uploads to other file shares and put RapidShare on the floormat (right where they belong), LOL, thanks

[Lochness]

Oh my, all this whining.. why not make your own filesharing company which is free, easy and offers 500kb downloads for 100'000 users?

Hosting is not free, you need servers, room, and a very expensive connection. Imagine how fast you can upload and how much you pay for that. Lets say 25 kb/s. Rapidshare need an upload which is minimal about 500'000 kb/s to handle the traffic. Rapidshare offers great download speed which other hosting sites can't afford.. Youtube is ok but their videos are bad quality, often slow download and .flv files aren't everyones favourite. Also there are many people wo doubt that youtube will survive very long..

And who knows that rapidshare makes so much money? There are a lot of clones out there. I doubt rapidshare will still exist in 2 years..

The only free and easy filehosting site I know is www.koolfiles.com but its always down and can't handle all the traffic.. +50 mb file limit

Guys, first learn about filehosting and it's cost and then complain ;-)

If you know a better hosting site, let me know..

[fenderman]

i tried to dl a file off you tube and i couldnt figure out how.now im not a very smart old man on the computer.but i just dont know how and all those technical terms.

[tyler]

The only free and easy filehosting site I know is www.koolfiles.com but its always down...
...
If you know a better hosting site, let me know..
Good points about hosting & technical difficulties with them.

Looks like koolfiles.com was down when I tried to visit them just now, but www.sexuploader.com is the best (& easiest to use) file share I've found thus far, just FYI

[Lochness]

@fenderman

To download from youtube:

http://keepvid.com/


@tyler

I will check it out but I am sure it will have a hook..

[therog2k]

just use Google video, they now allow adult categories and you can download the videos as well.

[flapjak]

Wow, thanks for all the interesting and detailed responses, guys!

Tyler, yes, suppose one could argue that treating one's freeloaders badly is not good for one's "reputation" among them. They may be "jerks" for lowering their features sets for free compared to other servers that are upgrading to get noticed to get a slice of the pie. But they are only "jerks" to freeloaders, and I would say they do not care as much about them. Freeloaders by definition are "users" but NOT direct customers. They only way they would care is if you at least bought their sponsors' products, which would take one out of the freeloader category.

As Lochness pointed out, the pay service blows away any of the free services because Rapidshare has invested a lot of money in speed upgrades for those who pay. That what I was trying to say in my first post. I have never had a complaint about rapid's pay service. I would be interested if the pay customers think it is crap, and I am sure Rapid would move very quickly to try to address their complaints.

The problem with the pop-up ads as a business model it that they are not so effective. My sense is that with pop-up blockers that they are not as effective as they believed during the dot-boom, so smaller companies cannot rely on ad alone for revenue in the long run, particularly if they want to expand and improve services to compete. Pre-2001, companies used to boast to advertisers of the the high volume of traffic on thier sites, and with so many eyes on their screens the ads were sure to hit. Then thousands of companies went bust in part when they learned the hard way that traffic does not equal profit. That means that leechers who really pay nothing for any server will ultimately lead to the collapse of the server. When the advertiser sees the counter of mega (which has the most obnoxious pop-ups, sending you other screens, popping up in front of the file so you have to search to find it) or quick at a million downloads and only one sale, their interest in advertising this way will wane, and they will pull out.

Ever wondered why freeloaders have to wait 45 seconds or longer to download a file? You got it, for you to check out the ads and buy something.

Lochness, you are so right on another count - we don't know how much rapidshare is making really. I could go and study their annual reports. It is quite possible that it could vanish in two years, it being the nature of internet businesses.

[tyler]

Freeloaders by definition are "users" but NOT direct customers. They only way they would care is if you at least bought their sponsors' products, which would take one out of the freeloader category.
Believe me, the freeloaders have a lot more pull/affect on Rapidshare than the ad click revenue (which is probably minimal).

Remember, that if Rapidshare had NO files to share, their current subscribers would not be as inclined to spend money on a "really fast service", w/hypothetically limited download selection. A key part of what makes Rapidshare (& any file share) a success is the way that they employ a quasi-crowdsourcing element from their users (both free & subscribers alike) to upload the product for their business. It's not the Rapidshare owners or technicians who are supplying the content that surfers are ultimately wanting to download in the end. It is the network of RapidShare users who provide and provided that material to Rapidshare at no cost other than their own personal time plus Rapidshare's upload BW.

I'd be willing to bet that a majority of the file uploads that occur on RS primarily comes from the free surfers out there. I have no doubt that there are many more freeloaders than subscribers (and that applies to any major file share service; look at youtube). So when you look at it, I'd say Rapidshare definitely cared a lot (at first) about their free employees who were being crowd-sourced at a minimal cost (ie. some u/l & d/l bandwidth).

However, the low-down thing is, that as Rapidshare's network of media became more and more enormous, the ownership became less appreciative of the people who fueled that large element of their success (ie all the free uploaded material that tempts people to subscribe in the 1st place, not to mention proliferation of backlinks all over the place). So now, with RS having the strong advantage of an internet that is peppered with their links, they no longer had to cater so much to the free users anymore who played a large role in their success as they were growing.

And it's obvious now that Rapidshare believes that their media selection will still grow at enough of a rate to where keeping freeloaders reasonably happy (as was previously) doesn't matter as much anymore, but my hope is that a better company will be holding that Royal Flush in a couple of years... and hopefully it will be a better company that doesn't believe in screwing over all the people who made them what they are.

I've downloaded plenty from Rapidshare, but I've also uploaded plenty of good material that many of their subscribers (AND freeloaders) have enjoyed IMMENSELY. The concept of keeping users reasonably happy (like youtube and others seem to do without nearly as much difficulty) is actually something that Rapidshare did somewhat decently in the past, and I was actually happy with their service prior to them recently degrading downloads for non-paying users. I felt it was fair in the past, I download a few files and then wait the hour before downloading more (or pay for premium service and not wait). Now, I download like one 10-15MB file and that session is flat out of quarters for another hour or more.

The fact that I and many others helped them grow is probably what angers freeloaders the most, when suddenly the level of service they came to expect, turns south by a factor of 5. I would still be happy as a Rapidshare free user if they had at least maintained or slightly increased their same level of service that they had established from the start.

However, it is obvious that Rapidshare does not care about the freeloaders who deserve much more credit collectively than some of you guys realize. So in response, the voices of more freeloaders are starting to echo toward other files shares who can and are providing a higher level of service to free users, and those are the file shares I would rather support with my future uploads (& advocacy, which is another important element you've discounted wrt freeloaders and how they play a role w/RS's business -- advocacy).

In the future I'll continue to download from wherever there's a free connection and I have no personal qualms about what I take from a company that I no longer care for. I see it as a fringe benefit for all the material I uploaded to their network which has no doubt contributed to their bottomline.

[flapjak]

Sounds good, Tyler. So what I would say that there is another category of those who never paid or bought from advertising but did upload a lot of material. In a sense, that is not a total freeloader, so you have what seems to me a very reasonable point to complain with rapidshare. Probably they should work out some kind of somewhat stepped-up quality free account deal for regular contributors.

But there are far more people that have never contributed a single file Rapid's or any other filesharer, very likely the majority. I still don't have that much sympathy for them, or their complaints. Huge contributor file database or no, I think the point still stands that they can't simply give away a fantastic free service - what would be the point for them? You admit there is no money in advertising, so? More files uploaded does mean more popularity, but it also means bigger and bigger expensive servers, more traffic (which they have to pay for), more expense, and more headache. Without real payors, there is no source of the gobs of profit as you seem to imagine they make. The payors are the ones that ultimately continue the service and the equipment upgrades, not the uploaders.

What works out for you personally as a user doesn't not work for any company. It's much more of a dynamic interaction. As Lochness said earlier, know what work and expense it is to be filehoster on the other end, and then you'd have a different perspective.

[.18]

There aren't much overheads for a "company" like rapidshare and I don't know about you but I am sure they are making a very large profit everyday, they most definitely would not be online otherwise. And tyler did a very good job of explaining to everyone why rapidshare, in particular are the most despicable file hosting site.

[john19975]

Youtube is the way to go, youtube/groups/underfoot. Unclebunk is the owner

[Stilettotrampolin]

Today I tried to download a file from Rapidshare.

I received the following message:
"Your IP-address 80.4.224.7 has already downloaded 93798 KB.
You have reached the download-limit for free-users. Want to download more?
Get your own Premium-account now! Instant download-access! (Or wait 43 minutes)".

This is a nightmare and a complete idiotism. My last download from Rapidshare was 6 days ago... not today. This would be my first download since Saturday and now is Friday. Therefore the message from Rapidshare is false.

In that case, if there are more same IP adress, they need to find a better
identification method.
I wanted to join them, but their incompetence stopped me, I can not trust them.

Deactivate cookies and logout and login by you ISP. Than you musn´t wait...

[Tramplemenc]

i tried to dl a file off you tube and i couldnt figure out how.now im not a very smart old man on the computer.but i just dont know how and all those technical terms.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
fenderman, use this link--Just cut and post the URL of the clip you are watching and put in the youtubex space-then hit download. It even downloads it as flv.. You can play it with a free flv player.
http://www.youtubex.com/
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Here's a site some of you might like. I click on video's and then put in femdom.. Its growing pretty fast
http://www.rapidshared.org < A rapidshare Premium Acct. is a must with all the clips there>
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
I have used a rapidshare Prem. Acct for a year.. I personally think it works Great--Never any problems... Everything can't be totally free--Especially if you are paying for several terabites of space.

[headcrush]

just use Google video, they now allow adult categories and you can download the videos as well.

Not sure where you get your info, but this is straight from google:

Does Google Video show mature adult movies?

Pornographic or obscene content is not allowed on Google Video and is a violation of our Program Policies. We perform a preliminary review of videos for compliance with respect to these policies. If you see something on Google Video that is pornographic or obscene, or which violates our Program Policies please let us know.

-headcrush

[fenderman]

thanks a lot tramplmenc.ill see if i can understand it but hey thanks a whole bunch.i do really appreciate it.one question when u say copy and post does that mean just put the title name in the top or what.i told u i aint very damn smart.lol.

[tiptoe_on_my_twolips]

Why not, if the files are free? There's nothin wrong with downloading free files when you're able to (even if it's only part of the time).

...And you can group leechers right there with "the rest of you" (whoever that might encompass, oxymoronically), cuz leechers will still use RS regardless of your suggestion "not to"... only many more of them will use it w/complaints in correlation to RS's feature degradations.

Rapidshare restricts leechers but it does not prevent them, so I'm not sure if "NOT using it" is a realistic alternative ;)

A realistic alternative would be to migrate file uploads to other file shares and put RapidShare on the floormat (right where they belong), LOL, thanks



ALL I am saying is :IF you think that RS is a illeagal and you are having problems with the FREE service..then simply do not use the service.. (instead of whining about how you are getting the poor service for free-- you get what you are paying for.. a tease)-- as for the rest of us... if the service is FREE than I will not mind getting a few glickes that seem to come with the service.. it is a way to make me think about paying for the service and getting the BETTER main service that they are providing to their patrons..

to all those who have a problem with the quality of the FREE service.. then simply do not use it no one is forcing you to (the alternative is that they become simply a pay-to-use service -as has happened to many other sites. and if THAT happens well I guess many people will have less files to share/view )

[sori8023]

hey Tramplemenc,

Thanks so much for the rapidshared link. This is a wonderfull thing!

[tyler]

Without real payors, there is no source of the gobs of profit as you seem to imagine they make. The payors are the ones that ultimately continue the service and the equipment upgrades, not the uploaders.Never once made a contention about that fact. In fact my only statement with regard to that thought was that you are right and that all companies must have a way to make money (naturally). The points I addressed are with respect to how Rapidshare treats their free users who are, or rather were, an important piece of their business strategy. Just because the free users cannot be directly tied to the same $dollar or €euro transactions that they get from subscribers, it does not mean that free users have no indirect impact on their bottomline.

The indirect effect of free users goes well beyond ad click revenue and well beyond sustaining their product line (which is essentially uploaded media). Advocacy of the use of a particalular file share over another is a huge indirect way for Rapidshare to be making money. Advocacy does not necessarily have to be people saying they love rapidshare. Something as simple as a freeloader re-posting one of his favorite RS links in another forum contributes greatly to Rapidshare's proliferation. This type of behavior/activity is rampant, and that is another way that even the leechers who never upload anything still have major contributing affect to Rapidshare's bottomline. Those guys also probably make up the majority as you even alluded yourself: "But there are far more people that have never contributed a single file Rapid's or any other filesharer, very likely the majority."

Much like MySpace and Youtube, Rapidshare derives it's enormous profit from the power of it's community spreading the word about it's service. Rapidshare's community consists of anyone who is buying the service, uploading to the service, or spreading links from their service. Within those qualifiers, you will find that free users (who've never even uploaded anything) probably still make up the lion's share of that sub-demographic.



More files uploaded does mean more popularity, but it also means bigger and bigger expensive servers, more traffic (which they have to pay for), more expense, and more headache.
Since uploaded files (and the subsequent network space required to host them) is essentially their product line (and any file share's product line, for that matter), I don't consider this to be a point that will garner much sympathy from me or many others... to think that they are going through so much headache and trouble just to make free and subscriber files available to us.

.18 made an enormously good point that they are in the business of doing just that, and making lots of money off of it... so there is no doubt in my mind that their costs for maintaining the servers & BW is probably pretty large, but at the same time look at the scale of their business and you can see that this is rather low-cost overhead in comparison.

I therefore don't have sympathy for them in terms of the tribulations they have to go through to have a product line. Every business will have an expense associated with maintaining a product line. For RS, bandwidth, servers and staff is essentially it... and computer servers work much more efficiently and for much less money than human staff... and I would say to you that they have a lot of efficiency in terms of how much they pay for their workforce, computer networks being their main workforce.



What works out for you personally as a user doesn't not work for any company. It's much more of a dynamic interaction.
I wanna re-validate your 2nd point there, that it is a much more dynamic interaction than just me. Cuz if it were just me personally that they relied on for money, then you are so right that it would not work out for their company (aside from the subscribers I cause thru my (re)posting of links and shared uploads). However, your 2nd point is so much more important in that it implies that they rely on much much more that just me, and I will say that what they rely on (for that complex dynamic) is the user interaction among their community, from all elements of their demographic... the free users (who they are screwing over) as very much a part of that.



As Lochness said earlier, know what work and expense it is to be filehoster on the other end, and then you'd have a different perspective.
I certainly have an appreciation for that aspect of file hosting (as evident by the fact that I advocate for file shares who are good companies). Appreciation for a company's free service is only a subset of a user's overall impression though, which must also take into account other elements beyond the fact that they only accomplish free file hosting. One thing's for certain with me personally... I DO know what work and expense is involved in maintaining a happy and contributive surfer community (not to mention some of the tribulations of dishing out large amounts of free bandwidth). I run a website where the leeches are rampant, and many of my surfers (both paying & non) stay appreciative.

So in all honesty, I'm probably a lot more poised to be empathetic to Rapidshare's hosting costs than more than 95% of people who exchange files on the internet, simply because I also host free files for a living and make money off of the incidental subscriptions, yet I am not empathetic with Rapishare's plight of recent rampant complaints which they so very much deserve. The echoing voices will ultimately ring the truth in a unrestricted place like the internet.

I am very much empathetic with Lochness's point/suggestion to look at it from the file share's perspective. I in fact do that for every file share I've know of and the one's I have respect for are the many file share companies out there who do a good job of NOT screwing over substantial portions of their community simply for the sake of the bottomline, as Rapidshare has recently been doing.

[tyler]

ALL I am saying is :IF you think that RS is a illeagal and you are having problems with the FREE service..then simply do not use the service.. (instead of whining about how you are getting the poor service for free-- you get what you are paying for.. a tease)-- as for the rest of us... if the service is FREE than I will not mind getting a few glickes that seem to come with the service.. it is a way to make me think about paying for the service and getting the BETTER main service that they are providing to their patrons..

to all those who have a problem with the quality of the FREE service.. then simply do not use it no one is forcing you to (the alternative is that they become simply a pay-to-use service -as has happened to many other sites. and if THAT happens well I guess many people will have less files to share/view )
Another alternative beyond paying is using a different/better file share.

If a particular free service has suddenly become WAY substandard when compared to other free services (and recently been badly abused by the owning company), then there is every reason for complaint (especially in a forum thread where the topic specifically discusses how bad the particular file share is). Mind you, it would be inappropriate to do nothing but complain in an unrelevant thread or just a thread that uses rapidshare links, but a thread that opens this specific topic for discussion is a more than appropriate place to discuss.

You are right that no-one is being forced to use RS, but it is sort of a soft force when you see that many of the file share links out there belong to them. A good reason to discuss their flaws would be to make other people out there aware of reasons why they should consider other/better file upload services instead.

That is all I'm trying to say, by discussing this thread topic. I hope you didn't mistake my discussion as complaining, LOL :rofl:

[tiptoe_on_my_twolips]

Tyler-
You are not complaining more then the 'leeches' who want to have it all for nothing.

I wish there was anoither FTP that has as many server capabilities. I would prefer a more relyable uploadable site.. but till someone lets me know a good tried and proven one. I am satisfired with the status quo. The Devil Iknow is that I can always delete the cookies and just "pull one over" on the sorry you have reached your FREE limit or just use my preminum accont :)

Is it just me or wasn't there a time RS used to let the Free users have no limitations for a whole hour or two at I think it was 00:00 Zulu/GMT ?

Does anyone out there have access to a server that can store all the shared files that are being associated with this forum? maybe then everyone will be happy. and have to find something else to complain about..LOL

[tyler]

I wish there was anoither FTP that has as many server capabilities.
www.SexUploader.com is the best alternative I've found, and easier to use w/o so much of the hassle as others. 500MB upload size limits too


Tyler-
You are not complaining more then the 'leeches' who want to have it all for nothing.
Thx for the vote of confidence tiptoe, but let me also say that any free user who has ever uploaded a file or has posted a Rapidshare link is a person who has helped Rapidshare grow (that includes many more leechers than we'd probably think). The thing that bothers me is how easily Rapidshare turned it's back on this big subset of people after it thought it had a monopoly on the file share market. Paid users are much less likely to take notice of this abuse because they are content paying RS the fee to reap from the fruits of all the free contributers (both in the media upload and marketing distribution facets of their business).

Free users have to understand that they contribute greatly to the success or non-success of these companies. And if we free users, decide to use the companies that are more friendly to us, then those companies are the ones who will eventually succeed... because we are uploading to those competitors instead AND distributing their links instead.

I for one, will never support a company like RapidShare who was willing to turn it's back on the same people who helped build it's massive file collection... that would be the free users. And how were they rewarded in the end? They got degraded services, when it's proven out there (thru numerous competitors) that BW costs are dropping and that if anything, there should more improvements to free service instead of degradations to previous expectations.

Not the case with Rapidshare and it is all because of their attempt to abuse a monopoly. The only monopoly I will ever support is Microsoft simply because I have too and that is mostly because there aren't a wide range of free/better alternatives as is the opposite case with RS's monopoly competition.

It's so great that on the internet, the power really rests in the hands of the people. If the surfers realize how strong their collective powers really are, then they can make a difference. That's why discussion threads like this one can have meaningfulness by getting the truth out there for people to make note of, who might not have realized what was going on from the same perspective.

[flapjak]

I don't really want to go much further with this in a way. I am sure Rapidshare is very aware of the freeloader "strategy" (heck, they probably invented it for filesharing of this type). They have a certain level of dominance on the net, and are apparently are now willing to let go of some freeloaders for "the bottom line." Time will tell whether that strategy pans out for them. It may be a risk if as you say the free service is so "way" substandard now. I'm sure it is easily rectifiable if it seems to be backfiring - they can monitor that I'm sure. Allegances shift in this business very quickly (except with a case like Microsoft perhaps), so they need to be careful. But I've been hearing whining about Rapidshare for the last two years before this happened, that's why I'm tired of it.

If I was only downloading for free, I would not complain about rapidshare - I would just upload to another server. I'd have no choice in where I download - wherever the people uploaded the file. In the meantime, I am comfortable getting T3 speed parallel downloads for 7 euros a month. So don't ask me not to use Rapidshare for Youtube or another crap free server until something much better comes along.

[tyler]

FlapJ, I can understand your desire to not wanna continue the discussoin cuz of all the times we've all heard complaints about RS on the internet (now and back then). I think now though, you'll start to see more of an increase, so that is even further reason for headache of not wanting to hear it, but you're probably right that RS is aware of their free-loader strategy and can probably see-saw their policies as needed.

You're also right about allegiances too. My only issue with personally adopting the perspectives or advice of paid subscribers is that I would have to plan on being a subscriber myself if that's the criteria I wanted to judge based off of. You've offered stellar perspective for paying members.

Anyway, as far as opinions go, I would say that non-subscribers who express their opinions are less tainted in terms of allegiances, simply cuz they have no vested payment in the services which they discuss, so I'm not totally inclined to dismiss all the leechers out there who speak their mind, when appropriate and in the appropriate context.

[Tramplemenc]

thanks a lot tramplmenc.ill see if i can understand it but hey thanks a whole bunch.i do really appreciate it.one question when u say copy and post does that mean just put the title name in the top or what.i told u i aint very damn smart.lol.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
LOL--fenderman you are about as ole as I am...
In youtube just left click your curser over the URL when you have the movie playing in youtube. When you left click it - it will turn gray--then right click and choose copy... Then on the http://www.youtubex.com/ page NOT your browser. Then is a blank space.. Put your cursor over it and RIGHT click paste. You will see paste. Hit that --now the URL is now on the youtubex site.. Then click on download or you might have to R. click it and hit save link or save as < Put it on your PC where you will know or be able to find it.

Don't forget you will need a flv player--In google just type in free flv player..
If you have problems or anything you can E-Mail me at
www.tramplemenc@ctc.net
Tkae care and Good Luck..

[Loewe]

Don't forget you will need a flv player--In google just type in free flv player..

Hint: ....instead of installing another different player prog for the .flv files, I higly recommend using the VLC-Player, who plays nearly every videoformat that exists incl. wmv. and also the .flv files.

It is legal freeware, carries no spyware, available for win and other platforms and you can download it from this page:

http://www.videolan.org/

Hope you find it useful too..... :thumbsup2:

[danza]

Today I tried to download a file from Rapidshare.

I received the following message:
"Your IP-address 80.4.224.7 has already downloaded 93798 KB.
You have reached the download-limit for free-users. Want to download more?
Get your own Premium-account now! Instant download-access! (Or wait 43 minutes)".

This is a nightmare and a complete idiotism. My last download from Rapidshare was 6 days ago... not today. This would be my first download since Saturday and now is Friday. Therefore the message from Rapidshare is false.

In that case, if there are more same IP adress, they need to find a better
identification method.
I wanted to join them, but their incompetence stopped me, I can not trust them.

That IP address is from a cache server (80.4.224.7 = sotn-cache-4.server.ntli.net) from http://www.ntlworld.com as it seems to me, it's not your own personal IP address. Looks like your Internet Provider works with a cache server so it can serve up frequent visited pages faster and it also frees up some bandwidth. Nowadays with dynamic database driven websites (watch for the PHP and ASP in the URL's) that's pretty useless. Nevertheless, some Internet Providers use this technique.

That also means that many users show themself to the outside world (a.k.a. the Internet) with the same address. And if any of those users download something from Rapidshare, they actualy spoil the fun for you.

So, instead of bitching at Rapidshare, you might consider changing your Internet Provider or look around the FAQ on how to disable this way of working.

Never had any problem yet with Rapidshare. YouTube is great as well, although it's not that easy to save files and the quality of the clips there is most often a lot worse then clips you can download on Rapidshare.

[flapjak]

Wow, there you go - all this blame, and the whole problem could be an ISP problem after all!

[tyler]

and the whole problem could be an ISP problem after all!At least until he quickly runs out of free quota, then it's back to the waiting room, (or youtube)... or the quarter machine, LOL

...more like "€9.90 EURO" quarter machine in this figure of speech ;)

[danza]

At least until he quickly runs out of free quota, then it's back to the waiting room, (or youtube)... or the quarter machine, LOL

...more like "€9.90 EURO" quarter machine in this figure of speech ;)

:think: or this... or that...?

Hey...! Just thinking outside of the box here maybe... But why not use both ???

:clap:

C'mon guys. Both are great in it's own way and both offer so much free content, no annoying popups or whatsoever... Don't ask the world of them while you are not even a paying member...

[tyler]

But why not use bothAgreed, and I believe many people do and will continue.


Don't ask the world of them while you are not even a paying member...
Totally not asking that; just asking RapidShare to stick with their previous freebie standards (or improve them at least, but NOT dramatically degrade them -- since all other file share companies tend to be improving rather than taking away). A certain level of standards are what many of us "freeloaders" came to expect as we helped Rapidshare grow -- by playing an enormous role in their proliferation (ie. uploading files and sharing their links across the net).

[danza]

Totally not asking that; just asking RS to stick with their previous freebie standards (or improve them, but NOT degrade them). A certain level of standards are what many of us "freeloaders" came to expect as we helped Rapidshare by playing an enormous role in their proliferation/growth (ie. uploading files and sharing their links across the net).

I never hurts to ask... ;) now, having someone standing on your face is a different thing... :)

[tyler]

Then let this post serve as an open letter to them

Now as for you, come stand on my face deary ;)

[wormee]

Rapid Share uploaders earn points whenever someone downloads their files. The less people that download teh file, the less points they'll earn, thus decreasing the intrest in posting on RS to begin with.

I haven't had any trouble with RS until last night. this is ridiculous.

My sugesstion is to contact RS at webmaster@rapidshare.de and voice your concern over their new policies. Maybe if they get enough complaints they'll get teh message and change.

[Shy_Dreamer]

Hmm...
I'll continue posting on RS, because I HAVE a premium account and it's just great. Full speed downloading without waiting :)

And the points are a reason to share on RS.
For 10.000 pts you can extend your premium account for a month.
If you share enough files there you can download for months with paying €9,90 once...
I'm at around 7000 pts now in ~40 days with sharing some files on various boards/websites.

I don't like the YouTube .flv video format !

[Tread]

I started hating RS about a month ago when they greatly reduced their session limit. Now every time almost after I download just one file, it will say I've recieved my free quota and I have to wait 1 hour to reset my bandwidth.

I recommend www.sexuploader.com cuz it doesn't have the pop-ups nor the session download limit, and it allows files up to 500 MB to be uploaded

The thing I liked about RS is that only the people you give the link to can view your video. With YouTube anyone can search and find it. It looks like sexuploader is like RS in that respect. Is this right?

[asphodel]

before rapidshare was using Pay per Byte. What i mean is when you pay the fee for a membership, it was like 10gb Download limit. IF you pass 10gb in 1 month your membership will end after 1 month if you dont you have 5-6 months to complete that 10gb limit.

But now it sucks, pay 10 euro?!?! funny. I prefer paying 30 euro for 10gb than paying 10 euro for 1 month.

[tyler]

The thing I liked about RS is that only the people you give the link to can view your video. ... It looks like sexuploader is like RS in that respect. Is this right?
Yep, it is a unique link that only the uploader knows of, and it is his or her choice to share it with others. Sexuploader works a lot like RS in that regard.

The main difference is that Sexuploader, does not make you wait 1 hour after you'd downloaded X amount of Bandwidth. The only wait they make you have is the same initial 45 seconds like Rapidshare.

Oh, and forgot to mention that www.sexuploader.com has a 500MB size limit as opposed to 100MB like RS, and their one pop-up javascript is not as overbearing on the browser.

[tyler]

For 10.000 pts you can extend your premium account for a month.
If you share enough files there you can download for months with paying €9,90 once...
I'm at around 7000 pts now in ~40 days with sharing some files on various boards/websites.
That explains why Rapidshare decided to make scat movies (http://scatmovies.com/) on all the freeloaders who uploaded the very content which helped it grow. Thru their new point system, RS is now encouraging subscribers to take the more active approach at sustaining the file upload content that it needs.

And it also makes sense why, collectively, it's not in the subscribers' best interests to contradict the support that RS believes it should be getting from potential uploaders/proliferators (both free & subscriber alike), LOL

Heck, if I was paying their 10 Euro monthly fee and thinking that my points could earn my next month for free, it'd be a no brainer for me to say things which would increase the chances of my uploads getting downloaded more, which in turn would earn me more points.

Gotto admit, that their marketing team is good... which is why I know they are raking in hand over fist, though it is disappointing they couldn't spread that wealth a little better to combat the growing dissent in it's freebie community (many of whom helped it grow in it's earlier days). They probably would not have nearly as much dissent if they didn't decide to heavily reverse the reasonably fair download limits they had been using in the past.

This new burden on free users is something that subscribers would not notice at all since they are downloading unrestricted, so as far as they see it, RapidShare is a great company who cares about it's users (at least the one's paying 10 Euros/month).

[footslavejoe]

I don't like the YouTube .flv video format ![/QUOTE]



:crying2: :crying2: :crying2: same!!!cannot for the life of me get it to run on my psp!!!goddam !and i paid nothing for it as well!!!!

[superstardreggy]

LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL

What ppl seems to be missing out on this is a simple thing: There ARE reasons why RS do the limits. Thats because ppl that´s not paying..should not be able to spam dl´s. That would make the whole server go bananaz. If you pay the small amount of money they ask for.. wich is not that much actually concidering what you actually get.. you get to go first in line.. and you get benefits.. works like that everywhere.. the one who pays go first. I DO pay 10 euro per month.. and guess what.. I´ve been dl stuff a whole fucking day... files after files after files.. .and I never seem to getto that limit where my dl ends per day..

So guys.. Stop fucking whining and act like humans.... you gladelly pay 20$ when you´re out eating dinner with friends... that gives you food for couple of hours... but you complain when you need to pay 10 euros on RS to be able to dl as much as you want to and to have "food" in your computer every day?

the ones who complains are pathetic.

=)

[tyler]

you gladelly pay 20$ when you´re out eating dinner with friends... that gives you food for couple of hours...
If another restaurant was giving out the exact same food for free (and only made you sit through a few pop-ups), you'd probably support the better/free restaurant chain instead and hope they increase their menu over the big McDonald's (who is all over the place and killing the free world slowly).

If you're paying $20 at the 1st restaurant, then there's no doubt you'll love them, cuz you don't have to sit through the initial pop-up and they're feeding your addiction, keeping you mmp, mmmp, and happy (all while increasing your chances of their free food thru an "advocacy point system"), LOL

[flapjak]

Um, Tyler, analogy failing. There are no free restaurants that McDonalds are killing. That makes absolutely no sense. Free restaurants put themselves out of business just fine. But there are charity soup kitchens - you can all have your soup kitchens.:thumbsup:

[.18]

"RapidShare - Collector's-Zone"


free to sign up, if you get 10,000 downloads from your upload(s) you have the option to claim a premium account, pretty decent idea, at least you don't need to shell out the one month premium in the first place.

though you only collect points from users downloading from a FREE account, that goes for premium users collecting points too, so when everyone gets premium, I'm sure the day will come, no one will be collecting points and will have to keep on paying...

[tyler]

Um, Tyler, analogy failing. There are no free restaurants that McDonalds are killing. That makes absolutely no sense. Free restaurants put themselves out of business just fine. But there are charity soup kitchens - you can all have your soup kitchens.:thumbsup:
Don't forget that the internet is a completely different animal than food. And I wasn't referring to restaurants that McD's was killing, I was referring to all their blissfully ignorant consumers, who Rapishare is also taking advantage of just like McD's, LOL ...Not to mention, that not everyone reads the entirety of this thread (as you have diligently decided to do) before replying, so sometimes the RS "point system" zombie will be more likely to speak on their behalf w/o considering other sound perspective.

You're very right once again though FlapJ, there's no free restaurants and that is where and why the internet is so much more interesting in terms of business comparisons; on the net, we can have free competitors who offer the same thing or better for less (as these other apples or oranges, known as file shares, can serve the purpose of representing as companies, or free restaurants I should say). With these type of internet businesses, the drivers to their bottom lines are not as apparent as most people like you and I would be inclined to think... which is simply more than a matter of handing the clerk your money in a single, documentable, recordable, statistically-friendly transaction (as being the ONLY way you can help them grow).

No, the internet is far different from that and companies can grow in much different ways. Look at youtube or myspace, who don't charge a thing and I think you'll understand what I mean... or www.sexuploader.com who is a good company that doesn't screw over their free user base :)

Company-wise though, McD's seems to relate to the food spending comparison quite well.... let's see... they become corporately huge when there's not much other viable choice, then they take advantage of their enormous demographic (ie. w/questionable material for the masses, when say, a better company could provide a more functional fan-centric, instead of bottomline-centric alternative, cuz those better companies would obviously care more about their people... the list goes on).

But anyway, like you implied, it's not about comparing food (which I still don't find quite relevant in the first place) ...comparing the spending of money on a human necessity over someone's horniness, but somebody out there wanted to unconsciously earn more rapidshare points when they mentioned it, so I wanted to add a little more un-biased & sound "free user" perspective, LOL

...glad you were able to chime back in, cuz I love this thread in case you could tell ;)

This thread is so much more fun than when I'm simply steaming on the inside, elsewhere like say whenever I'm in a clip thread with a bunch of RS links, and out of courtesy, I don't open the eyes of people to how badly RS is really setting them up to be raped willingly for their money in the end, LOL

Open discussions about RS are so meaningful in an RS bashing thread :rofl:
Hmmm, I wonder why we never really see RS-praise threads?... you figure if there's so many people who are truly consciously happy such as yourself, we might see a few of those appreciation threads pop up from time to time... I'd say that smart appreciative guys like you FlapJ are few and far between, and I don't even think you've ever initiated a RS appreciation thread... so I guess my point is that there is a lot more to dislike about this company than there is to like if you just do a simple measure of overall voices on the net (and more importantly, comparisons to other alternative file share companies who'd probably do so many more good things for everyone if they had RS's enormous user base).

[.18]

I have diligently read every post in this thread. :)

[flapjak]

Users are more apt to complain about a company on the internet than praise. It is assumed that when one pays money and one gets the service one is promised that it is "normal". People tend to vote their approval with their wallets and silent approval. But go to an Ipod board, and you will see people complaining how their Ipods didn't work, or about Itunes or something else. Reading those, you'd think that Apple is about to go out of business. Yet you can't find anyplace in NY or CA where people don't have those white earbuds headphones EVERYWHERE you look, and Apple is doing very well, thankyou.

Like the news, most feedback is skewed to the negative. People only write when they are prompted to complain. In this case, the only complainants are the free users, not the paying customers. So perhaps the question you might ask is, "why aren't paying customers not starting negative threads about Rapidshare?"

I think you've adequately made your case how free users are important to a fileshare business strategy, and the company should be informed of yours and others gripes. Copy and paste what you wrote here, and mail it to them in a real paper letter in addition to an e-mail (one real letter is worth 5,000 e-mails, 'cuz look at the time you took to produce and send it). That buck for postage to Germany might be worth lots of free downloads for you and other free users. The other millions of freeloaders will sing Tyler's praises, (uh, probably not, but it sounds nice).:)

[tyler]

Users are more apt to complain about a company on the internet than praise. ...Like the news, most feedback is skewed to the negative. People only write when they are prompted to complain.
Very true point indeed.



The other millions of freeloaders will thank you, (uh, probably not, but it sounds nice)
hilarious considering all my rants about how great the free users are :rofl: They'd never thank me and that is a fact ;)

And because of that fact, I'm not gonna waste my time preparing a letter to RS, although you have a good point about the paper letter being more important (besides RS should be smart enough to know these points already). Anyway, RS isn't the only file share, and I personally will support better file share companies from now on (& strong-arm others into doing so as well, LOL), not to mention I'd rather spend the stamp money on my next double cheeseburger from McD's, LOL

[flapjak]

[/QUOTE]And because of that fact, I'm not gonna waste my time preparing a letter to RS, although you have a good point about the paper letter being more important .... not to mention I'd rather spend the stamp money on my next double cheeseburger from McD's, LOL[/QUOTE]

Smart man!

[flapjak]

"And because of that fact, I'm not gonna waste my time preparing a letter to RS, although you have a good point about the paper letter being more important .... not to mention I'd rather spend the stamp money on my next double cheeseburger from McD's, LOL"

Smart man!

[crusheagle]

-
I have used a rapidshare Prem. Acct for a year.. I personally think it works Great--Never any problems... Everything can't be totally free--Especially if you are paying for several terabites of space.



Same as me, I find Rapidshare working perfect for me

[tyler]

Everything can't be totally free--
Not true... if you're using other file shares, who offer 100s of MBs to GBs of free downloads per session, unlike the new 8MB d/l limit for Rapidshare, I would argue that there is a big difference of what "can be free" at the individual user level. And this is evident by what other file share companies give away well above and beyond RapidShare (100s of MBs to GBs more per session).

So I would recommend that most people who want to pay money (for terrabytes of downloads) use RapidShare, and people who want to d/l for free use other file shares like SexUploader.com as an example (and let those companies make money off of people you attract to their network for upgraded service).

And in the longer run, may the more deserving network have more movies (& respect) :)

[murdoch2348]

I don't mind paying 10 or so euros a month to get a very fast (300MBits+) speed for downloading (much faster than youtube/megaupload/whatever) of course they need to charge a fee for the amount of bandwidth that they're providing us

[pazdzioch]

and... Did you think about sendspace??
file size limit is 300MB... it's very fast fo free users...
the only download limit is 1GB per day (fo free users)... sometimes there aren't free slots but it happen more rarely than once a day...

[tyler]

and... Did you think about sendspace??
file size limit is 300MB... it's very fast fo free users...
the only download limit is 1GB per day (fo free users)... sometimes there aren't free slots but it happen more rarely than once a day...
Wow, now that sounds like another great free alternative. I will take a look at SendSpace and maybe experiment to see if they're better than SexUploader which has 500MB file size, pretty fast, and unlimited daily limit as far as I've seen and tested

[peritus]

I am downloading more than 400MB. everynight from rapidshare. Easy to use with flashget. So I am a member of RS and very happy for a 2 years.

I cannot to say same thing for youtube. Because the first thing is everybody has no same quality and speed of internet connection. Second, I am working hardly. It means I am downloading everything and wathcing them later when I have a free time. You cannot to this with youtube.

By the way, why you do not use both site at same time? Who wants to just watch it at the moment can use youtube and who wants to watch later or save it in his HDD, can use RS link.

Regards,
Toe