This is a thread intended for serious discussions, so try to add something informative! What happens when RapidShare, HotFile, Megaupload or any of the major file hosts disappear or close down? What do you guys think comes next? Or do you think that File Hosts will be around in their current format for some time to come? What about the future of file hosts?

I personally am not sure what comes next. But my best guess is a hybrid between a torrent like P2P system and a file hosting interface. That may sound a little crazy but I think people making the big dollars from file hosting at the moment may want to get away from hosting things in a central location.

I don't however think that the "scene" will ever go back to what it used to be. Now that people have realized that there are methods of making money from file sharing, this will always be the case. In my opinion it's only a matter of time before the RIAA, MPAA or others finally get PayPal to crack and stop allowing subscription services to file hosts. Let's face it, PayPal are probably responsible for 90% of sign ups if not more and that would also be a large amount of their reoccurring member base making monthly payments or quarterly payments for instance. I dare say that a lot of the people who make the payments via PayPal may not even have a Credit Card at all.

I think the RIAA and MPAA will realize that it may make more sense to target all file hosts at once, let's face it they are money hungry bastards... So, someone like PayPal would be the perfect option. This has already happened in one case against HotFile, PayPal is named. But I don't think that PayPal are ready to pull the pin just yet. The revenue from File Hosts would be a considerable amount. Probably tens of millions of dollars a year. And if they get rid of one File Host they likely have to get rid of them all. Will it happen? I don't know, maybe eventually... But not just yet.

If PayPal were to go I imagine someone like Alert Pay wanting to fill that void. It would take a lot of time for users to convert over away from PayPal, but it would slowly happen. Then the cycle would repeat...

I think the major Movie and Music studios need to wake up to themselves though. Think of the amount of people who have 2, 3 or even 4+ subscriptions to file hosts at $10 a month. That's a total of $40 a month or more, that's a pay TV subscription or quite a lot of movie tickets. People are willing to spend money on their entertainment and other needs. It just depends on the format they get it in, how they get it, and how much of it.

If there are millions of people downloading warez, then there is a demand. If an alternative gateway for transactions is needed, then it will populate and people will make the transition.

File hosts. They need to be thought of from a conceptual stand point. As in, a remotely accessible file that you can obtain (or interact with). Whether or not they are called file hosts, whether or not they retain the same structure...doesn't matter.

What you failed to contain in this thread was the increasing variety of alternatives such as NetFlix. Everyone is so caught up in the legalties and the newly saturated file hosting industry, that they let NetFlix, Hulu, etc. sweep right under the rug.

The entire cloud infrastructure will change how everything works. People pay $10 -$40 dollars a month to access illegal material. Well, if they can get all they want legitimately for the same cost, why wouldn't they.

Example

Person A cannot afford to pay $60 dollars per Xbox 360 game. So, they go through the hassle of flashing their Xbox 360 and downloading games. Due to uploaders using a variety of hosts they purchase multiple premium accounts, which in turn cost $40 dollars a month. But hey, they get all the games they want.

Now, all the games are accessible in the cloud, and the consoles are able to retrieve them. For $20 bucks a month, Person A can now play any game they want, at any time, without waiting.

I don't think that Filehosts will go away 100% but they will stop rewarding for downloads which leads to users leaving their service (RS is a great example).

I think torrents will always be there, Especially private trackers. It will never be the same as long as filehosts keep rewarding users for downloads. If every single filehost stopped rewarding then maybe the scene could really go back to the way it was and only people who really want to share will upload.

maybe a 2012 version of usenet? uploaders(to filehosts as it exists today) charging the downloaders(people who buy premiums) to directly transfer the data

I think in coming days File Hosts monopoly will be over. As forums and secret sites with premium services will evolve on a bigger area and provide what users want on their personal servers, it's still in progress.

Whatever govt. or copyright owner will do, piracy will b one step ahead. If the want to stop it that badly then it should be listed among big crimes like Murder. (Hang Till Death)

We can't take Paypal responsible for anything, if it wasn't Paypal someone else.

In my opinion he whole Copyright system should be removed.

Thanx n regards

The time is here. Bumped and looking for more informative answers.
Torrents Will be the best option.

A new file host will come into play most likely. Or we will go back to rapidshare which has remained stable for so long.

I think if everything goes into naught & filehost system gets demolished due to non-payment(!!), then services like seedbox & torrentflux will be the next option. It will be a mass usage spree then.

The thing which elight quoted above as -
"a hybrid between a torrent like P2P system and a file hosting interface" - it does actually exist already. But to be used by normal people, I think it need to be improved upon & made more user friendly.

But, the last thing as it seems, filehosting(paid or, not) if goes away,which is still not a possibility unless we are put under a "future crime" system, in that extreme world torrents can't live either. We will probably be back to the pre-internet age

@Im.z2ight MegaUpload was stable for the same amount of time RS was. That doesnt guarantee safety anymore.

"So, what comes after file hosts ?"

this is my thought :

- another one will appear
- torrent will be popular again
- paypal will not doing business with any file hosts
- surviving file host will use bitcoin or something simillar to attract uploader
- wjunction is closed due the feds found one of copyrighted image/icon used by the member
- google will be just like baidu
- there are will be a great-great firewall of internet in the usa and followed by another countries
- we suck
- we die
- capitalism will laugh at you
- i hope i still can lol and buy some drink n smoke