4Shared, the largest file-sharing website on the Internet, has been sued in an attempt to reveal the identities of the person or persons who uploaded copyrighted files. The case was filed at a US federal court by Modulo Security Solutions, who are trying to identify the alleged uploader of confidential documents belonging to the company. If successful, the case may have implications for others who share copyrighted files on cyberlockers.
With 10 million registered users and more than 2.5 billion page views each month, 4Shared is believed to be the largest file-sharing website.
Needless to say, a site of this size can’t possible avoid some of its users occasionally uploading copyrighted files. In common with most websites that deal with user uploaded content, 4Shared allows rightsholders to send takedown notices to remove copyrighted files that are posted without permission, but for some this is not enough.
Modulo Security Solutions has filed a lawsuit at a federal court in New Jersey in an attempt to reveal the identities of the person or persons who uploaded confidential documents to 4Shared. The security company told the court that it plans to take civil action against the alleged uploader(s) for copyright infringement related offenses, but that it can only do so if 4Shared hands over their personal details.
While the nature of the case is different from traditional media piracy, its outcome will be watched closely by copyright holders currently suing BitTorrent users. After all, if 4Shared is ordered to hand over customer information including names and IP-addresses, there is no reason why others shouldn’t try the same tactic.
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