Mega Search Engine Listings Appear As Files Get The Axe

Kim Dotcom's Mega is off to a high-profile start, but today we're hearing of seemingly inevitable copyright woes for the site. Mega has only been officially up and running for 11 days, but according to ComputerWorld, the website has already received 150 copyright warnings for 250 files. Since Mega lacks a search function and requires users to share links in order to share content (which is encrypted when uploaded), how are these copyright holders finding their content on Mega?

It would seem the problem lies with sites that index the content on Mega, with one site in particular – Mega-search.me – getting some attention today. Users can submit submit links for their Mega files to Mega-search.me, allowing others to access them. Apparently, these copyright holders are finding their content through indexes like Mega-search.me and then issuing takedown requests.

That all appears to add up, but now we run into another problem, as content that's completely legal is also being taken down. Many of the links on Mega-search.me have gone dead in just a matter of hours, with users seeing their legal content disappearing after receiving a DMCA takedown request. This isn't very easy to explain, but TorrentFreak suggests that someone out there is filing fake DMCA requests and Mega is complying with most of the copyright warnings.

Another possibility is that Mega itself is targeting these indexes as a way to prevent users from finding and sharing copyrighted content uploaded to the site. Whatever is happening, it's got some Mega users understandably upset, and the rest of us scratching our heads. We'll be keeping an ear to the ground for more information, so keep it here at SlashGear for additional details.