Both Rapidshare and Megaupload have become two of the top 20 websites on the web within the past year (Reference from Alexa). The uniqueness of these sites is that it makes it possible for people to transfer large files (up to 500 megs) from their computers to anyone else. You have a large video file, you upload it to Rapidshare or Megaupload, and the recipient will then be notified by email that there is a file on Rapidshare's / Megaupload's servers for them to download and/or share with anyone else. This process is both very quick and efficient.
Books and other print material can also be uploaded and downloaded in this matter. But here is the kicker......if you have a digital copy of a copyrighted book, you can easily upload this book onto these file sharing servers.....and then anyone can find it. All that anyone has to do is go to Google, and type www.rapidshare.com
rapidshare.com Isaac Asimov
There are a number of Blogs that are taking advantage of this, and they are pointing their visitors to where they can get such free books. The following is a small list of what I am talking about.
The implications of all of this cannot be neglected. With the cost of digitizing a book now approaching $30 to $40 per book, mass copying of every work that is published will soon become a reality. Copyright laws and law enforcement will not be able to counter what is just now the tip of the iceberg.
In a very short period of time, Rapidshare and Megaupload's impact on the publishing industry will be the same as to what has happened in the music and video industries. The introduction of new and up to date works of fiction, non-fiction, and other interesting books onto the internet will result in an expectation among a significant number of customers that "why should they buy something when they can get it for free on the internet". This in turn will spawn other means and methods to meet and satisfy this appetite.
More on this in the next few days.
