A few years ago, RapidShare was the site that put direct downloads on the map, generating five percent of all web traffic. Today, everything seems ready for its definitive closure. The company has confirmed through a brief statement that it will cease operations on March 31. Until then, users have time to download their files and store them elsewhere.
A brief history
RapidShare started its activity on May 27, 2002. To give you a better idea, Audiogalaxy was still up to its tricks. Both the BitTorrent protocol and the eDonkey network were young then, and the eMule client had been released a few days earlier. However, RapidShare's golden age would come a few years later. When authorities increased pressure on file-sharing networks and launched their attack on portals like The Pirate Bay, direct download gained millions of users in a very short time, and RapidShare became the number one portal of its kind. In April 2008, the company reported the impressive amount of 5.4 petabytes of storage for users. It comfortably settled into the Top 50 of the most popular sites, and sparked the creation of many similar sites, such as the high-profile Megaupload in 2005.
The end is near
On March 31, we will witness its end. The people responsible for RapidShare have decided to bring down the curtain without any kind of hint or warning, beyond a small message. Users who still have files on its servers must download them before the closure, as there will be no possibility of recovery afterward. RapidShare's brushes with the law were extensive and numerous, but we are not aware of any recent conflict. In fact, RapidShare drastically changed its profile when the legal storm began to turn unfavorable, removing content, sharing information, and suspending accounts. Almost inevitably, this caused a massive loss of users, who left in search of much more tolerant services.
RapidShare's story has come to an end, and many are talking about a twilight among direct download services. In recent times, other cloud storage systems have made sharing files easier, while when it comes to downloading content, the robustness of file-sharing networks remains intact.
