MEGA download

[deadman]

The thing with files taken down due to reporting is, I was even still able to view the thumbnails in the browser. But downloading them failed.

Thumbnails are tiny, it costs them nothing to make thousands of copies. So everyone has an independent version of those. But a new copy of a video for each person who imports it would really add up. So there's just the uploader's copy (or copies, whatever may be standard for redundancy purposes) and everyone else simply has a link to their file. It may look the same as other files on your account but it's not. To make it independent of the original you have to download it to your hard drive and then upload to your account the old fashioned way.

[mimzy]

So there's just the uploader's copy (or copies, whatever may be standard for redundancy purposes) and everyone else simply has a link to their file. It may look the same as other files on your account but it's not. To make it independent of the original you have to download it to your hard drive and then upload to your account the old fashioned way.

Does not make sense to me. In almost all filesystems, each file(name) is really a link. For example, I can create a file, then create another link to the file, then delete the original file(name), but I can still access the file through the other link. Disk space is physically freed only after all links to the file have been deleted. Logically MEGA would have implemented it this way also.

I don't see how it is in the interest of MEGA that users upload duplicate data instead of creating links. And what's the point of "importing" files if "imported" files count against your storage capacity and the files can still disappear any time? Just bookmark the files in your browser.

Since the thumbnails were left, I suspect that MEGA just deleted the files by accident. If this was intentional, thumbnails would have been deleted also.

Maybe there are legal reasons, but IMHO it is totally unfair if my files are deleted just because someone deleted his files or his account was terminated (for example, due to inactivity). I might not even remember which files I uploaded and which files I imported. Or are they marked differently?

[deadman]

Does not make sense to me. In almost all filesystems, each file(name) is really a link. For example, I can create a file, then create another link to the file, then delete the original file(name), but I can still access the file through the other link. Disk space is physically freed only after all links to the file have been deleted. Logically MEGA would have implemented it this way also.

Remember though, for legal cover they need the ability to delete files reported under laws like the DMCA no matter how many links exist. It would be interesting to see whether user deleted files are accessible but not the forced takedowns.

[goku33]

So there's just the uploader's copy (or copies, whatever may be standard for redundancy purposes) and everyone else simply has a link to their file. It may look the same as other files on your account but it's not. To make it independent of the original you have to download it to your hard drive and then upload to your account the old fashioned way.

Does not make sense to me. In almost all filesystems, each file(name) is really a link. For example, I can create a file, then create another link to the file, then delete the original file(name), but I can still access the file through the other link. Disk space is physically freed only after all links to the file have been deleted. Logically MEGA would have implemented it this way also.

I don't see how it is in the interest of MEGA that users upload duplicate data instead of creating links. And what's the point of "importing" files if "imported" files count against your storage capacity and the files can still disappear any time? Just bookmark the files in your browser.

Since the thumbnails were left, I suspect that MEGA just deleted the files by accident. If this was intentional, thumbnails would have been deleted also.

Maybe there are legal reasons, but IMHO it is totally unfair if my files are deleted just because someone deleted his files or his account was terminated (for example, due to inactivity). I might not even remember which files I uploaded and which files I imported. Or are they marked differently?

…

This is what will be show when you can’t download an imported folder anymore because apparently it was purged from the entire site (folder names blurred by me)

[Image]

I assume it’s like deadman hinted at: the original/first uploader of the folder shared his link, then maybe a second person imported it and also shared it. A third person maybe imported the folder as well but never shared their import publicly with a URL to others. But mega probably can follow and detect all imports. It could be that the original uploader only share their link in a private chat. But then the second person shared their import on a Public Forum and there the Second users import got reported for legal reasons (Copyright, CSAM, Revenge P0rn, Doxing,..) which leads to the original uploader also getting their files purged (their mistake or sharing it with anyone at all I guess).

Of course it could also be that this side-wide removal only happens when the very first (Original) Upload gets flagged/reported.

@mimzy aren’t you also on Linux? I just recently used DupeGuru to find and delete thousands of duplicate files (freed up quite some disk space) and DupeGuru gives you the option to move or delete the duplicates. But within the option to delete, it also will give you the option to create sym- and hardlinks between the files you keep and the ones you delete.

https://dupeguru.voltaicideas.net/

[mimzy]

@mimzy aren’t you also on Linux? I just recently used DupeGuru to find and delete thousands of duplicate files (freed up quite some disk space) and DupeGuru gives you the option to move or delete the duplicates. But within the option to delete, it also will give you the option to create sym- and hardlinks between the files you keep and the ones you delete.

https://dupeguru.voltaicideas.net/

Yeah, links are quite handy. I usually don't have duplicate downloads, but I've been thinking about using de-duplication to save disk space of some work-related stuff. Another cool Unix feature is "sparse files". You can use the command "truncate -s 1T terabyte_file.txt" to create a file with a size of 1 terabyte that does not take any disk space

On another note, I now remember that Megaupload got into trouble exactly because they hashed all files and did not remove actual content when takedown was requested, so I guess Mega is more careful now.