We have relaunched: What's new at ZDNet Asia?

Myspace.com cuts off free storage service

Summary

Online storage company Myspace.com has ceased its free storage service, prompting many of its customers to scramble to retrieve their digital files before they are deleted.

Events

Microsoft MSDN/Developer Event
25 Mar 2010

One Marina Boulevard, Microsoft Singapore

IT Architect Regional Conference Singapore 2010
20 - 21 Apr 2010

Singapore Management University, Singapore

The Internet Show 2010
21-22 Apr 2010

Suntec Singapore

Online storage company Myspace.com has ceased its free storage service, prompting many of its customers to scramble to retrieve their digital files before they are deleted.

San Francisco-based Myspace says on its Web site that people can obtain their files until Friday at 5 p.m. PDT. Myspace previously let people store, organize, share and distribute digital files--including music, photos and documents--for free through a password-protected account.

"This will be the only period of time you will be able to retrieve your files," the company's Web site reads. "After this date, Myspace free consumer site will be closed. Myspace customers will not be able to access their accounts, and, to ensure your privacy, all stored files will be deleted."

The company could not be immediately reached for comment.

Myspace is the latest online storage company to stumble amid the economic downturn. In February, Driveway closed its storage service and laid off three-quarters of its staff.

A month earlier, FreeDrive shuttered its file-swapping service, which let people store and share files with strangers, citing Justice Department concerns that the service could be a haven for copyright pirates. The company still provides access to private, password-protected folders.

On its Web site, Myspace said its customers will be able to download their files or use its CD-burning service, which will mail customers a CD with their files. The site also recommended that people sign up for storage services with FreeDrive.

Jarvis Mak, a senior analyst at Nielsen/NetRatings, said that people have been using online storage sites as an "underground" way to distribute pirated files. As a result, that issue became the biggest hurdle for many online storage companies. In addition, portals offering online storage services also became big competitors for storage-only start-ups.

"What we see now, obviously, is the closing of Myspace and Driveway point to the fact that (online storage sites) are having a hard time surviving," Mak said. "They do need to move to some kind of niche...or move away from a consumer model to a B2B model so they can survive. As a pure consumer service, I think they would have a difficult time, as has already been witnessed."

Talkback

Add your opinion

In order to post a comment, you need to be registered. (Sign In or register below)

Post your comment
Transform your business interactions with real-time voice, video and telepresence solutions.
Tech Vendor: Cisco

ZDNet Asia Live

Found this great little deal calculator http://www.zdnetasia.com/downloa...

2 hours 14 minutes ago by winstoncranford on topsy

RT @mistertechblog: I wrote about Nexus One and Touchdown, desktop dock, Bluetooth/USB tethering, ebooks here: http://bit.ly/bRdzx0

8 hours 25 minutes ago by yklee13 on topsy

Read my blog post on getting the most from your Nexus One: http://www.zdnetasia.com/blogs/m...

Data Centre Operator (Fresh Graduates Welcome to Apply) in ... http://bit.ly/bagYuu

8 hours 55 minutes ago by intmasterfeed on topsy

#Cisco #Cloud Cloud on ZDNet Asia: Aussie university joins Cisco cloud ยท Early-adopter criminals embrace cloud... http://bit.ly/d93C8S #TCN

9 hours 58 minutes ago by thetechgang on topsy

www.3w.com.au has seen it's outsourced IT Contracting Business in Manila grow at 4 times the rate of its traditional Australian Based...

16 hours 37 minutes ago by brucemills on Companies' outsourcing spend to increase

RT @3wconsulting: Whitepaper from http://3W.com.au "Outsourcing Your IT Requirements to Philippines" now on @zdnetaustralia & @zdnetasia http://ow.ly/1oY9f

Whitepaper from http://3W.com.au "Outsourcing Your IT Requirements to Philippines" now on @zdnetaustralia & @zdnetasia http://ow.ly/1oYbA

Whitepaper from http://3W.com.au "Outsourcing Your IT Requirements to Philippines" now on @zdnetaustralia & @zdnetasia http://ow.ly/1oYbz

Zdnetasia.com Estimated Worth $178,365 USD. Daily Ad Revenue:$244 USD, Daily Views:81,445 Pages... - http://www.haplog.com/www.zdneta...

When I create an event, I click on an approximate time during the day when I want the event to occur, then I click "edit event detail...

1 day 5 minutes ago by bessellbrowne on Google Calendar gets 'smart' rescheduling

ipads break alott i had one it broke three times in the month i had it so i got rid of the damn thing id just go for the laptop Top Grade...

1 day 7 minutes ago by bessellbrowne on Report: 'Hundreds of thousands' of iPad preorders

There are a number of websites that still require Internet Explorer to view and IE for Mac Stinks (it is really ies4osx which is the Wind...

1 day 9 minutes ago by bessellbrowne on Microsoft: Only minor tweaks in Windows 7 SP1

The receivers don't transmit back to the satellite. Unless there is a phone line attached to the receiver, they don't have any wa...

1 day 11 minutes ago by bessellbrowne on Apple to join the geolocation craze?

"Lead Cognos BI Developer Insurance - Jobs - ZDNet Asia" http://bit.ly/bRcxOG

1 day 6 minutes ago by rhrcognos on topsy

whatever little understanding I have we 'll only progress toward end of the world if we use HPCs to lenthen life of human being. Huma...

2 days 18 minutes ago by abhi32002@gmail.com on High computing promises elixir of life

Thanks for the knowledgeable article on SDDs. Allas...when all this reasearch will happen in Indian Universities. Hope the new bill on Fo...

2 days 31 minutes ago by abhi32002@gmail.com on APAC HPC users eye solid-state drives

It was a good article. This brings a good opportunity for Indian IT firms to come up with new solutions in this field. HPC can become a b...

2 days 49 minutes ago by abhi32002@gmail.com on High computing most-wanted job in Asia

COL KR DHARMADHIKARY(RETD) its very late to reply the link, but if it is still alive and looking for opportunity, i would like to know th...

2 days 47 minutes ago by deb021280 on Education takes off in rural India, helped by PCs

It was just a matter of time until google was marginalised anyway. I'm afraid this will be forgotten in China very quickly. Still, it...

2 days 52 minutes ago by robinsmith on Report: Google to leave China on April 10

High performance computing (HPC) most-wanted job in Asia http://bit.ly/9vFC3i (via @zdnetasia) #singapore

He doesn't care if her shoes are of glass, All he wants to see is a huge rack and nice a*s. Sleeping beauty's not awoken by true ...

2 days 20 minutes ago by warlowdavies on One pair of 3D glasses to rule them all

RT @zdnetasia: EMC COO, Pat Gelsinger, on bridging gaps in the organization and its cloud ambitions in Asia. (cont) http://tl.gd/i5jjd

EMC COO, Pat Gelsinger, on bridging gaps in the organization and its cloud ambitions in Asia. http://bit.ly/9etOZW

Asian SMBs need to pay more attention to disaster recovery planning http://bit.ly/bDet08 via @zdnetasia

Asian SMBs need to pay more attention to disaster recovery planning http://bit.ly/bDet08

[TECH] URL Shorteners slow Web redirection. - http://bit.ly/bySnWK @zdnetasia

URL shorteners are great but they can slow web redirection & you pray it would never go down http://bit.ly/bySnWK via @zdnetasia

URL shorteners slow Web redirection. http://bit.ly/bySnWK

Chinese agencies cry foul over Google. http://bit.ly/by6rwV

all of sg's isps have been practising compulsory invisible proxy for all home subscribers at their backend since many years back alre...

3 days 30 minutes ago by melvinchia on Web filters mean bad news for business

it is not to good for china.
Proactol

3 days 15 minutes ago by nathonastle on Chinese ad partners beg Google for information

Very good explanation of JMX

4 days 20 minutes ago by Babith B on Managing applications with JMX

The reaction to a report issued Tuesday by Flurry Analytics managed to completely overlook some interesting news--the Android-based Motorola Droid outsold the original iPhone over the same period of time following their respective launches--to focus instead on the sales numbers for the Nexus One.

4 days 24 minutes ago by lonemavericks on diggs

Another ZTE story....

4 days 26 minutes ago by Moderate Your Greed on Philippines opens bid for final 3G license