 | |
| Type of business | Aktiengesellschaft |
|---|---|
Type of site | Online backup service |
| Available in | English, French, German and Spanish |
| Founded | 27 May 2002 |
| Dissolved | 31 March 2015 |
| Headquarters | Schochenmühlestrasse 6, 6340 Baar, Switzerland (canton of Zug) |
| Advertising | Subscription |
| Registration | Optional |
| Current status | Offline |
RapidShare was an online file hosting service that opened in 2002. In 2009, it was among the Internet's 20 most visited websites and claimed to have 10 petabytes of files uploaded by users with the ability to handle up to three million users simultaneously.[1] Following the takedown of similar service Megaupload in 2012, RapidShare changed its business model to deter the use of its services for distribution of files to large numbers of anonymous users and to focus on personal subscription-only cloud-based file storage. Its popularity fell sharply as a result and, by the end of March 2015, RapidShare ceased to operate and it is defunct. As of 2017, Rapidshare AG was acquired by Kingsley Global.
- ^ Stross, Randall (2009). "Will Books Be Napsterized?". New York Times. Retrieved 3 October 2009.