Backlash to the Department of Justice’s takedown of MegaUpload and the arrest of its owner and its employees comes in many different ways it would seem. Not unexpectedly Anonymous has been launching DoS attacks against companies that supported the now shelved SOPA and PIPA bills that were headed to Congress; but wasn’t expected was the reaction of Uploaded.to another file-hosting site.

It seems that the company has decided that rather than risk facing the same fate as MegaUpload they could do without the business from US users. At some point today the company turned off access to the site for anyone in the United States.

There is no official statement yet from the company or if the access blocking is permanent but the only thing US users will see when they try to access the site is “Not Available: Our service is currently unavailable in your country. Sorry about that.”

This is definitely a different way to deal with the actions that seem to becoming a regular practice for the US government; but it also raises an interesting question.

What if more web companies started doing the same thing as Uploaded.to has done. Granted business on the web is predominately US based but not all of it is and with more and more cutting edge web companies are being started outside of the US it would be interesting to see what the reaction would be if US web users slowly found themselves being ostracized by the larger web.

It is called the World Wide Web after all.

via TorrentFreak

Uploaded.to is now blocking US users in response to the MegaUpload takedown is a post from: The Inquisitr

You may recall that EA attempted to pull something a bit shifty with the release of Battlefield: Bad Company. Specifically, EA was hoping to suck extra money out of their faithful fanbase by selling weapons. That didn’t go over very well with the fanbase; Sarcastic Gamer started a rather successful boycott that ended up having EA backpedal on their plans. You would think EA learned their lesson, but apparently not.

Fans who pre-order Battlefield 3 will get access to the Back to Karkand expansion pack, which offers up remakes of several popular Battlefield maps, including Strike at Karkand. Those who opt out of pre-ordering Battlefield 3 will have to cough up extra cash if they want access to these maps — but that’s not what the fans are upset about.

What they are upset about is that those who purchase the expansion pack won’t get access to the pre-order and Limited Edition-exclusive guns. In other words, people who choose not to pre-order will be paying the same amount for less content.

It’s hard to fault people for being up in arms about this. It’s one thing for a publisher to offer pre-order incentives, but it’s another thing entirely when that pre-order incentive can potentially upset the balance of multiplayer, giving those who pre-ordered a relatively unfair advantage. Here’s to hoping EA changes their mind.

For more information on the latest boycott, click here.

via Destructoid

Here We Go Again: Angry Fans Boycotting Battlefield 3 Over DLC is a post from: The Inquisitr

After fifteen years of releasing crappy to average 3D Sonic games, Sega has finally returned to the series’ 2D roots with Sonic the Hedgehog 4. It’s what the fans have been asking for, and Sega has relented.

So said fans are happy, right? Well, yeah. Most of them are thrilled to see gaming’s famous hedgehog back in true left-to-right 2D platforming action. However, one Destructoid tipster spotted this petition from so-called Sonic “fans” declaring they would be buying the very first Sonic game on Sonic 4‘s launch day because they wanted an old Sonic game with new graphics.

Let the idiocy commence:

“Fans of the sonic series are like most sega fans, we want their old games brought back to the glory days when sega was pretty much the power in video games. Seeing the gameplay of sonic 4 has made many of us realize what we already knew, Sonic 4 will simply not be anywhere near as good as the original sonic games. Either way, We will decide to finally show sega what the fans truly want. A real sonic 4, as long as sonic 4 stays the way it is, we will not buy it, we will in fact buy sonic 1 on release in protest of sonic 4, till we end up with a re tool, or change, we want sonic in hd, not sonic RUSH HD. We will not buy a future sonic game, till we get a true successor to sonic 1/2.”

Right. After years of bleating about getting a 2D Sonic game, the poor lambs are whinging when they do get one because it’s a new one. Despite only a few seconds of leaked Sonic 4 gameplay having been released, these folks already know that “Sonic 4 will simply not be anywhere near as good as the original sonic games.”

Currently the petition has 1,053 signatures (though some are mocking remarks about the petition itself) - depressing stuff. Sonic 4 is not a HD remake of Sonic 1, but passing judgment on a game after a minute of unfinished footage is arrogant and idiotic in the extreme. For what it’s worth, I think Sonic 4 looks gorgeous, is in 2D, has Sonic in it and none of his crappy friends, and is blazingly fast. But I wouldn’t slap a review score on it. Because I haven’t even played it, and I’m not a presumptious douche.

But hey, at least they’re going to show Sega who’s boss by … purchasing another Sega game! Oh yeah, stick it to the man, kids! I’m sure Sega is gutted.

[iPetition, via Destructoid]

Huh?: Sonic fans trying to boycott Sonic 4 is a post from: The Inquisitr

Even though the US is heading into turkey weekend the discussion around Microsoft cutting deals to de-list from Google and go strictly with Bing with any newspaper organization willing to listen continues unabated.

In two past posts here at The Inquisitr I have written about how stupid this idea is and could end up hurting Microsoft far more than any bonus of having Google frozen out could bring. Not only would it hurt Microsoft but it would also hurt us the consumers as well with any damage to Google being next to negligible.

The one thing that has been growing though is the call for a boycott of Microsoft and Bing if they should go ahead with the idea and actually cut some deals. As understandable, and justified, as a boycott might be why is the idea just being confined to action against Microsoft?

Should also the other parties involved in deals like this be punished the same way – which would further increase the effect of any boycott by the way. IF we are willing to entertain the idea of boycotting Microsoft then we should be just as willing to include any media company, and their various properties spread around the web – and off of the web as well.

This would mean that all of News Corp properties including things like Wall Street Journal and MySpace should be boycotted the same way that Bing or the sale of Windows 7 is. After all what is fair for the goose should also be just as fair for the gander.

Microsoft & News Corp – what is good for the goose should be good for the gander is a post from: The Inquisitr

And hurray for that. Yes, the most pointless boycott in history is over.

Back in June, a group of Left 4 Dead fans announced plans to boycott Left 4 Dead 2, on the grounds that developer Valve was abandoning the first game, and the sequel was releasing too soon. Valve subsequently flew two of the boycotters out to its Seattle HQ, and continued to support the game with updates and bug fixes.

Now, however, it’s all over. The boycotters have decided to call it a day. Not that their organized hissy fit had much effect, obviously, because pre-orders for the sequel are through the roof. Anyhow, here’s boycott leader Agent of Chaos:

“The recently released Crash Course was just the start. Future updates will continue to roll in, and 4v4 matchmaking is first in line. Valve has confirmed to us that it’ll be available before the release of L4D2. Also don’t forget, we have another DLC pack confirmed for sometime in the near future and of course, there will be bug fixes. This is as good as it can get people.”

And here’s my translation:

“Look guys, I hate to say it, but Left 4 Dead 2 looks like the cat’s pajamas, and if you think I’m seriously ignoring it, think again. I’ve got my free tour of Valve and, despite our claims, Valve defied my expectations by supporting Left 4 Dead after all. Oops!”

[Via Steam]

Left 4 Dead 2 boycott officially brought to an end is a post from: The Inquisitr

When was the last time you ever heard of anyone wanting to boycott a company because they wanted to bring a new product to market?

Well apparently this is the situation that Valve is finding itself in with some pretty serious gamers who are really angry that the company is bringing the next version of the popular game to market only a year after the original Left 4 Dead was released. They have even set up a Steam Group within the Steam (Valve’s game store and community) Store community pages.

The opening paragraph of their statement to both the gaming community and I would image to Valve itself is this

The Left 4 Dead 2 Boycott is a group of individuals who have pledged to boycott Valve’s upcoming release of Left 4 Dead 2 on November 17th, 2009. We have assembled a manifesto outlining the basic concensus of many members of our community. (Note: this manifesto is a new version, which we have recently posted to keep our manifesto in line with the middle ground of our members. This is the correct group for the boycott)

They go on to list out their whole – for a lack of better words – manifesto.

WE RECOGNIZE:
-Valve is a company with financial needs and cannot be expected to survive without the release of new games.
-Judgment cannot be passed on the quality of Left 4 Dead 2 until its release.
-Left 4 Dead was, and is, a quality game which deserves the praise of the entire gaming community.

WE ARE COMMITTED:
-To holding Valve to its promise of free, continual updates to Left 4 Dead in order to build and sustain the community.
-To keeping the Left 4 Dead community together in order to improve the quality of online gaming.
-To supporting the model of continual updates Valve has set forth with its staple products like Team Fortress 2.

WE BELIEVE:
-The release of Left 4 Dead 2 as a stand-alone sequel will split the communities and decrease the quality of multiplayer gaming.
-The announced content of Left 4 Dead 2 does not warrant a stand-alone, full-priced sequel and should instead become updates (free or otherwise) for Left 4 Dead.
-Left 4 Dead has not yet received the support and content which Valve has repeatedly stated will be delivered.
-The release of Left 4 Dead 2 will make Left 4 Dead an obsolete purchase and inferior piece of software after only one year since release.

WE REQUEST:
-That Valve honor its commitment to release ongoing periodic content for Left 4 Dead.
-That Left 4 Dead 2 not be released as a stand-alone, full-priced sequel but as either a free update to Left 4 Dead or an expansion with full compatibility with basic Left 4 Dead owners.
-That Left 4 Dead owners be given discounts for Left 4 Dead 2, should it be released as premium content.

Therefore, we – the members of this Left 4 Dead 2 Boycott – promise to abstain from the purchase of Left 4 Dead 2 until our requests are addressed.

I got to admit this is the first time I have ever heard of anything like this – especially when it comes to gaming. Talk about passionate.

[hat tip to Technologizer]

Gamers pissed at Valve, boycotting Left 4 Dead 2 is a post from: The Inquisitr