MegaUpload shut-down fallout continues, with rival file-sharing sites FileSonic and Uploaded.to each dramatically slimming their services to avoid allegations of copyright infringement. FileSonic has ceased any new sharing functionality whatsoever, the site now saying that "our services can only be used to upload and retrieve files that you have uploaded personally," while Uploaded.to has blocked US traffic though remains accessible elsewhere in the world.

If you attempt to access Uploaded.to from a US IP address, however, you are greeted with the message that "Our service is currently unavailable in your country. Sorry about that." Neither site has made any public announcement of the change in services, leading to speculation that the decision to curtail file sharing was a sudden reaction to the shock arrest of MegaUpload CEO Kim Dotcom and other employees of the site.

With MegaUpload facing irretrievable data loss later this week and rival services locking down their file sharing options, attention has turned to well-used but clandestine rival RapidShare AG and whether it will be next in line for the FBI attentions. Worlds apart from the showy Kim Dotcom, MegaUpload CEO, RapidShare founder Christian Schmid has focused his attentions on lobbying the US government, the WSJ reports, spending over $600,000 since 2010 to persuade them the site is a legitimate file repository and not a haven for copyright infringement.

"[Schmid] is shy and does not really like other people" RapidShare lawyer Daniel Raimer told the newspaper, after the founder declined to speak publicly on the MegaUpload saga. "He is not into chatting."

Nonetheless, plenty of copyright holders seem keen to talk to Schmid and his company. We have lawsuits coming in and being ended all the time" Raimer conceded, "this is an ongoing battle." Despite those suits dismissed, RapidShare ended up on the 2010 International Piracy Watch List, prompting the file sharing site to employ a lobbying firm to champion its cause among US lawmakers. In contrast, MegaUpload apparently spent its money on luxury cars and weapons.