File sharing site Megaupload has called on its users to bombard Orange customer services with reports of service outages, claiming the carrier is blocking access to its sites.
The Hong Kong-based cloud outfit claims the France Telecom-owned ISP is barring access to its video download and streaming services, and asked customers to report the problem to Orange’s call centers before switching to an alternative web service provider.
Access to websites hosted on Cogent and TATA are affected, ITProPortal reports.
Megaupload spokeswoman Bonnie Lam told French daily Le Point that the problem stems from France Telecom’s desire to charge the firm for delivering bandwidth-hungry content. She argues that the site should not have to pay, because Cogent handles around 20% of Web content.
The site has since taken down the message to users following a threat of legal action by Orange, the newspaper said.
An Orange staffer denied the firm was responsible for the access problems, stating that Megaupload’s peering partners weren’t reliable and noting that the firm was passing on data to rival ISPs, ITProPortal noted.
The problem comes just a few days after Megaupload and its sister site Megavideo were named as two of the main suppliers of pirated digital content.
Research by MarkMonitor found that the two sites and rival Rapid Share generated 21 billion of 53 billion visits to illegal sites in 2010.