Los Angeles - RapidShare and similar online file-hosting services have overtaken BitTorrent and traditional file-sharing networks in terms of Web traffic, leading MarkMonitor to declare in a report that they are now the top sites for downloading pirated content. With over 13 billion annual visitors, RapidShare was deemed the leading digital piracy website, followed by fellow file host Megaupload, with 5 billion visitors.

File hosts Hotfile, 4Shared and Mediafire all claim spots in the top 100 most-visited sites globally -- before The Pirate Bay, TorrentFreak noted.

For its part, RapidShare strongly criticized the report in a statement questioning its methodology.

"The authors conclude that RapidShare has to be the biggest digital piracy site from looking at the number of page visits, totally ignoring the fact that millions of customers use the service for perfectly legitimate purposes," RapidShare said, adding that it "reserves the right to take legal action" against MarkMonitor for defamation.

The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) dubbed the MarkMonitor report a "call to arms" for U.S. lawmakers to take stronger action to quell piracy.

"The findings in the MarkMonitor report on online piracy and counterfeiting are a call to arms for both government and the private sector," the MPAA said.

"As the report demonstrates, a small number of rogue websites are generating mind-boggling traffic in pirated content."

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Daniel Reviewed by Daniel on . Report: RapidShare Overtakes BitTorrent in File-Sharing Traffic http://lulzimg.com/i08/72d437.png Los Angeles - RapidShare and similar online file-hosting services have overtaken BitTorrent and traditional file-sharing networks in terms of Web traffic, leading MarkMonitor to declare in a report that they are now the top sites for downloading pirated content. With over 13 billion annual visitors, RapidShare was deemed the leading digital piracy website, followed by fellow file host Megaupload, with 5 billion visitors. File hosts Hotfile, 4Shared and Rating: 5