So I was looking for this file and a guy found it and sent me a link. There were two download options, both full of ads. I managed to download from the second link, but what really baffled me was the first one: TeraBox.

First thing, I couldn't find any way to download the file. This crap actually wanted me to download a .exe to install their software so I could download the file from the internet, so obviously I said fuck it and tried the second link instead.

Then I told the guy who gave me the link that TeraBox was sketchy as fuck and I hoped he wasn’t actually using it, and went to search for more info about TeraBox. Apparently the program is full of ads, and wherever you click it tries to make you upgrade to premium and throws more ads at you. Its bandwidth is complete crap, but hey, it gives you 1TB of free cloud storage, yay!

TeraBox was created by Baidu using a subsidiary in Japan, later they changed the name and the name of the Japanese company as well to try not to look affiliated with Baidu.

Anyone here old enough to remember hao123, their browser hijacker that would fuck up you registry and shit just to reinstall itself through Windows Services after being uninstalled, already knows Baidu is pure cancer, and it’s hilarious if you check videos of people testing their antivirus - that manages to be more of a malware itself than McAfee. This Chinese-Google ethics make Google itself look like Mullvad, and they want you to download and install their .exe just so you can download files from the web lol

Yeah, that guy I mentioned was using TeraBox and thinking it was great, and apparently a whole lot of people do. 1TB free \o/ (although, looking at Reddit and Play Store - where it has 100m+ downloads - everyone complains files don't sync, they disappear, even after buying premium they still see ads and the speed is still crap, they don't reward whatever bonuses they promise, and support is nonexistent... so shit doesn't even work properly...)

I'm all for making tons of accounts to use Google Drive/Mega/Dropbox/etc to distribute files, even if they have crappy privacy practices, you don’t need to share any real information with them anyway: use a VPN and a secure browser to create your account with a disposable email and that’s it, whatever info they gathered doesn’t matter, let them host stuff for you at their expenses... but TeraBox? Ouch, that's insanity.

Author @PiraHxCx@lemmy.ml