Dropbox vs Copy.com: A Detailed Product Review

Copy is a new cloud backup service that is at start looks like a Dropbox clone but once you compare its offering you come to realize it is actually better in many ways. It was recently launched by Barracuda Networks, a large provider of security, data protection and backup solutions and is starting to spread among geeks and early adopters.

The idea of both services is the same – once you install their app for PC or Mac, you get a folder on your computer that is always synced to the cloud. Any folder or file that you move into that folder gets automatically synced to the cloud. This allows you to backup files, sync files between computers (your personal & home computer for example), between your computer & smartphone and also share files with others which is extremely useful when working as a team and having a need to constantly share files with each other without the hassle of emailing files as attachment.

Dropbox has been around for a while, it has millions of users and has created a fantastic service that I have been using for several years. So how can Copy succeed in such a competitive space? The answer is very simple – Copy is giving away plenty of free storage space for new signups – 15GB (vs. 2GB you get in Dropbox). In addition, for anyone that you refer to the service, both of you will earn an extra 5 GBs for completed referrals and there is no limit to the number of people you can refer.

Interested? Click this link to signup & get 20GB free space – 15GB plus 5GB since I will be your referrer.

After you are done signing up, make sure to:

  1. Verify your email address
  2. Download and install the Copy app (for PC/Mac)

Only after completing these two steps you wil get the 5GB bonus.

By the way, you can also signup as a regular user without a referrer and not get any bonus.

Although the services are very similar, there are still some pros and cons for Copy compared to Dropbox.

Pros:
– Free account size: 15GB vs. 2GB in the case of Dropbox. Initially Copy started with 5GB but as soon as Google announced that Google Drive free space will be 15GB, Copy rushed to match it.
– Referral program: Copy gives 5GB for both you and the friend you refer with no limit. Dropbox however, gives 500MB to you but nothing to your friend and it limits the bonus amount to 16GB (32 friends).
– Fair Storage for all – instead of counting data in shared folders against all members’ individual storage quotas so everyone pays for the same data over and over, Copy allows users to “split the bill” and control which files count against their storage capacity.
– Sharing a folder over the internet is more secured. In dropbox, when you share a link, you have no control if the link is being emailed to someone else. With copy, you can enter a specific user’s Copy username (an email address) and that would restrict access to the shared folder.
– Beautiful web interface that is much easier for viewing files on the web
– For mobile designers Copy is better for viewing a screenshot on an iPad. The image quality is better since Copy does not compress it like Dropbox and it also displays the screenshot in full view (without the iPad’s status bar)
– Quicker sharing – you can share a link to a file from the app rather than being redirected to the website and sharing from there like Dropbox does
– Caching – Copy allows caching of whole folders on mobile devices
– Copy allows easy access to old versions of a file straight from a file’s contextual menu

Cons:

– Upload speed – Dropbox seems to provide a faster upload time than Copy

– There is no live preview of video files in the web interface

Bottom line – Copy has done a fantastic job in launching a well designed, feature rich product that supports all platforms (Win, Mac, Linux) and Smartphones (iOS, Android). I’ve been using it for several weeks not and have not experienced any glitches or outages. Highly recommended!

Click here to signup for free and get your 20GB free space.

India: It’s Own Worst Enemey

India: It’s Own Worst Enemey
Mar 13, 2013

With one of the globe’s largest economies, India is leading the way in a variety of industries. From software to biotech to textiles, India boasts an array of successful, growing businesses that provide a model for other developing nations. Unfortunately, the only thing standing in India’s path as a leader in innovation is India itself. When it comes to intellectual property (IP) protection, India comes in last.

Today, the House Ways and Means Trade Subcommittee is holding a hearing to discuss the growing trade relationship between the United States and India and the dramatic economic growth that India has experienced over the last few decades. While India’s economic ascent has been nothing short of miraculous, it is imperative that India take into account the importance of ensuring adequate IP rights as they consider expanding their trade and investment relationships globally.

Much of India’s success has been a product of increased domestic and foreign investment. However, due to inadequate protections for IP, many businesses investing capital in India face serious challenges that undermine the companies’ ability to compete and succeed in this vital market. While insufficient enactment of enforcement of IP rights dissuades foreign investment, the instability of India’s IP system also limits growth and opportunities for India’s domestic creative and innovative industries.

Last year, the U.S. Chamber’s Global Intellectual Property Center (GIPC) released an International IP Index (GIPC Index), Measuring Momentum. The Index set out to create an IP roadmap for key countries around the world to assess their IP systems in order to accelerate economic growth, create jobs, and improve foreign investment.

Out of the 11 countries surveyed, where did India fall? India came in last.

There have been a few positive developments in the IP space, like the release of the Draft National IPR Strategy and expansion of ex officioauthority. But for every step forward, it seems there are two steps back, and there have been repeated erosions of the IP climate. This week marks the one year anniversary of the issuance of India’s first ever compulsory license, in part, because the product was imported and not manufactured locally. With this decision, the Indian government delivered a significant blow to the pharmaceutical industry, whose success depends largely on the protection of patents for the medicines that they invest significant time, research, and resources to create. Additionally, India recently revoked a patent for a medicine that holds a valid patent in over 90 other countries. Further, while the passage of the Copyright Bill was, in theory, a positive step, in practice it largely ignored industry’s call to increase IP protection and does not achieve the intended purpose on implementing the WIPO copyright treaty.

With such significant economic growth in the past two decades, it is easy to look at the foreign investment in India and assume that the situation is fine. However, the reality is that there is significant untapped potential if the government passes adequate laws to counter the rampant piracy, both physical and via the Internet.

India has proven to be an open and innovative economy. Stronger protection of IP throughout India will benefit India’s citizens with greater choices and creative industries with an array of opportunities. Imagine the economic growth that could occur and the new innovative technologies that could be discovered if India had sufficient IP protections in place.

We hope today’s hearing will highlight the challenges that industries across the board face when dealing with the IP regime in India, and we look forward to addressing these challenges with both the U.S. Government and the Indian Government.

Originally published March 2013. Reprinted by permission, freeenterprise.com, April 2013. Copyright© 2013, U.S. Chamber of Commerce.