isoHunt was at one point one of the largest torrent sharing website on the internet. Earlier this week a seven year battle in the courtrooms between isoHunt and the MPAA came to an end, with the MPAA walking out as the clear victors. The founder and owner of isoHunt, Gary Fung, has agreed to pay a $110 million settlement and has seven days to shut down the website and three other domains. Like many torrenting sites, isoHunt did not host the pirated materials itself. Rather, it was more like a search engine which directed its users to where they could find the sources they wished to torrent. This separation was the crux of Mr. Fung’s defense.
Fung tried relying on the safe-harbor policy established by the DMCA and used famously in Viacom v Youtube in June of 2010. The policy essentially limits internet services’ liability for what the users do with that service. However, the courts found that isoHunt, unlike Google in the 2010 case, was actively promoting and encouraging the use of piracy. Accordingly the courts did not find it appropriate in this instance to apply the safe harbor policy.
isoHunt has made an application for appeal to the US supreme court on the ruling, although it is this author’s personal opinion, that the application was made in vain.
Source:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-24580130
