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Court rules against IsoHunt and may be forced to shut down... without a trial!
Well, kind of! A judge decided that IsoHunt 'induced theft' (i.e. copyright infringement), and thus it could be shut down without a trial. This is what's known as a 'summary judgment' in legal terms: when something is so obviously illegal (or legal) as to not require a trial, a summary judgment can be issued. In this case, the judge ruled that IsoHunt is similar enough to Napster and Grokster, and they were found illegal, and thus summarily issued a judgment -- just like that!
"The material facts supporting Plaintiffs' [the movie studio's] claims are almost wholly unrebutted," the judge said -- basically, either the IsoHunt lawyers are incompetent or... well... I don't know. Maybe... IsoHunt is actually guilty... gosh. What a horrible thought.
Of course an appeal can be launched -- and we assume, this time around, with a better legal strategy. In general though, few Torrent indexes or trackers return from the brink. If you use IsoHunt -- and I can't believe I'm saying this, because IsoHunt is awesome -- you should probably start looking for an alternative.
[via Michael Geist (includes a link to the summary judgment itself, if you're interested)]
Comments
28
Subscribe to commentsfikhlDec 26th 2009 12:13PM
CRAAAAAP! :((
ScooterGDec 26th 2009 12:13PM
An alt. would be to Use the Net...but don't tell anyone!
Sebastian AnthonyDec 26th 2009 12:17PM
The Net doesn't work quite so well if the Torrent indexes get shut down... the Net itself isn't actually content :P
Flare-SamaDec 26th 2009 12:35PM
I see what you did there! :D
ScooterGDec 26th 2009 12:43PM
LOL...take out "the" and squish it together.
Sebastian AnthonyDec 26th 2009 12:53PM
I hope you're not suggesting that Download Squadders should PAY for piracy.
ScooterGDec 26th 2009 12:58PM
You don't pay your ISP? :-P
BCDec 26th 2009 1:09PM
Good. IsoHunt is only getting what they deserve.
> "The Net doesn't work quite so well if the Torrent indexes get shut down... the Net itself isn't actually content"
If you think the entirety of the net is composed of copyright-infringing material, you really need to visit a few more places on the internet.
Sebastian AnthonyDec 26th 2009 1:14PM
Huh?
The Net describes the 'Net'work -- nothing more, nothing less.
Usually 'The Net' means 'Google' -- i.e. he was suggesting we search the Net for torrents. But without Torrent trackers/indexes, Google itself has nothing to index... thus... no Torrents on 'The Net'.
kojo87Dec 26th 2009 3:01PM
isn't ISOHunt merely a search tool for torrent files? i don't understand how they can shut them down if they aren't hosting anything. shutting down all these sites is just petty anyway. new sites and other options are always popping up. its just sucks because ISOHunt was probably the best one.
Sebastian AnthonyDec 26th 2009 3:29PM
I can't really see any talk of 'shutting down' -- I think this is more 'a big fine'. But could be wrong -- I didn't read the entire judgment.
Usually a big fine = shutting down. But we have an appeal first...
EvilDec 26th 2009 9:19PM
He was referring to usenet.
Gardiner WestboundDec 26th 2009 1:24PM
Trials are so yesterday!
WilliamDec 26th 2009 3:28PM
Yes it is duck because it's also known as torrentbox!
SlipkidDec 30th 2009 6:13PM
That seems to me like saying the Automakers are inducing breaking the law by making cars that go over the speed limit.
Sebastian AnthonyDec 26th 2009 3:28PM
Both induce copyright infringement -- at least I think that's what the judge was suggesting.
WilliamDec 26th 2009 3:40PM
It's a shame though right after the pirate bay.
Looks like all torrent sites could get shut eventually!!
Sebastian AnthonyDec 26th 2009 3:42PM
Easy on now... that could never happen on a network like the Internet :P
JoePalmaDec 26th 2009 4:05PM
Isn't Isohunt just a indexing site? If they don't even host a tracker they're doing nothing that you can't do with a search engine with the argument 'filetype:torrent".
ScooterGDec 27th 2009 2:02AM
Now we're starting a debate!