Lokitorrent, isoHunt legal updates

Posted: Wed Feb 16, 2005 10:57 pm

First of all, for those scared of big brother reading Lokitorrent's server logs: Lokiâ€™s Map Leads MPAA on Road to Nowhere (source: Slyck)

Secondly, I got off the phone with someone at EFF this morning. Regarding the Lokitorrent case, so far no US court records are found for any lawsuit / trial that were filed between the MPAA and Lokitorrent. A court order (as mentioned on Lokitorrent's shutdown notice) may have been made to validate the settlement between them, but the million USD fine, site shutdown, and turnover of server logs appears to be a voluntary and private settlement between them, rather than a trial happening and ruling passed to require Lokitorrent for such. What deal did the MPAA give Lokitorrent for them to take the fall remains unknown. As for the donations that went to Lokitorrent's legal defense fund, until we see a refund to donators, we can conclude that it was a scam.

The importance of this is that what happened to Lokitorrent sets no legal precedent for P2P developers and service operators like isoHunt.com. More legal research is underway, I'll update as I learn more. In the meantime, the MGM vs. Grokster case (EFF defending Grokster) is the one to watch.

isoHunt.com isn't exactly a news source, but I think this is important that this is made known. Feel free to re-distribute whatever here on other publications.