4 years of isoHunt [Now 8 years]

Posted: Wed Dec 27, 2006 9:19 am

It's been 4 years since I started working on isoHunt, and it has been profound to say the least. From being a university student to working on isoHunt and web development fulltime, to seeing my work among the largest websites in the world. So on behalf of the isoHunt crew, thank you for your continued support. Your simple visit here makes everything possible.

Looking towards the new year, a lot of things will be happening. First you will see sorely needed comments for torrents, along with some other surprises that should greatly enhance browsing, searching and the quality of listings here. Aside from isoHunt, you will see some beta launch of what many of our staff are busily working on. I guarantee you, these new sites will be like nothing you've seen before.

And then there's the lawsuit from the MPAA. I won't downplay this; this is the greatest challenge I've ever faced, and the outcome will affect the operation of isoHunt and Torrentbox immensely. In terms of legal process, we are currently in the discovery phase, with summary judgment scheduled for March next year. By then we'll have a better idea of what's going to happen, and whether the lawsuit will actually go to trial. While I stand by my conscience and that we never condoned copyright infringement at the expense of copyright owners, I am not naive and I would not go to court if I can help it. All I want is a fair resolution to this mess.

Last but not least, I'd like to thank our staff (SecretSquirrel, robbat2, Ruy) and mods from isoHunt and Torrentbox for help bringing order to chaos, and making the sites work as well as they do. And thank you for coming to our sites. Have a happy new year, be safe and don't drink too much. Laughing

Posted: Wed Dec 27, 2006 12:45 pm

Contact the [url]EFF.org[/url] and start a defense fund from donators these are the people who chase after little old ladies for fun for downloadings MP3s they will go all out and you should be prepared, its doesn't matter if their right or wrong they will go after you with legal babble just to make you stop.

Posted: Fri Dec 29, 2006 4:30 pm

In the MPAA letter we see "A copyright holder is not obliged to monitor all the websites and the servers around the world to police and protect each and every work from those who would choose to close their eyes to ongoing infringement. It is incumbent on you to distribute only those torrents that correspond to files that you know are authorized to be distributed."

Says who?

I mean, if the very owner of something says he's not obliged to look after his property he is either:
1 - Incredibly naive to even think that people in this world are not thieves
2 - Just trying to reverse responsability on the first schmuck who falls for that

For me, that is actually the core of this whole problem: the inability of those people to avoid piracy, so throwing responsability on the shoulders of others!

If, for example, they offered movies for download at a cheap price a lot of people (including me!) would prefer to download those, as surely they'd have more quality etc.

But since they are too stupid to develop that, they throw back the responsability to look over their property on anyone they can!!

Posted: Fri Dec 29, 2006 4:37 pm

alcosta wrote:

In the MPAA letter we see "A copyright holder is not obliged to monitor all the websites and the servers around the world to police and protect each and every work from those who would choose to close their eyes to ongoing infringement. It is incumbent on you to distribute only those torrents that correspond to files that you know are authorized to be distributed."

Says who?

I mean, if the very owner of something says he's not obliged to look after his property he is either:
1 - Incredibly naive to even think that people in this world are not thieves
2 - Just trying to reverse responsability on the first schmuck who falls for that

For me, that is actually the core of this whole problem: the inability of those people to avoid piracy, so throwing responsability on the shoulders of others!

If, for example, they offered movies for download at a cheap price a lot of people (including me!) would prefer to download those, as surely they'd have more quality etc.

But since they are too stupid to develop that, they throw back the responsability to look over their property on anyone they can!!

not to mention, isohunt doesn't host or even track any torrents. it mearly points to where you get get them Smile

Posted: Fri Dec 29, 2006 7:51 pm

did the mpaa ever send you take down notices of links to specific torrents that promoted copyright infringement? if not then they have a much harder case to prove that you're promoting copyright infringement (of course if they did and then you DID remove the links to the torrents then they don't have a case, and of course if you didn't then they do have a case). the service you provide is akin to that of google. your search is just more specialized. torrents though (just like webpages), have a very legitimate use which can be easily shown in a court of law despite the uses involved with them concerning piracy (like webpages as well). has anyone on here ever downloaded knoppix? one means of distribution that they use is through torrents. if google cannot be held responsible for searches that return copyrighted material then by all means your use of computational algorithms to create a database of externally hosted torrent files that can then be searched through by a user is perfectly legitimate. google databases webpages and you database torrents. your main arguing point should be the validity of the torrent system and demonstration of a lack of wording on your site and in any advertisements you have that promotes copyright infringement (i've seen none, the best thing you could do to demonstrate this is to contrast this site with a torrent search site that does promote piracy). for the most part i don't see the mpaa winning the lawsuit if it's argued correctly. if you bring enough evidence to any preliminary hearings there's a good chance the mpaa will drop the case. the grokster ruling was one thing, but your circumstance is completely different...

Posted: Sat Dec 30, 2006 1:44 am

Valect wrote:

alcosta wrote:

In the MPAA letter we see "A copyright holder is not obliged to monitor all the websites and the servers around the world to police and protect each and every work from those who would choose to close their eyes to ongoing infringement. It is incumbent on you to distribute only those torrents that correspond to files that you know are authorized to be distributed."

Says who?

I mean, if the very owner of something says he's not obliged to look after his property he is either:
1 - Incredibly naive to even think that people in this world are not thieves
2 - Just trying to reverse responsability on the first schmuck who falls for that

For me, that is actually the core of this whole problem: the inability of those people to avoid piracy, so throwing responsability on the shoulders of others!

If, for example, they offered movies for download at a cheap price a lot of people (including me!) would prefer to download those, as surely they'd have more quality etc.

But since they are too stupid to develop that, they throw back the responsability to look over their property on anyone they can!!

not to mention, isohunt doesn't host or even track any torrents. it mearly points to where you get get them Smile

very true, might as well start suing google, because google pointed me towards isohunt... then they should sue firefox cause i used that to use google, then sue microsoft for being the OS that allowed me to utilize firefox, then tear apart my box and start suing the manufacturers for producing the hardware... Rolling Eyes

[edited to add]
in all honesty, if anyone should be sued it should be me the end user, not isohunt... i infringe upon the copyrights... i make the decision every day to share... and pirate...

Posted: Sat Dec 30, 2006 5:29 am

You may be amazed to know that it is also possible to look for torrents in google: all you have to do is type "filetype: torrent" in the search bar.

But I BET they are not going for google, huh? Of course! A multibillion company can afford any lawyer and therefore can get away with murder: MPAA even risks getting a lawsuit back!

So it basically amounts to what I said: throwing responsibity on anyone who's helpless or just dumb enough to take it.

Valect wrote:

not to mention, isohunt doesn't host or even track any torrents. it mearly points to where you get get them Smile

Posted: Sat Dec 30, 2006 6:45 pm

bluebonics wrote:

did the mpaa ever send you take down notices of links to specific torrents that promoted copyright infringement? if not then they have a much harder case to prove that you're promoting copyright infringement (of course if they did and then you DID remove the links to the torrents then they don't have a case, and of course if you didn't then they do have a case). the service you provide is akin to that of google. your search is just more specialized. torrents though (just like webpages), have a very legitimate use which can be easily shown in a court of law despite the uses involved with them concerning piracy (like webpages as well). has anyone on here ever downloaded knoppix? one means of distribution that they use is through torrents. if google cannot be held responsible for searches that return copyrighted material then by all means your use of computational algorithms to create a database of externally hosted torrent files that can then be searched through by a user is perfectly legitimate. google databases webpages and you database torrents. your main arguing point should be the validity of the torrent system and demonstration of a lack of wording on your site and in any advertisements you have that promotes copyright infringement (i've seen none, the best thing you could do to demonstrate this is to contrast this site with a torrent search site that does promote piracy). for the most part i don't see the mpaa winning the lawsuit if it's argued correctly. if you bring enough evidence to any preliminary hearings there's a good chance the mpaa will drop the case. the grokster ruling was one thing, but your circumstance is completely different...

I've never seen one, and i'm the listed copyright agent for isohunt.

Posted: Sat Dec 30, 2006 9:25 pm

Surely you don't make a lot of money off of this, I'm guessing most of ISOHunt's revenue gets re-invested back into it's self. do you have an alternate source of income?

Posted: Sun Dec 31, 2006 4:07 am

Thanks IH. & SS. We'll always be here when needed. And I think this year will Be a Very Optimistic year for all, I forsee some legistlation going through that will stop the harrassment by MPAA. Becuase their in the realms of TApping, Lies and subdifuge! We will prevail you lieing PotatoeHeads!

Posted: Sun Dec 31, 2006 9:08 am

and you know what we do with potatoes Wink

Posted: Sun Dec 31, 2006 10:28 am

Thanks IH & SS, here's to another 4 years Very Happy

Posted: Sun Dec 31, 2006 12:59 pm

Just curious... what are some ways that we, the recipients of your hard work, can be supportive? Granted, monetary assistance would rock - but for those of us who have no ability to send fincances, what more can be done from this end?

Would rallying for you when you go to court be something that would help or harm? THAT is something that would surely make a statement. People willing to *peacefully* stand for you, for IH and Torrentbox, for right of free speech, technology and how the law must work to stay in step, showing up en masse; doing so in a manner that encourages knowledge over controversy (especially in the press), maturity over "those rebellious kids" stereotypes, proving we are out here and we are willing to show up and stand for what we believe alongside the person(s) that are chosen as the scapegoats... change isn't as hard when a few people are willing to stand up for what's right.

Sounds to me like the time is truly ripe for change - if we are only willing to make that stand. Specifically, however, would this be a good TIME and PLACE to do so?

In the spirit of the reknowned, "HACK THE PLANET!"
Shannon

Posted: Mon Jan 01, 2007 6:07 pm

SecretSquirrel wrote:

bluebonics wrote:

did the mpaa ever send you take down notices of links to specific torrents that promoted copyright infringement? if not then they have a much harder case to prove that you're promoting copyright infringement (of course if they did and then you DID remove the links to the torrents then they don't have a case, and of course if you didn't then they do have a case). the service you provide is akin to that of google. your search is just more specialized. torrents though (just like webpages), have a very legitimate use which can be easily shown in a court of law despite the uses involved with them concerning piracy (like webpages as well). has anyone on here ever downloaded knoppix? one means of distribution that they use is through torrents. if google cannot be held responsible for searches that return copyrighted material then by all means your use of computational algorithms to create a database of externally hosted torrent files that can then be searched through by a user is perfectly legitimate. google databases webpages and you database torrents. your main arguing point should be the validity of the torrent system and demonstration of a lack of wording on your site and in any advertisements you have that promotes copyright infringement (i've seen none, the best thing you could do to demonstrate this is to contrast this site with a torrent search site that does promote piracy). for the most part i don't see the mpaa winning the lawsuit if it's argued correctly. if you bring enough evidence to any preliminary hearings there's a good chance the mpaa will drop the case. the grokster ruling was one thing, but your circumstance is completely different...

I've never seen one, and i'm the listed copyright agent for isohunt.

HA those MPAA asses have less shit on IH now...but it would have been smart of them to "inform you of copyright infringing torrents" because then they would have had a better case IF you had not removed them (as bluebonics stated above)

to sum it up: the MPAA are obnoxious, ignorant, and technologically backward which makes them blind to change (ok so maybe the obnoxious part had nothing to do with making them blind but w/e...it sounded cool). On a second note, the MPAA are obviously NOT full of people who go to filefront or the other evil websites that have the "waiting lines" for downloads which suck when there is an 20+ minute wait. That of course makes torrents awesome because there would be no wait on those files and everyone could be downloading the files and helping each other out at the same time so EVERYONE gets what they want faster.

So yeah...MPAA=obnoxious, ignorant, shallow, naive, and extremely primitive idiots who do not understand the value of torrents...

they really have no right to sue in the first place, in fact I'm surprised that the MPAA have enough brain power to wipe their own ass in the morning
(and besides the fact that IH doesn't even track/host torrents Razz

)

P.S. I love flamming stupid people/organizations

Posted: Mon Jan 01, 2007 11:34 pm

bluebonics wrote:

did the mpaa ever send you take down notices of links to specific torrents that promoted copyright infringement? if not then they have a much harder case to prove that you're promoting copyright infringement (of course if they did and then you DID remove the links to the torrents then they don't have a case, and of course if you didn't then they do have a case). the service you provide is akin to that of google. your search is just more specialized. torrents though (just like webpages), have a very legitimate use which can be easily shown in a court of law despite the uses involved with them concerning piracy (like webpages as well). has anyone on here ever downloaded knoppix? one means of distribution that they use is through torrents. if google cannot be held responsible for searches that return copyrighted material then by all means your use of computational algorithms to create a database of externally hosted torrent files that can then be searched through by a user is perfectly legitimate. google databases webpages and you database torrents. your main arguing point should be the validity of the torrent system and demonstration of a lack of wording on your site and in any advertisements you have that promotes copyright infringement (i've seen none, the best thing you could do to demonstrate this is to contrast this site with a torrent search site that does promote piracy). for the most part i don't see the mpaa winning the lawsuit if it's argued correctly. if you bring enough evidence to any preliminary hearings there's a good chance the mpaa will drop the case. the grokster ruling was one thing, but your circumstance is completely different...

this is the kind of stuff that pisses me off

why don't they sue google then? after all, just put a few popular movie titles into the searchbox and within a few pages you'll find a site that promotes copyright infringement. why isn't google being pursued then?

because the google empire's got a lot more assets than a torrent search site (no offense IH but it's true...)

if the mpaa sued google, they wouldn't have a chance

that's how the mpaa works though... chasing after the people that don't have as much money to hold up in court while ignoring the people that do

why don't they just let some of it go? copyrights are important to preserve a person's work, but there are a lot of free licenses and copyright agreements out there (i personally love the GNU for software) that allow the author to keep their right to their work but also allow distribution without infringement

a lot of individuals are catching onto the idea, but the corporations just want their money