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| DATE | 2013-10-20 |
| FROM | Ruben Safir
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| SUBJECT | Subject: [NYLXS - HANGOUT] more MPAA actions and calls for copyright reform
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-24580130
18 October 2013 Last updated at 07:34 ET Share this page
Piracy site IsoHunt to shut down and pay $110m By Dave Lee Technology
reporter, BBC News Screenshot of IsoHunt listings IsoHunt lists
many popular TV programmes and movies available to download illegally
Continue reading the main story Related Stories
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downloads' Google mulls 100 million links cull
IsoHunt, a popular website offering BitTorrents of mostly pirated
material, is to shut down following a court settlement.
The site's owner, Canadian Gary Fung, has agreed to pay $110m
(£68m) to the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA).
MPAA chairman Chris Dodd said the move was a "major step forward"
for legitimate commerce online.
In a blog post, Mr Fung said: "It's sad to see my baby go."
The site is currently still online, but will soon be shut. It is
one of the most popular sites of its kind on the internet.
A group of companies, including Disney, Paramount and Twentieth
Century Fox, accused the site of wilfully infringing copyright by
listing millions of popular movies and TV programmes - in a court
battle that has lasted for more than seven years.
Now Mr Fung has agreed to settle. He added: "I have fought the good
fight, I have finished the race and I have remained faithful. 10.5
years of IsoHunt has been a long journey by any business definition
and forever in internet start-up time.
"It started as a programming hobby in my university days that has
become so, so much more."
Court documents acknowledged that it is unlikely that Mr Fung's
company could pay $110m, and that the MPAA would probably receive
between $2m and $4m. Degree of separation
Like a similar site, The Pirate Bay, that has been blocked in the
UK by a court order, IsoHunt did not host pirated material itself.
It instead acted as a directory of sources from which to download
illegal files. Continue reading the main story ?Start Quote
The successful outcome of this landmark lawsuit will also will
help preserve jobs and protect the tens of thousands of businesses
in the creative industries?
Chris Dodd Motion Picture Association of America
According to court documents, Mr Fung's defence hinged on this
degree of separation - and argued that it was the users of IsoHunt
responsible for distributing pirated material, not IsoHunt.
The Californian court disagreed.
"It sends a strong message that those who build businesses around
encouraging, enabling, and helping others to commit copyright
infringement are themselves infringers, and will be held accountable
for their illegal actions," said MPAA chairman Mr Dodd.
"The successful outcome of this landmark lawsuit will also will
help preserve jobs and protect the tens of thousands of businesses
in the creative industries, whose hard work and investments are
exploited by sites like IsoHunt." 'Reluctant revolutionary'
Ahead of the ruling, Mr Fung had taken to social news site Reddit
to take part in an AMAA - Ask Me Almost Anything - session.
In it, he described himself as a "reluctant revolutionary", and
backed calls for copyright reform.
He said he did not hold a disregard for the law, and acted upon
requests to remove links to pirated content when the company was
made aware. Walking Dead billboard Despite efforts to minimise
piracy, vast numbers still illegally downloaded TV series The
Walking Dead
He also said the industry could render sites like IsoHunt obsolete
if it offered simultaneous releases worldwide, as well as digital
offerings that were cheaper than physical copies.
His thoughts echoed findings by a trio of researchers at George
Mason University in Virginia, US.
Their site piracydata.org has been collating the weekly top 10
most-pirated films and investigating whether legal digital methods
were available.
They found that half of the movies in the list were not available
to access legally online. Furthermore, none of the 10 titles could
be streamed - arguably the most straightforward way to consume
media online.
However, in contrast, efforts by Fox to curb piracy of TV series
The Walking Dead fell flat.
Despite the first episode of the latest series being made available
to stream free online, the programme was still illegally downloaded
more than 500,000 times, according to data gathered by Torrentfreak.com.
Follow Dave Lee on Twitter -at-DaveLeeBBC
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