File-sharing site isoHunt to be shut down as part of settlement with MPAA

In a major victory for the Motion Picture Association of America, popular file-sharing service isoHunt is shutting down. This move comes as part of a settlement between the two parties, in which the court declared isoHunt to be a massive copyright offender.

The settlement was valued at $110 million and isoHunt’s owner has decided to shut shop. There’s an appeal application still at the US Supreme Court but TorrentFreak says that the MPAA has already declared this to be a landmark victory that will preserve jobs and protect tens of thousands of businesses.

Bye bye isoHunt

The two companies had been duking it out in the court for seven years and the case seems to have finally come to an end with Gary Fung, isoHunt’s founder, paying a massive $110 million as settlement. “It’s sad to see my baby go. But 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 startup time,” Fung told the publication. Fung now has seven days to shut down isoHunt as well as three other domains – Podtropolis, TorrentBox and Edtk-it.com – which redirect to isoHunt.

“Today’s settlement is a major step forward in realizing the enormous potential of the internet as a platform for legitimate commerce and innovation,” said Chris Dodd, the MPAA’s chairman. “It also 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.”

It’s safe to say that Hollywood is going after torrent and peer-to-peer sharing sites with a vengeance. Just this week it a website’s research showed that some of the most pirated movies do not even have legitimate means of downloading, renting or streaming them. Maybe it’s time for Hollywood as well as the TV industry to find ways and means to make their products available legally while they still go after the pirate websites.