File-Sharing Service isoHunt Illegally Fosters Piracy, Appeals Court Says
By David Kravets
03.21.13

A federal appeals court ruled Thursday that the popular BitTorrent file-sharing service isoHunt and its related websites violate U.S. copyright law and are on the hook for hefty monetary damages.

The decision (.pdf) by a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, hailed by the Motion Picture Association of America, marks the first time a federal appeals court has ruled against a BitTorrent search engine. IsoHunt, TorrenTBox and Podtropolis unlawfully pointed the way to free movies, music, videogames and software that were copyrighted and not authorized for the sites’ operator — Gary Fung — to help distribute, the court said.

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