IsoHunt to Shut Down as Part of Settlement With Studios • Hacker News Board

Re: IsoHunt to Shut Down as Part of Settlement With Studios

#21

Post by lawnchair_larry » Thu, Oct 17, 2013, 8:10 PM UTC

theperson wrote: post #10

jackweirdy wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It said $150,000 per infringement (!) and I highly doubt the site made anywhere near that amount in revenue, let alone profit

> let alone profit I don't understand why people think torrent websites are not profitable. Reddit and TF comments always claim it's not-for-profit. IsoHunt might not have as much profit as TPB due to it's constant lawsuits. However, hosting a website like IsoHunt is fairly lightweight in comparison to hosting YouTube. Torrents are tiny files, $30k server bills per month at most, probably they spend $10k/mo. They hav…

He isn't saying it wasn't profitable.

Re: IsoHunt to Shut Down as Part of Settlement With Studios

#22

Post by ceejayoz » Thu, Oct 17, 2013, 8:13 PM UTC

suby wrote: post #19

derefr wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Torrents are tiny files ThePirateBay, for one, no longer even stores torrents--only magnet links. I wonder what kind of profit margin their ads pull in...

Who would want to advertise on TPB, though? I have to wonder how much those ads could possibly go for considering it's a website focused on giving you something for free which you would ordinarily have to pay for. I am aware that there are legitimate files on TPB, but most people visit for pirated content.

Well, look at the ads and you'll know. They're mostly advertising stuff that's not downloadable - memberships to dating sites, for example.

Re: IsoHunt to Shut Down as Part of Settlement With Studios

#23

Post by MrZongle2 » Thu, Oct 17, 2013, 8:23 PM UTC

Tichy wrote: post #17

What is everybody using for piracy these days?

I was hoping to go with a parrot and a speedboat off of the Horn of Africa, but with the economy as it is I've had to settle with a parakeet and a dinghy in the local catchwater.

Re: IsoHunt to Shut Down as Part of Settlement With Studios

#24

Post by georgemcbay » Thu, Oct 17, 2013, 8:25 PM UTC

suby wrote: post #19

derefr wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Torrents are tiny files ThePirateBay, for one, no longer even stores torrents--only magnet links. I wonder what kind of profit margin their ads pull in...

Who would want to advertise on TPB, though? I have to wonder how much those ads could possibly go for considering it's a website focused on giving you something for free which you would ordinarily have to pay for. I am aware that there are legitimate files on TPB, but most people visit for pirated content.

I've never been a user of TPB so I can't tell you who has advertised there, but there are lots of people out there who will drop $600 on a phone and then jailbreak it so they can pirate 99 cent apps. For a lot of folks there is a clear line between digital content easily gotten and other stuff and they'll pay a lot for the other stuff but will pirate digital content when it is convenient to do so.

I'm not saying this is right, but in my experience it is pretty common. I've witnessed multiple instances of people teaching other people how to torrent including once in a jury lounge in a county courthouse and many times at workplaces that produce digital goods (software) and the general idea seemed to be that if they can get whatever digital thing (eg. the latest episode of Game of Thrones) for free, why not? And yet these are people who drive nice cars, wear nice clothes, and buy lots of expensive gadgets, squarely in the demographic of people that advertisers of non-digital goods like to target.

OTOH, I would suspect TPB (like 4chan) has a problem where advertisers of "upscale" goods just don't want to be associated with the "brand" of the site, regardless of the demographic match. But I don't think the fact that the users are people who want things "for free" is a disqualifier.

Re: IsoHunt to Shut Down as Part of Settlement With Studios

#25

Post by shmerl » Thu, Oct 17, 2013, 8:39 PM UTC

esw wrote: post #3

What's stunning to me is the $110 million dollar judgment. Did the site really make that much money, or is this a decision designed to condemn the founder to a lifetime of poverty?

MPAA admitted that it's a completely out of the blue number, made up to "scare" others.

http://torrentfreak.com/mpaa-says-piracy-damages-cant-be-mea...

Re: IsoHunt to Shut Down as Part of Settlement With Studios

#26

Post by mcantelon » Thu, Oct 17, 2013, 8:46 PM UTC

aroch wrote: post #2

IsoHunt has been largely irrelevant in the US for the last several years since they started filtering US IPs[1] and even before then was a pretty poor selection of torrents with many displaying completely incorrect swarm data. While I'm not personally bothered by this (from the point of view of someone who used IsoHunt) I do find this settlement quite annoying and Dodd to be completely abysmal as a person. __________…

What are better sites for torrent search? I've actually had good luck with ISOhunt.

Re: IsoHunt to Shut Down as Part of Settlement With Studios

#27

Post by mcantelon » Thu, Oct 17, 2013, 8:50 PM UTC

Gary Fung's not a US citizen AFAIK. What leverage do they have to force him to pay?

Re: IsoHunt to Shut Down as Part of Settlement With Studios

#28

Post by shmerl » Thu, Oct 17, 2013, 8:55 PM UTC

lallysingh wrote: post #5

znowi wrote: post #4

MPAA doesn't get it. Costly lobbying and crushing lawsuits is not how you defeat piracy. This is how you do it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P0ukYf_xvgc

Then perhaps they're not really trying to defeat piracy? If they're trying to justify the position of middle-men (say, recording studios in music), then the lawsuits show them adding value. Even when distribution is no longer difficult, thanks to the internet.

I'd say lawsuits show them "doing something". And pirates are there to hang all their failures on to when they need.

Re: IsoHunt to Shut Down as Part of Settlement With Studios

#29

Post by Munksgaard » Thu, Oct 17, 2013, 8:55 PM UTC

mcantelon wrote: post #26

aroch wrote: post #2

IsoHunt has been largely irrelevant in the US for the last several years since they started filtering US IPs[1] and even before then was a pretty poor selection of torrents with many displaying completely incorrect swarm data. While I'm not personally bothered by this (from the point of view of someone who used IsoHunt) I do find this settlement quite annoying and Dodd to be completely abysmal as a person. __________…

What are better sites for torrent search? I've actually had good luck with ISOhunt.

TPB works fine enough for me.

Re: IsoHunt to Shut Down as Part of Settlement With Studios

#30

Post by dmix » Thu, Oct 17, 2013, 9:01 PM UTC

mcantelon wrote: post #26

aroch wrote: post #2

IsoHunt has been largely irrelevant in the US for the last several years since they started filtering US IPs[1] and even before then was a pretty poor selection of torrents with many displaying completely incorrect swarm data. While I'm not personally bothered by this (from the point of view of someone who used IsoHunt) I do find this settlement quite annoying and Dodd to be completely abysmal as a person. __________…

What are better sites for torrent search? I've actually had good luck with ISOhunt.

Kickasstorrents is the best atm in my opinion. TPB is good but their legal issues make them unreliable technically and I prefer non-magnet links for use with rtorrent.