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Federal Court Issues Permanent Injunction For Isohunt 212

suraj.sun writes with this excerpt from NewTeeVee: "Judge Stephen Wilson of the US District Court of California, Southern District, issued a permanent injunction (PDF) against the popular torrent site Isohunt yesterday, forcing the site and its owner Garry Fung to immediately prevent access to virtually all Hollywood movies. The injunction theoretically leaves the door open for the site to deploy a strict filtering system, but its terms are so broad that Isohunt has little choice but to shut down or at the very least block all US visitors. ... The verdict states that they have to cease 'hosting, indexing, linking to, or otherwise providing access to any (torrent) or similar files' that can be used to download the studios' movies and TV shows. Studios have to supply Isohunt with a list of titles of works they own, and Isohunt has to start blocking those torrents within 24 hours."
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Federal Court Issues Permanent Injunction For Isohunt

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  • by Anonymous Coward

    Wildcard Studios is allowing the MPAA to use the name of their movie "*" in their list of films to block.

    • Wildcard Studios is allowing the MPAA to use the name of their movie "*" in their list of films to block.

      Being somewhat of a chess buff, I hope I'm still able to download The Search for Bobby Tables.

  • Last time I checked (Score:5, Informative)

    by damicatz ( 711271 ) on Saturday May 22, 2010 @02:25PM (#32307644)
    The last time I checked, Isohunt was based in Canada as was Garry Fung. And last time I checked, Canada was (not yet) part of the US. Just another arrogant American judge who thinks that the entire world should be subject to US rule and law.
    • by lisany ( 700361 ) <slashdot&thedoh,com> on Saturday May 22, 2010 @02:26PM (#32307648)
      Wait til you see what happens to Mr. Fung when he (next) attempts to visit the United States.
      • by haderytn ( 1232484 ) on Saturday May 22, 2010 @02:28PM (#32307682)
        Why would he want to do that?
        • by Mashiki ( 184564 ) <mashiki@gmail.cBALDWINom minus author> on Saturday May 22, 2010 @02:31PM (#32307698) Homepage

          Being that I live in Canada, and get more hassles going into the US then I do Japan, I wouldn't want to travel there either. Despite all the nice touristy types of things you can do. I'd rather travel half way across the world for a vacation now.

          • by sopssa ( 1498795 ) * <sopssa@email.com> on Saturday May 22, 2010 @02:34PM (#32307742) Journal

            Well, you don't even need to travel to US. Just travel to one of the countries (95% of the world) that has extradition treaty with US and they send you there right away, without even having a change to fight against extradition in Canadian court. You better not travel anywhere then.

            • by Anonymous Coward on Saturday May 22, 2010 @03:30PM (#32308314)

              Good point: Mark Emery (the so-called "Prince of Pot") was extradited from Vancouver to the US yesterday to face 5 years in a US prison for selling pot seeds by mail order (which is punishable in Canada by a $200 fine).

              • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

                by pclminion ( 145572 )
                Couldn't he have avoided that by, you know, not selling to people in the United States? Or did the US just decide that because somebody in another country was behaving badly, they had to extradite and punish him? If that's the case, why don't we start asking Holland to extradite anybody who's ever smoked pot in a coffee shop there?
            • by Anonymous Coward on Saturday May 22, 2010 @03:56PM (#32308534)

              Since when did a C&D order (civil) become a matter for extradition (criminal)?

              • Re: (Score:2, Informative)

                by Mashiki ( 184564 )

                C&D's are extraditable in Canada, not even from province to province. Which of course would be insane if you thought of it any other way.

                Of course people like to bring out the Mark Emory thing all the time too, but they forget that in the US it's a felony, in Canada it's equivalent to the same thing. Either side of the border it's a federal crime, the only difference is the amount of punishment you get for it. Sorry potheads, but that's the way life works. Canada is still 10yrs away from decriminali

          • by symbolic ( 11752 )

            And I'm guessing you won't have to be electronically strip-searched in order to do it. That's another win.

          • by Anonymous Coward on Saturday May 22, 2010 @03:22PM (#32308226)

            +1. I used to travel all the time to the US - Vegas 4 or 5 times a year, CA, NY. Now I avoid the country entirely. Plus all our servers have been removed from the US because the Patriot Act permits the government access to our customers' records while making it illegal for anyone to even inform us this has happened - we can't trust our customer data in that sort of environment (we are an entirely legitimate company with 60,000+ employees).

            Land of the free? Home of the brave? Not so much...

          • I don't get why tourists bother with the US either (that has nothing to do with security measures, and BTW I'm USian), but then tourists are bored enough to travel to the Persian Gulf Emirates...

          • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

            by mrbcs ( 737902 )
            I live 25 miles from the American border and haven't been there in over 10 years. I don't like their attitude.
        • by Tanuki64 ( 989726 ) on Saturday May 22, 2010 @02:36PM (#32307758)
          I am German. Would have no legal problems to enter the USA, but I love them that much that the only reason I'd visit Satan's own country would be that I can leave it with very much more money I entered it. When it comes to a simple vacation there are better and safer alternatives. Like China, Cuba, or North Korea.
          • Ouch dude.

          • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

            by Calinous ( 985536 )

            I don't think North Korea is safer than US of A - just that they will treat you less like a criminal.

            • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

              by Tanuki64 ( 989726 )

              I don't think North Korea is safer than US of A - just that they will treat you less like a criminal.

              This means it is safer. First as you say, it is less likely they will treat me as a criminal. And if they do, the world is on my side. If the USA treats me as criminal for what reason ever, there will be plenty of brainwashed zombies who will think I must deserve it somehow.

              • I take it you're thinking of South Korea, North Korea is a dictatorship where they can and do throw random people into work camps under harsh conditions to be worked more or less to death.
                • Believe me, I know the difference between North and South Korea. And when it comes to throwing into jail... The only difference between North Korea and the USA is that one both countries has to construct a pretense.
              • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

                by iamhassi ( 659463 )
                " And if they do, the world is on my side."

                and the world will do nothing, because you jumped in the shark tank with roast beef strapped to your balls.

                I understand that the US govt sucks, but we know that because we're permitted to bitch about it A LOT, and there's nothing we like to do more than bitch about things and post it all over the internet.
                • and the world will do nothing, because you jumped in the shark tank with roast beef strapped to your balls.

                  This may be true, or not. Depends on what is politically opportune in that moment.

                  I understand that the US govt sucks, but we know that because we're permitted to bitch about it A LOT, and there's nothing we like to do more than bitch about things and post it all over the internet.

                  You are allowed to bitch as long as it has not real consequences. The US government is stable enough to tolerate it. S

      • by __aaaaxm1522 ( 121860 ) on Saturday May 22, 2010 @02:31PM (#32307700)

        Last time I visited the US was about 10 years ago. We have everything we need up here, believe it or not.

        • by mqduck ( 232646 )

          An elected head of state?

      • by iCEBaLM ( 34905 ) on Saturday May 22, 2010 @02:36PM (#32307760)

        As a Canadian citizen who has visited the US a few times in the past, I'm actually scared to travel to your country, knowing what I know about what you do to some of your guests.

        I'll stay up here, thanks.

        • by pclminion ( 145572 ) on Sunday May 23, 2010 @12:52AM (#32311836)

          As a Canadian citizen who has visited the US a few times in the past, I'm actually scared to travel to your country, knowing what I know about what you do to some of your guests.

          As a US citizen, I'm scared to travel to YOUR country because I eventually have to come back to mine. At that point, I'm treated like I obviously spent the last two weeks buying as much plastic explosives and heroin as I could possibly get my hands on. In 2000, I traveled to Israel for a month and was barely questioned when I returned. "Oh, you saw Jerusalem? That's so COOL!" These days I go to Banff for a week and come back and it's like I might have raped a dozen infants.

          It's enough to make a person want to become a terrorist.

          • by Yfrwlf ( 998822 ) on Sunday May 23, 2010 @08:06AM (#32313524)
            How about a revolutionary instead? That's what the U.S. needs and it would certainly be much more productive.

            I wasn't taking your comment seriously of course, but I'm just making two points, firstly that Americans need to start protesting, and secondly that terrorists are retarded since love is the most powerful "weapon" of all. You don't change a nation's course by blowing random citizens up, you change a nation by changing the hearts and minds of those who make up that nation.
    • Just imagine what they want to do to him in Iran for hosting all of that capitalist filth.

      Seriously though, so a judge in another country thinks I'm breaking his laws. Okay. That's nice. Good for him. What does he expect me to do about it?

      • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

        by hedwards ( 940851 )
        Extradition, is one possibility for some matters. Which is why it's a good idea to be mindful of what countries you're doing business with. The prince of pot will be doing 5 years in the US because he opted to send his seeds here. Nobody forced him to send them to the US. Had he restricted himself to Canada, he wouldn't be going to prison.
        • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

          by Anonymous Coward

          Speaking as a US citizen:

          Shame on us for forcing our fascist crap on others.

          Also shame on Canada for agreeing to extradite one of its citizens to face our fucked-up justice system.

          • He made a decision knowing that it was a felony to do so. He could very easily have not shipped to addresses located in the US and not had to worry at all. He chose to do so anyways and he's paying the penalty.

            Whether it's right or not is neither here nor there he knew it was a crime and chose to profit from it anyways. This isn't fascist crap, violate the law of any other nation with an extradition treaty and see what happens.

            He's had the benefit of the judicial system and opted to plead guilty for a
    • He should file an appeal ... in Canada. The US just established cross-border jurisdiction (a court order in one country can be applied to another), so it would now be valid.

      • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

        He should file an appeal ... in Canada. The US just established cross-border jurisdiction (a court order in one country can be applied to another), so it would now be valid.

        I have to confess, I'm an engineer/scientest not a lawyer*. Can he get an injunction to block enforcement of the previous injunction? Dueling injunctions? My pride is hurt by the America bashing (wouldn't yours be too, if it were your mother counry?), but I feel anger at the wrongness of the situation.

        * scientests stud

        • by Skapare ( 16644 )

          I feel the wrongness in one country's laws being applied to someone in another country. If I rob a bank here in the USA, I would expect to be subject to the laws of the USA (if I get caught). What would make no sense would be for Canada to charge me with murder and conduct the trial in Canada. But that's a criminal matter, too. The cause this story is about is a civil matter. Imagine being sued by someone in Canada, in a Canadian court, even though you have never set foot in Canada ... and perhaps for

        • My pride is hurt by the America bashing (wouldn't yours be too, if it were your mother counry?), but I feel anger at the wrongness of the situation.

          Nope... it wouldnt change who I or my friends are. Nor would it change that, as is usually the case, a few idiots (whether they be in government or are just regular citizens) get the most publicity which causes such perceptions.

    • by blitzd ( 613596 ) on Saturday May 22, 2010 @02:53PM (#32307952)
      Living in a border city, we cross several times a year from Windsor to Detroit (shopping, sporting events, etc) and each and every time we enter the US my ass puckers up. I HATE entering the states even though I have absolutely nothing to hide... it's brutal.

      Vacationing is a pain in the ass too. We usually fly out from Detroit metro, so we always have a hard time in the airport coming back home. They just can't seem to grasp why Canadians from Windsor would fly out of, and into, Detroit.
      • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

        by _Sprocket_ ( 42527 )

        Living in a border city, we cross several times a year from Windsor to Detroit (shopping, sporting events, etc) and each and every time we enter the US my ass puckers up. I HATE entering the states even though I have absolutely nothing to hide... it's brutal.

        Brutal? What are you subject to? I'm curious to see if your experiences are much different than mine when I fly domestic.

        • by Anonymous Coward on Saturday May 22, 2010 @05:07PM (#32309140)

          It depends on your last name. They got it into their heads that evilness depends on how foreign your last name sounds.

        • by PsychoSlashDot ( 207849 ) on Saturday May 22, 2010 @09:50PM (#32310948)

          Living in a border city, we cross several times a year from Windsor to Detroit (shopping, sporting events, etc) and each and every time we enter the US my ass puckers up. I HATE entering the states even though I have absolutely nothing to hide... it's brutal.

          Brutal? What are you subject to? I'm curious to see if your experiences are much different than mine when I fly domestic.

          It's hyperbole. But still. Considering the circumstances, it's absurd. I too am a Windsorite who occasionally crosses into Detroit (these days to do indoor rock-climbing). At the minimal these days I'm subjected to an hour wait to manage to enter a city that has been part of "my" skyline for 37 years. 45 of those minutes are spent sitting in a tunnel under the river. Say goodbye to a gallon of gas. Once I finally emerge into the light once again I get to admire the parking lot that is the waiting area for processing. Then my vehicle and I get to pass through a bewildering array of scanners, cameras, and I-don't-know-what that pretty much looks like a war zone. Finally I get a nice 5 to 10 minute interview with a border guard with a gun wherein I justify to his or her satisfaction that I am who my papers say I am, and that I have a good enough reason to enter the U.S. The entire time I am painfully aware that if I appear too nervous, not nervous enough, or my story triggers any sort of profile I can and will be detained, potentially for hours. My car (which I quite adore) may be literally disassembled while I am not permitted to watch. I may be personally searched, permanently flagged as suspicious, and the future process may become significantly more difficult for me.

          Why?

          What the hell is the justification for this absurdity? Please understand... if I want to get into the U.S. to do anything malicious, all I need to do is rent a canoe or Jet-ski. I can bring in whatever quantity of whatever I want with me. Get this... there's a "party" island in the middle of the river. People from both countries can dock there and hang out on the beach, without passing customs. I can get off my boat and onto someone else', with or without weapons, drugs, nuclear armaments, dirty bombs, bio-weapons, or child pornography.

          The border is a feel-good joke that makes nobody feel good except those American voters who don't have to use it. It will not keep Americans safe. It will not inconvenience theoretical terrorists. It will not prevent attacks.

          I have lived in Windsor for 37 years. I've been crossing this border periodically for most of them. I've been driving the same car for two years. I've been going to the same climbing facility for nine months. WAVE ME THE FUCK THROUGH. I'd love to answer the 20 questions like "where do you work" with "same place as three weeks ago", but I don't want my asshole probed. I am afraid. That is just plain wrong. Know the saying "if you've got nothing to hide you've got nothing to be afraid of"? In this case it's totally inaccurate.

          I am not he psychotic American-hating vengeful, spiteful, angry, bomb-toting, murderous boogieman you are afraid of. But on a scale of zero to a million, where I was at zero most of my life, I'm now at a strong one on the scale of ending the last sentence with "yet".

      • by Ethanol-fueled ( 1125189 ) * on Saturday May 22, 2010 @03:10PM (#32308102) Homepage Journal
        Being an American living in a Southern border city, I cross several DHS checkpoints [checkpointusa.org] to travel laterally across the country and each and every time my ass puckers up. They run dogs around my car and send me to secondary because I lose the staring contest or they're in a bad mood. I HATE being asked where I'm going and what I'm doing even though I'm the lone person in the car, Caucasian, never having travelled to Mexico.

        Worse, the constitution-free zone extends 100 miles inland. [wordpress.com] That region is where I spend 95% of my time.
        • by stimpleton ( 732392 ) on Saturday May 22, 2010 @04:38PM (#32308864)
          Hopefully most here know the significance of the phrase "papers please" and its origins and this post reminds me of that phrase. So I went to YouTube and entered "papers please". One might expect old war movie footage. Instead, video upon video of US cops and "papers please". But the politicians and patriots tell us we are free, so we are, right?
        • by nurb432 ( 527695 )

          But its for the children, buck up little trooper.

    • by Pinhedd ( 1661735 ) on Saturday May 22, 2010 @02:54PM (#32307960)
      Isohunt was initally based in the US and were still based in the US when the lawsuit was filed by the MPAA. They moved to Canada afterward. Last I checked, isohunt had blocked all access to US visitors a long time ago
    • The last time I checked, Isohunt was based in Canada as was Garry Fung.

      That doesn't mean Isohunt and Fung have no assets that can be reached in the states. No substantial corporate presence in the states.

  • Can someone clue me in to why isohunt was hosting movies/music in the first place?

  • Again, this proves just how utterly clueless judges (and politicans) are of how the Internet actually works.
    • by westlake ( 615356 ) on Saturday May 22, 2010 @02:43PM (#32307842)
      Again, this proves just how utterly clueless judges (and politicans) are of how the Internet actually works.

      It proves how clueless the geek is about how the law works.

      • by Capt_Morgan ( 579387 ) on Saturday May 22, 2010 @02:49PM (#32307912)
        Actually we all know how it works... It's very simple. The law is whatever appointed, corrupt judges say it is... and generally is applied differently to those with wealth and power
      • by Skapare ( 16644 )

        What country are YOU in? Do laws in OTHER countries apply to YOU when YOU are NOT in those other countries, at all?

        • by WrongSizeGlass ( 838941 ) on Saturday May 22, 2010 @03:03PM (#32308044)

          What country are YOU in? Do laws in OTHER countries apply to YOU when YOU are NOT in those other countries, at all?

          Just a friendly tech-support related tip, I think there may be an intermittent issue with your shift or caps lock key. You might want to get that checked out.

          • by Skapare ( 16644 )

            Actually, it is not intermittent. It is systematic. I think you will be able to figure it out.

    • by jjoelc ( 1589361 )

      I agree 100%.. but I also have to wonder WHY it is up to the site to prevent US users from accessing it. If it is legal in his country, but not in others, how is it HIS responsibility to police its' use in those other countries? Shouldn't it be up to the individual to run the risk of violating the law? You can't really claim isohunt is in the distributing end of things either. Technically, it would be the ISPs and hosting providers that are distributing...

      Again, not like this will change anything for anyone

    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by VTI9600 ( 1143169 )

      Again, this proves just how utterly clueless judges (and politicans) are of how the Internet actually works

      Heh...yeah. Those idiots think that torrents actually get used for piracy!..And that its not completely impossible to write a regex to filter out a list of file names. Oh, wait.

    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by Skapare ( 16644 )

      And clueless about international borders.

  • I wonder how much of his traffic is actually from the US.

    And how is he supposed to prevent someone from setting up "http://isohunt.mydomain.notus" to just proxy Isohunt so he can anyway get hits on his adverts? If the proxy would siphon off some of the ads for their own income stream, this might be an interesting business model.

    • I wonder how much of his traffic is actually from the US.

      Stats from Alexa for Isohunt.com:

      Visitors by Country
      [Percent of Site Traffic][Rounded]

      USA 17.4%
      India 9%
      UK 7%
      Canada 4%
      Australia 6%
      Japan 4%

      Audience Demographics
      [Relative to the general internet population]

      Age: 18-24
      Interest drops off a cliff as the audience ages.

      Gender: Male
      Has Children: Close call. But probably not.

      Education: Some college

      Browsing location: Home and School. No surprise there.

      idohunt.com [alexa.com]

  • Can we please not have links that go to crazy sites with silly programming that wants your password to other sites? How about just a straight link that gets the file. Why can't Slashdot just host the PDF?

  • The American government will have to claim a military state over everywhere they distribute copyrighted content to, to "get this under control".

    only when the majority of people in the world are sitting at their computers with an armed guard watching to ensure that each and every one of us is complying with american copyright laws, will they get to maintain their fucking Draconian laws.

    at which point, the people getting paid to watch people will begin thinking they're "entitled to a little piracy, as t
  • Ya, right. its all about the highest bidder.

  • one site down, 99,999 to go.
  • by Punto ( 100573 ) <puntob&gmail,com> on Sunday May 23, 2010 @02:31AM (#32312270) Homepage

    How does isohunt know which torrents are actual movies and which aren't? do they have to download and watch every file? I understand that the studios own the movies, but do they also own filenames?

Keep up the good work! But please don't ask me to help.

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