Isohunt returs after $110M shutdown deal

Published November 4, 2013 11:25am

What was supposed to be a dead BitTorrent search engine has turned out to be alive and well after all.

IsoHunt is back online as isoHunt.to, less than two weeks after forging a $110-million settlement with the Motion Picture Association of America.

But the people behind the original isoHunt.com are making it clear they have nothing to do with the new site, torrent enthusiast site Torrentfreak.com said.

"Hey everyone! IsoHunt is back online! It’s the same old isoHunt from the outside but very different from the inside. We have nothing in common with the isoHunt Inc. that made the original website. We proudly copied it and are happy to share. Isn’t that what we’re all here for?" said those behind the new site (http://isohunt.to/).

The site invited visitors to "search and download torrents like you used to."

Earlier in October, the original isoHunt.com site was forced to shut down following a settlement with the MPAA.

The BitTorrent file-sharing protocol, introduced in 2001, had been used widely for illegal peer-to-peer sharing of content, including those protected by copyright.

Wired.com said the isoHunt court case started in 2006, with the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals ruling last March that isoHunt.com founder Gary Fung does not deserve US copyright laws' protection for hosting links to pirated content.

But now, Torrentfreak said isoHunt.to "looks identical to its now-dead namesake."

Preserving a cultural icon

It quoted the team behind the new site as saying their aim was to preserve what they called a "cultural icon."

“IsoHunt has been a great part of the torrent world for more than a decade. It’s a big loss to everyone who used it over the years. Media corporations don’t like innovative or competition and isoHunt’s fate is one of the examples of how they deal with it,” it quoted its sources as saying.

The team added isoHunt can "definitely be called a file-sharing icon."

"People got used to it and they don’t want to simply let it go. We want those people to feel like being at home while visitingisohunt.to. The main goal is to restore the website with torrents and provide users with the same familiar interface,” the sources added.

Also, the team told TorrentFreak around 75 percent of isoHunt’s torrent database has been restored so far.

“Only time will tell whether users like the site or not. If they like the idea and keep coming back we’ll be happy to develop the project even further,” it quoted the team as saying.

On the other hand, Torrentfreak said a former employee of isoHunt.com had asked to "make it extra clear that isoHunt.to has nothing to do with the original isoHunt.com." — TJD, GMA News

Tags: isohunt