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With the fall of the famous file-sharing service, Napster, in 2001, a new internet technology has been on the rise and is currently hot on the radar of some of the biggest movie production companies.  Torrents have given birth to a new way for people to share files with each other, most particular, copyrighted content such as movies and TV shows.

What is a Torrent?

Torrenting is the most popular way for people to download large files.  A torrent is a small file that contains all the information needed to download a particular file.  These torrents can be found on many websites and torrent search engines.  In order to download files using these torrents, you need to have a client application installed on your computer.

The process of downloading a file is simple.  First, the user downloads and installs a torrent client application to their computer.  They can then search for torrents that they’d like to download from a torrent search engine website.  Once downloaded, the torrent is opened through the client application and the actual content is downloaded. Files are downloaded on a peer-to-peer basis, meaning the content is shared among multiple users.  Once the file is completed downloading, the user becomes a source for future download requests.

Who is Gary Fung?

Gary Fung is a programmer from Richmond, B.C. who founded the popular torrent search engine website, IsoHunt.  Fung has been facing a lot of criticism regarding the nature and purpose of his popular website, in that its main purpose is to become a source for users to gain free access to copyrighted content.

In early 2006, the Movie Picture Association of America (MPAA) filed a complaint against Gary Fung, claiming that he was operating a file-sharing service (IsoHunt) with the intent to profit from copyright infringement.

Overview of the Case

The MPAA accused Fung for being liable for inducement to infringe copyright. Inducement requires that the defendant has undertaken purposeful acts aimed at assisting and encouraging others to infringe copyright.

The plaintiffs provided evidence from a study that showed that 95% of files available from the defendant’s website were copyrighted.  They also used IP address data to show that 50% infringing downloads took place in the US.  It was noted that a Box Office Movies feature was created on the website, where information was updated listing the top 20 grossing movies with links to their torrent files included.  Records showed that Fung engaged in assisting copyright infringement by providing technical help to his users through forums. In addition to all of this, Fung had admitted to downloading copyrighted content himself, which included episodes from TV shows like The Simpsons and Family Guy.

In defense, Fung claimed that evidence of users from both ends of the transfer must both be located in the US in order to hold up in the court.  However, this was overruled.  As well, Fung also claimed that Bittorrent technology was different from other file-sharing technologies in that the actual files are not downloaded directly from his website.

The Verdict

In the end, the judge ruled in favour of the plaintiffs and stated this case was nothing more than ‘old wine in a new bottle’.  Fung failed to show that he was unaware of infringing activities on his website, and failed to remove content upon knowing.

In March 2010, Isohunt were proposed an injunction to maintain list of banned keywords and remove any content on their site related to those keywords.  Otherwise, Fung would have to close down his website in the US.

Fung has since become passionate about discussing issues pertaining to copyright.  Fung believes that the current system of copyright law goes too far and is out of date.  He states that the courts have no choice but to accept this new technology and work with it.  Instead, Fung suggests that the foundation of copyright law must be reworked to accommodate the new nature of the internet.

My Opinions

I find Fung’s opinions on copyright law interesting.  I don’t think this is an issue where you point a finger at someone.  You can shut down Fung’s website, but in the end, someone else will just take his place.  The nature of the internet is something that I feel is uncontrollable.  I believe that this is just the way technology evolves.  Once someone creates something new, everyone else just builds on that same idea.

Sources:

http://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=b76e9dce-6e71-477e-9e58-b3f20de2adc4

http://www.financialpost.com/magazine/story.html?id=1764340

http://torrentfreak.com/isohunt-forced-to-shut-down-in-the-u-s-100522/