August 02, 2016
Remember BitTorrent? Of course you don’t, you law-abiding citizen. Well, BitTorrent made it really easy (and fast) to share very big files across the internet, including albums and discographies and movies. Like Napster or LimeWire, but way more impressive and efficient. Well, there was a Vancouver-based site named IsoHunt that functioned basically as a search engine to find these torrents, and in 2013, they were forced to shut down in a settlement with the US movie industry $110 million strong.
Since then, it’s gotten even worse for IsoHunt founder Gary Fung, who the Supreme Court of B.C. has decided infringed on the copyright of a group of 27 Canadian and international record companies, CBC reports. The CBC also lays out just what exactly all that money is for: “$55 million in damages, $10 million in aggravated damages, and $1 million to settle the legal costs to settle the lawsuit filed by the music industry in 2010.” Fung (along with IsoHunt) was also ordered to drop the counter-suit he had against the music industry.
Surprisingly, it sounds like Fung has taken it in stride, being quoted as simply saying the whole ordeal was, “the most profound business learning experience I could not expect.” If I was in the same situation, I’d probably say something else, but those words can’t be printed here.
While the music industry treats something like this as a major victory, the actual issue of piracy isn’t such a clean-cut matter anymore, especially given that streaming sites aren’t exactly proving to be a solution to dwindling income for artists. In fact, as Goliath has recognized in this easy little slideshow, many artists are pro-piracy, including ol’ Neil up there. Check out who his company is in this list of 10 musicians who are for it.
In Other News:
- Toronto music marketing and publicity firm AB Co. (formerly Audio Blood) shuts down.
- There’s a very interesting new concert venue in Montreal.
- Halifax is getting itself some Virgin Radio.
Festival Lineups: FORMS Festival, Future Island Fest, Halifax Pop Explosion
