Hotfile was a
one-click file hosting website founded by Hotfile Corp in 2006 in
Panama City
Panama City ( es, Ciudad de Panamá, links=no; ), also known as Panama (or Panamá in Spanish), is the capital and largest city of Panama. It has an urban population of 880,691, with over 1.5 million in its metropolitan area. The city is loca ...
,
Panama
Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Co ...
. On December 4, 2013, Hotfile ceased all operations, the same day as signing a $4 million settlement with the
Motion Picture Association of America
The Motion Picture Association (MPA) is an American trade association representing the five major film studios of the United States, as well as the video streaming service Netflix. Founded in 1922 as the Motion Picture Producers and Distrib ...
(MPAA); the settlement had previously been misreported as $80 million.
Usage
Hotfile allowed users to
upload
Uploading refers to ''transmitting'' data from one computer system to another through means of a network. Common methods of uploading include: uploading via web browsers, FTP clients], and computer terminal, terminals ( SCP/ SFTP). Uploadin ...
and
download
In computer networks, download means to ''receive'' data from a remote system, typically a server such as a web server, an FTP server, an email server, or other similar system. This contrasts with uploading, where data is ''sent to'' a remote ...
files with any
web browser
A web browser is application software for accessing websites. When a user requests a web page from a particular website, the browser retrieves its files from a web server and then displays the page on the user's screen. Browsers are used o ...
. Non-registered users were allowed to upload up to 400
MB at once. After a successful file upload, the user was given a unique
URL which allowed others to
download
In computer networks, download means to ''receive'' data from a remote system, typically a server such as a web server, an FTP server, an email server, or other similar system. This contrasts with uploading, where data is ''sent to'' a remote ...
the file. Non-registered users had to wait 15 seconds in the download queue and might have needed to enter a
CAPTCHA
A CAPTCHA ( , a contrived acronym for "Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart") is a type of challenge–response test used in computing to determine whether the user is human.
The term was coined in 2003 b ...
and have to wait 30 minutes to download another file after a previous download session ended (even if the file did not download completely). Hotfile did not provide a
search engine
A search engine is a software system designed to carry out web searches. They search the World Wide Web in a systematic way for particular information specified in a textual web search query. The search results are generally presented in a ...
or
browser. The site was offered in 19 different languages including
Arabic
Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...
,
Bulgarian,
Czech, two types of
Chinese,
Dutch
Dutch commonly refers to:
* Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands
* Dutch people ()
* Dutch language ()
Dutch may also refer to:
Places
* Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States
* Pennsylvania Dutch Country
People E ...
,
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ge ...
,
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ...
,
French
French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to France
** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents
** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
,
Hungarian,
Italian
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance language
*** Regional Ita ...
,
Japanese,
Polish,
Portuguese,
Romanian
Romanian may refer to:
*anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania
** Romanians, an ethnic group
**Romanian language, a Romance language
***Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language
**Romanian cuisine, traditiona ...
,
Russian,
Spanish
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries
**Spanish cuisine
Other places
* Spanish, Ontario, Can ...
,
Serbian
Serbian may refer to:
* someone or something related to Serbia, a country in Southeastern Europe
* someone or something related to the Serbs, a South Slavic people
* Serbian language
* Serbian names
See also
*
*
* Old Serbian (disambiguation ...
and
Turkish.
Features
The service had a Link Checker where users could enter file URLs in order to check their current availability. There was also a Hotlink feature, which allowed users to directly link to their files for an additional fee.
Terms of use and privacy policy
Hotfile was a service provider under the
Digital Millennium Copyright Act
The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) is a 1998 United States copyright law that implements two 1996 treaties of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). It criminalizes production and dissemination of technology, devices, or ...
, 17 U.S.C. § 512 ("DMCA"). Hotfile responded to claims of copyright infringement reported to its designated copyright agent.
In Hotfile's Privacy Policy under the 'Usage Data' section they stated "We automatically collect usage information...type of Web browser you use, your operating system, your Internet Service Provider, your IP address, the links you use, and the time and duration of your use of the Service...be aware, however, that we may be required to disclose information such as your IP address which could be used by others to attempt to identify you."
Copyright-related lawsuits
In February 2011, Hotfile and its alleged owner Anton Titov (a foreign national residing in Florida) were sued by the
MPAA
The Motion Picture Association (MPA) is an American trade association representing the five major film studios of the United States, as well as the video streaming service Netflix. Founded in 1922 as the Motion Picture Producers and Distrib ...
on behalf of
Disney Enterprises,
20th Century Fox
20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Disn ...
,
Universal Studios
Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Americ ...
,
Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production studio that is a member of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, which is one of the Big Five studios and a subsidiary of the mu ...
, and
Warner Bros. alleging both direct and secondary
copyright infringement
Copyright infringement (at times referred to as piracy) is the use of works protected by copyright without permission for a usage where such permission is required, thereby infringing certain exclusive rights granted to the copyright holder, ...
.
Because the site charged membership fees for its premium service, the MPAA argued that Hotfile "profits richly while paying nothing to the studios" for the allegedly infringing files.
[MPAA sues Hotfile for “staggering” copyright infringement , Ars Technica](_blank)
/ref>
Google
Google LLC () is an American Multinational corporation, multinational technology company focusing on Search Engine, search engine technology, online advertising, cloud computing, software, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, ar ...
had argued in an amicus brief
An ''amicus curiae'' (; ) is an individual or organization who is not a party to a legal case, but who is permitted to assist a court by offering information, expertise, or insight that has a bearing on the issues in the case. The decision on ...
that Hotfile should benefit from the same protections that YouTube
YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...
enjoys, arguing that "Hotfile did exactly what the DMCA demands, and plaintiffs’ takedown notices cannot be used to charge the service with knowledge of allegedly infringing material that those notices did not specifically identify."
The direct copyright infringement claims were thrown out by judge Adalberto Jordan
Adalberto Jose Jordan (born December 7, 1961) is an American lawyer who serves as a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. He is also an adjunct professor at the University of Miami School of L ...
in July 2011, leaving only the secondary liability
Secondary liability, or indirect infringement, arises when a party materially contributes to, facilitates, induces, or is otherwise responsible for directly infringing acts carried out by another party. The US has statutorily codified secondary li ...
allegations to be decided.[Judge rules “locker” site is not direct copyright infringer , Ars Technica](_blank)
/ref>
The secondary liability part of the lawsuit was likely to proceed in light of the inducement rule
The inducement rule is a test a United States court can use to determine whether liability for copyright infringement committed by third parties could be assigned to the distributor of the device used to commit infringement.
Summary of the rule
O ...
decided by the US Supreme Court in '' MGM Studios v. Grokster''. In 2012, the movie studios have argued that Hotfile's business model
A business model describes how an organization creates, delivers, and captures value,''Business Model Generation'', Alexander Osterwalder, Yves Pigneur, Alan Smith, and 470 practitioners from 45 countries, self-published, 2010 in economic, soci ...
was identical to that of Megaupload, which had just been shut down by the US government, and they asked for a summary judgement
may refer to:
* Abstract (summary), shortening a passage or a write-up without changing its meaning but by using different words and sentences
* Epitome, a summary or miniature form
* Abridgement, the act of reducing a written work into a sho ...
.
A summary judgement was granted by judge Kathleen Williams in August 2013, finding Hotfile vicariously liable for the actions of its users; she also found Titov personally liable. Judge Williams also denied the defendants an interlocutory appeal
An interlocutory appeal (or interim appeal), in the law of civil procedure in the United States, occurs when a ruling by a trial court is appealed while other aspects of the case are still proceeding. Interlocutory appeals are allowed only under s ...
on the matter of vicarious liability (meaning they would have had to appeal the final verdict in the case).[Hotfile Can't Appeal DMCA Liability Ruling To 11th Circ. - Law360](_blank)
/ref> However Williams did not grant summary judgement on Hotfile's liability for inducement and contributory infringement. This later part of the trial was scheduled to begin as a jury trial
A jury trial, or trial by jury, is a legal proceeding in which a jury makes a decision or findings of fact. It is distinguished from a bench trial in which a judge or panel of judges makes all decisions.
Jury trials are used in a signific ...
on December 9, 2013, but a settlement was reached in early December, resulting in the site's closure.
Countersuit against Warner Brothers
On 12 September 2011 the company filed a counterclaim
In a court of law, a party's claim is a counterclaim if one party asserts claims in response to the claims of another. In other words, if a plaintiff initiates a lawsuit and a defendant responds to the lawsuit with claims of their own against th ...
accusing movie studio Warner Bros. of fraud and abuse. According to the complaint, Warner systematically misused the copyright infringement
Copyright infringement (at times referred to as piracy) is the use of works protected by copyright without permission for a usage where such permission is required, thereby infringing certain exclusive rights granted to the copyright holder, ...
takedown tool (SRA) Hotfile had built for them. Hotfile alleges that Warner has willingly taken down files without holding the copyrights, game demos and even open-source software
Open-source software (OSS) is computer software that is released under a license in which the copyright holder grants users the rights to use, study, change, and distribute the software and its source code to anyone and for any purpose. ...
and that the inappropriate takedowns continued even after the movie studio was repeatedly notified about the false claims.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation
The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) is an international non-profit digital rights group based in San Francisco, California. The foundation was formed on 10 July 1990 by John Gilmore, John Perry Barlow and Mitch Kapor to promote Internet ...
filed an amicus brief in this countersuit, arguing that the automated systems used by Warner are illegal.[Warner Bros. Defends Anti-Piracy Notices In Hotfile Case - Law360](_blank)
/ref>
Warner admitted to some errors in their takedown notices, however it refuted other claims, saying that they were legitimate; in the case of the open-source software they argued that it "had been posted alongside infringing Warner content in order to facilitate the rapid downloading of the infringing Warner content" and that it had permission of the relevant copyright owners to remove the gaming software in question. Furthermore, Warner rejected EFF's claims that the DMCA prohibits automated systems like the one it used. Warner claimed that less than one-tenth of one percent of the notices they sent to Hotfile (890 out of almost one million) were truly erroneous.
This countersuit survived the August 2013 summary judgement, but the December 2013 settlement with (see below) ended this countersuit as well.
Settlement and closure
On December 4, 2013, Hotfile ceased all operations, on the same day as signing a $4 million settlement with the Motion Picture Association of America
The Motion Picture Association (MPA) is an American trade association representing the five major film studios of the United States, as well as the video streaming service Netflix. Founded in 1922 as the Motion Picture Producers and Distrib ...
(MPAA). The shutdown was preceded by the ruling of a US judge in August of the same year that the site and its owner, Anton Titov, had lost the safe harbor
A safe harbor or harbour is literally a "place of shelter and safety, esp. for ships". It is used in many contexts:
Film and television
* Safe harbor (broadcasting), established in 1978 in the US, the time period in a television schedule during wh ...
protection under DMCA
The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) is a 1998 United States copyright law that implements two 1996 treaties of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). It criminalizes production and dissemination of technology, devices, or ...
"because they had actively encouraged infringement", and consequently could be held liable for the actions of their users.Judge: MPAA can’t call Hotfile founders “pirates” or “thieves” at trial , Ars Technica
/ref>
Before its closure, Hotfile accounted for approximately 2.9 billion downloads. Although it had received approximately 10 million DMCA takedown notice
Notice and take down is a process operated by online hosts in response to court orders or allegations that content is illegal. Content is removed by the host following notice. Notice and take down is widely operated in relation to copyright infri ...
s, Hotfile had only terminated 43 user accounts, according to the judge's August findings.[Hotfile settles MPAA copyright case, agrees to $80 million in damages , Ars Technica](_blank)
/ref>
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hotfile
One-click hosting
File sharing services
File hosting
File sharing
Online backup services
Internet properties disestablished in 2013
Companies based in Panama City