Make search engines illegal?

**Ryan F** · #1 04-01-2009, 09:18 PM

Someone posted this on Facebook and I thought I would share it.

Quote:

Canada - The owner of the ISOHunt search engine website (used specifically to find Bittorents submitted by users) is fighting the Canadian Recording Industry Association (CRIA) in court against claims that his site pirates music. The company's president, Gary Fung, wants Canada's Supreme Court to rule on the legality of search engines being used to identify material which may ultimately be used illegally to determine if they, too, are culpable.

Fung has reported receiving numerous legal threats from the CRIA, the Canadian equivalent of the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). In response, he is fighting back in court, launching a lawsuit of his own.

The ruling could have very significant implications. Google, for example, can be used today to find pornography very easily -- as can Yahoo, MSN, etc. In most states, viewing pornography below a certain age (typically 18) is illegal, yet it is very easy to bypass those kinds of security features on websites linked directly from Google searches. So is Google culpable for presenting material which may be used illegally? That's essentially the very question Fung wants addressed.

Fung believes that using ISOHunt in a similar way to find Bittorrent sites (which may or may not carry materials that could be used illegally, and which may or may not ultimately result in illegal materials use) is no different. And his argument is that a search engine capable of finding potentially illegal material does not a crime make.

In this way, he is forcing the issue to be resolved by the highest court in Canada.

Fung's argument is very straight-forward -- that his website never touches any of the files exchanged via Bittorrent applications, which are peer-to-peer and must be setup or launched externally to his page's search results. And while his site is used to find the files, his participation in the experience ends there. A similar comparison could be drawn from asking some guy down the street where to buy drugs. That person might know, might even tell you, but until you actually go and buy drugs there no crime has been committed because having information is not illegal.

Fung is currently engaged in lawsuits with the Motion Picture Association of America, with court proceedings there lasting over a year.

TG Daily - ISOHunt search site lawsuit could make Google, Yahoo, others illegal

I 100% agree with the guy, there is nothing illegal about searching for copyrighted or illegal material. It is when you download it (or upload it) that it becomes a crime. If they want to shut a site like ISO Hunt down, might as well shut every search engine out there down with it.

coasterman1234 · #2 04-01-2009, 11:36 PM

He makes perfect sense. If his site doesn't actually host the material, but only provides a means to find it, then he is committing no crime. The, as always, over-zealous RIAA & affiliates continue to not understand how the internet works.

Kyle L · #3 04-01-2009, 11:42 PM

Common Sense vs. Greedy Corporation? Gee, wonder who's going to win.

coasterlove · #4 04-01-2009, 11:58 PM

I generally don't worry about these things but it's absurd. The idea of banning search engines is ridiculous. I'd hate it for sure. Sites like Google come in really handy when looking for new porn sites.

**Brian F** · #5 04-02-2009, 03:08 AM

You can Google porn?!?!?!

Sorry guys, I gotta go.

**Andrew P** · #6 04-02-2009, 08:28 PM

What about using a search engine to find instructions on how to make pipe bombs...or to counterfeit money?

Wikipedia should probably be closed down then as well.

markham2020 · #7 04-02-2009, 11:40 PM

This whole thing is crazy... I mean, look at how much search engines help us. How would we find any pictures, videos, or other websites without them. I mean we would have to know which website we specificly wanted and would have to already know the address! No I think they should stay.

**Ryan F** · #8 04-03-2009, 12:28 AM

^I think you missed the point.
The guy is saying that search engines are very powerful and useful for pretty much anything. If they want to shut his search engine down because a few bad apples use it for illegal activities, they might as well shut Google down because underage kids are probably looking at porn and downloading material off there as well.

go_me · #9 04-03-2009, 11:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by coasterman1234

He makes perfect sense. If his site doesn't actually host the material, but only provides a means to find it, then he is committing no crime. The, as always, over-zealous RIAA & affiliates continue to not understand how the internet works.

Actually, providing a means to find illegal material MAY be able to be skewed enough as to make it illegal. For example, telling somebody who wants to buy drugs where to buy them is probably illegal, right? (Not entirely sure on this, but I'd imagine it is)

I actually support the man in the article: I think the shutting down of search engines is ridiculous. I just wanted to add some fuel to the fire. I love reading a good debate.

CP Maverick · #10 04-03-2009, 03:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ryan F

Someone posted this on Facebook and I thought I would share it.

TG Daily - ISOHunt search site lawsuit could make Google, Yahoo, others illegal

I 100% agree with the guy, there is nothing illegal about searching for copyrighted or illegal material. It is when you download it (or upload it) that it becomes a crime. If they want to shut a site like ISO Hunt down, might as well shut every search engine out there down with it.

Is this how you found Jordan Capri?

violakat03 · #11 04-03-2009, 03:45 PM

The Pirate Bay had this legal fight with I think it was Sweden. They ended up winning the case because of the exact point being argued here - the search engine is not responsible for the content it links to. As long as the search engine itself does not host any potentially illegal materials, it's not doing anything illegal.

CoasterDJ · #12 07-19-2009, 04:38 AM

I just had a thought. If the Search Engine loses and they wind up being shuttered...I never would have found TN if not for search engines.

Tanks4me05 · #13 07-19-2009, 09:53 AM

Wait, I'm getting confused. Is it just attempting to shut down this bittorrent search engine in particular, or all search engines? Also, is it just barring them from Canadians, or the entire world?

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