| URL | hotfile.com |
|---|---|
| Slogan | Deliver where it matters |
| Type of site | Free File Hosting/Sharing Service |
| Registration | Optional |
| Available language(s) | Multilingual (19) |
| Launched | 18 March 2001 |
| Alexa rank | 304 (January 2012[update])[1] |
| Current status | Active |
Hotfile is a one-click file hosting website that was founded by Hotfile Corp in 2006 in Panama City, Panama. Hotfile currently gets 23,000,000 monthly visits[1].
Contents |
Hotfile[2] allows users to upload and download files with any web browser. Non-registered users are allowed to upload up to 400 MB at once. After a successful file upload, the user is given a unique URL which allows others to download the file. Non-registered users have to wait 15 seconds in the download queue and might need to enter a CAPTCHA and have to wait 30 minutes to download another file after a previous download session ends (even if the file did not download completely).
The service has a Link Checker where users can enter file urls in order to check their current availability. There's also a Hotlink feature, which allows users to directly link to their files for an additional fee.
The users under 13 years old are not allowed to use the service. HotFile is a service provider under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act[3], 17 U.S.C. section 512 ("DMCA"). Hotfile responds to claims of copyright infringement reported to its designated copyright agent.
In Hotfile's Privacy Policy under the 'Usage Data' section they state "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." This is of concern to many Hotfile users that believe in proper privacy instead of logging every users actions. All of this data resides on US servers making it extremely easy for the courts to order Hotfile to hand it over. This policy of logging IP's and associating them with items downloaded is the completely opposite approach to website such as Fileserve and Rapidshare.
The website is maintained in 19 languages, including Arabic, Bulgaria, Czech, two types of Chinese, Dutch, German, English, French, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Spanish, Serbian and Turkish.
On 6th January 2011, US Media conglomerate Liberty Media Corporation filed suit against Hotfile, Paypal and 1,000 Hotfile 'John Doe' account holders. Liberty Media's case states that; the defendants “jointly and severally, with actual or constructive knowledge of or with willful blindness, reproduced and distributed certain LIBERTY-owned works through www.Hotfile.com.”.
Liberty are asking the court to seize Hotfile's domain address.
Liberty's case goes on to describe Hotfile as "[...] a Panamanian company with no physical presence there and one that takes steps to "obfuscate the facts of its location, address, and principals." It also states that "[...] Hotfile's owner is a Russian named Anton Titov, who may or may not be a resident of Bulgaria and/or The Netherlands, and who also may have a residence in Florida."
A company called Lemuria Communications is also listed as a defendant. The company is claimed by Liberty to be Hotfile's webhost and an alter ego of Anton Titov. Hotfile is said to operate servers in Dallas, Texas and Florida. PayPal is also named as a defendant on the basis that it offers financial services to Hotfile, Titov and Lemuria. Liberty demands that the court freezes the defendants' assets held by PayPal pending the outcome of the case.
Furthermore, Liberty states that "[Hotfile's] aim is "to profit from the illegal sharing of copyrighted materials, many of which are the intellectual property of LIBERTY," material which the studio says is placed there by "an army of assistants".
Liberty describes Hotfile as a massive copyright infringer which encourages affiliates to upload copyrighted material in order to attract further visitors to its website from which both the company and affiliates profit. With demands for a jury trial, Liberty Media claims Hotfile is guilty of inducing, contributory and vicarious infringement and is seeking statutory damages of $150,000 per infringed work. [4]
On 12th September 2011 the company filed a counterclaim accusing movie studio Warner Bros. of fraud and abuse. According to the complaint, Warner systematically misused the anti-piracy 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. The false takedowns continued even after the movie studio was repeatedly notified about the false claims.[5]
“The single file deleted by Warner that had been most frequently downloaded by Hotfile users—five times more frequently than any other file—was a freeware software title wrongfully deleted by Warner," the suit states. "The software publisher that uploaded the file used Hotfile.com as a means for distribution of its open source software. Warner was not authorized by the software publisher to delete the file.”[6]
“Not only has Warner (along with four other major motion picture studios) filed this unfounded and contrived litigation against Hotfile employing overly aggressive tactics, Warner has made repeated, reckless and irresponsible misrepresentations to Hotfile falsely claiming to own copyrights in material from Hotfile.com.”“Worse, Warner continued to make these misrepresentations even after Hotfile explicitly brought this rampant abuse to Warner’s attention, ruling out any possibility that its wrongful actions were accidental or unknowing,” Hotfile writes in its complaint.[7]