The iSONEWS
The iSONEWS is a warez news website. It was originally created by orm who later deferred management of the website to Krazy8 and mandarin. TheiSONews supplies release details and NFOs of warez games and programs, without actually supplying them, or supplying any information on where to find them.[1] As of June 2007, the releases are seldom updated, however the forums are still in use.
Domain Seizure
On February 28, 2003 the United States Department of Justice seized the isonews domain name,[2] however its servers remained intact. A number of iSONEWS mirrors sprung up as a result, including izonews.com, theisonews.com, and stolemy.com, an expression of retaliation from the iSONEWS community caused by the Department of Justice's actions. The closure of the isonews.com domain brought more attention to the site, and after the site was back up on mirror sites, the membership and the user activity on the forums increased.
Approximately one year following the seizure, visitors to iSONEWS.com were redirected to the United States Department of Justice Cybercrime.gov website. And as of November 16, 2004, the original domain, isonews.com, is owned by DomainSpa LLC and used to advertise video game sales and rentals.
Current Status
From being a release site for the warez community, the site has evolved into a broader message board, concentrating mostly on PC gaming. The PC games forum on the site contains everything from rumors, latest news, hints, tips and tweaks to various games.
After a considerable amount of downtime from February through early March 2009, Isonews went back online. Many of the moderators have created a new version of the website named isoleeted.com due to many former member's dissatisfaction with Isonews' current operations.
On August 14, 2009 the domain was sold via auction for $500 (originally priced at $5,000). The new owner fixed the forum registration and it is continuing to provide updates and support for the website and community.
In 2013, an interactive chat box was added to the site. This has succeeded in keeping iSONEWS on life support with members chatting more frequently than they otherwise would within the forums.
See also
References
- ↑ Wilson, Steve (1999-07-29). "Online Piracy: From Music to Film". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 2013-12-15.
- ↑ BBC News "US seizes bootleg games site"
External links
- theisonews.com
- Site Returns After Piracy Crackdown
- The Register DoJ seizes ISOnews site over Xbox mod chip sales
- Put a Z in ISONews - DoJ seizure is 'illegal and abusive'
- McCullagh, Declan (2003-02-26). "U.S. crime-fighters seize Web sites". Archived from the original on 2013-01-20.
- U.S. Department of Justice (2003-02-25). "Justice Department Seizes Top Internet Site Involved in Copyright Piracy". Archived from the original on 2011-07-22. - US DoJ press release on bust
- Nasheri, Hedi (November 2004). "Addressing Global Scope of Intellectual Property Law".
- Borland, John (2000-10-04). "Sega wants to silence advice on hacker sites". CNET News.