Copyright violations shut down cloud storage site.

• Position: CLOUD

One of the most used file-sharing sites on the Internet, Hotfile, went dark in early December as a result of copyright infringement charges filed against it by the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA). Hotfile was facing a possible $500 million fine had the case proceeded to court; instead the two parties settled for $80 million. The deal, approved by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, required Hotfile to start using "digital fingerprinting" technology to filter copyright-infringing content or shut down its operations.

Implementing filtering techniques is a drastic step, but not an unusual one in the file-hosting business, reported TorrentFreak, an online publication focused on...