Mininova

{{Short description|Dutch BitTorrent website, 2005 to 2017}} {{Infobox website | name = Mininova B.V. | logo = Logo of Mininova.svg | logo_size = 200px | company_type = Besloten Vennootschap (private limited liability company) | genre = | foundation = {{start date and age|2005|1}} | dissolved = {{End date|2017|04|04}} | founder = | location_city = | location_country = | location = Netherlands | locations = | area_served = | industry = | products = | services = | revenue = €1.1 million in 2007 (before taxes and expenses)<ref>{{cite web | title = The story about the €1 million revenue of Mininova | work = TorrentFreak TV S01E07 | date = 2009-03-23 | url = http://torrentfreak.tv/ | access-date = 2009-04-19 | archive-date = 2018-09-20 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20180920014725/http://www.torrentfreak.tv/ | url-status = live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | title = Torrent search engine Mininova earning €1 million a year | work = Ars Technica | date = 2009-03-13 | url = https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2009/03/torrent-search-engine-mininova-earning-1-million-a-year.ars | access-date = 2009-03-13 | archive-date = 2009-03-13 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090313044310/http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2009/03/torrent-search-engine-mininova-earning-1-million-a-year.ars | url-status = live }}</ref> | operating_income = | net_income = | owner = | num_employees = 5 | key_people = Erik Dubbelboer<br> Niek van der Maas | parent = | divisions = | subsid = | screenshot = Mininova screenshot.png | screenshot_size = 220px | caption = Screenshot of mininova.org home page | website_type = Torrent directory and search engine | language = English | advertising = Banner / text ads | registration = Optional | launch_date = {{Start date and age|2005|1|19}} | current_status = Offline | footnotes = }} {{fsb}} '''Mininova''' was a website offering BitTorrent downloads. Mininova was once one of the largest sites offering torrents of copyrighted material, but in November 2009, following legal action in the Dutch courts, the site operators deleted all torrent files uploaded by regular users<ref>{{cite web |url=http://torrentfreak.com/mininova-dwarfed-a-year-after-going-legal-101127/ |title=Mininova Dwarfed A Year After Going 'Legal' |author=Ernesto |date=November 27, 2010 |work=TorrentFreak |access-date=August 5, 2011 |archive-date=August 14, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110814011815/http://torrentfreak.com/mininova-dwarfed-a-year-after-going-legal-101127/ |url-status=live }}</ref> including torrents that enabled users to download copyrighted material.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8382012.stm |title= Court ruling forces Mininova to end illegal torrents |author= Daniel Emery |date= 26 November 2009 |work= BBC News |access-date= December 13, 2009 |archive-date= 3 December 2009 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20091203044755/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8382012.stm |url-status= live }}</ref>

On April 4, 2017, Mininova shut down, saying that it had been running at a loss "for some years".<ref>{{cite web |url=https://torrentfreak.com/torrent-legend-mininova-will-shut-down-for-good-170226/ |title=Torrent Legend Mininova Will Shut Down For Good |work=TorrentFreak |date=26 February 2017 |access-date=27 February 2017 |archive-date=26 February 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170226225306/https://torrentfreak.com/torrent-legend-mininova-will-shut-down-for-good-170226/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

==Site history== The site was based in the Netherlands and was launched in January 2005 as a successor to Suprnova.org, which went offline at the end of 2004 following legal difficulties. In April 2007, Mininova B.V. (the company running Mininova.org) won a domain dispute about the domain mininova.com, which had been exploited by a phisher.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://blog.mininova.org/articles/2007/04/20/mininovacom-is-now-ours/ |title=Mininova.com is now ours! at Mininova blog |publisher=Blog.mininova.org |date=2007-04-20 |access-date=2009-09-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110723150120/http://blog.mininova.org/articles/2007/04/20/mininovacom-is-now-ours/ |archive-date=2011-07-23 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

The word ‘mininova’ ranked 9 on Google's list of most queried terms in 2006.<ref>{{cite web | title = 'Mininova' the 9th Most Googled Word in 2006 | work = Torrentfreak | date = 2006-12-19 | url = http://torrentfreak.com/mininova-the-9th-most-googled-word-in-2006/ | access-date = 2006-12-19 | archive-date = 2007-01-01 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070101184736/http://www.torrentfreak.com/mininova-the-9th-most-googled-word-in-2006/ | url-status = live }}</ref> In May 2008, Mininova indicated that there had been over 5 billion downloads via the site.<ref>{{cite web | title = Lawsuit + 5 billion downloads | date = 2008-05-28 | url = http://blog.mininova.org/articles/2008/05/28/lawsuit-5-billion-downloads/ | access-date = 2008-06-15 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110727084256/http://blog.mininova.org/articles/2008/05/28/lawsuit-5-billion-downloads/ | archive-date = 2011-07-27 | url-status = dead }}</ref> Mininova also ran a video sharing site, called Snotr.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.snotr.com/ |title=The ultimate place for great videos! |publisher=Snotr |date=2008-11-06 |access-date=2009-09-30 |archive-date=2018-06-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180605201731/http://www.snotr.com/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Legal action===

In May 2009, the Dutch copyright enforcement organization BREIN started a civil procedure against Mininova demanding that Mininova filter torrent files pointing to copyrighted works. During the proceedings, Mininova stated that it was not feasible for the site to identify such files, but said that it would remove torrent files that BREIN identified as infringing copyright. On May 6, 2009, Mininova began a trial of a content recognition system, which was intended to remove any torrents that were flagged as infringing copyright.<ref>{{cite web |date=May 21, 2009 |url=http://www.zeropaid.com/news/86168/mininova-tests-out-content-recognition-system/ |title=Mininova Tests Out "Content Recognition System" |publisher=Zeropaid.com |access-date=2009-09-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090922034325/http://www.zeropaid.com/news/86168/mininova-tests-out-content-recognition-system/ |archive-date=September 22, 2009 |url-status=dead }}</ref> On August 26, 2009, the court in Utrecht ruled that Mininova should remove all torrent files pointing to copyrighted material within three months or face damages of up to 5 million €.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.rechtspraak.nl/ljn.asp?ljn=BJ6008 |title=Zoeken in uitspraken |publisher=Rechtspraak.nl |date=2008-04-29 |access-date=2009-09-30 |archive-date=2024-06-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240605160237/https://uitspraken.rechtspraak.nl/#ljn/BJ6008 |url-status=live }}</ref>

On November 26, 2009, Mininova announced that it could not find a foolproof filtering system against copyrighted content, and limited its platform to Content Distribution torrents only, in compliance with the ruling of the Utrecht court. This resulted in more than 99.3% of the torrents on the site being removed. As a consequence, the website traffic dropped by 66% in a few days, and daily downloads fell down to 4% of the previous total.<ref>[http://torrentfreak.com/mininova-traffic-plummets-after-going-legal-091205/ Mininova Traffic Plummets After Going ‘Legal’] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091208091109/http://torrentfreak.com/mininova-traffic-plummets-after-going-legal-091205/ |date=2009-12-08 }}, TorrentFreak.</ref> According to Alexa Internet, the daily traffic rank in the USA dropped from within the top 100 ranked sites in early November 2009 to below 1000 on January 30, 2010.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/mininova.org|title=mininova.org - Site Info|date=Jan 30, 2010|publisher=Alexa|access-date=30 Jan 2010|archive-date=22 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160322085628/http://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/mininova.org|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Mininova appealed against the court ruling,<ref>[http://blog.mininova.org/articles/2009/11/26/mininova-limits-its-activities-to-content-distribution-service/ Mininova limits its activities to Content Distribution service] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091128143056/http://blog.mininova.org/articles/2009/11/26/mininova-limits-its-activities-to-content-distribution-service/ |date=2009-11-28 }}. ''Mininova.org''. Nov. 26, 2009</ref> and in December 2010 reported that a settlement had been reached under which Mininova paid BREIN an undisclosed amount of money, ending the lawsuit.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://blog.mininova.org/articles/2010/12/10/brein-mininova-settlement-reached-lawsuit-ended/|title=Brein / Mininova settlement reached; lawsuit ended|publisher=Mininova|access-date=15 December 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110814060138/http://blog.mininova.org/articles/2010/12/10/brein-mininova-settlement-reached-lawsuit-ended/|archive-date=14 August 2011|url-status=dead}}</ref>

==References== {{Reflist|2}}

==External links== *{{Official website|http://www.mininova.org/}}

Category:Internet properties established in 2005 Category:Defunct BitTorrent websites Category:Dutch websites Category:Internet properties disestablished in 2017