isoHunt is officially dead. The BitTorrent peer-to-peer search engine has been dismantled by the Motion Picture Associate of America (MPAA). They were due to go to trial over copyright infringement on November 5th but they have reached a settlement.

IsoHunt, founded by Canadian Gary Fung, will officially be shut down and the company has agreed to shell out $110 million to the MPAA, as outlined in the settlement.

According to Chris Dodd, MPAA's chairman, this "sends a strong message that those who build businesses around encouraging, enabling, and helping others to commit copyright infringement are themselves infringers and will be held accountable for their illegal actions."

[Image: Flickr user Nrkbeta]