Isohunt is sick of closed-development; offers $100,000 for open-source developers

When The Pirate Bay went down in December, IsoHunt was quick to build a version called The Old Pirate Bay in order to give the torrent community another outlet they know and love. The reaction was positive, but IsoHunt was working on something behind the scenes to shake the community once again.


They soon launched a project called Open Bay, where anyone could download a version of The Pirate Bay in entirety in a few simple steps, sprouting Pirate Bays all over the Internet. Working with Kick Ass Torrents, IsoHunt said that the age of individual torrent sites was now over and that the landscape was officially changing.

Also Read: IsoHunt’s Gary Fung Says Bitcoin Can Help End Online Piracy

But with the original Pirate Bay showing signs of life, IsoHunt has an idea to keep their philosophy alive. Following the ticker atop the Pirate Bay, IsoHunt wants torrent sites to turn to open-development rather than the closed-development they’ve utilized in the past.

IsoHunt Giving Away $100,000
In an inIsoHuntterview with Hacked, IsoHunt announced that they’d be giving $100,000 to open-source developers on GitHub over the next six months.

“All top torrent websites are developed by closed teams. We want to change it. We want to stimulate the community and give them a possibility to create and manage the site the way they want it.”
The roadmap for the plan kicks off on January 29, when IsoHunt will start allocating the first $10,000 a month to developers on GitHub. Based on user votes, a list will be created every month outlining what features need to be created on The Old Pirate Bay. IsoHunt will take the first five pull requests for each feature and choose a winner – after they inspect the quality of the code, of course.

“The main idea is that community should develop the site. If there will be enough initiative, the site will be developed by people.”
Development contests will start on February 1.

Not only will developers be able to partake in the $100,000 giveaway, but people interested in moderation will also be allocated $5,000 a month over the six month period. IsoHunt told Hacked that they’re creating a scoring system for moderators at the moment, but were unable to dive into specifics.

$5,000 will also be given to content up-loaders. Both moderation and uploading giveaways will start on March 1.

Shift Toward Open-Source
IsoHunt sees potential in the open-source community – that’s why they’re putting together this giveaway for dedicated developers. They want to stimulate the development community in a way they never have before.

“The idea behind this message is to empower community to create OldPirateBay.org as they see it. And we’re ready to reward the most active participants along the way.”
At the time of the announcement, the original Pirate Bay is showing a countdown clock. Reasonable speculation is that the site is making a return, but IsoHunt said this initiative isn’t about keeping people at The Old Pirate Bay, IsoHunt.to or the Open Bay. According to IsoHunt, there’s more than that at stake.

“It’s not about where people should stay, but does the community have enough power to create the dream-torrent site?”