Thursday, Aug 2, 2012    Text size: 

LAS VEGAS — Oron.com has vanished.

Without warning, the file-locker site has completely disappeared from the Internet. Those looking for the site have found that Oron's operators apparently have blocked search engines from indexing its site.

It's not exactly certain why the site has left the web, but its operators have been under a financial stranglehold soon after a federal court froze its assets in relation to gay adult company Corbin Fisher's $34.8 million copyright infringement suit against the company.

Oron operators earlier said in court motions that they have been hampered in paying LeaseWeb fees for hosting the site.

Earlier today, TorrentFreak said that it is a possibility that Oron is looking for a new home.

Torrent Freak said it received an email from its operators, stating: “At this time we are in the process of moving Oron.com to another hosting provider. As soon as we finish this process we will post a notification on our site. We would like to apologize for any inconvenience this might have caused you.”

Meanwhile, Oron on Monday filed a petition with the U.S. District Court in Las Vegas to dismiss the case on grounds of lack of personal jurisdiction because the company "has no officers, directors or employees who reside in the U.S."

Oron says it is a Hong Kong company and that Corbin Fisher also has instituted legal proceedings overseas.

Corbin Fisher counsel, meanwhile, are preparing for a pretrial hearing set for next Thursday in Las Vegas. Yesterday, Corbin Fisher counsel Marc Randazza asked the federal court to designate the preliminary injunction hearing as an evidentiary hearing.

"Both parties in this case have submitted many documents, exhibits, and declarations," Randazza told the court. "The plaintiff requests this designation so that it may present additional evidence and witness testimony in order to better elucidate its support and claims with regards to the relief sought by the preliminary injunction."

Oron's operators have been slugged by more claims recently. Just Monday, another gay adult entertainment company, Flava Works, filed a copyright infringement claims in Chicago against Oron, as well as FileSonic.com and 26 file-locker customers, and accused them of illegally distributing the company's videos.