There's a very funny story behind MinecraftForFree.com which is what most people used back then.

Notch (the creator of minecraft) was angry someone was posting his game online for free. He emailed the owner, Dylan, of the site threatening legal action.

Instead of going down a legal route, Dylan challenged him play a game of quake3 to settle the dispute.

If notch won, Dylan would take the site down. If Dylan won, notch would would leave him alone and let him keep hosting the site.

Notch agreed, won the match, and Dylan followed the promise and took it down forever!