diff --git a/r2/r2/lib/utils/utils.py b/r2/r2/lib/utils/utils.py
index 1350132b5..a4cd22ea0 100644
--- a/r2/r2/lib/utils/utils.py
+++ b/r2/r2/lib/utils/utils.py
@@ -909,53 +909,6 @@ def common_subdomain(domain1, domain2):
     return ""
 
 
-def link_from_url(path, filter_spam = False, multiple = True):
-    from pylons import c
-    from r2.models import IDBuilder, Link, Subreddit, NotFound
-
-    if not path:
-        return
-
-    try:
-        links = Link._by_url(path, c.site)
-    except NotFound:
-        return [] if multiple else None
-
-    return filter_links(tup(links), filter_spam = filter_spam,
-                        multiple = multiple)
-
-def filter_links(links, filter_spam = False, multiple = True):
-    # run the list through a builder to remove any that the user
-    # isn't allowed to see
-    from pylons import c
-    from r2.models import IDBuilder, Link, Subreddit, NotFound
-    links = IDBuilder([link._fullname for link in links],
-                      skip = False).get_items()[0]
-    if not links:
-        return
-
-    if filter_spam:
-        # first, try to remove any spam
-        links_nonspam = [ link for link in links
-                          if not link._spam ]
-        if links_nonspam:
-            links = links_nonspam
-
-    # if it occurs in one or more of their subscriptions, show them
-    # that one first
-    subs = set(Subreddit.user_subreddits(c.user, limit = None))
-    def cmp_links(a, b):
-        if a.sr_id in subs and b.sr_id not in subs:
-            return -1
-        elif a.sr_id not in subs and b.sr_id in subs:
-            return 1
-        else:
-            return cmp(b._hot, a._hot)
-    links = sorted(links, cmp = cmp_links)
-
-    # among those, show them the hottest one
-    return links if multiple else links[0]
-
 def url_links_builder(url, exclude=None, num=None, after=None, reverse=None,
                       count=None):
     from r2.lib.template_helpers import add_sr