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TorrentSpy must pay $110 million to MPAA

Posted on 08.05.2008 at 11:22 in Tech News by Martin

A clear message to all torrent websites hosted on the US soil was sent all over the world today: A federal judge is hitting the shuttered TorrentSpy service with a $111 million penalty for facilitating the infringement of thousands of copyrighted works. U.S. District Judge Florence -Marie Cooper in Los Angeles, ruling in a case brought by the Motion Picture Association of America, said site operator Justin Bunnell and associates must pay the maximum $30,000 for “each of the 3,699 infringements shown.” The case, producing what is among the largest fines in copyright history, was bolstered after the MPAA allegedly paid a hacker $15,000 for internal TorrentSpy e-mails and correspondence.

“This substantial money judgment sends a strong message about the illegality of these sites,” MPAA Chairman Dan Glickman said in a statement. TorrentSpy, a U.S.-based torrent tacking service, shuttered in March after it lost its case against the MPAA. TorrentSpy did not lose on the merits, but defaulted after it failed to produce internal records. No U.S. case has squarely addressed the legalities of BitTorrent tracking services, although one case is nearing a resolution. Judge Cooper ordered TorrentSpy permanently shuttered. TorrentSpy attorney Ira Rothken was not immediately available for comment. He has appealed the default order to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco.

Source: Wired

Comments (124)

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  1. A.Bundy
    May 8th, 2008 | 20:24

    “distribution of wealth. we leech, the rich that are involved in entertainment get poorer. hopefully”

    for the first time in history, this is now true. back in the golden days, you had to pay to watch a play, listen to music, etc. nothing could be bootlegged back then.

    and i for one am fed up to watch the rich buy their 25th mansion after they made millions from another crap movie. i can barely pay my electric bill and rent, thanks to other idiot rich fukers that decided to unregulate everything.

  2. common sense
    May 8th, 2008 | 20:25

    @93 all you have to do to see who is stupid and pathetic is look in the mirror and then look at your parents who gave you your dna.

    @96 tell you what. You tell us what country you are from and I will give that info to my cousin who can make sure that all aid to your country ceases. Since you dont like us, then sell your computer (we own the copyrights to MAC and Windows as well as the major majority of the parts that make up the computer) cancel your internet account since we invented it back in the 1950’s (and I have given proof of same by no less then the UN itself) and the backbone of the internet is located in the US (not to mention that the UN has been trying to force us to give it to them but we told them to blow us, we are not giving it up) as well as give back your AC-microwave-Telephone-Radio-TV and the car you are driving as it was made on an American invention. As well as gas masks-Stop lights-blood bags-x ray machines and a host of drugs that you now take from Asprin right down to pepto bismal.

    If you are going to hate us, then you need to cease using what we have invented. We can get along without you…the question is can you get along without us and our inventions? The answer is..”I dont think so.”

  3. satake
    May 8th, 2008 | 21:11

    US Sucks big time PERIOD

  4. killerready
    May 8th, 2008 | 21:33

    I say kill all in the federal judge and kill all in MPAA..I be happy to see them killed

  5. simon
    May 8th, 2008 | 22:04

    Who cares.. Stand up for your bloody rights! I WILL BE A PIRATE FOR EVER. AND NO BLOODY CORPORATION CAN STOP ME!

  6. Evileye
    May 8th, 2008 | 22:08

    I did not realise that torrentspy was a international company how many thousands of workers did it employ? 111 million dollars fine. I just thought it was a website linking torrents. In the United Kingdom I was reading today there is a channel called ITV very large company it was fined just 5.5million pounds for telephone fraud to a whole nation now this company has many people working for it producing TV shows and everything else even the awards that is gave international stars was completely fraud. It makes me wonder??? mmmm

  7. Evileye
    May 8th, 2008 | 22:12

    @ 52 You know what the problem is your right !

  8. Flying Knee Of Death
    May 8th, 2008 | 23:13

    @105 : LOL do you really expect Americans to stand for their rights ? Most of them are asleep at the wheel and know nothing or just don’t care about what the hell is going on in their country.

    They are quickly losing their freedoms and rights (Patriot Act I and II , warrantless surveillance programs , secret prisons overseas , bogus war(s) based on lies ect ect ect) but only a few seem to realize that the military industrial complex , corporate interests and powerful lobbies are taking over. The U.S is slowly but surely turning into a totalitarian plutocracy and anyone who don’t see this is blind.

    Eishenhower warned us about all of this but it seems that it fell into deaf ears. Sad and pathetic

  9. bINKY
    May 8th, 2008 | 23:34

    It’s amusing to read comments blaming this government or that for this or that. Very 19th century. Today it’s All Glory to Global Corporate Fascism - national governments are just minions to big business.

  10. ian
    May 9th, 2008 | 00:03

    heres a update
    http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2008/05/torrentspy-wont.html

  11. speedy11131
    May 9th, 2008 | 01:43

    Torrentspy went downhill when they started blocking US access. Removed the shoutwire feed, and replaced everything with ads. Hell if your tracker/site is in the US, you’re bound the get caught IMO. Thats why IF they do come back, they should do something like Demonoid, host in a country where the laws aren’t so shall we say, “enforced”.

  12. Endless Diversity
    May 9th, 2008 | 01:51

    Why bother to host a site in US anymore… US broadband speed is a joke for big country.

    I am sure all that stupid MPAA people used to / still use torrent to download pirated stuff . e.g mp3 or etc

    maybe we all should hire investigator that will investigate all MPAA employers, and send all of them to hell

  13. farscape
    May 9th, 2008 | 04:27

    Pirate bay is located at http://thepiratebay.org/ not at the site listed above… I pinged the site mentioned and it returns as located in Marina Del Rey, California IP=85.17.142.41 most likely it is run and operated as an entrapment site. And if you are curious, the posted FAQ for torrentspy… also resolves to the same city. IP=85.17.142.22 And is it any surprise that the MPAA has operations based in THAT city. Be wary people,very,very wary!!! It is not difficult to isolate where an URL or IP originates from… they can find you… you cannot hide. Even those that use Proxy sites can be found. All that is required is a court supeona for records and they have you dead to rights. All I can say is be careful, very, very careful!

  14. MOHOGANY
    May 9th, 2008 | 08:31

    They must have known something like this would eventually happen. Why on earth in 2008 they are still hosting a torrent site within US soil is beyond me.

    PS Ryan, there is no such word as ‘urself’. It’s yourself.

  15. a helping hand
    May 9th, 2008 | 08:41

    instead of giving our opinions to worthless viewers, we should make a contribution to those that have actually saved us alot of money. i used torrentspy.com so much with movies, tv shows, and programs but stopped using it once i knew they were caught with something. i think it would be really helpful if we were to give a donation to those that are suffering the consequence because of our shameful desires….

    someone make a website for donations and i’ll send some money. $110 million is too much.
    i need to feel like i payed for something with all the hard work that people have put into my own enjoyment.

  16. Steven
    May 9th, 2008 | 09:08

    9th Circuit? They are safe. The 9th is a circus and very liberal. They will probably overturn this and rule in favor of torrentspy.

  17. daashyte
    May 9th, 2008 | 15:33

    that stupid judge! he shouldnt of been overseeing this, he should be at home checking on his son little Johnny in the basement downloading every f**king thing he can get his little paws on burning it to dvd and selling them to the Judges hill billy cousins….LMAO! long live isohunt!!!

  18. Hans Solo
    May 10th, 2008 | 01:44

    It’s funny how all you people say things like “U.S. sucks” and “I’m never going to the U.S.”.

    When, in fact you European/Asian/Etc. immigrants are coming here in record f***ing numbers.

    I JUST wish you a**holes would end your comments with the country where you are really from so I could have a laugh or a pertinent rebuttal about how your country pales in comparison to the U.S.

    I’m an American and despite all of it’s flaws I’ve never want to live anywhere else. And I’ve seen the world from Italy to Argentina!

    Even you’re best directors (e.g. Bergman) say a couple lines in English in their movies and isn’t that what it’s all about. What you are here for? Our superior movies, music, and games?

    You suck and swallow it up; and you still hate. You’re pathetic hypocrites.

  19. Hans Solo
    May 10th, 2008 | 01:45

    It’s funny how all you people say things like “U.S. sucks” and “I’m never going to the U.S.”.

    When, in fact you European/Asian/Etc. immigrants are coming here in record f***ing numbers.

    I JUST wish you a**holes would end your comments with the country where you are really from so I could have a laugh or a pertinent rebuttal about how your country pales in comparison to the U.S.

    I’m an American and despite all of it’s flaws I’ve never want to live anywhere else. And I’ve seen the world from Italy to Argentina!

    Even you’re best directors (e.g. Bergman) say a couple lines in English in their movies and isn’t that what it’s all about. What you are here for? Our superior movies, music, and games?

    You suck and swallow it up; and you still hate.

  20. Roflcer of the Lawl
    May 10th, 2008 | 03:41

    Lets just make it 1 billion dollars while we are at it

  21. Suze
    May 10th, 2008 | 13:29

    I am from the UK and I don’t hate America, I have been there a lot and I love it!!! What I do hate though, is the rampant patriotic fervor any anti US comment stirs up.

    I mean, Hans Solo, what’s the big fu*king deal? If it’s so great just chillax, you live in the “best” country in the world, your extensive travels from Italy to Argentina have PROVEN that beyond reasonable doubt, so just be happy and STFU.

    Common Sense, your another supreme patriot. I mean your so blinded by love for your nation that you would believe every invention from the wheel to the nuclear powered hover car was created in the states. The funny thing is, of all the inventions you spoke of only a couple were truly American inventions. Most were multi national efforts (yeah, that’s right a scary concept MULTI national).

    It is not Americans we hate and it is not America itself. It is your amazingly egotistical and xenophobic attitude towards the rest of the world, as exemplified by the two posters I have mentioned. This obnoxious and conceited mind set will not strengthen your (none existent) arguments.

    Here’s an idea, why not focus your rage towards Burma, now there’s a messed up country deserving of some criticism!

  22. Zak
    May 10th, 2008 | 22:27

    Well, Suze makes a great point
    Respect :D

    I have nothing against USA. Its a great place by all means. But hey you Common Sense fella, y’agotta hav enough common sense to know that no county no place is all perfect right?

    And yes, Burma is a doomed place..Pity.. And istead of spending billions for these stuff, try feeding those millions of starved kids and ppl living in poverty all arnd the world.

  23. Mickey
    May 11th, 2008 | 01:58

    I am from Europe, South-Eastern part, and i don’t think America is perfect or the best place to live or the worst place or even hell. It’s a place that has good and bad sides, like others. I agree with Suze in some opinions, and another thing, both Europe and America were wrong in the past, people on each continent wage war and genocide so there is no perfect place. The only thing there is greed and lust for power, on both sides.
    And some moral and ethics :D.
    As for the technology i mean it is really dumb to claim that the technology used today is someone’s own and personal achievement. It is all human civilization’s common achievement and development. The computers would’t exist without physics, and physics without mathematics and so on…
    Anyway i think that we drifted apart from the general subject somehow, but that just my opinion :D

  24. steve
    May 11th, 2008 | 03:58

    You do the crime and pay for the time.

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