By Stevie Smith Dec 19, 2007, 13:27 GMT
Leading media makers have this week scored a significant victory against the trend of illegal file-sharing after a federal judge based in Los Angeles declared – without trial – that TorrentSpy.com is in clear violation of copyright protection laws, reports Variety magazine.
TorrentSpy slapped with copyright infringement by LA judge in MPAA case. Credit: static.torrentspy.com.
More specifically, Judge Florence-Marie Cooper of the U.S. District Court has moved to dismiss a countersuit brought against the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) by TorrentSpy and instead slammed the controversial media search engine with copyright infringement.
The judge’s ruling was based on missing evidence related to the MPAA case, which she outlined TorrentSpy was guilty of destroying, thereby removing the possibility for authorities to conduct a proper and fair trial. Material destroyed included forum posts related to copyright infringement, individual user IP addresses, and also site directories listing illegal media content.
Judge Cooper’s ruling also stated that TorrentSpy had "provided false testimony under oath in an effort to hide evidence of such destruction." While conceding that termination of the case was "a harsh sanction," the ruling stressed that "the circumstances in this case are sufficiently extraordinary to merit" the decision.
The MPAA has recently brought its legal guns to bear on various online directories, which it claims provides search assistance in the online theft of computer games, feature films, and music – all of which is protected under the laws of copyright. While they do not provide the content for direct download and distribution, the MPAA insists that the likes of TorrentSpy.com, TorrentBox.com, NiteShadow.com, BinNews.com, and IsoHunt all actively contribute to the piracy of professionally created media.
TorrentSpy’s countersuit accused the MPAA of engaging in its own form of shadowy activity by hiring a hacker to gather evidence in the case. A final judgement in the matter will not be issued against TorrentSpy until affected media companies are able to confirm revenue losses connected to the search engine’s practice.
In reaction to the judge’s decision, the MPAA offered that it arrive as "a significant victory for MPAA member companies and sends a potent message to future defendants that this egregious behaviour will not be tolerated." According to the MPAA, around $11 billion USD is lost every year to illegal media copying, while illegal online distribution accounts for a further $7 billion USD in lost revenue potential.
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