Media News - Friday, May 09, 2008
Entertainment industry wins a round on piracy
In what was seen as a victory for entertainment companies, a federal judge in Los Angeles issued damages totaling USD 111m (EUR 72m) against an Internet company that helped users find copyright material free. The defendant, Valence Media LLC's TorrentSpy, was one of the Web's largest ‘torrent trackers,’ meaning it helped people find movies and other material they might want to download. TorrentSpy closed in March, telling users on its site the legal climate was ‘simply too hostile.’ It didn't store the video files on its own site but directed users to other locations. The dollar value of the award - which Judge Florence-Marie Cooper said she calculated by assigning a value of USD 30,000 (EUR 19,500) to each of the 3,699 infringements shown - should get the attention of people running similar sites. But they are largely based overseas and out of reach of U.S. law. It is unlikely the movie companies that sued will get nearly the total damages. Valence Media's principals have declared bankruptcy. Valence is based in Nevis, a Caribbean island, and has filed for bankruptcy protection. The defendants plan to appeal, their lawyer, Ira Rothken, said. The strategy of continuing to fight such sites in court seems to be having little measurable impact on piracy. However, it does make it more difficult for the sites to attract legitimate advertisers or funding from venture capitalists, although for many sites that isn't a primary goal. (Wall Street Journal)
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