Media
The operator of BitTorrent tracker website TorrentSpy has been fined $111m (£56m) by a US court for facilitating the infringement of copyright.
The case was brought by Hollywood movie and television studios under the banner of the Motion Picture Association of America. TorrentSpy closed in March after the court ordered it to log details of its users.
US District Judge Florence-Marie Cooper, in Los Angeles, told Valence Media LLC, which operated the site, it must pay $30,000 for each of 3,699 infringements listed in the case.
TorrentSpy lost the case after refusing to provide internal records to the court.
MPAA chairman Dan Glickman welcomed the ruling: "This substantial money judgment sends a strong message about the illegality of these sites."
Torrent tracker websites do not link directly to content, but list tracker files which in turn allow internet users to download material using the BitTorrent peer-to-peer file-sharing protocol.
The case was brought by Hollywood movie and television studios under the banner of the Motion Picture Association of America. TorrentSpy closed in March after the court ordered it to log details of its users.
US District Judge Florence-Marie Cooper, in Los Angeles, told Valence Media LLC, which operated the site, it must pay $30,000 for each of 3,699 infringements listed in the case.
TorrentSpy lost the case after refusing to provide internal records to the court.
MPAA chairman Dan Glickman welcomed the ruling: "This substantial money judgment sends a strong message about the illegality of these sites."
Torrent tracker websites do not link directly to content, but list tracker files which in turn allow internet users to download material using the BitTorrent peer-to-peer file-sharing protocol.
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