Andre Yoskowitz
5 Feb 2009 11:04
Once one of the most popular public torrent trackers in the United States, TorrentSpy now sits, defunct, after being ordered to pay a $110 million USD fine to the MPAA after losing a lawsuit to the trade group.
At first the site, and its parent company Valance Media LLC, said they could and would not pay the fine but it appears today that the have gone the legal route, and will be appealing the decision.
Adds Ira Rothken, head attorney for the site: "The court was wrong in procedures and wrong in judgment," for its decision that alleges the tracker was set up solely to connect users with unauthorized downloads.
Although TorrentSpy was never actually proven guilty of copyright infringement, the court did find that the site and its administrators had tampered with evidence by destroying servers and hiding other evidence.
Justin Bunnell, founder of the tracker, said at the time of the ruling: "It's not like they proved their case. It's not like they proved that TorrentSpy infringed copyright. I think we have a lot of grounds for appeal and we'll pursue it vigorously."
Rothken noted that the site "hid" the evidence because it would have violated TorrentSpy's privacy policy, which they valued highly. "The tension between the court's discovery orders and user privacy rights is an important issue on appeal," he said.