TorrentSpy hands Hollywood victory

'Fair trial impossible'

By Andrew Orlowski • Get more from this author

Posted in Law, 19th December 2007 14:32 GMT

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The Motion Picture Industry Ass of America has won an unexpected victory after a Los Angeles Court terminated a copyright lawsuit against TorrentSpy in its favour.

The judge in the case issued the unusual verdict after concluding that a fair trial was impossible, because TorrentSpy had tampered with and destroyed evidence. TorrentSpy had already been fined $30,000 for ignoring discovery orders in the case, which began in February last year.

The Dutch-based site bills itself as the largest BitTorrent search engine.

"The court finds that plaintiffs have suffered prejudice, to the extent that a rightful decision is not possible," Judge Florence-Marie Cooper concluded, citing false statements and "widespread and systematic efforts to destroy evidence".

TorrentSpy's San Francisco-based lawyer Ira Rothken denied it had destroyed evidence, but said it did so to protect users.

Eh?

In August, the site blocked US-based IP addresses. TorrentSpy now faces a financial penalty, the size of which has yet to be determined. ®

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