TorrentSpy Gives Up; Shuts Down
from the there-goes-another-one dept
The saga between TorrentSpy and MPAA will certainly be declared a "win" (if not a "significant blow") by the MPAA, but it's really more of a sad statement on the way the entertainment industry goes about its business. TorrentSpy announced earlier this week that it was shutting down and giving up, not due to any court order, but mainly because it was sick of the whole process and it didn't seem likely that the judge was going to see its side of the story. If you recall, TorrentSpy lost its case, but not on the copyright claim. Instead it was based on TorrentSpy potentially having destroyed some important evidence. It does look like the company (stupidly) did destroy some evidence, though some of the "destroyed evidence" was TorrentSpy's refusal to keep log files on its users, something it felt would be a violation of its own privacy policy. Based on the destruction of evidence problem, it's not too surprising that the company shut down -- but there really was no ruling at all on the more important question of whether or not simply operating a search engine counts as "inducement." This case also highlighted some of the MPAA's more unethical moves, including having someone hack into TorrentSpy's email servers and forward internal emails to the MPAA. So, while the MPAA will surely declare victory, all the case actually showed was (a) how unethical the MPAA can be (b) that it was able to shut down a site with owners who stupidly destroyed evidence and (c) that no ruling was made on the actual claims concerning copyright.
Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team
Filed Under: copyright, evidence, mpaa, torrentspy
Companies: mpaa, torrentspy
Reader Comments
Subscribe: RSS
View by: Time | Thread
Thanks Mike.
Hollywood...go stuff yourself.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Here Here!
Give me my video-games and a few good books and I'm set for a long (and happy) weekend...
Tis' a pirate's life for me! (presently on sabbatical)
[ link to this | view in thread ]
New Movies stink anyway....
[ link to this | view in thread ]
A Sad Sad Day
Id like to see someone do a report of all the MPAAs unethical behavior, then we'd really see the criminals here!
[ link to this | view in thread ]
crooks
[ link to this | view in thread ]
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Here Here!
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Seriously....
b) How many people who read this site on a regular basis don't already know this side of the argument.
c) Does the MPAA give a damn. (the answer is no).
I'm not trying to criticise the article here, but every piece of news I see that delivers the anti-RIAA/MPAA side of the story is always on websites that cater to geeks (no offence) and the like, and we're all fully aware of it. We're also relatively small in number.
The regular people out there, the ones who need to be educated on all sides of the argument, and the ones who need to be fully educated on both sides of the argument, are the ones who will never read this. Which needs to change, rather quick by the looks of it.
I'm sorry this comment seems to take a negative tone, I am glad that there are places that cater to the anti-MPAA/RIAA side of the argument, (relatively) few though they be. I guess I've just started to see it as a load of people all fuming between themselves and ultimately fairly powerless to do anything about it.
tl;dr
Everyone who reads this already knows it (in spirit).
The people who don't read it are the ones who NEED to know it. And they don't.
This needs to change.
Peace out.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
[ link to this | view in thread ]
That really sucks!!
Talking about exposing the MPAA, I was watching this movie that I,um borrowed from a friend. Everybody here needs to watch this movie/documentary, if you haven't already watched it. Its a couple years old already. It's called "This Film Is Not Yet Rated" and it exposes the MPAA rating system and how much of a joke that is. The funny or I should say disturbing thing is how NOBODY even knows who or how they rate all of the movies. Very eye opening movie!
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: That really sucks!!
"On January 24, 2006, the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) admitted to making duplicates of a digital copy of the film that was provided to them for the purpose of obtaining an MPAA rating. According to the film's director, Kirby Dick, he sought assurances that no copies would be made or distributed for any other purpose.[citation needed]
The MPAA admitted to making copies of the film contrary to Dick's wishes although they contend that doing so did not constitute copyright infringement or a violation of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). They say that the privacy of the raters themselves might have been violated by Dick. Since no complaint has been filed against Dick, and since the DMCA addresses the act of subverting access control and not copying, it is unclear whether the MPAA's justification is legally sound.[citation needed]
Dick's lawyer, Michael Donaldson, has requested that the MPAA destroy all copies of the film in their possession and notify him of who has seen the film and received copies.[citation needed]
The DVD version of the film contains deleted scenes that showed both phone calls where Kirby Dick was assured that no copy would be made, and the last one, during which he found out that a copy had indeed been created."
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Coincidence? I think not!
Not just Hollywood but even the music industry has been failing to produce high quality enjoyable entertainment. They are too worried about being paid for the crap they are putting out there to look for and really invest in some true talent.
Personally I'm with GeneralEmergency and BlowURmindBowel. The industry doesn't deserve a single cent from me for the lack of services they are providing. Just give me a good book or video game and I'm set for a great relaxing weekend.
Hollywood shape-up or ship out!
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re:
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Coincidence? I think not!
as to the copyright crap I think the last movie i went to see was the x files movie i have other issues with the movie industry apart from the crap of copyright which is rediculas.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Ok...
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Oh PLEASE....
please don't give me all that crap about movies being shit and the MPAA being evil criminal bastards. Every time we download a movie (or mp3 or game or whatever), WE are the evil criminal bastards.... and you know it.
In the eyes of the law we are breaking the law. I broke the law when I downloaded I AM LEGEND. I couldn't get to a cinema to see it, but after seeing it (and I knew nothing about it) I am going to buy yhe dvd. It's worth it. It's worth actually saying to the thousands of guys who made the movie and distributed it and advertised it that, you know what, you made a movie worth buying, so here's my $30 to go towards your hard work... it's appreciated. I personally don't think p2p is all that bad as long as people buy what they really like. If you don't like what you downloaded then you wouldn't have bought it anyway. But fair is fair.... buy it if you like it.
My wife is a musician, and yeah she has some free tracks for download, but we aren't going to be able to buy food or pay our mortgage each month or fix the car without people actually buying the mp3's or cd if they like it. We have 2 (nearly 3) kids to support too. Remember that if you download the whole album whenever someone puts it up as a torrent. Fair enough if you want to screw the fat-cats who can afford it, but don't forget the little people.
I know I'll get flamed for this, but I`m sick of people saying the RIAA and MPAA are arseholes (and they can be, don't get me wrong) in one breath when they are being aresholes themselves by stealing (not buying what you really like) on the other hand.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Oh PLEASE....
My main point is that if people like us weren't downloading the movie's and music, the MPAA wouldn't be doing the illegal tactics of hacking etc. But can you really blame them? I don't like it, but it's probably what I`d do if I knew thousands of people were sticking their hands into my pockets while I wasn't looking.
Maybe there should be special versions of product for people to try (like game demo's). It would be hard though to justify, as music and movies want to be at a decent quality to shine... so doing a low-bitrate version wouldn't work (like screeners are crap most of the time). Maybe a small size of the movie, smaller than 320x240 for preview purposes on p2p.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Oh PLEASE....
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Re: Oh PLEASE....
Yes, you can and should blame them, for various reasons. An illegal response to an illegal act is still illegal. Also, the RIAA and the MPAA constantly take the high morale ground in their lobbying efforts, yet in practice they use underhanded tactics to achieve their goals. It's hypocrisy and illegal, and if they want to pursue their lawsuits against infringers, they should be operating legally.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
What?!?!
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Lets boycott all music and movies
[ link to this | view in thread ]