Rothken ClickRights Blog

Torrentspy reveals additional details of the MPAA's involvement in allegedy hiring a hacker to obtain private information and documents

In a case my firm is handling Torrentspy filed a motion in Federal Court in Los Angeles to obtain discovery from the MPAA regarding what documents an alleged hacker provided to the MPAA in exchange for $15,000 dollars and what persons or entities viewed such documents. Source CNET News.com

Senate panel proposes Net user 'bill of rights'

Politicians try again to find middle ground among fans and foes of Net neutrality regulations, but critics aren't satisfied. Source CNET News.com http://news.com.com/2100-1028_3-6085346.html?part=rss&tag=6085346&subj=news
   

Washington State Law Bans Links to Gambling Sites

The first prosecution in Washington State's war on Internet gambling is a local Web site that reviewed Internet casinos. The site had links to them, and ran ads for them— the ads and the linking allegedly violate a new state law barring online wagering or using the Internet to transmit "gambling information." "It's what the feds would call 'aiding and abetting,' " says the director of the state's gambling commission, Rick Day. "Telling people how to gamble online, where to do it, giving a link to it — that's all obviously enabling something that is illegal." Source Seattle Times

Net neutrality showdown

Network operators want to charge Net content providers for enhanced services, but critics say regulations are needed to prevent abuse. Source CNET News.com   

House panel OKs digital licensing bill

Critics say complex copyright proposal could erode fair use rights and set a precedent that threatens devices like TiVo. Source CNET News.com   

isoHunt.com, a torrent file search engine, defends itself against a federal copyright lawsuit filed in New York by the major motion picture studios and the MPAA

The isoHunt.com search engine defends itself against allegations from the MPAA and major motion picture studios regarding the issue of whether or not mere passive hyperlinking to "dot torrent" text like files arising out of internet search engine results can constitute secondary copyright infringement. On May 30th, 2006, Gary Fung, who was named as the defendant in the isoHunt.com lawsuit, filed a motion to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction and in the alternative to have the case transferred to Federal Court in California closer to his residence in Vancouver, Canada.

MPAA Sued over Hiring a Hacker

Valence Media, Ltd, owners of the Torrentspy.com search site, filed suit against the Motion Picture Association of America over allegedly paying a hacker to break into Torrentspy.com's servers to gather and hand over sensitive information The lawsuit filed in Federal Court in Los Angeles on May 24th, 2006 alleges that the MPAA paid $15,000 dollars for non-public information obtained by the hacker including financial data, private e-mails, and sensitive marketing documents.Plaintiff alleged numerous Federal and State causes of action including violation of the Electronic Communications Privacy Act Plaintiff is seeking monetary damages and an injunction. Click here for a news story on the case.

Torrentspy case analysis from EFF

Here is what Fred von Lohmann at EFF had to say about the "Hollywood" versus Torrentspy case we are defending.

Torrentspy, a torrent file search engine, defends itself against a federal copyright lawsuit filed in California by the major motion picture studios and the MPAA

This is part of a news release regarding a copyright case we are handling against the major Hollywood studios - we are again in the position of defending the "dot com" technology company:

The Torrentspy search engine defends itself against allegations from the MPAA and major motion picture studios regarding the issue of whether or not mere passive hyperlinking to "dot torrent" text like files arising out of internet search engine results can constitute secondary copyright infringement. According to defendants' attorney Ira P. Rothken "Torrentspy filed a Motion to Dismiss the federal lawsuit on Monday, March 27, 2006 arguing, amongst other things, that it does not link to Hollywood's copyrighted works, it has cooperated with Hollywood in removing objectionable links to dot torrent files, it does not actively promote copyright infringment, and it cannot be held "tertiary" liable for visitors' conduct that occurs away from its web search engine. This is the first case that we are aware of where major Hollywood studios are suing a search engine for secondary copyright infringment when it does not even link to any files copyrighted by Hollywood. The MPAA is in essence trying to outlaw the dot torrent file format."

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