California judge slams TorrentSpy for destroying user data
By Matt Jansen
A California judge ruled that TorrentSpy has violated copyrights owned by the MPAA, setting a disturbing precedent for privacy on the web.
TorrentSpy describes itself as “an International search engine that provides links to torrent files” and stopped serving customers visiting from the United States in August of this year.
The company cited “an uncertain legal climate in the United States regarding user privacy and the apparent tension between US and European Union Internet privacy laws.”
The decision to halt service to the United States followed a court order to keep records of information stored in Random Access Memory (RAM).
According to PC World, by basing its servers in the Netherlands TorrentSpy claimed that “Dutch law protected them from having to turn over server logs and other information”.
The judge disagreed, labeling the company’s conduct obstreperous and ruled in favor of the MPAA by default.
Despite the default ruling, this case sets a precedent for future cases, potentially making user information more transparent.
As one might expect, the MPAA was pleased with the verdict and accused TorrentSpy of being a “one-stop shop for copyright infringement”.
Applied to a broader scale, this ruling could affect anyone who owns a web site, hosts a web site, or administrates a web site.
Next, maybe the RIAA and MPAA should argue that any thoughts humans have regarding their copyrighted work should be recorded because they were temporarily in the prefrontal cortex. After all, the human brain is a center for free thought, and distributors may be losing revenue if fans think about using copyrighted products in new ways.
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