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LokiTorrent operator ordered to pay 1 million dollar fine
Posted on 12/02/05 17:16 by Dan Bell
Well, it may be time to donate again! A lot of us thought that the LokiTorrent site had taken the money and run from a recent donation campaign, but it looks like they were indeed in court and now we can read that it wasn't enough to ward off a stiff penalty. As stated in this previous story, maybe all the $40,000 went to the MPAA who knows? But it wont be nearly enough!
According to the Earth Times, it looks like Edward Webber, who directed people to downloadable copies of copyrighted movies over at LokiTorrent, has just felt the sting of the justice system in the United States. Webber is fined $1-million in a judgment issued by a Dallas court. This is a very loud message for file sharing networks and also the BitTorrent model. Webmasters or operators, whatever you want to call them, claim that they don't have any idea or control on what is being transferred on their network, however the MPAA was able to convince the court in Dallas to the contrary. They say that if your site boasts to be one that fastest downloads and keeps a track of what is available where, then you can't pretend to be an innocent bystander.
John G. Malcolm, head of the MPAA's anti-piracy efforts said, "It will have a lot of records as to who these people are and what they provided, and that information will be of great interest to our members. The MPAA would turn over information to prosecutors in appropriate cases." The site Lokitorrent.com was serving as a tracker that allows people who want to download files to connect with those who have them and want to swap them. |
The quote above is similar to the quote in the previous story, but what I find interesting is that the MPAA is even looking at Television programs in it's investigation! Many readers of our P2P forums are unaware (as I was) that this is considered an illegal activity and we were considering it not much more than time shifting. Well, it will be up to the courts to decide, but it looks like the MPAA says they don't like it. Time wiill tell in this matter, I think that what we have here is a situation where we have illegal "broadcasting" or distribution of private works. This is not the same as making a personal backup, and it's pretty bad news for many I am sure.
As we have been saying all along to our readers, especially those of us residing in the United States, the MPAA is very aggressive and even more so than the RIAA. We just were reading the other day how the MPAA had taken down the LoiTorrent site and replaced it with a threatening banner, but now this has taken on a much more serious tone. How this will affect other BitTorrent sites is unknown, but if you are residing in the United States you may want to start considering a legal strategy if you wish to direct the distribution of movies as a tracker.
Source: Earth Times
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HA HA HA HA HA HA piracy does not pay.
can we have the option to change the font size i want to laugh a bit louder.
This is extortion. Sue people that can't afford it.
You can't fight back. 
In fairness they can kill kazaz and similar systems and people will just move to Bittorrent, they can kill bittorrent sites and people will move to IRC instead, they can kill IRC and people will move to ftp etc.
It can never be stopped, as much as its wrong etc its not something that can be stopped easily and they would be much better of working with there consumers instead of calling them all criminals
These corporations are too greedy....
They would be able to sell their mothers for profit...
[edited by Fr4nz on 12.02.2005 18:58]
[edited by Fr4nz on 12.02.2005 18:58]
That is NOT right.
[edited by hardgiant on 12.02.2005 19:12]
[edited by hardgiant on 12.02.2005 19:12]
[edited by hardgiant on 12.02.2005 19:12]
[edited by hardgiant on 12.02.2005 19:12]
So you have never had a cassette recording of your favourite record/cd in your car, or taped a record/cd a friend loaned you, or borrowed a book to read from a friend, or kept a collection of shows taped off tv etc? No? Liar!
"Sue people that can't afford it.
You can't fight back."
It's probably for the best. God knows we have enough idiotic law suits already going around... we don't really need people trying to "fight back" when they get caught stealing.
I wish someone with the right amount of clout would have the pods to sue both the RIAA and MPAA for extortion.
It appears they want the ordinary man and woman in the street to pay for the shite they churn out in Hollywood that ends up in the $2.99 bin in Walmart.
"Illegally downloading movies from sites such as these without proper authorization violates the law, is theft, and is not anonymous. Stealing movies leaves a trail."
Does anyone else notice how blatantly wrong this is. It is not theft, it is copyright infringement.
Piracy and censorship of television is more of a concern in the government right now then white collar crime which is robbing the country of much more then a couple of movies. But why would anyone care about the economy when PEOPLE ARE DOWNLOADING MOVIES!
On a side note, im moving to canada, where there is no MPAA/RIAA/Bush.
It's too bad real crimes don't get pushed thru the legal system this fast and efficiant. Imagine if murderers and rapest got thier day in court the day they commited thier crime.
But I guess it's ok for a large organization to make an example out of a piracy site so that gets the top priority in the legal system - and a huge fine even though no law was broken.
But some good news, we must all remimber that these fines can be as much as anyone can imagine, that doesn't mean that lowkee will have to pay, its really just for publicity. I'm just glad he stood up to it.
On a side note, im moving to canada, where there is no MPAA/RIAA/Bush.
Arrr!
But you can still get sued wherever you are 
if you get caught shop lifting at best buy or circuit city, you will have the option of paying double the price of the stolen merchendize. that`s not even a misdeminor. if you get caught downloading you will have to pay god knows how much...and your life ruined. fair?
/me gone shoplifting 
Arrr!
But you can still get sued wherever you are
can the MPAA sue canadians? I know there are laws in canada, but its not like they are handing out million dollar fines.
I must admit of course, that what these people are doing is wrong. But, the maddening thing to me is that the DMCA is being used in a situation that is was not desinged for. The Internet did not exsist when these protections were passed and they were intended I believe for piracy operations that manufactured and sold goods to the public for profit. It is about time that there were separate laws written with appropriate punishment for those that are merely sharing lossy digital files.
Don't move to Canada, write your representatives and protest, or donate to the EFF instead. It's time we brought the MPAA and the RIAA into the 21st Century and fought for consumers rights.
Well if its shite, then why are people pirating it?
I've never understood the arguement that its OK to pirate it since it sucks. If it really does suck, then why are you wasting time and bandwidth to get it?Exactly right, stealing is a completely different offense. When you shoplift you are charged with stealing, when you steal a car you are charged with stealing/theft. Downloading a movie is not the same charge.
The MPAA and RIAA just use their own labels to describe it.
The photo asks "Is this you?"
The answer is no, that doesn't look anything like me :P
Give me DRM free music downloads and i will pay for them.
Downloading TV programs is not illegal. Don't let them con you into believing that is true. Network is broadcasted freely, you can recordit with a VCR without issue and then lend it to a friend. None of those activities are illegal, therefore, simply changing the technology in which this occurs does not suddenly make this activity illegal, just easier (if the episodes were ripped from a "season" dvd, they might have something new to argue about). They cannot sue for trading TV rips. 
On a side note, im moving to canada, where there is no MPAA/RIAA/Bush.
Oh ... OH how I fervently wish those who say things like this would follow through. If this is really how you feel, for God's sake, please proceed with all due haste. If everyone who said that actually did it, the US would probably stop being plagued by the very problems you complain about. And our national IQ would jump a few solid percentage points to boot. Let's think about this for a minute: percentage-wise, which major candidate in the last election do you think most card-carrying RIAA/MPAA members voted for? Hmmm? Think hard. Why stop at RIAA/MPAA/Bush? Why not RIAA/MPAA/Bush/Hitler/Satan? Do you ever worry about falling off the edge of your 2-dimensional universe? Just wondering.
Looks like he was stabbed in the back from the MPAA, The though maybe if he handed over his 40000 and gave all logs over that would be it WRONG HE WAS
If i knew i was going to get that fine, i would destroy all evidence straight away. Now those bastards are going to send out those stupid letters again
THE other thing is an IP address is no real form of evidence.
What the MPAA think is if you download a torrent file you download the whole movie
What happens if u download a torrent file, start downloading if, after a while its to slow so you cancel it !! To the MPAA thats downloading a full working movie and distributing it to millions of people, um yeah right
In the end they have to provide to the court that the accuses actually physically obtained that complete working movie file or it would be deemed insufficient evidence.
when will you two bit legal eagles realise as long as the american government sits around with a finger in its arse and its mind in neutral allowing corporations to dictate policy, THEY will do what they like when they like.........
Well while people are bitching about the MPAA how bout we take a break and go to the movies? Better yet lets go to tthe video store and rent a DVD. Lets keep pouring money into the pockets of MPAA members and complain about what they are doing. Geeezus this is like some meth freak complaining about drug dealers.
As long as the public pumps money into the MPAA piggy bank the MPAA and its members are going to be all for chasing downloaders and starting civil action against them. You really dont think they are getting all those records for "shits and grins" do ya?
I wont rationalize that sharing movies is somehow right in all aspects. What I will argue is that the laws ar so unbalanced that at its sole discretions the MPAA can destroy anyones future, ability to make a living or for people to provide for their families. Yes you can say that if a person doesn't want the rath then he/she should not be messing around on P2P networks. However, no intity outside the government should hold the power to crush hundreds or thousands of people for the sake of their own greed. Just how far this shit will go on should not be left to corporations and power brokers. Do we really want to live in a world where organizations posses the kind of power to effectively end the ability to lead a productive life or persue their dreams? That is on hell of a lot of power to give a heard of shit merchants.
The whole crutch of the matter is that if you are the average person who downloads you don't have the where with all to counter any accusations the major corporations throw at you. If you are singled out by a court and you only make the minimum wage, how can you afford a lawyer to defend your case, you can't because they want money upfront. The whole crutch of the matter is that the riaa and mpaa is systematically targeting poor people so that they do not have to worry about retaliation. They do not want any kind of resistance from those that have the wherewithall to withstand their relentlast aim that is to control us all1. stealing is wrong, someone protecting what is theirs is not wrong.
2. sure its a huge conglomorate of fat cats going after ya, no its decent honest people who don't like being stolen from.
3. if your going to steal be smart about it, don't use public avenues dipshit!
4. don't blame the government, these are civil matters for the most part.
5. could i borrow a million to bail these guys out? Oh wait, i forgot, whenever one of you gets pinched you ditch him. sorry
1) Lokitorrent.com is now on domain auction! How come??
http://www.sedo.com/search/details.php4?domain=lokitorrent.com&language=us
2) A REAL fact on About Lokitorrent
A must for reader to know the more!!!
http://www.torrent-news.com/archives/rumor_mill/000055.php
After reading torrent-news, I am fishy about whether lokitorrent is being sued or just playing tricks to scare peopletinku's a troll - plain and simple. He probably doesn't believe half the things he's saying - you'd have to be a special kind of mindless to actually subscribe to some of the drivel he's peddling.
In short, he's doing it solely for effect.
Ignore him and he'll go away - it'll spoil his fun.
F.A.C.T:
The average worker doesnt have time to go to the movies and shell out the MPAA's rediculous prices + overpriced popcorn and candy for 1 movie that could turn out to be sh*t anyway, so why not download it for FREE and watch it in the comfort of your own home? They will do just that if you dont give them a better alternative.
F.A.C.T 2
Most downloaders, or 'pirates' as you would like to call them, would gladly pay to watch good quality movies at home IF the price was reasonable, available to everyone and good quality with good download speeds. No body likes watching blurry pixilated crud and nobody likes the MPAA chewing on their ass, so why not set up a LEGAL movie download site that releases the same time as cinemas? You would make your money + some and also drastically reduce piracy, but you wont, because your old ancient dinosaurs who fight anything new they come across, which just happens to be P2P and bittorrent at the moment. The dinosaurs died out, and so will your ancient idea's.
F.A.C.T 3
The day will come, and come soon where you force software developers to take drastic steps to protect their members and their identities, making it almost impossible for you to track or sue them for anything at all, and when that day comes, ill be there laughing. File Sharing is an evolution of todays technology - adapt or die.
On a side note, is it just me or is every MPAA boss bald?
First off, what does F.A.C.T. stand for? You seem to think it is an acronym.
Second, so you're in essence saying that if you believe somebody has made a shoddy product and charged too much for it, it's OK for you to steal it? First off, if it's so crappy, why bother? Second, what gives you the right to steal something just because you think the persons(s) who worked to create it are charging too much for it?
So, if you were to write a book that I really wanted to read, and you wanted to charge $20 for it, and I didn't feel like paying you $20, it'd be OK for me to steal it out of the bookstore? That's what you're saying. Who determines what's a "reasonable" price?
If you think the price is unreasonable, the only right you have is to not pay for it. You don't have the "right" to steal it. If it's that much of a problem for you, why not wait until it comes out on DVD, get 20 of your good friends together, split the cost, rent the DVD, and watch it. Problem solved. See? The very fact that you want to own it implies 1) That your assertion that the content is "sh*t" is disingenuous from the get-go; and 2) That you just want to watch movies without having to pay for it.
So, you're a thief, plain and simple. Just don't insult our intelligence by claiming to be some sort of defender of consumer rights.
Can you stop being a stupid MPAA/RIAA representative? Most possibly you're doing it for free, so you're more stupid than real MPAA/RIAA people.
Spitfire_x86: There is a difference between "fair use" and "theft." If you don't care about the difference, then you're part of the reason we're in this fight to begin with. In other words, I'm not the problem, you are.
"Time wiill tell in this matter,"
Does the editor even spell checks? Come on, make some attempt here for us!
Downloaded movies are crap anyway. Just sign up with blockbuster in the mail for 16 buck a month and rent 20 movies a month or more. Copy them to blank dvdr(about 50 cents each). Much better quality and no risk unless the mpaa kicks down your door.@ kev99s, where did i say that stealing copyrighted movies was good? I said that if the MPAA gave people more options instead of sticking to one distribution method and trying to stamp out everything else that they would reduce piracy AND make bucketloads more money, which is all they probably really care about, so get you sh*t straight before you go splashing the forums with BS.
Napster and Itunes are perfect examples of what can happen when a company stops fighting innovation and starts working with it. If the MPAA had any sense, they would have their OWN online movie distribution system that delivered current movies the SAME time as cinemas , and i can tell you they would make mountains of cash from it, but they wont do that because their stuck in the age of "Make them come to the movies and pay our BS prices for food and tickets", and thats why i called them dinosaurs, and will continue to.
These days you can get that "cinematic" experience in the comfort of your own home without the whine of cellphones or the overcrowded theatres, so why doesnt the MPAA realise this and move onto something bigger and better? It's that very lack of understanding it's cutomers that promotes piracy.
So Kev99s, if i wanted to insult your intelligence, id make you read your own post.
He's right. You don't have a right to be entertained. If you're going to pirate it, fine, just pirate. Just don't provide these stupid excuses as to why you're doing it.Where did I say that you said stealing copyrighted movies was "good"? I didn't. What I said is that you think it's justified. Were you not justifying the pirating of movies because of the MPAA's "sh*t" and "unreasonable prices"? Then what the hell were you saying? By all means, please clarify.
What you said is, if someone charges too much money for what most people consider a shoddy product, then people are justified in stealing that product, and further, it's the manufacturer's fault.
Now, go back and reread both of your posts, and tell me if I've misinterpreted what you wrote. If I did, then the only other option is that you must agree with my position, in which case I don't know what your problem is.
[edited by kev99sl on 18.02.2005 18:47]
[edited by kev99sl on 18.02.2005 18:47]
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