AfterDawn: News

LokiTorrent lawsuit was NO Hoax

We reported yesterday that Fraud claims were circulating about (former) LokiTorrent owner Ed Webber. Many people began questioning whether the LokiTorrent lawsuit was real. But a blog entry at Joegratz tells a different story. Here is the entry pasted below.

There’s a Slashdot story today linking to a claim that the recent lawsuit against LokiTorrent is a hoax. The author bases his claim on the fact that the current LokiTorrent page is hosted by the defendant, not by the MPAA, and claims to have searched court records and found nothing.



Three minutes on PACER and the "mystery" is solved. It’s case number 3:04-cv-02642 in the Northern District of Texas. Yes, that’s the signature of the MPAA’s lawyer on the Complaint filed with the court. And yes, that’s United States District Judge David C. Godbey’s signature on the order approving the parties’ settlement and entering a permanent injunction against Webber.

Webber may be a scammer, having seemingly run off with the contributions to his legal defense fund after an immediate capitulation to the MPAA, but he’s not making the whole thing up.

So the controversy continues. It would be nice to hear some actual quotes from Webber, the only one who could cast some proper light on the situation.

Source:
Joegratz.net

Written by: James Delahunty @ 26 Feb 2005 11:31

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• 11 comments

• myjestik

  like he'll talk anytime soon. i bet if he tried to make some quotes that everyone in the community would just find some way to turn them against him since the community is obviously disturbed by everything happening.

  26.2.2005 12:00 #1

• Mick69

  Quote:run off with the contributionswell thats what you get for giving money to complete strangers

  26.2.2005 17:51 #2

• cousin80

  i would have to agree with you mick69 and i was even a donator only five dollars but still it was a lesson learned

  27.2.2005 02:41 #3

• sgr-a

  i cant beleive stuff like this can get around the net. a lot of that stuff in the original article is bordering on libel. the claims that he ran off with the money are based on misconceptions of the way our legal system works. legal fees can easily be through the roof well before a judge ever sees the case. in fact it is the preparation for the trial that allows many to settle out of court in this manner.

  27.2.2005 20:31 #4

• brobear

  I don't know about this case, I don't know the participants personally. But I can personally vouch for the truth in what sgr-a stated. I was out thousands of dollars on a court suit that was settled outside the courtroom. Seems those lawyers and courts want their money whether you have the day in court or not.

  27.2.2005 21:14 #5

• indienemo

  Its gotta be real why else would they put up that webpage, unless its a good old fashioned last ditch attempt at MPAA ass kissin'!

  27.2.2005 23:39 #6

• Mutilated

  Let me enlighten all. Edward Webber did in fact have a lawsuit against him and his company. It was settled outside of court. The intersting part is that he asked for donations to pay penalties, then allowed access to his server data to penalize users. Straight from the MPAA , here's the press release:
  For Immediate Release
  Feb 10, 2005
  
  MPAA MEMBER STUDIOS FILE SECOND ROUND OF LAWSUITS AGAINST MAJOR P2P SERVER OPERATORS THAT FACILITATE GLOBAL MOVIE PIRACY
  
  Austria joins list of countries aggressively pursuing criminal actions against illegal file-trading servers; LokiTorrent server settles litigation
  
  Washington, DC; Encino – In the second major offensive against operators who use BitTorrent and eDonkey servers to facilitate the rampant theft of filmed entertainment, the Motion Picture Association of America, Inc. (MPAA) today announced that its member companies have initiated another series of lawsuits and proceedings aimed at disabling those illegal servers. The MPAA member companies have also taken legal action against commercial websites that are profiting from the infringement of the studios’ copyrighted motion pictures.
  
  “With our first round of lawsuits and legal actions against these individuals who facilitate the theft of movies online, often for their own personal gain, we were able to seriously hamper the traffic on these sites or completely shut them down,” said John G. Malcolm, Senior Vice President and Director, Worldwide Anti-Piracy Operations, MPAA. “That was one step—and a successful one—against these individuals, and today’s announcement should demonstrate that we plan to be equally vigilant against anyone caught operating one of these websites. And as these actions prove, we will catch them.”
  
  In addition the MPAA announced that law enforcement authorities in Austria joined Hong Kong, Finland, France and the Netherlands as countries that have taken criminal action against operators of such servers in their own countries.
  
  The MPAA's efforts to date have resulted in a 40 percent reduction in the number of servers that continue to operate. One such site that will no longer exist is LokiTorrent—one of the largest BitTorrent host servers. The operator of that site, Edward Webber, agreed to not only pay a substantial settlement with even greater financial penalties for any further such actions, but by Court Order must provide the MPAA with access to and copies of all logs and server data related to his illegal BitTorrent activities, which will provide a roadmap to others who have used LokiTorrent to engage in illegal activities.
  
  BitTorrent and eDonkey are examples of newer kinds of peer-to-peer file-trading networks that have proliferated recently, which rely on servers (termed BitTorrent "trackers" and eDonkey "servers") to index and efficiently deliver files of all kinds. The operators being targeted by these actions have misused this technology by knowingly assisting online pirates to disseminate hundreds of millions of illegal copies of movies and television programs.
  
  “The MPAA and its member companies believe that these actions will not only stem the theft of our intellectual property, but will allow these new technologies to be used for the proper, legal and constructive purposes they were created for, without being subverted into a haven for criminal activity,” said Malcolm.
  
  The MPAA also announced today that it will be sending takedown notices pursuant to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act to Internet service providers that host eDonkey servers that are being used to facilitate copyright infringement. They also filed suits against four pirate websites. The operators of these sites charge their customers subscription fees in exchange for substantial assistance in locating and downloading infringing copies of copyrighted motion pictures, including films owned by the MPAAA member companies. The four sites are: www.brandnewmovies.com; www.moviepros.net; www.downloadmuch.com; www.downloaditall.com.
  
  These actions are only the latest step in the MPAA’s multi-pronged fight against online piracy. Other initiatives have included educational outreach to parents, consumers, university administrators and students as well as high school and elementary school children; anti-piracy legislation to toughen penalties; support of criminal law enforcement initiatives against egregious online and hard goods motion picture pirates; litigation against individual online file traders; and development of new technologies to detect and prevent piracy. The MPAA’s member studios have also been strong supporters of, and investors in, legal movie download services and technologies such as MovieLink, CinemaNow and MovieBeam which provide a safe, attractive and economical alternative to piracy.
  
  About Piracy in the Film Industry
  It is estimated that the film industry lost approximately $3.5 billion to movie piracy in 2004, a total that does not include losses due to illegal file sharing online. According to a Smith Barney study, that number is expected to jump to $5.4 billion in 2005. By deeply cutting into revenues, movie piracy limits the choices for consumers at the box office. Sixty percent of all movies never recoup their production and marketing costs which average well over $100 million. Piracy also hurts the hundreds of thousands of individuals whose jobs depend on a vital movie industry, including sound and lighting technicians, carpenters, and theatre and video store employees.
  
  About the MPAA
  The Motion Picture Association of America, Inc. (MPAA) serves as the voice and advocate of the American motion picture, home video and television industries from its offices in Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. Its members include Buena Vista Pictures Distribution, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., Paramount Pictures, Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc., Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation, Universal City Studios LLLP, and Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.
  
  # # #
  
  For more information, please contact:
  Phuong Yokitis
  MPAA Washington, DC
  202-293-1966
  
  Anne Caliguiri
  MPAA Encino
  818-995-6600

  1.3.2005 06:31 #7

• Rab!

  People that gave cash to the lawsuit helped no matter what imo.
  
  fact is that alot of people got the chance to try out a alot of games, movies music and so on, from the site. So even if the cash donated didnt help the guy fight off the MPAA (I can imagine a next to impossable task facing such corrupt practices), it atleast didn't end up with the man in prison for helping almost give people stuff for free that if bought retail would cost way more than the sum he got in aid of the suit...
  
  if he did use it to pay off the MPAA it paid his way out of providing a place for people to find stuff for free and thats good enough for me. the guy doesn't deserve to be locked up.
  Not that i think it was a wise move to not inform people if the money did go towards another cause.

  1.3.2005 08:49 #8

• Mutilated

  It's not even so much the fact of the question as to what the money when to. It's more of a question of why did people donate to have him release information about them so they can also be sued.

  3.3.2005 09:21 #9

• mothmann

  since when the hell can u get sued for donating money? just because you donated doesn't mean you acutally used the site. u could have just read about it on a forum perhaps and want to donate to the cause.
  

  babies

  17.3.2005 00:28 #10

• Mutilated

  Don't know why you're pointing that out, but if it makes you feel intelligent, right on. The point is personal user information is being released, and those users are going to get fined. Not that it's exactly his fault, but you should keep your money, perhaps you'll be one of the lucky ones to get fined.

  18.3.2005 04:25 #11