AfterDawn: News

The MPAA wants $15 Million from The Pirate Bay

The MPAA has announced that is suing the infamous torrent tracker The Pirate Bay for $15.4 million USD citing "damages suffered" from 4 movies and 13 TV episodes uploaded to the tracker.

The movies in question are "Harry Potter 5", "Syriana", "The Pink Panther" and "Walk the Line" and all 13 episodes are from the hit show "Prison Break". The MPAA is demanding $37 USD for each download of "Syriana", "The Pink Panther" and "Walk the Line", $43 USD for Harry Potter and $68 for Prison Break.



The Pink Panther was downloaded 49,593 times by Pirate Bay users, making it the most popular, while Syriana was the least popular with 3,679 downloads, according to MAQS, the law firm which is representing the MPAA in the case.

Brokep, a TPB admin, had this to say about the matter; “They know they are losing, and try to make us look like big criminals by adding some zeros to a claim for a made-up crime.”

“The worst thing is that I lost 100 kronor on a bet on the number they would come up with,” Brokep added. “And, it sucks that they didn’t claim more than for Napster and the other sites. It’s cooler to break the record.”

When an MPAA lawyer was asked whether she really believed every download was equivalent of a lost sale, she replied, “We don’t know that, but the copyright law doesn’t care about that. It says that if you have downloaded something illegally, you must pay regardless, if you would’ve bought it or not.”

More on the matter when the case finally gets to court.

Written by: Andre Yoskowitz @ 8 May 2008 18:15

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• 27 comments

• ThePastor

  Quote:“We don’t know that, but the copyright law doesn’t care about that. It says that if you have downloaded something illegally, you must pay regardless, if you would’ve bought it or not.”
  TPB never downloaded anything so I guess this doesn't apply. They've already lost this case.

  8.5.2008 18:24 #1

• corn

  The files arn't hosted on the server, only the .torrnet files are. So, really what is TPB doing wrong? Why don't they go after the uploaders?

  8.5.2008 18:26 #2

• varnull

  Yeah.. habeus corpus applies.. the mpaa have already lost this one.
  
  TPB should counter sue for harassment and illegal bullying and punitive malicious litigation. It's BS and we all know it..
  
  
  
  
  http://designetc.net/mpaa.jpg
  
  No link as required under the GPL...... makes the mpaa software thieves.
  

  
  
  Free open source software = made by end users who want an application to work....

  8.5.2008 18:58 #3

• emugamer

  And what if half the people downloading them actually bought them? Didn't the movie industry see a really good year in 2007 in terms of profits??

  8.5.2008 19:01 #4

• iluvendo

  What happened to duking it out in court ? For the MPAA to do this in the court of public media, they may very well be losing in the legal system.

  8.5.2008 19:05 #5

• varnull

  F--- the lot of em... all the profiteering scumbags.
  
  
  
  

  
  
  Free open source software = made by end users who want an application to work....

  8.5.2008 19:16 #6

• engage16

  i love how they double the price of the movie/ tv show... harry potter can be bought for $20, yet they're looking for $47? who's the pirates here? who's stealing from who?

  8.5.2008 20:36 #7

• ChiknLitl

  I think they should go after all of the "criminals" that downloaded the pink panther! I hope it was at least the Peter Sellars version. And where the hell do they come up with these numbers, F--- all if they think I would pay $5 from the bargain bin for any of those movies.

  8.5.2008 20:48 #8

• c1c

  More free publicity for the Pirate Bay which in turn creates new p2p users.

  8.5.2008 23:01 #9

• mspurloc

  KILL ALL THE LAWYERS.

  9.5.2008 01:50 #10

• nobrainer

  name, shame and boycott all mpaa/riaa anti-consumer c**k suckers.
  
  *edit*
  
  OMG America it looks like the MPAA/RIAA lobby won, the pro IP Act sails through, Now Sony and co want your home and possessions for copywrite infringement. does the punishment fit the crime i wonder?
  
  House overwhelmingly passes controversial PRO-IP Act
  Originally posted by link:
  The bill would also enable law enforcement agents to seize property from copyright infringers.
  

  The BPI Are: SONY, UNIVERSAL, WARNER GROUP, EMI.
  The RIAA Soundexchange Are: SONY, UNIVERSAL, WARNER GROUP, EMI.
  The IFPI Are: The same anti consumer lot as listed above!
  The MPAA Are: SONY, UNIVERSAL, WARNER GROUP, DISNEY, PARAMOUNT, FOX.
  

  9.5.2008 02:49 #11

• pensfan12

  i dont get why they want so much per movie? How does that even work?
  Shouldnt they be asking for like the price of a movie ticker per download?
  And you would hope it would only include American downloads.
  Oh well, they hopefully wont get a cent.

  9.5.2008 03:17 #12

• cousinkix

  Quote:The bill would also enable law enforcement agents to seize property from copyright infringers.The same doesn't go for crooked employers who hire illegal aliens, under pay those slave laborers off the books and cheat on paying Social Security taxes. You are a frigging racist if you believe that these asset forfeiture laws should also apply to their favored kinds of criminals.
  
  Its just fine if some body grows marijuana or downloads a stinkinng MP-3 file; but not greedy corporate thieves who are ruining the US economy. Bill Gates prefers to import more cheap foreign laborers and pay them half of what Americans made as Microsoft employees. BOYCOTT VISTA.
  
  
  Quote:OMG America it looks like the MPAA/RIAA lobby won, the pro IP Act sails through, Now Sony and co want your home and possessions for copywrite infringement. does the punishment fit the crime i wonder?That corrupt US Congress just sits back, while lobbyist groups
  who finance their political campaigns, draft a deluge of laws to suit themselves. Comedians call them the Parliament of Whores for a good reason. Money influences just what kind of laws come out of that District of Criminals. Three of them want to be the next president. It makes me wanna throw up...

  9.5.2008 03:18 #13

• corn

  Somebody bought it either way, heh. But, notice how they are making the MOST downloaded movie come with the largest fee? Bunch of bull shit. Nothing we can do, besides use PG2.
  
  
  

  9.5.2008 06:40 #14

• viny1313

  Originally posted by corn: Somebody bought it either way, heh. But, notice how they are making the MOST downloaded movie come with the largest fee? Bunch of bull shit. Nothing we can do, besides use PG2.
  
  
  LMAO nice pic ;)
  
  But really, not even PG2 can save you from the rath of a retarded govornment :P

  9.5.2008 07:59 #15

• KennyD

  Quote:Originally posted by corn: Somebody bought it either way, heh. But, notice how they are making the MOST downloaded movie come with the largest fee? Bunch of bull shit. Nothing we can do, besides use PG2.
  
  
  LMAO nice pic ;)
  
  But really, not even PG2 can save you from the rath of a retarded govornment :PTrue but it does help a little :)

  9.5.2008 14:04 #16

• Tsusai

  Too bad they don't see that they are suing a a group of people who hold a library Rolodex of stuff, nothing more, nothing less.

  9.5.2008 14:41 #17

• corn

  Nah, they see money. They don't see us as people who don't wanna pay $15+ for a new movie, or pay $10.00 for a movie ticket. They see a lawsuit, and a family forced into bankruptcy. Another life ruined thanks to the MPAA.

  9.5.2008 14:46 #18

• rob0t3ch

  Sorry big wigs but TV shows are fair game to EVERYONE in the world. There isn't a soul that would agree with the MPAA regarding FREE tv shows on P2P. They get broadcast for free and according to the FCC rules and regulation..............."For every signal sent, anyone and everyone has the right to intercept that signal".

  9.5.2008 15:19 #19

• RNR1995

  Isn't the Pirate Bay in another country?
  How can they be sued in the USA
  this is ridiculous

  9.5.2008 15:40 #20

• corn

  Originally posted by rob0t3ch: Sorry big wigs but TV shows are fair game to EVERYONE in the world. There isn't a soul that would agree with the MPAA regarding FREE tv shows on P2P. They get broadcast for free and according to the FCC rules and regulation..............."For every signal sent, anyone and everyone has the right to intercept that signal".I've always thought about that, but thought I was wrong. Guess I was right, hehe.

  9.5.2008 16:17 #21

• rlessmue

  So let me see if I got this right.
  If a link was put on the MPAA site and if you clicked on it,
  and you were sent to another site which downloaded "something
  illegally" - would that require the MPAA have to pay - due to the
  breaking of the copyright law??
  
  And, when does American laws apply to The Pirate Bay... they are not located in America.
  
  ...and the price for Harry Potter 5... $43USD??!!! MPAA your math is
  wrong...check out Amazon.com BEFORE it was discounted $34.99 list!!
  http://www.amazon.com/Harry-Potter-Phoen...l/dp/B00005JPI2
  Cheers!

  9.5.2008 19:00 #22

• skopas

  Mpaa lost when TPB said, "it does not host the actual files on their servers". They act like a search engine thats all. Fricken MPAA, they want respect and lots of MONEY..................MONEY...... those days are over. Ask the artist of the 70', 80's and 90's how much money they lost to them. NOw with the internet age everything has changed and now the ball is in our court.

  9.5.2008 19:12 #23

• fgamer

  The MPAA really makes themselfs look like a joke when they file retarded lawsuits that don't really help their cause, but instead only brings more attention to piracy..which then more people realize that they dont have to pay a dime and can just download it. So thank you MPAA for bringing more attention to something that will never die AND that's piracy!

  9.5.2008 19:20 #24

• Hardwyre

  ... and another round of Peer-to-peer whack-a-mole!
  
  This is like suing the car companies for providing the radio that someone used to record a copyrighted song off of.

  13.5.2008 14:13 #25

• corn

  Originally posted by Hardwyre: ... and another round of Peer-to-peer whack-a-mole!
  
  This is like suing the car companies for providing the radio that someone used to record a copyrighted song off of.LOL! Thats good. Did that really happen?

  13.5.2008 16:39 #26

• mpangasa

  I say hit em where it hurts. For the MPAA limit purchases of movie tickets as much as possible (I like the idea of seeing only matinees if necessary) or stay away from the box office completely and avoid new theatrical releases. Also avoid buying or renting video for seeing at home. Declines in home video purchasing/rentals and box office revenue will really dent the MPAA studios profit margins and with less cash they won't have enough money to hire more lawyers for so called piracy suits against file-sharers.
  
  Try to avoid digital cable and satellite television service providers and their Video On Demand (VOD), HD and HD DVR products -- and most important of all say no to DRM crippled High Definition Blu Ray Discs (HD DVD had it too but has gone to the dustbin since losing the format war) download for free what and when you can if you absolutely have to see the new X-MEN movie in theaters download it for free.
  
  Same goes with music -- you can support independent labels and artists but stay away from RIAA products. These cartels need to go.

  26.5.2009 03:40 #27