NOVATO, Calif. -- The owners of the file-sharing website TorrentSpy are appealing the judgment against them in a copyright lawsuit filed against them by the Motion Picture Association of America.
A California federal judge last year ordered TorrentSpy to pay major Holywood studios $111 million in damages, finding the company liable for the illegal downloading of films and television programs. Torrentspy shut down its file-sharing website following the judgment.
Torrentspy and other defendants in the case filed Thursday with the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, claiming that the court erred in its proceduresand its judgment.
Defense attorney Ira Rothken questioned the forced logging of user behavior and IP addresses, claiming that these court-ordered measures violated a longstanding privacy policy.
"In a one-hour hearing regarding discovery issues, the court terminated the case and didn't give TorrentSpy a trial," Rothken told CNET. "We believe the court was wrong and abused its discretion."
Co-plaintiffs in the suit include Columbia Pictures, Disney Enterprises, Paramount Pictures, Tristar Pictures, Twentieth Century Fox Film Corp., Warner Bros. Entertainment and Universal City Studios.
Click the following link to view the TorrentSpy appeal.
