Hotfile Sues Warner Bros. For Copyright Fraud and Abuse

Ernesto
September 13, 2011
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Hotfile,
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The Florida-based file-hosting service Hotfile has sued Warner Bros. for fraud and abuse. Hotfile accuses the movie studio of systematically abusing its anti-piracy tool by taking down hundreds of titles they don’t hold the copyrights to, including open source software. Among other things, Hotfile is looking for damages to compensate the company for the losses they suffered.

warner Earlier this year five major Hollywood movie studios sued the popular file-hosting service Hotfile for several copyright-related offenses. The case is ongoing and two weeks ago the MPAA studios scored a victory when Hotfile was ordered to share detailed information on the site’s users and affiliates.

Hotfile, on the other hand, is fighting back hard as expected. Yesterday the company filed a counterclaim accusing movie studio Warner Bros. of fraud and abuse. According to the complaint, Warner systematically misused the anti-piracy takedown tool (SRA) Hotfile had built for them.

Hotfile alleges that Warner has willingly taken down files without holding the copyrights, game demos and even open source software. The false takedowns continued even after the movie studio was repeatedly notified about the false claims.

“Not only has Warner (along with four other major motion picture studios) filed this unfounded and contrived litigation against Hotfile employing overly aggressive tactics, Warner has made repeated, reckless and irresponsible misrepresentations to Hotfile falsely claiming to own copyrights in material from Hotfile.com.”

“Worse, Warner continued to make these misrepresentations even after Hotfile explicitly brought this rampant abuse to Warner’s attention, ruling out any possibility that its wrongful actions were accidental or unknowing,” Hotfile writes in its complaint.

Hotfile explains that Warner’s Special Rightsholder Account (SRA) is assigned to Michael Bentkover, Manager of Anti-Piracy Internet Operations at the movie studio. Hotfile developed this tool to allow rightsholders to remove an unlimited number of files, as long as they hold the rights to them.

“Every time Warner used the SRA tool it expressly certified ‘under penalty of perjury that [it is] the owner or an authorized legal representative of the owner of copyrights’ and it ‘has a good faith belief’ that use of this material is not authorized by the copyright owner,” the complaint explains.

However, Warner also took down files that they didn’t own the rights to, and for many of these they never verified their nature by actually downloading the contents. This, while Warner specifically certified “under penalty of perjury” that it was the rightful owner. In part, these errors seem to originate from an automatic script Warner used to find infringing content.

For example, while claiming to remove files that are copies of the movie The Box, Warner removed several files related to the alternative cancer treatment book “Cancer: Out Of The Box,” by Ty M. Bollinger. Another title deleted by Warner was “The Box that Saved Britain,” a production of the BBC, not Warner.

hotfile Hotfile claims that hundreds of files were taken down wrongfully, including open source software.

“The single file deleted by Warner that had been most frequently downloaded by Hotfile users—five times more frequently than any other file—was a freeware software title wrongfully deleted by Warner. The software publisher that uploaded the file used Hotfile.com as a means for distribution of its open source software. Warner was not authorized by the software publisher to delete the file,” the complaint reads.

Hotfile has repeatedly notified Warner about this issues, but instead of improving the takedown system the number of fraudulent takedowns only increased.

Hotfile suspects that the overbroad takedowns were not only an attempt to prevent copyright infringement, but also a scheme to make profits. Warner proposed to Hotfile an affiliate deal where content that was taken down would be replaced with links to movie stores where users could buy Warner movies. More takedowns thus means more potential revenue.

“Warner had an economic motive to make these misrepresentations. As noted above, in early 2010, Warner proposed a business arrangement with Hotfile whereby Warner sought to present ecommerce links to Hotfile users who might purchase a Warner file for Warner’s profit in place of links that Warner had deleted using its SRA.”

“By increasing the number of links it was taking down with Hotfile’s SRA, and indeed falsely inflating these numbers, Warner was increasing the number of times it could present ecommerce links to Hotfile’s users for its own enrichment,” Hotfile argues in the complaint.

Summing up, Hotfile accuses Warner on three counts. Violation of the DMCA, intentional interference with a contractual or business relationship and negligence.

To get to the bottom of the issues Hotfile demands a jury trial, and asks the court to compensate the company for the losses they’ve suffered, including loss of accounts and goodwill. In addition, Hotfile seeks a permanent injunction requiring Warner to individually review all the files they take down.

Definitely a case that will be worth following.

Hotfile’s Counterclaim

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Asdasddas

troololooolo :DDD
- Anonymous
  
  fuck them at their own game
  
  then fuck them again
  - busybees
    
    BEST. HONEYPOT. EVA.
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Bakaouji

Wow! Nicely done Hotfile, will be rooting for you (even though you’re dead now :p) >.<
trustnoone

The only thing I can think of is good luck hotfile!! Good on you for fighting back
ndmushroom

This should be interesting and, if handled properly, might put an end to the whole takedown notice abuse mechanism. I wonder whether the Skepta case will be used in the trial… http://bit.ly/nTtPze
Henrik Eriksson

Ok, I cant stop smiling at the moment. I dont think Warner ever expected a file sharing site to actually sue THEM…

In the meantime I must wonder if this doesnt border on entrapment. We KNOW that Warner (and the MAFIAA) is greedy moneyhungry bastards, and giving them the opportunity to exploit a system for their own gains would almost undoubtadly end up that way. Still, I love it. :)
- YarickZan
  
  I don’t think it’s entrapment. I think it’s greed, arrogance, and stupidity on the part of Warner. Either they didn’t read the fine print or the EULA (nobody does at all), or they just don’t give a shit. This company that claims to be a moral crusader, more or less, should know the difference between right and wrong, especially when they were warned about their actions.
  
  The tool they were given is exactly the kind of thing they want. That they abused it and ended up using it on innocents, willfully and knowingly as well, just goes to show that they really don’t care about right or wrong, innocent or guilty. Makes you wonder about all the three strikes stuff they’ve pushed in the past, or even their current court cases.
  - http://pulse.yahoo.com/_IZ5BM5GNLA54OADSWGSXAMA7SY Jay
    
    It’s been a confirmed fact that all of the court cases, the abuses of the system, it’s all about control. Control of distribution. Control of where you spend your money. That’s the entire problem with giving the industry these tools. They abuse them all in order to maximize their own profits.
    - Anonymous
      
      Hotfile should have put a Captcha in the system before any takedowns could be done. This way you don’t risk a crawler deleting stuff they don’t have rights for. And it forces WB to hire an army to monitor a single website. And for a company that says they want people to respect their copyright they sure as hell don’t seem to grant others that right on their work. Hypocrites claiming the right to remove other peoples work.
    - Gumby Robbery
      
      yeah fuck time warner.
- Anonymous
  
  FTD already sued BREIN once for defamation. (I never liked FTD anyway, and Spotnet was the perfect replacement :p)
- Scary Devil Monastery
  
  It’s not entrapment if you sell someone a hammer. Not even if the person you sold it to then uses said hammer to crush the skulls of random bypassers.
  
  No, this is simply Warner being incredibly stupid. What they are doing could easily be construed as willfully destroying another company’s business by direct sabotage.
  
  It will also be very hard for Warner to disprove the accusation if Hotfile actually can prove that Warner received the information regarding the systematic abuse.
  - Ven
    
    It will be interesting to see how the judge decides to view Hotfile sitting on this until the MPAA took them to court. You know you are getting false DMCA notices, you warn copyright groups repeatedly that they are sending bad ones, so at what point will the judge decide Hotfile should have gone to the government with it?
    
    Now? A year ago? None of us really know how many notices were sent and how many were false, or how long they have been sent to Hotfile. Only time will tell how this goes down.
    
    New ring in the circus.
    - Scary Devil Monastery
      
      I’m just thinking out loud here but…under what conditions did Hotfile provide Warner with this tool?
      
      Unless Warner has actually signed off on certain conditions all they have to do is take the low ground and say that Warner isn’t responsible for what happens to Hotfiles clients or their uploaded content.
      Even if Warner has a sign-off taking responsibility it still won’t get hotfile out of the pot with their responsibilities to their client base. It isn’t at all impossible that a number of hotfile customers would be cross enough with hotfile providing this tool to a third party in the first place to lodge a class-action suit against Hotfile.
      
      I’d be very leery of taking Warner to court under those premises unless I had a good lawyer telling me I was fully covered.
    - Ven
      
      @SDM
      
      I had considered that as well.
      
      The case perhaps shouldn’t be between Hotfile and Warner, but between Warner and the copyright holders of those non-Warner works.
      
      Hopefully this case will show us what kind of deal websites have in place for DMCA functionality.
- Guffcttk
  
  if I’m not mistaken hotfile is a filehost and not a filesharing site :)
  - A1608768
    
    I think you’re confused; filesharing does not imly that the content is shared via P2P means.
    
    Hotfile is both a file host AND filesharing site
    - Rrwer
      
      and don’t be confused if i tell you planet earth is a filesharing site. lets destroy the earth
    - 7th_Guest
      
      Sorry, but you’re wrong. For file *sharing* to take place, the content seekers and the content providers need to be on the same tier so their roles can change on demand. Such is the case with BT, DC++ and Gnutella network clients where there is only one role for anyone involved: peer. In the case of file hosting services, you have a clear client-server model going on where the server only offers a file at a time and the client only receives during that time instead of uploading anything to anyone else simultaneously. Obviously, that’s a selfish data acquisition method compared to getting something via torrent and can’t, therefore, be regarded as file *sharing* (whom are you sharing with as an http downloader anyway?).
      The fact that cyberlockers can be used as a means of asynchronous file sharing (if DLers subsequently went on to reupload what they grabbed to other cyberlockers) doesn’t make them file sharing services any more than passing around HDDs or USB thumbsticks with previously file shared content does.
- Anonymous
  
  Entrapment is very specific, and it’s not what most people think it actually is. Entrapment solely applies to a law enforcement agent luring, convincing, forcing, or otherwise causing someone to break the law *when they would not have otherwise done so.*
  
  Let me give you an example. If an agent investigating terrorism gives someone bomb making materials and they take them and build a bomb, that isn’t entrapment. But if that same agent spends time convincing that person that they need to take the materials to go bomb someone, and after resisting, they do, that is entrapment.
  
  In this case, it’s not entrapment for two reasons: 1) Private citizens cannot entrap someone, only law enforcement agents; 2) Warner was repeatedly warned that they were taking down files they did not have the right to remove, but continued, showing clear intent.
  - Scary Devil Monastery
    
    There’s even a possibility that Hotfile will be the ones in danger – if I were Warner’s lawyer I’d be tempted to say that Warner has no legal obligation to respect the uploaded content of hotfile customers.
    
    Of course, pursuing that path will set a nasty precedent for Warner. Question is whether Warner want to shoot themselves in the foot now or later.
    - disco
      
      I’m not sure I catch your logic… in the article, it clearly states,
      
      “Every time Warner used the SRA tool it expressly certified ‘under penalty of perjury that [it is] the owner or an authorized legal representative of the owner of copyrights’ and it ‘has a good faith belief’ that use of this material is not authorized by the copyright owner,”
      
      So ignoring that right there is grounds for a lawsuit since they clearly don’t own the copyrights to the files being removed and were making false claims against a company that was causing them monetary damage. It could also easily be argued that is it direct sabotage of hotfile for willfully ignoring it and disrupting their normal service.
      
      Warner can make the claim that they have no legal obligation to respect the uploaded content of hotfile customers, but they would be wrong because they signed something that ONLY lets them disrupt distributions of their own copyrighted material, and not disrupt normal operations of the company itself.
    - Ven
      
      @Disco
      
      The ToU agreement on the SRA function is there so that some dumbass like me can’t go spam takedown notices on every single file they host. It is there so Hotfile doesn’t have to deal with griefing deviants.
      
      We know that abusing the tool is not enough legally for Hotfile to disallow Warner from using the tool (i.e. allowing copyrighted Warner material to freely be up- and downloaded on their servers). The question is how Hotfile is then supposed to go about policing copyright holders who are using the tool improperly.
      
      I would think that a judge (assuming he is seeing this the way we are) could fine Warner for each infraction. At the same time, there may be precedent set that allows Hotfile to fine abusers of their system, before they are allowed to use it again.
  - Scary Devil Monastery
    
    There’s even a possibility that Hotfile will be the ones in danger – if I were Warner’s lawyer I’d be tempted to say that Warner has no legal obligation to respect the uploaded content of hotfile customers.
    
    Of course, pursuing that path will set a nasty precedent for Warner. Question is whether Warner want to shoot themselves in the foot now or later.
- Ryzzo
  
  The best part about this suit is it could result in exactly the opposite of what the rightsholders would ever want: precedence set in penalties for DMCA takedown abuse. So far there hasn’t been any case law to follow when companies abuse this procedure. I hope Warner gets blasted for this regardless of what happens to Hotfile in their role as defendents, because even if they lose the case Warner has against them, this counter suit could have much greater implications for the industry at large.
Igoformine_61085

nicely done hotfile
https://plus.google.com/117702410245683101961/posts Lucian Armasu

What I want to know is why when files are deleted it always says “This file has been deleted by the *uploader*. ” Is it really the uploader? It seems to happen a little too often for that. If it was Warner or other “Special Rightholder” then it should specifically state that, and not misleadingly state that it was the “uploader”. It should specifically name the “special rightholder’s” account name, so people know who is actually responsible for it.
Justguessting

I personally don’t think it’s enough to make Warner drop the case/settle though.
- Herbert
  
  i dont think Hotfile want to settle. i think they want it to go to trial to get a jury verdict in their favour and hopefully, for once, set a precedent against the entertainment industries. now that would be a really nice, early Christmas present!
  - http://pulse.yahoo.com/_IZ5BM5GNLA54OADSWGSXAMA7SY Jay
    
    Wait, doesn’t the RIAA’s “sue em all” strategy count as precedents?
    
    Also, there’s already cases on the books for copyfraud.
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_D7E2DTYUFYR5NDOEWNLYQ2Z4VQ LorenP

I doubt it was done just to get ad links. I think it’s much more likely that they didn’t care that their scripts were snagging other stuff because they figured there would be no consequences.
No

Gettin whats been comin to ya Warner.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Don-Dilly/1624894683 Don Dilly

While warner might get a slap for deleting so many false positives regarding THEIR copyrights. The examples given in this article are still copyrighted works. The book I dont know about, but the bbc docu is bbc copyright though Ive never heard of the bbc , obs or even nat geo , discovery or history channel issuing take downs to enforce copyright on their educational output.

Either way it still doesnt give warner the right to act as world copyright police.
- http://www.facebook.com/people/Scott-Beckstead/1403321598 Scott Beckstead
  
  You’ve never heard of the British Broadcasting Corporation. The largest publishing entity in the universe? What rock do you live under or are you under the age of 6. You seriously need to get out more.
- http://www.facebook.com/people/Scott-Beckstead/1403321598 Scott Beckstead
  
  You’ve never heard of the British Broadcasting Corporation. The largest publishing entity in the universe? What rock do you live under or are you under the age of 6. You seriously need to get out more.
  - http://www.facebook.com/Insperatus James P. Harding
    
    You didn’t finish reading that sentence buddy.
http://joshesforchange.wordpress.com/ Josh C

Basically “you wanna slap us with copyright infringement b/s, then we’ll slap you with copyright abuse fact” :D :D :D
Pingback: Hotfile sues Warner Bros., claims wrongful takedowns — Online Video News
Joshlondon1

I would not get too excited about this. Hotfile is in big trouble with the Disney et al lawsuit.

The plaintiffs have discovered over $20 million in payments to various entities related to Hotfile. And get this – Hotfile moved the money through PayPal which provided the records..

Hotfile has provided little of the information they agreed to in discovery and is failing to comply with court orders now. It looks more and more likely that the plaintiffs will prove a pattern of encouraging affiliates to upload copyrighted content and that Hotfile failed to cancel accounts of repeat infringers until after the suit was filed.

Of particular interest and concern to downloaders is that the plaintiffs have produced a couple of internal Hotfile emails which include the last file downloaded by a user referred to as “lastdl”. The plaintiffs want to know all of the database headers.

The emails were sent after Hotfile began affirmatively logging all download activity of its users, so it is possible the fields were added after that date. However it seems equally likely that Hotfile did keep some information on download activity prior to the filing of the suit.

See page 7 for Titov’s declaration re: logging downloads:

http://docs.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/florida/flsdce/1:2011cv20427/373206/30/1.pdf

Copies of emails containing reference to last download:

http://docs.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/florida/flsdce/1:2011cv20427/373206/112/7.html

So things are not looking so hot and detailed download logs may exist. Although why Hotfile would retain them is unclear.
- Anonymous
  
  interesting, thanks
- http://pulse.yahoo.com/_IZ5BM5GNLA54OADSWGSXAMA7SY Jay
  
  I would suggest looking into the MP3Tunes case. If anything it seems to protect Hotfile a great deal. Link
  
  It tried to use the infamous “red flag” knowledge aspect of the DMCA against MP3Tunes, saying that execs for the site itself uploaded works from “obviously infringing sites.” The court notes that EMI’s definition of “obviously infringing sites” is quite different than what he law suggests:
  For instance, the websites rapidshare.com, fileden.com, and filefactory.com, as well as other sites used by MP3tunes executives to sideload songs do not use the words “pirate” or “bootleg” or other slang to indicate their illegal purpose and they are not otherwise clearly infringing. They are simply popular file sharing sites.
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_LFGMKCNKR5T62C3EI7ULFBJK6E Mighty Thor

GO HOTFILE GO!
http://www.facebook.com/people/Sean-Brazell/100002034890242 Sean Brazell

=)
http://www.facebook.com/people/Sean-Brazell/100002034890242 Sean Brazell

It’s about goddamn time these bastards get a taste of their own medicine.
Seshan

Warner does this on youtube too, and Indie artist I listen to that owns his own record company kept getting his music video taken down by warner even tho they had no rights to do it. Fuck warner, I hope they get screwed on this one.
http://www.geekhang.com Artful Dodger

Fuck yeah. Suck a big one Warner. Taste of their own medicine.
Pingback: === popurls.com === popular today
http://www.facebook.com/eric.boehm Jack Murdock

None of these file lockers would even be on the map if they weren’t serving up copyrighted material. I think it’s pretty arrogant for hotfile, who have undoubtedly profited from infringing Warner Bos copyright to turn around and try to pin this on them. Hotfile has an “economic motive” to try and retain as much copyrighted material on their servers as possible.
- Fredrika
  
  > “None of these file lockers would even be on the map if they weren’t serving up copyrighted material.”
  
  What you’re really trying to say is, that these file lockers woulnd’t have been on the map if it weren’t for the entertainment industry going after people filesharing, like they did over the last ten years. That was actually the reason why the demand for bit lockers went sky high.
  
  > “I think it’s pretty arrogant for hotfile, who have undoubtedly profited from infringing Warner Bos copyright to turn around and try to pin this on them.”
  
  You don’t care to much about fact do you? Courts have found time and time again that bit lockers do not infringe copyright operating as they do. They are operating fully within the law.
  
  > “Hotfile has an “economic motive” to try and retain as much copyrighted material on their servers as possible.”
  
  Which is fully legal. No problem exist.
- http://pulse.yahoo.com/_IZ5BM5GNLA54OADSWGSXAMA7SY Jay
  
  Look up Evernote.
  
  Look up Dropbox.
  
  Look up the new cyberlocker from the Pirate Bay. Understand that people like to back up their files in various areas online, not keeping it on their hard drives.
  
  Also understand that it’s no one’s business, what they have on their computer unless they give others a reason to search.
- U_Mad_Bro
  
  I’m new here and you sound like a huge troll. do you know what you’re talking about?
  - An Unwashed Heathen
    
    He is, and he doesn’t.
  - Trespass
    
    Welcome to TorrentFreak! Jack is our resident troll. Bro, Jack. Jack, Bro.
    Jack has actually infringed a copyright or two himself, but compensates by calling us thieves and accusing us of stealing, which anyone with a brain knows is not true.
    
    Oh yeah, sometimes he goes by several different names. He’s mainly harmless, but can change identities when provoked.
    
    Now on topic. If Warner actually took down files that did not belong to them they are violating the DMCA and HotFile has every right to sue.
    
    How much per file? Hmmm. Interesting to see how damages can be awarded in a case like this.
  - Gumby Robbery
    
    hes just a mentally deranged suspect.
- GetLostTroll
  
  “None of these file lockers would even be on the map if they weren’t serving up copyrighted material.”
  
  No of course not, no one could possibly have any reason to use a file locker legitimately. /s I routinely back up files from work off site to several file lockers. I do the same at home for computer back ups. I have friends who do the same. I also know plenty of people who back up their favorites music albums (legally purchased and ripped) to a few. There are plenty of college students who use various file lockers to save their work to (to prevent problems arising from lost usb drives, broken discs, etc). There are tons of legitimate reasons to use file lockers and plenty of reasons for them to “be on the map”. Just cause you focus on one thing, from your biased point of view, does not mean that’s the only reason for their existence.
  
  “I think it’s pretty arrogant for hotfile, who have undoubtedly profited from infringing Warner Bos copyright to turn around and try to pin this on them.”
  
  It’s arrogant to point out that Warner Bros. has been taken advantage of and abusing a method/tool put in place for them to remove their own files? May I ask what drugs you are taking/on? Because I sure as hell would love to try whatever it is you use, since it obviously makes you completely space out and lose touch with reality. Have you read up on the issue? Because apparently Warner Bros. has been removing files they had absolutely no right to, from freeware (distributed by the software creators) to regular user files (such as notes, backups, etc) to quite a few other things.
  
  It’s not arrogance to pin anything on Warner Bros. Why? Because Warner Bros. abused a system put in place for their benefit. It’s arrogance and an abuse of power to do what they did. They got caught, time to own up. They’d expect the same if the shoe was on the other foot. Just another case of hypocrisy from the studios/trolls (like you).
  
  “Hotfile has an “economic motive” to try and retain as much copyrighted material on their servers as possible.”
  
  No, Hotfile has an economic motive to make sure files are stored successfully and without fear of someone (like Warner Bros.) deleting them. Users have a right to expect their files to be secure, and for Hotfile to look out for their (the users) best interest and protect their files. Beyond that, it’s actually in Hotfile’s best interest to NOT retain as much copyrighted material as possible. Why? To avoid problems with the studios/labels. To avoid court costs from inevitable lawsuits. To avoid losing users who may worry about such shenanigans as this. Etc etc etc.
  
  You know, I’m not one to hate anyone. But I definitely don’t like you. You are the perfect example of a troll. You can’t even say “man, that was a bad move on Warner Bros. part”. Oh no, not Jack Murdock. He has to quickly point the finger elsewhere. Get a clue, stop dishing out such blatant hypocrisy and ignorance. Or find somewhere else to troll. We’re all tired of your nonsense.
- GetLostTroll
  
  “None of these file lockers would even be on the map if they weren’t serving up copyrighted material.”
  
  No of course not, no one could possibly have any reason to use a file locker legitimately. /s I routinely back up files from work off site to several file lockers. I do the same at home for computer back ups. I have friends who do the same. I also know plenty of people who back up their favorites music albums (legally purchased and ripped) to a few. There are plenty of college students who use various file lockers to save their work to (to prevent problems arising from lost usb drives, broken discs, etc). There are tons of legitimate reasons to use file lockers and plenty of reasons for them to “be on the map”. Just cause you focus on one thing, from your biased point of view, does not mean that’s the only reason for their existence.
  
  “I think it’s pretty arrogant for hotfile, who have undoubtedly profited from infringing Warner Bos copyright to turn around and try to pin this on them.”
  
  It’s arrogant to point out that Warner Bros. has been taken advantage of and abusing a method/tool put in place for them to remove their own files? May I ask what drugs you are taking/on? Because I sure as hell would love to try whatever it is you use, since it obviously makes you completely space out and lose touch with reality. Have you read up on the issue? Because apparently Warner Bros. has been removing files they had absolutely no right to, from freeware (distributed by the software creators) to regular user files (such as notes, backups, etc) to quite a few other things.
  
  It’s not arrogance to pin anything on Warner Bros. Why? Because Warner Bros. abused a system put in place for their benefit. It’s arrogance and an abuse of power to do what they did. They got caught, time to own up. They’d expect the same if the shoe was on the other foot. Just another case of hypocrisy from the studios/trolls (like you).
  
  “Hotfile has an “economic motive” to try and retain as much copyrighted material on their servers as possible.”
  
  No, Hotfile has an economic motive to make sure files are stored successfully and without fear of someone (like Warner Bros.) deleting them. Users have a right to expect their files to be secure, and for Hotfile to look out for their (the users) best interest and protect their files. Beyond that, it’s actually in Hotfile’s best interest to NOT retain as much copyrighted material as possible. Why? To avoid problems with the studios/labels. To avoid court costs from inevitable lawsuits. To avoid losing users who may worry about such shenanigans as this. Etc etc etc.
  
  You know, I’m not one to hate anyone. But I definitely don’t like you. You are the perfect example of a troll. You can’t even say “man, that was a bad move on Warner Bros. part”. Oh no, not Jack Murdock. He has to quickly point the finger elsewhere. Get a clue, stop dishing out such blatant hypocrisy and ignorance. Or find somewhere else to troll. We’re all tired of your nonsense.
- Dietrolls
  
  as Fredrika already said, filelockers are doing nothing illegal.. and even if they were, i don’t see your point. from what i am reading it sounds like “they are in the wrong and so WB also has the right to be in the wrong”. a company doesnt automatically get permission to do something illegal because it feels another company is doing something illegal to its detriment. that’s ridiculous
- Tosser
  
  The troll makes a valid point about file lockers hosting desirable content for profit.
  
  He also misses the point of the article – WB’s abuse of the copyright system destroy any credibility the system has.
  
  Legitimate rights holders who don’t like that other people are profiting (yes, this ain’t BT) from their creations have been saying for years that they want the system simplified. Widespread and systematic abuse by the biggest players (not just WB) makes this less likely.
  
  In fact – this may be tinfoil hat territory – I’m thinking: could this be a deliberate play to maintain the dominance of big players who have the legal/financial foundation to do full DMCAs and keep it difficult for the smaller players who don’t have the resources to jump through all the hoops of the DMCA system?
- http://mzl.la/n9FAit Needlez
  
  @Jack: a file locker site isn’t illegal to run. Point blank. if they comply with DMCA take downs which they do then they are within the law. Further more its not illegal due to the fact that for all you know the file being shared could be an open source file which may have no regards to if you copy it or redistribute it or not. Examples I can think of hundreds of FREE open source software, not gonna list everyone, but a few that come to mind, Linux, Firefox, Opera, GoogleChrome, GIMP, Foxitreader, & Eraser. I’m sure there are tons more, so really when you think about it how is sharing any of those illegal?? And not all file lockers share infringing material, you would just like to believe they all do so that your opinion is the only one that matters. Well I’m sorry but I’ve got news for you, your opinion is just an opinion, it matters to one person yourself. Frankly unless you have facts to back up your opinion no body will care what you have to say. I’ve backed up my opinion with lots of facts above and if you don’t believe me go look all programs I listed are open-source or can be distributed as you please. Thank you.
- Scary Devil Monastery
  
  As usual you have your head stuck up your own rectum looking for facts.
  
  The people performing the infringement are the individual users – én másse. Not Hotfile.
  In order to ensure that Warner has the ability to issue takedowns on infringing material Hotfile have basically given Warner carté blánche on taking down material deemed to be infringing.
  
  I sincerely hope that even in your skewed view of reality, providing a tool able to instantly take down anything the copyright holder might wish taken down fulfills any criteria even the most rabid pro-copyright fanatic might wish for.
  
  This tool has been systematically abused by Warner and they have removed material to which they had no claim – and from a copyright perspective, for which they are themselves culpable for infringement in taking down.
  
  Should we understand your argument to be that copyright infringement is no biggie only when it’s Warner performing it? Because that’s more or less what you are saying.
- Gumby Robbery
  
  your so stupid, you know that? -_-
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http://pulse.yahoo.com/_U2H7S4MG6PLQUVOA2CFNMZ2QUQ Ric Desan

You have my support Hotfile! Fuck these chumps and their thug protectionist agenda anyway!
Momo

“Warner systematically misused the anti-piracy takedown tool”

“anti-piracy shakedown tool”. FTFY.
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Jigsy

IN SOVIET RUSSIA, FILESHARING SITES SUE YOU!!
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Thoughtful

Go Hotfile! Good to see someone who don’t just bend over when the so-called “copyright-holders” (Read: Abusers-of-Artists/Actors-Integrity) try to mess with them!
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townie2

c’mon Jack, fair is fair, Warner Brothers have no right to take down Freeware that a developer put up anymore than i should be able to take down Warner Brothers movies from Netflix, etc.
- Gumby Robbery
  
  hes mentally deranged you cant negotiate with him
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Hotfile

SCORE.
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http://twitter.com/AlyssaBlindy Alyssa Blindy

Warner is called Warner for a reason. Because they go around only warning people that they are distributing copyrighted material, even when they aren’t. They are a true warner if nothing else.
Maybe Murdock works for Warner, and will have to write the check to hot file; maybe he’s a copyright lawyer involved in the take-down and settlement schemes and all other copyright fraud.
Imagine that?
Lol.
Okarin

at times like these i look to see if the anti-pirates make any noise about this, if they don’t then they don’t hold the absolute moral standards they say they have
- Anonymous
  
  They never make any noise about things like this. Or if they do, they ignore the subject and point the finger elsewhere. Perfect example of that, Jack Murdock’s comment up above.
  
  Better example, any article written by Rick, draws out the anti-pirates like moths to a flame. Ridiculously so. Article about lawsuits, people on the receiving end of judgments, etc. Same thing, they come out to gloat and judge and shout down all of us “criminals” (even those of us who don’t download a single thing). But the moment there’s an article about the other side doing something wrong or being caught in a lie or having their suits dismissed by sane and reasonable judges, it’s like being outside late at night, you can literally hear the crickets chirping from the silence.
  
  It’s quite interesting to see. Like you said, “if they don’t then they don’t hold the absolute moral standards they say they have”. Or like my dad used to say, “no mas cuando les combiene”. (For those who don’t speak Spanish, and just in case I misspelled that last word, basically, “just when it’s convenient for them”.)
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Anonymous

Are you sure they’re based in Florida? It says the operating company is in Panama. Not that it matters much if they have a presence in the US…
Gufsfsest

lol they fuck you in the ass now let switch it around and fuck them 3X harder in their asses!
http://www.facebook.com/people/NancyF-Drew/560053854 NancyF Drew

Warner is officially street-walkers on the net?
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Liamg99

So, If I’m an up and coming music artist, who hasn’t got a record company behind me, I want to be a bit creative and release an album, or an EP. I call it “out of the box” because I’m slightly abnormal, or similar.
I want it to be available 24/7.
So I don’t have to send the tracks in an e-mail to people who request it, or put it on myspace (which is dead) I put it in a file locker and just post the link where ever I can.

Warner Bros. searches with the tool it has been given to protect ITS OWN copyrighted material and it also finds MY material, uploaded by me, who I have all the creativity rights to, and simply deletes it.
Me, as an artist, no longer have the file on a file locker for my “fans” to download and probably wouldn’t be notified about these changes.
I lose my potential fans from there on until I amend the upload and possibly the name of my album/EP.
Potentially, I could lose £1000′s of revenue from my fans not having access to my material.
This is the same for small software developers, musicians and amateur film producers.

Clearly a misrepresentation of copyright holding, and possibly, Warner Bros. actions could have had catastrophic consequences for any creative person who happened to use words of their copyrighted material in their own material.

I feel that the actions of Warner have been over zealous to rid this sites of ANYTHING they believe to be “close to” their copyright, without caring for anybody else’s regard, only their own.
With that, they clearly don’t care about copyright or rules and should have what is legally coming to them. You can’t monopolise the use of the word “Box”, and delete all content on a website without consequences.
Vhj

hehehe…Michael Bentover
http://it-diary.com/ Rizwan Asif

anti piracy is way too strict, it shouldn’t be like that
http://www.facebook.com/paul.coker Paul Coker

Reminds me very much of this case… http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_City_Studios,_Inc._v._Nintendo_Co.,_Ltd.

“I see litigation as key Profit Centre for this studio…”

Even if it means suing far smaller overseas companies with a surprise hit on their hands for violating copyrights you not only don’t own, but just 7 years previously were in court successfully arguing were within the public domain and belonged to no-one…
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kudafoolhu

hotfile suxx
Pingback: Warner Bros. Sued For Allegedly Abusing Anti-Piracy Tool | Around the News
http://profiles.google.com/giantnerd14 Collin O’Toole

This made my day
Anonymous

tinyurl.com/2df4ccp
Anonymous

http://www.lovetoshopping.org
Anonymous

http://www.lovetoshopping.org
Holypoo

sue and counter sue, keep the fat bassas fat. good on hotfile and while they are at it, relocate, just in case
FrozenCanuck

About Warner Brothers misusing Hotfile’s takedown tool–

There’s a positive side to this that I don’t think anyone’s commented on. Rights holders are always saying filelocker companies should monitor the uploads and remove all infringing content. The filelocker companies are saying, “that’s impossible”. We can’t possibly monitor everything that’s been uploaded.”

In this case, Hotfile gave Warner Brothers the job of monitoring Hotfile content and removing whatever belonged to Warner Brothers. I suspect what happened is not that Warner Brothers intentionally removed content that wasn’t theirs. Rather, they tried their best to monitor and remove Warner Brothers’ content, and found out what everybody knows– there is no way for anyone to efficiently and accurately find and remove infringing content.

This lawsuit’s biggest benefit, I suspect, will be to demonstrate to the Courts that even the best intentioned filelocker service cannot monitor and remove all infringing content. If Warner Brothers can’t even do it with their own material, why should others be able to?
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