Victorious BitTorrent Tracker to Return
Written by Ben Jones on May 10, 2008Rounding off a series of court decisions and actions regarding BitTorrent sites, torrent.is users will have something to celebrate. The BitTorrent tracker favored by Icelandic downloaders, has won yet again in Court, and the site will reopen May 16th.
We conclude ‘court week’ at TorrentFreak with the happy news that torrent.is has remained victorious in its legal battles. At the end of March, we explained how the case was dismissed, saying it was likely the plaintiffs (the Icelandic movie and music industry), would be likely to appeal to the Icelandic Supreme Court.
This did indeed happen, and today, the Supreme Court announced a ruling (Icelandic) in favor of torrent.is, awarding it an additional 400,000 ISK ($5025 US or 3250 Euros) on top of the 500,000 ISK awarded in March.
The case was dismissed because of legal formalities. It would appear that some of the plaintiffs in the case were found to have no legal grounds to pursue an injunction. When the prosecution team tried to switch plaintiffs in order to save the case, the Supreme Court flat out dismissed it.
Speaking to TorrentFreak, Torrent.is owner, Svavar Kjarrval, said he was “very happy with the decision,” adding he hopes to have the site open on the 16th. “However, the executive of one of the plaintiffs [SMÁÍS] claims he will use any means available to stop the site from reopening. I don’t know if that will succeed or not.”
A spokesman of SMAIS was quoted by mlb.is as saying “This verdict is sad, and it is incredible to deny copyright holders seeking their rights. This is an unnecessary adherence on legal formalities in this case, rather than taking on the subject as it should. There still has not been a formal verdict in this case and it seems to be hard to get a judge to review the facts of the case itself, that is, the copyright laws themselves.”
However, before people rush to host torrent sites there, Svavar has a warning. “This ruling doesn’t state that torrent sites are legal so there is still no certainty as to their legality” Hosting a BitTorrent site still is in the “grey zone” for now, but that doesn’t stop Torrent.is from reopening.
Previously: BitTorrent Shrugs Off Massive Malware Attack
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36 Responses
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[quote comment="380769"]Yes you can download pre-release movies. Screeners they are called. I’m assuming you mean before they come out on DVD. You can’t get then at all before they come out in the cinema. The you can get Cams.[/quote]
A Screener is for a select few critics or film experts. It is the final test for the final cut before it is released to theatres. Some screeners do not make it to the public. Ever. Cams are a desperate way to see a movie before it is released on a quality format. Sigh, Newbs.
I now love Iceland EVEN more than I did before!
Kill all copyright holders!
This really is entertaining, to hear a Cartel lacky complain his side cant get a fair hearing when the same tricks are used by the cartel to deny justice by “force of dollar” to the not so well off makes this guy look like a hapless idiot.
Strange how they whine when the boot is on the other foot.
A great result, God bless guys, keep up the good work and best of luck in the future. May the MPAA/RIAA maggots burn in Hell.
[quote comment="380684"]Anyone who applauds this as a win for filesharing is an idiot. Read the post CAREFULLY. Notice the case was thrown out on legal formalities and had nothing to do with the tracker being legal or not. The plaintiffs could easily bring a seperate case against the tracker; if they win, the tracker will probably be shut down. We’re still on close watch, and we’d better guard our trackers carefully.[/quote]
The Icelandic supreme court case was thrown out on account of the plaintiffs not having a standing to prosecute that case in the first place. In any country, the supreme court only takes cases which have been appealed through the lower levels of courts prior to that.
So in effect what occurred is that torrent.is _won_ in the lower courts, and SMAUG or whomever the hell they are _failed_ to appeal that decision. This case is therefore over.
It will not stop them from trying again however, of course, but neither would have a less technicality oriented judgement from the supreme court regardless of the content. Don’t be so quick to jump to conclusions and call everyone else an idiot, if your brain is the fuxxored party as it is here.
I think this is a good sign for The Pirate Bay! A related blog mentioned this at Billionairepal.com also.
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