Site Admin To Pay $185,000 Damages For Providing Keywords

enigmax
June 24, 2011
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The administrator of a file-sharing related site has seen his sentence upheld by the Court of Appeal. The man, who was arrested back in 2007, operated a site which didn’t offer links but provided users with hints on keywords which would help them find movies and TV shows. He has received a one year suspended sentence, fined 3,000 euros and ordered to pay 130,000 euros ($185,000) in damages.

Legal procedures against file-sharing related sites and services are regular events and hardly a week goes by without a handful of stories appearing online. Most are the usual affairs with sites hosting illegal material directly or, as is most often the case, offering links to material, or even links which link to material.

The latter is often spoken of in rightsholder circles as “structural” infringement and a case outlined by Numerama takes the concept to a whole new level.

In 2007, Sébastien Budin, the former administrator of Station-Divx.com, was arrested for his part in running the site. In September 2008 the court hearings against him began, based on allegations of contributory infringement.

In March 2009 the decision against Budin was eventually handed down. The then 26-year-old was ordered by a court to pay compensation to movie and TV rightsholders including 20th Century Fox, Columbia Pictures, Disney Company, Paramount, Universal, Warner and Buena Vista.

The damages against him totalled some 130,000 euros ($185,000) and Budin was also handed a 3,000 euro fine plus a 1 year suspended sentence. Undeterred he lodged an appeal but this week the Court of Appeal in Lyon upheld the 2009 ruling.

Although one might get the impression that Station-Divx.com was a regular file-sharing site which provided links to copyright works, that wasn’t quite the case. While the site did list the names of popular movies and TV shows, it provided no hyperlinks to illicit content, no torrents and no direct downloads.

Instead, Station-Divx.com provided lists of keywords that people could type into search engines in order to find the movies and TV shows of their choice.

“My story boils down to running a site where we created an instance of keywords to find movies on eMule more easily. I did not offer any direct links, it was only information,” Budin explained.

This defeat is not the end of the road for Budin. He has confirmed his intention to lodge an appeal before the European Court of Human Rights.

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Anonymous

He knew he was facilitating piracy, but he’s mad because he thought his method of facilitation would slip under the radar?

Google has been sued successfully numerous times over defamation for their autocomplete suggestions.

There are consequences. If you haven’t noticed, the whole “it’s just a search engine” exemption isn’t working.
- Anonymous
  
  I just checked Archive. He was hosting an index of movies, each with a summary of the movy, a listing of what type of piracy was involved for each (eg. DVDrip), and the specific e-Mule filename string for that movie. Next to each he provided INSTRUCTIONS telling visitors to copy and paste that filename string into e-Mule.
  
  Yeah, that’s facilitating piracy. It’s not very abstract either.
  - Anonymous
    
    *movie, not movy lol
    - Anonymous
      
      The DAMAGE LIMITATION & PROPAGANDA…. TROLL MACHINE ……….
      
      has been unleashed to justify this fine for using a word…… and possibly a forthcoming attempt to Criminalise WORDS………
      
      @Anonymous (aka.troll who talks to himself )
      &
      @ Friend$ (inc.. Father JackOff MadDick )
      
      Banning WORDS is the reality…
      
      Freedom to share information is your enemy…
      
      Your views show your insanity…
      
      You think money is more important than the progression of humanity…
      
      Your propaganda will not work….
    - Guest123
      
      @anoixiona
      
      Doesn’t money kinda fuel progress? I mean, without incentive, why would people work towards progress?
    - Whatever
      
      @Guest123
      
      NO !
      
      Wars fuel progress.
      Human curiosity fuel progress.
      Hobbies and interests fuel progress.
      Obsessions with wanting to create the best of …. fuel progress.
      Sudden situations or ideas fuel progress.
      Solving someone elses problem fuel progress.
      Disasters fuel progress.
      
      But money and for the most part the prospect of money doesn’t fuel progress.
      
      How about you try it, just throw a few million at a carpenter who never had an idea in his live and does not yet have an invention ready for use and see what happens
      (My guess: Pay debts, buy a nice house and sit back and enjoy with his family).
      
      If you need to be paid in advance to make some progress happen then you 1. already have a great idea or 2. you will never produce anything meaningfull after receiving payment.
  - Anonymous
    
    That is not the best news then.
    
    Beyond any physical link of direct infringement a court also considers your intentions to assist infringement or not from such evidence. So he may have not directly linked to any copyrighted work, or been responsible for the infringement of others, but he clearly wanted to help them to infringe.
    
    Well good luck in the European Court of Human Rights but this will be a tough nut to crack. Telling people how to commit an unlawful act will always be a problem when that makes you an accessory to their crime. His best hope here is to follow more of a “look what I found here” line in terms of more innocent spotting.
    
    In the end his best idea could be to minimise damages. I mean despite his hard work and creation then who has previously heard of station-divx.com? Less infringement by less visitors would be less damages.
    
    This is a good reminder that if you stick your neck out you will get your head cut off. Just index and link, dont offer download advise, and don’t state your infringement view. Also adding a Top 100 of lawful downloads link to your main page makes a nice front.
    
    Flowers in the front, guns in the back.
    - Snorkie
      
      right, but i guess he is now getting penis in the front and penis in the back
  - http://twitter.com/uJonesing Utah Jones
    
    I’m sorry, but if I tell someone what corner they can go find crack on, I don’t get arrested for it. Please stop using logical fallacies to suppress free speech. What’s next? Am I going to be arrested because I tell a friend where he can find the library? That’s copyright infringement, isn’t it?
    - http://crashsuit.blogspot.com crashsuit
      
      Hey, I heard that stuff exists out there. BOOM I’M IN JAIL NOW.
    - Anon
      
      If you facilitate a crime in any way, you are guilty of contributing to the crime and can be punished under law. Let’s say you are your friend went to a person’s home to murder him but your friend does the actual killing while you just dispose off the body. Do you think you will be let off by the law? Nope, you will charged too. So your logic doesn’t quite hold up.
      
      Providing instructions on how to pirate a commercial movie or game is actually worse than indexing because doing the former indicates that your sole intention for creating the site is to facilitate piracy and that falls directly under “Contributory Infringement”.
    - Ven
      
      Not quite the case here. If I told you that you could find a movie on a cyber locker by Googling the word snarzlefuss, and do it several thousand more times, odds are good any sane judge is going to decide I placed those movies there or I know the people who did. Same goes for torrents.
      
      When it comes to IP cases like these, the judge is the person who decides what the defendant’s intent was.
      
      And if you send enough people to enough street corners, you can get nailed for accessory to narcotics distribution.
    - http://pulse.yahoo.com/_4HRLPQ3QQK5NJHLWGULXRCZDC4 Chris
      
      Anon, there has to be a line somewhere. Do you mean to say that if someone posts instructions about how to buy a gun, and how to go about robbing a convenience store, that this person is now an accessory to every convenience store robbery?
  - Guest
    
    Commenting yourself is a sign of insanity troll.
    
    You don’t know how to use a fake persona generation software?
    
    What an idiot!
  - Slasher McGurk
    
    You just facilitated piracy by instructing me how to view the old page so that I can find instructions for emule.
    
    And that too is no more abstract than station-divx.com
- obvious schill is obvious
  
  Schill much? You are an idiot and a buffoon if you think that people shouldn’t be able to say whatever they want. This guy committed NO crime. And if he was decided as doing so, the judicial system involved needs their collective heads examined.. Oh, my bad, i forgot the entire system is corrupt and the corporate lobbyists (cough bribers cough) seem to get their way every time.. I wish i had enough money to BUY laws… Again, for emphasis, you are a moron and obviously a copywrong troll, therefore your opinion is invalid.
- obvious schill is obvious
  
  Schill much? You are an idiot and a buffoon if you think that people shouldn’t be able to say whatever they want. This guy committed NO crime. And if he was decided as doing so, the judicial system involved needs their collective heads examined.. Oh, my bad, i forgot the entire system is corrupt and the corporate lobbyists (cough bribers cough) seem to get their way every time.. I wish i had enough money to BUY laws… Again, for emphasis, you are a moron and obviously a copywrong troll, therefore your opinion is invalid.
  - Anonymous
    
    What defines a shill? If you mean I work for copyright companies you are dead wrong. If you mean I support copyright companies you are right on.
    - http://otester.myopenid.com/ PiRat
      
      Then you’re the latter two then, an idiot and buffoon.
    - Anonymous
      
      I got some advice though, keep that opinion to yourself in public. You might just be painting a target on someone’s back.
    - Anonymous
      
      @ Anonymous…
      ( which is an ironic name… since you want fileshares personal details ( not them to be Anonymous )
      
      Writing comment’s … (first) ……..
      Replying to your own comments. …..
      Your comments are in favour of business not humans ( at the EXPENSE of humankind and human progression / development ). …….
      Misleading , defamous remarks with the intention of pushing propaganda.
      
      Shill trolls is a …. simple guess …. what else , in reality….
      
      ………………………………………………………………………………………
      
      Your argument is BULLSHIT……… this case against Sébastien Budin is BULLSHIT.
      
      European Court of Human Rights , will rule that freedom of speech allows you to mention a WORD…. be it a keyword or not.
      
      BUT OF COURSE….. you are against…. FREEDOM of SPEECH….
  - http://www.facebook.com/eric.boehm Jack Murdock
    
    Yeah, because everyone who doesnt take your side is only doing so because they are being paid off. There couldn’t possibly be any different views on this that dont have monetary incentive behind them. Grow up.
    
    Calling people a “schill” is a cheap, cop out and refuge of people who can’t provide a well thought out response. I love the name calling too. Calling someone a bafoon doesn’t make you automatically right.
    - Anonymous
      
      Call Sign: KB3DIZ
    - Anonymous
      
      “”"There couldn’t possibly be any different views on this that dont have monetary incentive behind them. “”"
      
      TRUE…. ( not that you meant that )
      
      WHY would anyone have a different view about making WORDS illegal ?
      or punishing someone for using words ?
      
      EXACTLY……..There couldn’t possibly be any different views on this that don’t have monetary incentive behind them
    - Jon7272
      
      you are a bafoon and a paid troll. meanwhile back to downloading hehehe
- Anonymous
  
  I hate to disappoint you, but stopping some random chump from posting filenames that people could search for on eMule isn’t exactly striking a tremendous blow against piracy.
  All it does is suggest that MAFIAA is nearly out of ideas, since they’re scraping the bottom of the barrel like this.
- Anonymous
  
  I hate to disappoint you, but stopping some random chump from posting filenames that people could search for on eMule isn’t exactly striking a tremendous blow against piracy.
  All it does is suggest that MAFIAA is nearly out of ideas, since they’re scraping the bottom of the barrel like this.
  - Anonymous
    
    The goal of convictions like this is to expand and define the definition of liability via case law. I’d say the “MAFIAA” succeeded pretty well there, wouldn’t you? And rightly so, IMO.
    - obvious schill is obvious
      
      The fact that you celebrate expansion of definitions of liability is disturbing, and it is your entire attitude that stinks of schill… what do you care? If i am not going to buy a movie, then me DLing is not a lost sale… And i can always borrow one or go to a friends and watch for free so its futile to try and stop it.. My DVD collection is huge because when a movie is actually worth it in my opinion, the moviemakers have earned the money (IE actors)… so, you CANT stop free viewing, no matter how much you chase ‘facilitators’ or DLers… stop wasting your time… schill
    - obvious schill is obvious
      
      What these fools ARE doing, and most likely you as well, as you either are an accomplice to this nonsense, or a hetero-ly challenged dimwitted cheerleader, is annoying me and angering me.. So, as i have a used movie/game/music store in my neighborhood, i can choose to cause you fools a ‘lost sale’ every time i buy something second hand.. so whats next? Shut down used movie stores? You can buy all the laws you want, but i can still take a hard drive to my friends and copy 50 movies at a time… now what? I can rent a movie from the REDBOX for a single dollar.. I can take it home and rip it to my comp very easily. So many ways to NOT buy overpriced movies, and it can be done out of spite. Your principals are flawed. Create fairly priced quality entertainment, and dont try and tell me when and where to use it.. Stop with the constant micromanaging. Stop the corruption…
    - Dudeguyperson
      
      let me ask you a question. how is downloading a movie for free and paying for it second hand any different in terms of loss of sale for the company? either way the movie companies don’t see a dime. why aren’t they cracking down on garage sales. what if a friend just gives me a bunch of movies for for free from his collection? Or someone at work tapes a bunch of tv shows for me at and gives me the dvd?
      
      i get that its not as large scale as downloading but the principle is basically the same. i don’t think your a shill as i’v seen you post a few times. (your the med student right?) but i think you may be a bit extreme in your views. i personally don’t like having a company deciding what laws should be created and followed. they don’t have your interests in mind. all they want is more of your money.
      
      if keep making more and more laws that restrict people then eventually the rope is going to get so tight people rebel in very real and physical way.
    - Friend of the People
      
      @obvious schill
      
      “So, as i have a used movie/game/music store in my neighborhood, i can choose to cause you fools a ‘lost sale’ every time i buy something second hand.. so whats next? Shut down used movie stores? ”
      
      This is the purchasing of used copies. The copies at the used movie stores was produced at the leisure of the creator of the culture. The difference between digital distribution and physical distribution is that in order to give someone a physical copy of something, you have to lose that physical copy. Once you’ve sold it, you no longer have it. You are not producing a new copy, you’re giving up one that already exists. Renting is the same thing, only temporary.
      
      The purpose of copyright is to increase the amount of culture and scientific knowledge produced by giving creators a chance to make money off of their creations. We do this by giving them temporary control over all production of the culture. Once a physical copy exists, it can be given away or sold, but it can’t be copied because that produces a new copy. That’s the way the law works. If you want to refute me, explain what human right applies here is so overpowering that it should overrule society’s laws on copyright.
      
      And yes, you can still copy stuff, but if you are caught while copying is still illegal, you should be subject to punishment. That’s how the law works. You are free to do anything you want, but society will punish you for your actions if they catch you breaking laws.
      
      To put it simply, there are legal ways to get culture on the cheap. You can choose between using those and having no risk (while perhaps campaigning for piracy to be legal), or continuing to pirate and acknowledging that society has a right to punish you if it catches you.
      
      I also promise a nice little rant on the social contract for anyone who uses the “we have a duty to defy unjust laws” excuse.
    - Anonymous
      
      “what do you care?”
      
      I’m a 29 year old guy who works in health care. I love movies, music, and games and have my whole life. I absolutely despise what pirates leech from these industries. I would much rather see the “MAFIAA” trample over you than you trample over them.
      
      (FYI, I post comments on political sites as well. Does that make me a covert operative for the Obama campaign? You people are ridiculous.)
    - gae
      
      How can any sane person support something like this. Telling somebody something as simple as the name of a file should not be a crime.
      If somebody else decides of their own free will to search for and then download this file then of course they have comitted the crime and should be dealt with accordingly, but not just for giving details of a filename.
      
      If I go ahead and say you can search on the piratebay for say, pirates of the carribean – have I comitted a crime?
    - Friend of the People
      
      “If I go ahead and say you can search on the piratebay for say, pirates of the carribean – have I comitted a crime? ”
      
      First of all, he gave more information then that. He didn’t just tell them they could, he told them how. In your example, if I wanted to do it but I had no idea how, and you told me that I could find it just by searching TBP, then yes, you would have committed a crime by giving me information that you know I will use solely for the purpose of committing a crime.
      
      He gave people information for the purpose of helping them find illegal files. By that, he was giving information with the intention of helping someone commit a crime. That’s cooperation in a crime.
    - Rekrul
      
      @Friend of the People
      
      The purpose of copyright is to increase the amount of culture and scientific knowledge produced by giving creators a chance to make money off of their creations. We do this by giving them temporary control over all production of the culture.
      
      Tell you what; You keep pushing the line that copyright terms lasting for 70-90 after the creator dies are somehow “temporary” and we’ll keep pushing the line that these huge corporations deserve to get ripped off. Ok?
    - Rekrul
      
      @Friend of the People
      
      First of all, he gave more information then that. He didn’t just tell them they could, he told them how. In your example, if I wanted to do it but I had no idea how, and you told me that I could find it just by searching TBP, then yes, you would have committed a crime by giving me information that you know I will use solely for the purpose of committing a crime.
      
      He gave people information for the purpose of helping them find illegal files. By that, he was giving information with the intention of helping someone commit a crime. That’s cooperation in a crime.
      
      Since you’re such a stickler for the law, answer me this; In order to be an accessory to a crime, doesn’t a crime have to be committed? If I tell a friend exactly how to break into and rob the local jewelry store, can I be charged with a crime if he never actually breaks into the store?
      
      The operator of the site may have told people how to pirate files, but has it been proven that any of them actually followed his advice?
      
      Sure, you can say that they “probably” did, but you can’t prosecute people for crimes that they “probably” committed. You need actual proof. You know, that whole innocent until proven guilty thing. At least I hope other countries use that principle. So unless they can prove that some of the users on the site followed his advice and downloaded copyrighted content, all they have him for is telling people how to do it, which shouldn’t be a crime unless it can be proven that they acted on that advice.
    - Friend of the People
      
      @Rekrul
      
      “Tell you what; You keep pushing the line that copyright terms lasting for 70-90 after the creator dies are somehow “temporary” and we’ll keep pushing the line that these huge corporations deserve to get ripped off. Ok?”
      
      I never said that. Show me that quote. I don’t think it should last 70-90 years after someone’s death. I think that the prohibition on copying should end after 10 years. Don’t set up strawmen. And no, I don’t think corporations should be ripped off just by virtue of being a corporation.
      
      “If I tell a friend exactly how to break into and rob the local jewelry store, can I be charged with a crime if he never actually breaks into the store?”
      
      I was wondering if anyone would bring this up. You have managed to find the flaw in my argument. We both know the answer to the above question is no, but that does bring up a problem for the case we’re discussing. It’s actually something I’m still conflicted about. I may not show it, but my goal here wasn’t to say this particular guy deserved what he was getting, it was to say that we can’t just start from the point of thinking that says that this is a completely unlawful sentence.
      
      My initial answer is that we can know if the torrents he recommended or led people to were used. A case could be made that this fulfills the doctrine of beyond a reasonable doubt. I’m not sure if I’d make that argument, but it does bring another issue forth.
      
      It becomes apparent that there is always a certain level of uncertainty in electronic and internet crimes. With IP fakers, it’s easy to claim that you weren’t the one to do something, and many other crimes are much harder to investigate due to the anonymous and mass-distribution effects of the internet. The question then becomes how law enforcement is supposed to react to this. I have a few ideas on this, but no real conclusions.
      
      Good job finding the hole in the argument though. I was waiting for that.
    - Anon
      
      @ Rekrul
      “You need actual proof. You know, that whole innocent until proven guilty thing. At least I hope other countries use that principle.”
      
      Hope all you like, Rekrul, until you actually understand the law you have no right to criticize it. There is no threshold of “proof” with a civil infringement like there is in a criminal case. “The preponderance of evidence” with a 51% likelihood is a conviction. Read up a bit, perhaps.
      
      Unless you’d prefer criminal charges and the higher burden of proof.
    - Friend of the People
      
      @anon
      
      For the civil portion, sure, this was enough, but if I read the story right he was arrested, meaning criminal charges. I would like to know exactly what crimes or offenses he was found guilty of or liable for. That would be helpful.
    - Anon
      
      I don’t think piracy should be classified as criminal. I think it should remain a civil infraction with the lower threshold for conviction and life ruining penalties. Find ‘em, set ‘em up, knock ‘em down. Since when did Pirates care about “lawful”? Pirates enjoy this. We can, too.
    - Slasher McGurk
      
      @EnemyOfThePeople
      
      “I never said that. Show me that quote.”
      
      I believe it was when you said:
      “We do this by giving them ***temporary*** control over all production of the culture.”
      
      The reality that copyright law extends unreasonably beyond the death of the creator and your stated support for copyright law suggests that by extension you do support the current unreasonable terms of said copyright law.
      
      The respondent who pointed out the ludicrous nature of these terms, particularly when the word ‘temporary’ is pinned to them made a perfectly resonable point in questioning the validity of the concept of temporary when use this way.
    - Guest123
      
      @slasher.
      
      Uh, Slasher, you didn’t read everything
      
      If you’re going to quote that, maybe you should also quote the statement he made in this article stating that he thinks copyright should last only 10 years instead of just making an assumption otherwise.
- Jimbo
  
  fuck off you prick!
- Guest
  
  stfu you troll.. he did nothing illegal and the court is out of line declaring that he did.
- Nobody
  
  So what you are saying is that Google maps are helping bank rubbers rub banks because it is possible to find then on Google maps and study the area with Street view.
  
  Hmmm…. sound logic…. Really…..Good thinking there….
  - Anon
    
    Google maps can be used for many purposes including what you said. The benefits far outweigh the negative in case of Google Maps. I have lost count how often I have looked up Google Maps to search for places I needed to go to.
    
    But what is the use of his site other than facilitating piracy? He not only mentions keywords in his site but also detailed instructions on how to acquire commercial movies and games for free.
    - Yukkydogpoo
      
      His site did not facilitate piracy. It’s main use was as a tutorial on how to use search features of other sites with examples of how to go about doing it – now prove me wrong.
- Zzzzz
  
  Isn’t it fortunate that you’re allowed to spout your nonsense due to the freedoms of speech you so eagerly wish to remove from the rest of us?
- Yourmom
  
  Yes, by going according to what you said, LETS BURN DOWN THE LIBRARIES!!
  - Slasher McGurk
    
    So if I now burn down a library, does that mean you facilitated a crime because you told me how to commit one? Sorry, I’m confused by the whole stupidity of these weirdly abstract rulings which seem to conflict with both common sense and the UN Charter of Human Rights.
- Domestic Terrorist 349756290
  
  A mans life has been destroyed, let us not forget that.
  No amount of contrarian, academic masturbation makes it OK.
  If he is guilty, he has more empathy than I could muster.
  If he is FOUND guilty, how could one articulate the outrage?
  Liberty and fraternity are most certainly at odds here….
  Nothing has changed, only the common peasants potential…
  Mr. Sarkozy, Mrs. Bruni.
  A mans life has been destroyed, let us not forget that.A mans life has been destroyed, let us not forget that.A mans life has been destroyed, let us not forget that.
- Shaman321
  
  We should start arresting these people with websites on how to build bombs as well. Sharing this information should be illegal. We should have the government approve everything we are able to view on the web… with the blessing of the large corporations of course.
Anonymous

He knew he was facilitating piracy, but he’s mad because he thought his method of facilitation would slip under the radar?

Google has been sued successfully numerous times over defamation for their autocomplete suggestions.

There are consequences. If you haven’t noticed, the whole “it’s just a search engine” exemption isn’t working.
RIOT

Massive riots are the only thing that can stop those bastards. So massive to put them on the run towards Antarctica in their personal jets bought with dirty money!!!!
- Lolwut
  
  Sorry everyone is currently busy rioting about a game of whack a disk on the ice.
  
  Please check back later.
- Friend of the People
  
  I don’t think enough people care about this enough to riot. I mean, people like pirating, I haven’t heard many people I know personally say that it’s something they care enough about to justify a riot.
  - Anonymous
    
    When an American lawyer shows up claiming to own copyright on your genes, you might care enough to riot, or even go to war.
    
    This is about much more than piracy, it’s about the control of information. All information.
    - Anon
      
      Control of information? Oh yeah right, I forgot…Movies, Games, Apps, Softwares and Music constitute “information” without which we cannot survive. Isn’t it ironical that the ones who actually create this “information” don’t have a say in whether they want to share it or not or how they want to distribute it? I never knew if I created something after years of hard work, I am obliged to share it with others for free. Infact, it should be unlawful (like it is now) for someone to share or steal my creation without my permission.
    - Plop
      
      @Anon:
      
      “Infact, it should be unlawful (like it is now) for someone to share or steal my creation without my permission.”
      
      Well screw you. I AM a musician – a creator – one of those who the shills CLAIM they stand up for and I TOTALLY SUPPORT PIRACY, because it is free advertising, free marketing and free distribution which means I don’t have to bend over and take it up the ass from a major label like I once had to (and I DID have to once upon a time). I make money from WORKING for a living by playing gigs, selling some stuff direct to audience and writing music which is used in TV ads among other things.
      
      These MAFIAA c*nts are now attacking MY business model and trying to restrict public access to my music and force me back into unfair contracts with their shitty monopolistic practices.
      
      Artists CHOOSE to be artists. They don’t have a divine right to make money from creating that art. Its intrinsic value comes purely from the observer (or listener) – no amount of crying “but it took me sooooo long to make that” actually gives it any monetary value at all. You don’t ‘deserve’ to be paid for making something, unless that something is actually a physical object which isn’t classed as ‘art’ (ie: it has a purpose). Now that artificial scarcity is a thing of the past and we all have the means to replicate pop-art trivially, the imposed ‘value’ of this art has been lost. The genie is out of the bottle – the MAFIAA will never get it back in no matter how many unjust laws they pen.
      
      Genuine artists cannot support the tactics of the entertainment cartels. Genuine artists create their music because they HAVE TO CREATE. It’s in their blood and they’re compelled to do it. They don’t create for monetary gain. They’d create even if nobody else in the world ever listened to their creations. Being paid to create music is simply a bonus!
    - Guest123
      
      “Genuine artists cannot support the tactics of the entertainment cartels. Genuine artists create their music because they HAVE TO CREATE. It’s in their blood and they’re compelled to do it. They don’t create for monetary gain. They’d create even if nobody else in the world ever listened to their creations. Being paid to create music is simply a bonus! ”
      
      Lovely ideal. 2 probelms with it.
      
      1. We live in the real world. People need money in the real world. People want to create, but creating will take a backseat to work for the vast majority of artists if they can’t make money.
      
      2. Don’t force others to change to fit your idea of what an artist should be. You want to give your stuff away; fine. Don’t make others do the same.
    - Guest123
      
      Also, you are correct in that they do not automatically deserve payment. However, you don’t automatically deserve to use their product. They ask for payment to let you use their product. If you don’t want to pay, you don’t use the product. Seems fair to me. If their idea of what its value is doesn’t match yours, don’t use the culture. If they don’t give you enough information to make that decision, err on the safe side and don’t use the culture.
    - Anon
      
      Music is a very tidy example. In this digital age it can be created for next-to nothing.
      
      However the copyright laws that cover music must also extend to other areas. My housemate works in films, he loves his work, but the materials he uses to create sets etc cost thousands and thousands of dollars. He probably would work for free if he could, but the suppliers he buys from won’t sell him the materials for nothing, and stuff like drills cost money too!
- Anon
  
  Most people would rather pay for stuffs they like. Its only a few people like you who think they are entitled to everything for free. So you and your little friends are on your own if you wanna riot to try and legalize illegal activities.
  - Plop
    
    “So you and your little friends are on your own if you wanna riot to try and legalize illegal activities.”
    
    Firstly, they’re not “illegal activities”. If you’re talking about piracy then at best they’re unlawful infringements. So they don’t need to be legalised, because they’re not illegal anyway.
RIOT

Massive riots are the only thing that can stop those bastards. So massive to put them on the run towards Antarctica in their personal jets bought with dirty money!!!!
Anonymous

Ya, looks like they got him dead to rights, no way out of this one. The fines a bit steep hopefully he has the money, hate to see this ruin his life.
- Anonymous
  
  Maybe he should go with bankruptcy. He may be able to transfer assets to others pending expert legal advise.
  
  The other option is to relocate overseas when they usually do not care enough to locate you in some foreign country. That would obviously cause a problem returning home or meeting family. I doubt his 130,000 Euro fine is big enough to justify that one.
  - Gene_Poole
    
    Actually bankruptcy is probably not an option.
    
    No clue about local laws but in N America (I would assume, being from the 1st world that all laws in all countries are the same and if they’re not then they’re obviously bass ackwards and need to be enlightened, please send in the troops now ((SARCASM))) one cannot get away from debts owed due to judgements against you by declaring bankruptcy. Those debts persist even after bankruptcy.
  - Xult
    
    I think he should get Andrew Crossley to give him advice on how to declare bankruptcy and keep his mony.
Pingback: Site Admin To Pay $185,000 Damages For Providing Keywords | We R Pirates
I am a sausage not a hotdog

I never knew it was illegal to type in a keyword where is this law that says you can’t type in a keyword? Sue and remind them that alki davids suing you and make sure the judge isn’t paid. Corporate scum!!
- Anonymous
  
  He wasn’t found guilty of typing in a keyword. He was found guilty of providing step by step instructions for visitors on how to pirate films. That’s the definition of “facilitating piracy”.
  - I am a sausage not a hotdog
    
    @anonymous
    @Friend of the people
    Well i guess everyone In The world is committing a crime as we speak because we are all sharing information.An idea is not a commodity it’s something of luxury. If i choose to use my computer i can. If i choose to take a shower I can. If i choose to walk down the street. I can or eat in a restaurant or go to a theater or take a shit that’s my right.
    Now stealing holding someone up with a gun stealing from a store or raping a woman or child THAT’S A CRIME!!!! Oh i forgot to mention bribing lobbying etc.
    - Ven
      
      Not quite. We can share ideas reasonably, within certain limits and with certain disclaimers.
      
      Saying that “keywords can be used in a search engine to find downloadable copyrighted content” is not illegal. Building a website that tracks thousands of specific downloads and how to find them, with no other purpose than to redirect people away from the site, leaves plenty of room for a judge to decide you are facilitating theft.
      
      As Violated said above this somewhere, if your site looks like a pirate site run by a pirate, they will pound you for piracy.
    - Anon
      
      As said by Ven, you can share information within certain limits. They keyword here is “limits” and you gotta know your limits. You can’t share information that actually facilities a crime or an illegal activity. Then you become an accessory to the crime and is equally guilty as the person committing the crime.
    - Plop
      
      @Ven
      
      But for them to prosecute him for facilitating a crime, then surely they’d need to show that a crime had been facilitated?
      
      I’m sorry, but maybe I’m missing the point where this has been demonstrated.
    - Ven
      
      @Plop
      
      Facilitate:
      Verb: Make (an action or process) easy or easier.
      
      The judge will not require proof that people made use of the site to steal, much like law enforcement doesn’t need to catch a drug dealer dealing in order to get him for possession with intent to sell. He makes the process easier, and gets busted for it.
      
      Think of it like this: if you threw a movie up on a site for people to download, you are facilitating IP theft. If people actually download it, and the copyright holders can prove it, then you will be convicted of unauthorized distribution.
  - Plop
    
    Can you give me a step by step guide of how he did this? Be careful though, because if you do then you’ll also be guilty of the same ‘crime’.
    - Jon7272
      
      uttorrent. the pirate bay. oops 185 000 $ for me lol
- Friend of the People
  
  It’s not just about him providing keywords. This is about someone providing information about how to commit a crime. That’s contributing to a crime.
  
  If you tell someone information with the intention of having them use it to commit a crime, then under the law (U.S.), you have contributed to that crime. If I remember, this man is French (or European at least). I’d imagine Europe has similar laws.
- Anon
  
  This article is clearly misleading and lacks some vital information. TF as usual twisted the real story into whatever that suits them best. The real story is he provides detailed instructions in his site on how to pirate commercial digital products. In other words he is contributing to copyright infringement.
  - Whatever
    
    Like detailed instructions for:
    - a bomb.
    - suicide
    - murder
    - train de-railment
    - flying a plane (can be used for some nasty actions)
    - making hidden photographs
    - building spy equipment.
    
    Well, i guess sharing of files must be so life threatening and important that all the above is child play and not illegal whereas some MAFIAA CEO’s might need to enjoy a lesser plane. Now the MAFIAA needs to be put someone elses life in misery just to make the CEO feel a little bit better.
- Anon
  
  This article is clearly misleading and lacks some vital information. TF as usual twisted the real story into whatever that suits them best. The real story is he provides detailed instructions in his site on how to pirate commercial digital products. In other words he is contributing to copyright infringement.
SqueakyProxy

(yawn) What else is new? *scratches head and squeaks computer mouse* stupid copywrong idiots.
starwhite

This ruling is sheer madness. This guy doesn’t even live in the USA. 20th Century Fox, Columbia Pictures, Disney Company, Paramount, Universal, Warner and Buena Vista are in another country. WHY do American laws apply in another country for mere file sharing? America is going to police the world! In your face! People choosing to share files to us is not piracy but sharing. Hollywood is too damn greedy. They use their bought off bribed judges and politicians to mete out draconian punishment just for the very human act of sharing. The real tragedy is they are attacking the poorest segment of people. The whole thing is just plain evil.
- Anonymous
  
  The Berne Convention and the WIPO Copyright Treaty.
- I am a sausage not a hotdog
  
  I have to tell you can’t put all the blame on the USA.For years all them major motion picture distributors are and have been international.Europe has always tried using it’s powers on the us/Canadian borders the queen of england and you can look this up “supposedly” owns parts of Canada.
  You might also want to look up the bilderberg group, new world order ,secrete societies. Corporate banking the international monetary system ,Goldman sachs etc…etc…etc…
  Globalism corporate scum the world over have and are infesting the world with one world government they want other countries to hate each other.
  Robbing us all blind.
  You also might want to look up your countries filming and recording industries. USA does not run the world i agree and i wish people would think outside the box instead of blaming one country.Stop using the word “they they they” and look at whatever country or region you’re in. It’s international.
  - Friend of the People
    
    One world government… Really? Do you actually think that all of these different people, from different countries, raised in different cultures, who want different things, could or would work together towards something like this? Moreover, why now? Why not earlier in history, when you’d have fewer high-level people to control and no form of media to inform the masses about what was going on?
    
    Corporations may not be trustworthy, but the one thing you can be sure of is that they all hate each other.
    - obvious schill is obvious
      
      One world gov is not proposed by corporations, that is true. But it is funded by them in the legally protected form of lobby groups.. LEGAL BRIBING. Laws are bought that are corporate friendly. You need look no further than DMCA. Hollywood bought that. Period. If you were the type to educate yourself, clearly you are not, you may look into the documents leaked that proved that the U.S. were trying to coerce other nations into changing their copywrong laws.. This is corruption and world policing…
    - I am a sausage not a hotdog
      
      You have to open your eyes my friend what they don’t want you to know it’s starting to become transparent globalist don’t care about the common men women nor children.
      All they care about is what control they have and who they control including government. As for history history goes way back to control the people since the beginning Egyptians roman times and possibly further.You might also want to look up Darwinism. Just learn a bit about bilderberg skull and bones George bush senior. also i have one seriously frightening video you might want to watch.How the media wants to control you!
      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qlr0qf0eTHU&feature=related
    - Friend of the People
      
      @hotdog
      
      First off, I’d advise you think hard before listening to any more Alan Watt. The problem that he and most of the other theorists have is that they assume homogeneity among the groups they talk about. Many of their arguments also rely on mental processes that don’t exist, such as when they claim a basic human interpretation of symbols in media, (usually Illuminati symbols). Make sure that you’re not just taking their word for what is true. I did for a while, and to be honest, I regret it. I listened to Alex Jones for a while, and to be honest, I’m kind of ashamed for it.
      
      “You might also want to look up Darwinism. ”
      
      What about it? Evolutionary theories, the economic ideal of Social Darwinism, the short-lived philosophical movement that popped up based on those, what?
      
      The history of humanity is men trying to control men. That’s true. However, that’s not the whole story. The other important lesson in history is that people will not share power. There will always be powerful people fighting for power. There is never enough homogeneity to allow any group to establish anything near the amount of power necessary to control the planet, or even reliably control a country.
      
      I’d be willing to spend more time discussing this with you, but unless you ask, I’d rather not.
      
      @shill
      
      I’m actually aware of those leaked documents Yeah, there’s corruption. That’s no “one world government”. People have always been corrupt. They always will be. The corrupt people in this country are paralleled by the corrupt people in other countries. As for the laws, the problem of corporations trying to buy laws is well-known, but often exaggerated. Admittedly, I’m not really interested in all of this one world government BS. I’ve written more than I wanted to about this already.
    - I am a sausage not a hotdog
      
      You’re in such denial it’s pathetic and sad i actually feel bad for you.Just like saying the bilderberg group doesn’t exist and there is no such thing as masons freemasonry and secret societies.You can’t hide what’s already transparent and as far as Alex Jones goes.Half the stuff i find and see he doesn’t even cover.Next thing you’ll tell me is Hitler never existed.
      The truth shall set your free my friend.Unless ofcourse someone is paying you to dumb down people and you fail at doing it.History repeats itself and right now it’s happening globally.
      You can’t deny what’s happening corporate media hiding the truth not showing what’s really going on in the world. Governments globally trying to take over everything in society.Corporations ,banking , omfg the list goes on.
      
      As far as masonry goes i have a free mason that actually lives next to me and Openly admitted to me, he said,
      Have you heard of a freemason?
      I said, yes i have.
      He then said, I guess it’s out in the open.
      the landscaper and i didn’t realize we had the masons hand shack.
      
      This is a man whose life was personally killing people military beyond military.
      Have you ever been face to face with someone who has no regret in killing someone?
      
      Okay it’s one thing to hear on the Internet but when someone tells you face to face. If that doesn’t give you a little chill going down your spin.So seriously wake up and stop hiding truth. But remember those are just “theories”!!
      
      Wow this is getting me tense and angry!!
    - Friend of the People
      
      I’m not saying that these groups never existed (particularly not the Bilderberg conference, because we know that that it happens), I’m saying that people attribute too much power to them. A good example is the Freemasons; we know they exist because they publicly admit they do. There are about 4-6 million of them, and to get in to one of their lodges, you have to be recommended by someone.
      
      “This is a man whose life was personally killing people military beyond military.
      Have you ever been face to face with someone who has no regret in killing someone?”
      
      What, the Freemason? How do you know he was a murderer? He told you? What clued you in. It can’t be just because he’s a mason. It’s just a exclusive society, not a bunch of murderers. They wouldn’t be so open about themselves if they were.
      
      I’m not saying to trust the mainstream media, I’m saying that distrusting the mainstream is no reason to trust the fringe. I’m also not saying that governments aren’t trying to exert control; they are, but you attribute too much current power. I don’t believe these theories because they require too many leaps in logic for me. I don’t see them as being parsimonious.
    - Friend of the People
      
      Also, PLEASE explain the Darwinism thing you said. That’s what I’m really interested in hearing from you. And please, don’t get mad. It helps none of us. Besides, it just won’t do to be mad at some anonymous prick in the internet. Don’t worry, be happy :)
    - I am a sausage not a hotdog
      
      Funny how instantly you changed thoughts.I saw all his badge honorary mentions etc etc.I know what goes under the hood. Does this seem like some sort of joke to you?I wish i could think it wast fake. A dream. I wish but i see everything i know what’s happening and it’s no joke my friend. You should really snap out of that daze your in.
      
      Social Darwinism=
      Slavery,deny peoples beliefs. To kill off existence to see humanity as sheep or cattle to spread fear and murder.Making life hard without innovating or giving people the chance to gain.
      Total power! totally control! lies! Everything as evil as things could possibly get.To tell people they are stupid they don’t belong in the world enforcing laws,creating an alliance of dumbed down armies should i continue?
      
      Although they will say it’s “evolution and science” or “paganism”.Not that I’m saying paganism is bad. Nor am i saying atheism is bad either. Okay so we are battling here. Open your mind my friend open it and taste it. feel it.See it.
      This is not star wars.This is real life and these idiot politicians are parading around like puppets. While the puppet-masters pulling the strings.
    - http://www.facebook.com/orfetheo Orfeas Theofanis
      
      ” Do you actually think that all of these different people, from different countries, raised in different cultures, who want different things, could or would work together towards something like this?”
      Yes, politicians, whatever country they’re from, all think in the same way.
      “Moreover, why now? Why not earlier in history, when you’d have fewer high-level people to control and no form of media to inform the masses about what was going on?”
      Because earlier we didn’t have the luxury of telecommunications, easy and fast travelling, that amount of money in that few people, and most importantly, the ignorance of the people.
    - Friend of the People
      
      @Orfeas
      
      Yes, politicians all think in the same way. They want more power for themselves, not for someone else. They wouldn’t work to help someone from somewhere else. They want their country to succeed, no one else’s. In short, they all think the same way, which is why they can never work together (and in length, it’s not even as simple as that). Also, few people have always have huge amounts of money, so that’s not new, and people have always been ignorant, so that’s not new.
      
      @hotdog
      
      My thoughts didn’t change at all. I never said the groups didn’t exist, I’m saying that they’re not what you think they are. I don’t doubt that the man you met was a mason, I doubt that you have the right idea of what being a mason entails.
      
      Ah yes, Social Darwinism, the idea that the people who are on top of the social pyramid are more fit for life, based on a fundamental misunderstanding of natural selection and spawning such horrors as eugenics. Yeah, quite a blight on human history. As I remember, it was the justification for eugenics in the early 1900s. How are you saying that it impacts the modern world. I know that some people probably still believe in it, but as a philosophy, it has been on a decline since World War 2.
      
      I’m sorry man, but your ideas require me to disregard everything I know about both the positive and negative sides of human nature. They don’t make sense with everything I have seen in life. I just don’t think your ideas are logical. I’m not trying to be mean or harsh, but that’s all there is to it for me.
      
      To be honest, I think this is the last response I’ll give. I really don’t like talking about this stuff. Not my expertise, and not a subject I find particularly interesting. It’s been an interesting discussion. Thank you.
    - Anon
      
      “Laws are bought that are corporate friendly. You need look no further than DMCA. Hollywood bought that. Period.”
      
      New laws are facilitated by demand and in accordance with the changing times. Even common people or a group of people can petition to effect a change in law but it has to be within sound reason or it will be dismissed.
      
      Piracy wasn’t a major factor even 20 years ago but it is now and the DMCA law was introduced to combat this new form of crime. New laws are always introduced to combat new forms of crime.
      
      You might argue that you could record or share VHS tapes earlier too but that is on a local (small) scale but the internet has made everything global and hence the problem. If every single person thought piracy was right, they would just download every digital product from the net for free and companies would earn nothing. Do you think its a sustainable model? Where do you think investment would come from to create Games and Movies worth millions of dollars in future?
      
      C’mon put your think tank to work before you open your mouth.
    - I am a sausage not a hotdog
      
      Don’t think just because i didn’t respond back to you i automatically gave up. Continue being in denial and thinking your opinion is the only opinion. I don’t have to prove myself it’s everywhere your just to blind to see it.Yes you should stop responding.
Herbert

and it just goes on and on. but really, did he honestly think he could win this case, given the dick brain that is in charge of the country? ‘napoleon’ sarkozy is well and truly up the arse of the entertainment industries. he has even refused to acknowledge the contravention of human rights of Hadopi, just like the UK. i hope this case goes to EU, the guy wins and the little french runt gets his comeuppance!
http://disqus.com/ Rob8urcakes

This French Court of Appeal dcision is absolutely NUTS. And the level of fine is waaaaayyyyy over the top.

Freakin’ insane – and it’s all down to Sarkozy and his MAFIAA-funded laws.

R.I.P. freedom & democracy.
erthwjim

Med student. Stay in your domain and out of copyright. Save lives, or at least let your nurse save lives so can move onto your 15 minute office visit and get as many LOS charges as you can.
- Anon
  
  This is an open website. If you restrict comments to only those who: (1) work for ISPs, or (2) work for copyright, I think the viewership will drop precipitously.
  - erthwjim
    
    So if Dr. Anon is pro RIAA and MPAA, I’m going to guess he’s for profit. I don’t mind people wanting to make profit, but not at the cost of the consumer. When he eventually become a doctor, will he be trying to save lives or make a quick buck by taking advantage of the consumer/patient. Luckily for doctors, there are coders, JCAHO, HIPAA, and a slew of other regulators and organizations to make sure they can’t take advantage of patients and that their information is protected. Unfortunately the same cannot be said of the entertainment industry, because the people that regulate and control the industry are the same ones that hope to make money off of it. I’m not saying restrict the site to those that work for ISPs or those that work for the entertainment industry, but he brought up the fact that he was a doctor, as if somehow being a doctor makes his opinion more valid or reliable than everyone else on this site. I am saying, he should stick to being a med student because that is probably an area he might be able to have a valid point in.
- Anon
  
  This is an open website. If you restrict comments to only those who: (1) work for ISPs, or (2) work for copyright, I think the viewership will drop precipitously.
Razza

Major lulz at this. His fault for getting caught. Someone smarter will take his place.

I don’t really care what happens to him. I’m safe enough, and they can’t stop me from pirating. Anytime someone like him goes down, someone else will rise. Not a threat to me.
- Razza’s Mom
  
  You are obviously a self-centered and cheap little scumbag who cares about nobody but yourself. Your comments in past articles and this one are proof enough. I wonder if you have friends or family with an attitude like that.
  
  In case you haven’t forgotten that you are not on top of the food chain. Someone else is taking all the risk at the top level to actually bring you the stuff that you so happily pirate for free and yet you act like you couldn’t care less about anyone.
  - Razza
    
    Why should I care. I got my friends, my family, a good life, and no reason to pay these people. If they want me to pay, they have to show that they have any means of actually enforcing the laws they preach about. They haven’t shown that, so I won’t obey them because I won’t be punished. Easy decision for me.
obvious schill is obvious

@ friend of the people (as your post suggests, clearly you are not)

Society does not punish copywrong infringers, as you suggest with your moronic statement. This is done by our judicial system, which has been corrupted by the limitless money generated by the same industry that claims record losses EVERY year but actually produces RECORD PROFITS EVERY YEAR! When laws are purchased, they hold no validity, and should be resisted. You trying to suggest that DLing is ‘wrong’ and that ‘society punishes’ one for it is simply not true.. Not only do most people not care if others download, even those that disagree arent invested enough to care to punish anyone over it…

off topic: since when did torrentfreak get invaded with copywrong trolls so heavily..yes im talking about you as well schill (er, i mean ‘medstudent’). I never met a med student that had money (i am also a med student, will be an RN soon), and i definitely never met anyone so insistent that copywrong violators be punished.. Regular people just aren’t interested… SO, what is your real stake here, Schill? and calling yourself something else makes you no less ‘anonymous’…
- Friend of the People
  
  First, if you’re going to respond to me, please do so below my comments. I almost missed this when I was checking for replies, and lord knows we wouldn’t want me to not respond :)
  
  Let’s begin. Our system of laws has to exist on a mandate from society. If we we don’t care enough about something to make a representative lose their job, then we don’t care enough to change the laws. The law exists as a mandate from society. It is therefore society’s responsibility to check for corruption and vote any representatives who contribute to corruption out of office. When a law relating to copyright is approved, it functions as a declaration of the moral standards of society relating to copyright. If society disagrees with this, it has to either take action to correct it though the legal system or acquiesce through apathy. If most people don’t care, as you suggest to be the case, then they cede their voice to their representative. In short, it’s society’s responsibility to use the vote as a check on the legal system. If they won’t, then they accept the judgments of their representatives.
  
  If you really believe the law is unjust enough that it must be resisted and disobeyed, then you have three options; you can act as a martyr for your cause when you get caught to attempt to convince ordinary people of the justice in your cause, you can take up arms as a freedom fighter, or you can admit that your cause isn’t important enough to justify either of those actions. I’d recommend against the second; the populace won’t react well.
  
  And yes, I’m a medical student. I also come from a family that has enough money to support my entrance into medical school. My family paid for it, and I still have money left over from working before and during college. The reason I’m interested is because I’m an avid videogamer, and I see piracy as a big threat. I’m also big into the study of the social contract (took polysci and psych in undergrad), and it annoys me when people misunderstand the ideas withing. As for what led us here, I can only speak for myself; it was Digg. The articles popped up really often on Digg for a while, and I decided to take a look.
  
  You’re obviously trying to say something with this. Why not just come out and say what you want to? Also, could I get a definition of the word “schill”. I’ve seen people use it a lot, and I think I get the meaning, but I’d like to ask you instead of urban dictionary. Way to many creepy things on there.
  
  Remember two things; First, you may have never met someone who didn’t oppose copyright, but I’ve met very few who did. Second; my views should be viewed in the terms of the internet, namely the rule that everyone becomes a bigger dick and more extreme on the internet. I do take it a bit farther than I intend sometimes though, and I will apologize for that.
  - SomeAsian
    
    I’m sorry, but I have to say this. You sound like a typical entitled elitist who has benefited from the system their entire life. Sure, you’re going to be a doctor, but it sounds like you didn’t have to work to get there. I imagine you’re working hard to stay there, but you didn’t have to work for the opportunity. It was always available to you.
    
    It is people like you, who refuse to question or act in contravention of established law, that are the biggest threat to the free world. Where would we be if we didn’t break the “rules” sometimes?
    
    On the issue of copyrights, I don’t oppose them, but they were not meant to be renewed in perpetuity.
    
    And your cliche “three options” line shows just how much you don’t know about this topic. 99% of people will just continue as they always have…in silence. It doesn’t matter what gets in their way, they will just reroute around it.
    - Friend of the People
      
      That line is a chiche? Wow. I’ve actually never heard it before. I thought I was being original. Damn. The reason I use this is because I don’t think people are as morally motivated by this issue as they claim. I hear a lot about how copyright is “unjust”, but I don’t see anyone actually standing up to change it (with the exception of the pirate party, but no one closer to home). If no one is willing to stand up and actually risk something for it, it says a lot to me about how “unjust” it is.
      
      And I didn’t benefit from the system for my entire life. I was born poor. Very poor. My dad worked hard, succeeded at what he did and managed to pull us up. I know it’s not easy to get out of poverty., but I’m also not going to say that poverty is a reason to justify anything. I had to work to get here. I had to work 10 hours a day just to qualify for medical school, because I suck at chemistry and physics. I;m busting my ass even more now that I’m here. Don’t assume crap about me.
      
      And of course we break the rules sometimes. I’m not entirely opposed to that idea, I’m opposed to the people here who say that the rules have no place in the world, and that people should act according to their moral codes without threat of punishment for doing so. I’m also not saying we shouldn’t question laws, I’m saying we should use legal ways to change them. I’ve protested for stuff I care about before. I’ve gone door to door and distributed postcards and asked for donations. I’m not saying that the system we have is perfect; I’m saying that if we want to change it, we should actually try to change it instead of scurrying around in the dark like rats and bitching about it.
      
      “On the issue of copyrights, I don’t oppose them, but they were not meant to be renewed in perpetuity. ”
      
      I agree. I personally think that there should be a 10 year limit on copyright length. Seems like plenty of time for copyright to fulfill its purpose.
    - Anon
      
      “It doesn’t matter what gets in their way, they will just reroute around it.”
      
      Nah. That’s not true. This is a process and eventually only really stupid people will even considering pirating digital merchandise. Once industry gets their technical means of discovery into place, then only extraordinary means will escape detection and using those extraordinary means to break the law online will come with increasingly life altering punishments. Eventually crooks will move on to more lucrative/lower risk endeavors. And people will just start paying or do without. Or sneakernet. But the era of easy global distribution of someone else’s files is quickly drawing to a close unless you are suicidal.
      
      This was never about only music or movies. This issue and the way the government is positioning to “solve it” was always been about every single digital product on the planet and every country’s investment in them. That’s why they are working together.
      
      Pirates will lose this if only because because people who pirate other people’s work are losers in the first place. The cultural tide is turning against you.
  - Anonymous
    
    I’d fucking hate to live in a country that lets people buy medical degrees. I’d hate to live in one that lets corporations buy laws as well.
    
    Very glad I don’t live in America.
    - Ven
      
      His family supporting him financially has no logical connection to how hard or easy his schooling is. That they paid for it means he didn’t have to take out loans, which means his life after college will probably be easier.
      
      Take a logic class, they are the greatest things ever.
    - Ven
      
      His family supporting him financially has no logical connection to how hard or easy his schooling is. That they paid for it means he didn’t have to take out loans, which means his life after college will probably be easier.
      
      Take a logic class, they are the greatest things ever.
- Anon
  
  “Society does not punish copywrong infringers, as you suggest with your moronic statement. This is done by our judicial system, which has been corrupted by the limitless money generated by the same industry that claims record losses EVERY year but actually produces RECORD PROFITS EVERY YEAR!”
  
  Society (the people) doesn’t directly punish anyone for even crimes like rape and murder, the judicial system does, its a given. Why are you even bringing it up? Do you want people to take the laws into their own hands? If that was the case in reality, you would have had it much worse. The industry could just use their limitless money to hire goons to beat you up whenever they wanted too.
  
  Whether they make losses or profits, its none of our business. They are very much within their rights to defend their property and that’s what they are doing. Why does it even matter how much they are earning? If I was an extremely rich person, would it have meant that you could rob me anytime and I would have had no rights to defend my property or my money?
  
  “When laws are purchased, they hold no validity, and should be resisted.”
  
  Laws are purchased? Sprouting out nonsense again without any proof are we? Its amazing how you think laws that only suit your purpose should exist and laws that you don’t like were purchased and shouldn’t exist.
  
  “You trying to suggest that DLing is ‘wrong’ and that ‘society punishes’ one for it is simply not true.. Not only do most people not care if others download, even those that disagree arent invested enough to care to punish anyone over it…”
  
  May be you and your friends don’t care because it doesn’t affect them but those who actually make the product that you so like to download, those who work for industry, do actually care and yes they are part of our society too. You can’t choose parts of society you want to discard and only consider the opinions of the rest.
  
  “since when did torrentfreak get invaded with copywrong trolls so heavily”
  
  Yes we are “trolls” because we don’t agree with you. Afterall, people can’t have different opinions.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Mathew-Lisett/666201726 Mathew Lisett

lol so basically its the same as if you told somebody soem info on drugs you would then be arrested and charged for being a dealer lol , how fricken stupid
- Anonymous
  
  It is more like if you had gone around clubs and pubs and handed out business cards giving contact details to where drugs can be obtained. You may sell no drugs yourself but you are still an assistant to the sale of the drugs.
  
  Work out yourself if that is lawful or not.
  - Anonymous
    
    Except drugs are a crime not a violation of a distribution monopoly handled in civil court.
Pingback: Site Admin To Pay $185,000 Damages For Providing Keywords
http://www.facebook.com/people/Don-Dilly/1624894683 Don Dilly

If the MAFIAA isnt careful, the case sets an interesting precedent, . The obvious identifying keywords to use for a search are the movie/series title.

The case could effectively outlaw any site reviewing their films. Lets face it you cant not include identifying keywords when reviewing a film.

I assume the identifying keywords in this case are an ed2k link or the checksum portion of it.

P2P is of itself not illegal. Identifying an illegal file is not illegal. In fact identifying such files is arguably a puplic service. It is up to the P2Per if he downloads the file or uses the info to block the file.
http://www.facebook.com/jordan.kratz Jordan Kratz

This is absolutely stupid.It is really to bad that the MAFIAA have prosecuted this guy for keywords.
Maybe we should do a “Million Man Keyword Protest” !!!!
- Anon
  
  Did you even go to his site and see what his site facilitates or do you just blindly believe only what TF writes? TF is known to twist stories and report only parts that suit them best. This is hardly an unbiased news reporting site. Its one of those for the pirates and by the pirates site. Hardly a reliable source of information given the fact that 99.9% of articles here are pro-piracy as if pirates could do no wrong.
  
  He was charged not because he mentioned some keywords in his site. He actually wrote down detailed step by instructions on how to obtain pirate Movies, Games and Softwares. If that’s not facilitating a copyright infringement, then I don’t know what is. The same damn laws that applies in real life, applies on the internet too but for some reason you people think the internet is exempt from legal purview.
radioman

to bad humans has no rights ;} oh sorry they have one: the right to die ;} have a good death
- Donotreply
  
  Don’t forget to pay your taxes.
- TTuk
  
  We don’t have the right to die as even euthanasia is illegal :-(
Username1

There is NO such thing as “law”.
It’s just someone enforcing their will over on you.

It’s not a moral thing it’s a power thing.

Believe it or not there is such a thing as being “judgment proof” ,
that means if you sue me for
100 thousand dollars and I don’t have it , well your screwed.

I don’t have the money, you can’t get it , not even trying to jack my paycheck will help you.

I am not 100 % clear on everything involving being judgment proof , but basically
you can’t squeeze blood from a stone.

So less this guy gots money , he be aight.

Also you don’t try to fight the law with the law.
When you play by their rules they set the stage , you have to go as far as they go , and then some.
They are the law because they are willing to unite together and fight hard.

Well do you want to win or do you want them to win ?
It’s not over until YOU say it is.
- http://www.xbomber.co.uk/ Crash
  
  They normally take a slice outta your paycheck every month (if you’re lucky) or they can put a charge on your home so they take their cut out of the proceeds when it sells.
  
  I seem to remember that bailiffs can’t seize tools of a trade. So, nomatter what anyone comes after me for, they can’t have my PCs, I hope.
Lollin

google should be sued too since it is auto complete feature facilitate infringement , most forum and group (like yahoo too) should be sued since they also clearly tell where u can watch movie for free , did i miss somethings …..
- Anon
  
  Google removed torrent related keywords from the auto complete so they cannot be blamed for contributory copyright infringement.
Foff

Since when is facilitating piracy illegal? I don’t remember any gun shops charged for facilitating murder for selling ammo and guns. This guy had a lousy lawyer. This facilitating is bullsh#t. Where is the proof his site increased piracy? Anyone who downloads will do so whether this site exists or not. How the h#ll can you be sued for posting information that is readily available on the internet. What the F#ck can you post that is not considered facilitating. This site facilitates piracy by posting news about it where do you draw the line?
- Anonymous
  
  Yeah so a video explaining how to use utorrent is now illegal? So youtube has illegal video’s. What about how to make your own GHB drugs information sites? How to make explosives websites? How to grow weed websites? Illegal information. yay! Well done court!
  - Anon
    
    Most videos explaining how to use utorrent show you how to download public domain or creative commons content. There is a reason for this.
  - Anon
    
    Telling someone how to use utorrent is not illegal because utorrent software isn’t itself illegal but giving someone step by step instructions on how to use utorrent to download a commercial movie is damn sure illegal.
Anonymous

google search the word “murder,mass murder etc”…now please come and arrest me for facilitating unlawful acts,killing,war crimes and staff,things that are even punished by death in some areas of the world..oohhh i forgot,this actually makes people,companies and countries richer.. rot and die you mofo c#nts
Guest

“Site Admin To Pay $185,000 Damages For Providing Keywords”

ARE YOU KIDDING ME? ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?

RETALIATE! RETALIATE! RETALIATE! NOW!
- muumi
  
  Yeah, I´m biggest keyword search engine but too big to swallowed by CopyRight MafrIiA… who I´m, guess once…
Pingback: P2PTalk » Site Admin To Pay $185,000 Damages For Providing Keywords
http://www.xbomber.co.uk/ Crash

Does anyone else wonder what scientific and mathematical means were used to arrive at these damages?
- Anonymous
  
  Just sucked out of someones thumb.
- Friend of the People
  
  That’s a good question. I would like to know how they decided on these numbers.
Haxor

XviD
DivX
DVDRip
FREE
*.torrent

your turn do some more
Guest000

Go to any PRE databse, search for you movie to get the scene release name, paste that name in google.

Example:
1. Go to http://orlydb.com/
2. Search for Superbad XviD (or whatever you want)
3. pick your release, I picked Superbad.UNRATED.DVDRip.XviD-ESPiSE
4. google that.. About 45,500 results (0.18 seconds)
Anonymous

tinyurl.com/24n4nqb
Anon

Meh.

When TF posts a story about someone being imprisoned for sharing his opinion or something he himself created, then I’ll listen.

But this story is about explaining how to download things he did not have the rights to. It’s bad that they went after a little guy, rather than tackling the actual issue – but that is the way it goes.

BUY THE TICKET, TAKE THE RIDE. NO SYMPATHY FROM THE DEVIL.
WakuWaku

Yes, lets ban all usermanuals about downloading from the internet too/
Pingback: Site Admin To Pay $185000 Damages For Providing Keywords …
TSO

While I disagree with any law that infringes upon a persons liberty to say (or write) what they like, he must have knew what he was doing was illegal. His site had no legal purpose so what did he expect?
TSO

While I disagree with any law that infringes upon a persons liberty to say (or write) what they like, he must have knew what he was doing was illegal. His site had no legal purpose so what did he expect?
Pingback: Site Admin To Pay $185,000 Damages For Providing Keywords | TorrentFreak | NotSoCrazyNews BETA
Warwick Mark

Since moving to the UK, i’ve never downloaded a single file that would be seen as copy right infringement. What is clear to me is that it is more profitable for a copy right holder to sue for infringement then it is to sell what ever it is they have the rights to. Cases such as this one are important for copy right holders as it sets presidents that will be used to strong hold others in to settlements outside of court increasing their profitability, so they don’t mind spending the money as this court case is an investment that will most certainly yield returns.

Copy rights have gone mad and everyone is suing everyone no matter how much profits they are making so we can only assume that the rights to something is very valuable. We only have to look at Apple suing Samsung to see how copy right law as it is only stifles innovation and diversity. Many of the mergers of big corporations right now have to do with acquiring copy right holdings and there is a lot of jockeying to position these corporations to control the future flow of money.

Corporations have the rights of individuals but do not have the same accountability, nor do they contribute to society, they answer to one thing and one thing only, share holders. They do not pay taxes as we know them, but may pay fines once and a while to keep things sweet with the governments that keep them in power.

Some people will support corporations because they have the illusion that free enterprise is our key to wealth. Ask any small business wo/man and you will find out just how flawed that thinking is. Before judging this man for making it easier to rip of a dvd or cd ask yourself if you are happy with corporations investing in memetics and NLP to design products that are specifically designed to make you want them? Then ask yourself if it is alright for them to infiltrate your mind with the advertising of those products in such such a way that makes you think you need those products, then ask yourself if it is ok for them to program these products for obsolescence so you have to buy them again before they are really needed to. Then ask yourself if the system is really working for you or the corporations that need this set up so they can grow exponentially. There is a crime being committed here that is for sure, but it is not the crime you are directed to pay attention to. Wake up.
Anonymous

tinyurl.com/24n4nqb
pong

Since when is telling someone HOW to break the law illegal? There are hundreds of books about how to do things such as break into a house, or kill someone and get away with it and these are sold legally. Then there are extremes like the Anarchists Cookbook and plenty of how-to websites. Why is telling someone how to pirate illegal but telling someone how to hide a dead body is not?
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Whatever

@TF

You might have mentioned in the article it is in France, although it is clear with the persons name and Lyon, it might not be obvious to all.
Pingback: Site Admin To Pay $185,000 Damages For Providing Keywords | RXTX
Anonymous

tinyurl.com/24n4nqb
ANON

ALL THESE CORPORATE PARASITES:
LET’S KILL THEM ALL!
Anonymous

tinyurl.com/2df4ccp
None

oh wow….. his arms are waaaaaay too long.
mucky muck

I think this ruling is extreme. I have studied enough copyright law to know much of it is ambiguous and left to interpretation. All in all, I think it’s wise for us to understand that our justice systems are soulless machines and are not perfect. If you want to help fix it, go to EFF.. Also, I expect that this ruling will be overturned. Until then, this story is not over. As for artist getting paid for their work, fine: You paint a painting and sell it, fine. You sing at a bar and get paid, fine. But when it comes to getting paid for intellectual rights/reproductions and the like, good luck with that. The way I see it is, if I make a copy an mp3 that an artist/company says is theirs, I am not stealing a song. I am killing their dream. The dream that they can keep making money off that song long after the work is done. Well, that dream is a trick, and it does not work so great anymore. The reproduction technology is so cheap and good now, we don’t need the services of the recording industry anymore.
mucky muck

I think controlling/exploiting our communications/art/thought with laws is crazy and increasingly impracticable. Natural law teaches us that evolution belongs to everyone and ideology belongs to individuals. When an idea is manifested for all to hear and/or see, it then becomes ours to evolve with. It’s now often a fool’s game for individuals to try to control this process through some law or technology. Many accept laws as they are because we were born into it and thus accept it with little or no questioning. Also because copyrights are a pillar of capitalistic society that have served enough of us in the past. But it’s still a man-made fluke that goes against nature/evolution. As this all pans out, I think (hope) more and more people will not buy into this facade and it will die.
lovepuma

Do you want to buy nice shoes, do you want to buy cheap shoes, welcome to my website http://www.lovepuma.org, it can meet your requirements.There are different styles of shoes such as:Kid’s Puma Trionfo Shoes | Mens Puma Basket Shoes | Mens Puma Baylee Future Cat | Mens Puma BMW Sauber F1 | Mens Puma Brazil Edition | Mens Puma Cabana Racer II LX | Mens Puma Caterpillar Shoes | Mens Puma Complete Shoes | Mens Puma Doshu Combat | Mens Puma Drift Cat Shoes | Mens Puma Ducati Shoes | Puma Running Shoes | Puma Running Shoes 2010 | Women’s Puma Baylee Future | Women’s Puma Drift Cat II | Women’s Puma Engine Cat Low | Women’s Puma Espera Shoes | Women’s Puma Ferrari Shoes | Women’s Puma Fluxion II | Women’s Puma Fluxion Shoes | Women’s Puma Fur Shoes | Women’s Puma Future Cat | Women’s Puma Grit Cat III.You can use the least money from so many Puma shoes to pick your out favorite shoes.

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