MPAA files lawsuits based on confiscated P2P server logs

August 27, 2005

When the MPAA went about shutting down BitTorrent websites since the end of last year, they collected server logs which potentially gave them a list of IP addresses for files being hosted to certain file transfers. For example, when LokiTorrent was shutdown, the Texas court ordered to have the website's server logs handed over to the MPAA.

Now, the
MPAA has filed a new round of 286 lawsuits, but for the first time these lawsuits have been filed based on collected server logs from shut down file sharing websites. The MPAA is using this method as another way to warn movie sharing consumers that they could be next. Like the RIAA, the MPAA will obtain the user's personal contact details though the court based on the IP addresses they have collected from the logs, like what the RIAA does when they collect IP addresses based on monitoring the networks.

The creator of BitTorrent, Bram Cohen has previously warned that BitTorrent is not intended for sharing copyrighted material illegally, since the technology was not designed to hide the identity of those who use it. Thanks to DamnedIfIknow for using our news submit to send in the following news quote:

Hollywood studios filed a new round of lawsuits against file swappers on Thursday, for the first time using peer-to-peer companies" own data to track down individuals accused of trading movies online.

The Motion Picture Association of America said it filed 286 lawsuits against people around the United States based on information acquired from file-trading sites shut down earlier in the year. Most of those sites were hubs connecting people using the BitTorrent technology, a peer-to-peer application designed for speeding downloads of large files.

BitTorrent creator Bram Cohen has warned in the past that using his technology to distribute material illegally is a "dumb idea," because the file-swapping tool is not designed to hide the identity of anyone using it.

The full article can be read here.

It would be interesting to see how the MPAA decided on
who to sue based on the logs, since the logs would likely carry a combination of who was hosting what files, file transfers (which file fragments went to which IP), connection times, etc. Also, as it was many months back that many of these BitTorrent sites were shut down, there may be users who will get a lawsuit for something they did between 6 and 9 months back or further back depending on how far the logs go. This means that if users did decide to stop sharing content, even several months back, they may still get sued several months down the line as a result of old BitTorrent (or other) logs the MPAA have collected in the past.

DamnedIfIknow wrote "Damn, run for the hills people!!". Feel free to discuss about file sharing and its legal issues on our Music Download, Peer to Peer (P2P) & Legal Issues Forum.

Source: c|net News - Digital Media