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fricnjay
02-09-2011, 09:35 PM
For the first time, a group of Hollywood film studios has filed a copyright lawsuit against a cyberlocker.

File-hosting service Hotfile has made a business out of offering a stash box for people to store their pirated movies, the Motion Picture Association of America claims in its suit against Hotfile.

File-hosting service Hotfile has made a business out of offering a stash box for people to store their pirated movies, the Motion Picture Association of America claims in its suit against Hotfile.

"In less than two years, Hotfile has become one of the 100 most trafficked sites in the world," the MPAA said in a press release issued today. "That is a direct result of the massive digital theft that Hotfile promotes."

According to the MPAA, Hotfile is operated by Florida resident Anton Titov, who was not immediately available for comment.

A growing number of digital-locker services have come under fire lately by copyright owners. Liberty Media Holdings, an adult-film studio, last month also filed a copyright suit against Hotfile. On the music side, EMI, the smallest of the four record labels, is suing MP3tunes.com, a digital locker specializing in the storage of songs.

The cyberlockers are an alternative to BitTorrent file-sharing services and are growing in popularity. With these services, there's no need to download any software. A user logs on to a locker service and watches whatever films or TV shows are stored there.

The MPAA was careful to make the distinction that not all cyberlockers are unlawful. That's important because the Digital Millennium Copyright Act's safe harbor protects Internet service providers as long as they obey some rules. The trade group for the top film studios said Hotfile doesn't come close to qualifying for safe harbor protection.

The service "openly discourages use of its system for personal storage," the MPAA wrote. "Hotfile's business model encourages...users to upload files containing illegal copies of motion pictures and TV shows to its servers and to third-party sites."

According to the MPAA's suit, Hotfile is no free-information advocate. This is straight-up piracy for profit, the trade group said. Hotfile collects revenues by charging a monthly fee.
Correction 2:17 p.m. PT: This story incorrectly identified the company that filed a copyright complaint against Hotfile last month. Liberty Media Holdings is the correct name.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-31001_3-20...#ixzz1DRyNkqE0

Teh One Who Knocks
02-09-2011, 09:44 PM
Maybe Hollywood should look at themselves as to the reason people pirate films :roll:

Hal-9000
02-09-2011, 10:07 PM
great..I just bought 6 months worth of HF

fricnjay
02-09-2011, 10:11 PM
I doubt it shuts down anytime soon, this thing will go on forever. :roll:

Hal-9000
02-09-2011, 10:15 PM
oh and I should of added...I only download jpg's and free stuff that's already available on the internet, never movies or that illegal stuff

Teh One Who Knocks
02-09-2011, 10:19 PM
Wanna know (one of the reasons) why people pirate stuff? Late last year it was either 3 or 4 of the major Hollywood studios forced Netflix and Redbox into agreeing not to rent their new releases for the first 30 days after they are available on DVD. The studios were blaming cheap rental services for the decline in their revenues. The studios say that by not allowing people to rent those films for the first 30 days, it will encourage people to go out and buy the DVD.

There's some great logic their for ya :roll:

Hal-9000
02-09-2011, 10:29 PM
Reason 2...

Remember last year when I mentioned that Avatar was playing at our Imax theater? My coworker went and the tickets were 22 dollars each.I haven't been to a movie for awhile but I think our regular prices are 15 dollars/seat.

Sooooo...you're a married couple and want to see a movie.I'll lowball each figure here:

1.babysitter - 20 dollars
2.parking - 10 dollars
3.two tickets - 30 dollars
4.two drinks and something to eat - 20 dollars

80 dollars for 2.3 hours out and you end up seeing a stinker like Burlesque :lol: :lol:

piracy>theater

Arkady Renko
02-09-2011, 10:54 PM
Reason 2...

Remember last year when I mentioned that Avatar was playing at our Imax theater? My coworker went and the tickets were 22 dollars each.I haven't been to a movie for awhile but I think our regular prices are 15 dollars/seat.

Sooooo...you're a married couple and want to see a movie.I'll lowball each figure here:

1.babysitter - 20 dollars
2.parking - 10 dollars
3.two tickets - 30 dollars
4.two drinks and something to eat - 20 dollars

80 dollars for 2.3 hours out and you end up seeing a stinker like Burlesque :lol: :lol:

piracy>theater

you know of a trustworthy babysitter who charges 20 bucks for an entire evening? Hook me up, please...as for the rest, I couldn't agree more...

Hal-9000
02-09-2011, 11:09 PM
babysitter charges me 20 bucks...and I don't have kids :lol:


different services tho and different subject matter...


ok, I'm going now......

Arkady Renko
02-10-2011, 10:38 AM
if she's discreet and doesn't have any STD's, that's perfectly legitimate for a single man.