Torrent Site Webhost Ordered to Pay “Piracy” Damages

Found on TorrentFreak on Thursday, 25 October 2012
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Having won cases against other torrent site hosters in the past, the anti-piracy group was quick to ask XS Networks to shut SumoTorrent down and hand over the personal details of its owner. XS Networks refused, however, and said it would only respond to a court order.

According to BREIN the Dutch hosting provider was to blame for this outcome, and in response went on to sue the company earlier this year in pursuit of damages. BREIN argued that XS Networks acted negligently when it refused to take the site down when asked to do so.

With this ruling in hand BREIN can ask for the shutdown of any site they deem to be infringing, as well asking for the personal details of the site owner. Providers who refuse to cooperate will make themselves liable for damages caused by the website in question.

Court orders exist for a reason. It's not up to a hoster to decide if a service is illegal or not; and it's especially not the business of the industry to take the law into their own hands. It has been proven countless times that the entertainment industry will abuse any such power and try to take down everything it considers not in sync with their dead business model.