Spoliation sinks TorrentSpy.

• Author: Swartz, Nikki
• Position: UP FRONT: News, Trends & Analysis - Motion Picture Association of America v. TorrentSpy - Case overview

In a case closely watched by those interested in copyright law and peer-to-peer (P2P) networking, a federal judge handed the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) a victory after ruling that file-sharing firm TorrentSpy had destroyed evidence and provided false evidence in the case.

The MPAA had brought a copyright infringement lawsuit against TorrentSpy, claiming that it had acted illegally by copying and distributing via P2P networks movie and television shows.

Judge Florence-Marie Cooper ruled against the defendants in Columbia Pictures et al. v. Justin Bunnell et al., after finding that TorrentSpy "engaged in widespread and systematic efforts to destroy evidence" and lied under oath about that destruction.

After receiving the complaint, TorrentSpy officials tried to bury their tracks, according to Judge Cooper's ruling. One of the defendants, Wes Parker, gave the go-ahead for a TorrentSpy moderator to create a hidden online forum and move incriminating content there. Administrators also renamed copyrighted works posted in TorrentSpy forums to disguise them. They also failed to provide the MPAA with full IP addresses of forum users, testifying under oath that they were not available even though forum conversations revealed...