The now-defunct site is accused of copyright infringement by the Motion Picture Association of America. The MPAA claims it facilitated the pirating of protected materials such as movies.

Now TorrentSpy’s attorney, Ira Rothken, is firing back for the first time since the fine was announced. Rothken tells CNET News the decision is an “abuse of discretion” and little more than a “Hollywood public-relations stunt.” Rothken goes on to say that TorrentSpy is currently bankrupt and couldn’t pay the fine anyhow.

“It’s obvious we are going to appeal,” he stated.

TorrentSpy has insisted all along that because it didn’t actually host files, it shouldn’t be held responsible.

Is it just me, or does this whole thing bring back bad memories of the never-ending Napster battle with the music industry nearly a decade ago? Maybe Lars Ulrich is out there reading this and has something insightful to say.

TorrentSpy Goes On The Defense is a post from: The Inquisitr

The case of MPAA and Valence Media vs TorrentSpy started in 2006 and resulted in TorrentSpy’s owner Justin Bunnell blocking US visitors in 2007 when the court demanded he turn over IP address details of Americans using the site.

At its peak in 2006, TorrentSpy was credited with being the most popular bittorrent tracker, and the site popularized features such as torrent rankings and comment threads at a time when most bittorrent trackers provided a torrent index and nothing more (those features are far more common today).

The judge found that Justin Bunnell and associates must pay the maximum $30,000 for “each of the 3,699 infringements shown.” TorrentSpy attorney Ira Rothken has appealed the order to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco.

(via TorrentFreak/ Wired)

$110 Million Bill For TorrentSpy is a post from: The Inquisitr