MPAA SUES “CYBERLOCKER” SITE

In its first action against a so-called cyberlocker, the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) on Tuesday accused Hotfile.com of allowing users to “store” pirated movies and TV shows on its site, which can then be downloaded by other users. “In less than two years, Hotfile has become one of the 100 most trafficked sites in the world,” the MPAA said in a statement. “Every day it is responsible for the theft of thousands of MPAA member companies’ movies and TV shows — including movies still playing in theaters — many of which are stolen repeatedly, thousands of times a day, every single day.” The lawsuit said that Hotfile’s cyberlocker encourages copyright infringement “on a staggering scale,” while at the same time charging membership fees whose profits go to the operators, who pay nothing to the studios. While Hotfile does not disclose the content in its cyberlockers, other third-party sites do. Hotfile has not responded to the MPAA suit, but on its site it posts detailed instructions on how copyright owners may file a take-down notice. When Hotfile learns “that copyright rights are infringed, it will remove or disable access to infringing materials as soon as possible,” it says.