Hotfile Next In Firing Line As Hollywood Continues Piracy Crackdown

Megaupload is dead. Long live [insert file-hosting service here].

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Complex Original

Image via Complex Original

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The Feds’ recent takedown of Megaupload proved copyright holders could win out against file-hosting services and the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) is now targeting Hotfile for extinction. Court documents reveal that the MPAA has requested a summary judgment—in essence, a court order without a trial—against Hotfile on grounds of enabling piracy and copyright infringement.

Warner Brothers originally filed suit against Hotfile a year ago, but HF countersued. The file-hosting site claims that it‘s protected under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), which provides safe harbor to sites for promptly taking down infringing content. Yet, because the service doesn’t track infringers—as mandated by the DMCA—Hotfile now finds itself in hot water. And oh yeah, Hotfile’s founders admitted starting the site “to compete with Megaupload,” according to court documents.

[via Gizmodo]

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