Torrents have been used for a number of years now to distribute files over the internet. Some web sites use bittorrent in order to save their bandwidth as bittorrent runs as a P2P (peer-to-peer) network where users share files between each other.

Although there are some legitimate websites, the majority of torrent websites are illegally distributing copyrighted software to thousands of its users costing the industries affected millions. It is only now that something substantial is being done about this to try and prevent such websites in their track.

A federal judge is hitting the shut down TorrentSpy service with a $111 million penalty for facilitating the infringement of thousands of copyrighted works.

U.S. District Judge Florence - Marie Cooper in Los Angeles, ruling in a case brought by the Motion Picture Association of America, said the site operator Justin Bunnell and associates must pay the maximum $30,000 for each of the 3,699 infringements shown. The case, producing what is among the largest fines in copyright history, was bolstered after the MPAA allegedly paid a hacker $15,000 for internal TorrentSpy e-mails and correspondence.

“This substantial money judgment sends a strong message about the illegality of these sites.”
MPAA Chairman Dan Glickman said in a statement.

TorrentSpy, a U.S. based torrent tacking service, shut down in March after it lost its case against the MPAA. TorrentSpy did not lose on the merits, but defaulted after it failed to produce internal records. No U.S. case has squarely addressed the legalities of BitTorrent tracking services, although one case is nearing a resolution.

Judge Cooper ordered TorrentSpy permanently shut down. TorrentSpy attorney Ira Rothken was not immediately available for comment. He has appealed the default order to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco.

With more and more case like this going on all the time, it not going to be long before we see torrent sites closing down of their own accord before such cases come to them.