For a torrent site, TorrentGalaxy is still a relative newcomer. The site is barely seven years of age while others have been around for over two decades.

In that timespan, however, TorrentGalaxy secured a key place in the torrent ecosystem. Not only does it serve millions of users directly, its ‘release’ groups also distribute torrents across other popular sites, including The Pirate Bay and 1337x.

This role has been challenged over the past few days. On Sunday, the site replaced its usual appearance with a cryptic message, “TGX Forever” , without any further explanation. Meanwhile, the site’s health status page was replaced by an even more ominous note: “Executing End-Program.exe…,” it read.

Without a word from the site’s operators or moderators, users were left guessing. Was this just a temporary ‘outage’, similar to the one a few weeks earlier , or were there serious issues behind the scenes?

TorrentGalaxy Returns

Today, after three days, the site reappeared in its usual form, as if nothing ever happened. TorrentGalaxy.to works just fine, and the same is true for the status page, which makes no mention of the recent drama.

In addition to the websites, the TGx upload bots have also resumed their normal operation, it seems. The TGxGoodies account on 1337x uploaded more than a dozen new torrents in the past hour.

Over the past days, we have received multiple reports citing unconfirmed “moderators” who claimed that the site had indeed shut down. These conclusions were premature, it seems.

Why?

The main question is why TorrentGalaxy’s operators have spooked users. It’s clear that they fancy this ‘mystery’ approach, but they wouldn’t take the site offline without a reason either.

Legal issues and hosting problems are often a reason for outages, but we have seen no signs of either. Maintenance or other technical problems could also offer an explanation. For example, it appears that one of TorrentGalaxy’s SSL certificates expired on August 31, after which it went offline.

Whatever the reason, the next time the site puts up a “TGx Forever” banner, it’s likely not the end of the site. Until it is, of course.

From: TF , for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.

For a torrent site, TorrentGalaxy is still a relative newcomer. The site is barely seven years of age while others have been around for over two decades.

In that timespan, however, TorrentGalaxy secured a key place in the torrent ecosystem. Not only does it serve millions of users directly, its ‘release’ groups also distribute torrents across other popular sites, including The Pirate Bay and 1337x.

This role has been challenged over the past few days. On Sunday, the site replaced its usual appearance with a cryptic message, “TGX Forever” , without any further explanation. Meanwhile, the site’s health status page was replaced by an even more ominous note: “Executing End-Program.exe…,” it read.

Without a word from the site’s operators or moderators, users were left guessing. Was this just a temporary ‘outage’, similar to the one a few weeks earlier , or were there serious issues behind the scenes?

TorrentGalaxy Returns

Today, after three days, the site reappeared in its usual form, as if nothing ever happened. TorrentGalaxy.to works just fine, and the same is true for the status page, which makes no mention of the recent drama.

In addition to the websites, the TGx upload bots have also resumed their normal operation, it seems. The TGxGoodies account on 1337x uploaded more than a dozen new torrents in the past hour.

Over the past days, we have received multiple reports citing unconfirmed “moderators” who claimed that the site had indeed shut down. These conclusions were premature, it seems.

Why?

The main question is why TorrentGalaxy’s operators have spooked users. It’s clear that they fancy this ‘mystery’ approach, but they wouldn’t take the site offline without a reason either.

Legal issues and hosting problems are often a reason for outages, but we have seen no signs of either. Maintenance or other technical problems could also offer an explanation. For example, it appears that one of TorrentGalaxy’s SSL certificates expired on August 31, after which it went offline.

Whatever the reason, the next time the site puts up a “TGx Forever” banner, it’s likely not the end of the site. Until it is, of course.

From: TF , for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.

For a torrent site, TorrentGalaxy is still a relative newcomer. The site is barely seven years of age while others have been around for over two decades.

In that timespan, however, TorrentGalaxy secured a key place in the torrent ecosystem. Not only does it serve millions of users directly, its ‘release’ groups also distribute torrents across other popular sites, including The Pirate Bay and 1337x.

This role has been challenged over the past few days. On Sunday, the site replaced its usual appearance with a cryptic message, “TGX Forever” , without any further explanation. Meanwhile, the site’s health status page was replaced by an even more ominous note: “Executing End-Program.exe…,” it read.

Without a word from the site’s operators or moderators, users were left guessing. Was this just a temporary ‘outage’, similar to the one a few weeks earlier , or were there serious issues behind the scenes?

TorrentGalaxy Returns

Today, after three days, the site reappeared in its usual form, as if nothing ever happened. TorrentGalaxy.to works just fine, and the same is true for the status page, which makes no mention of the recent drama.

In addition to the websites, the TGx upload bots have also resumed their normal operation, it seems. The TGxGoodies account on 1337x uploaded more than a dozen new torrents in the past hour.

Over the past days, we have received multiple reports citing unconfirmed “moderators” who claimed that the site had indeed shut down. These conclusions were premature, it seems.

Why?

The main question is why TorrentGalaxy’s operators have spooked users. It’s clear that they fancy this ‘mystery’ approach, but they wouldn’t take the site offline without a reason either.

Legal issues and hosting problems are often a reason for outages, but we have seen no signs of either. Maintenance or other technical problems could also offer an explanation. For example, it appears that one of TorrentGalaxy’s SSL certificates expired on August 31, after which it went offline.

Whatever the reason, the next time the site puts up a “TGx Forever” banner, it’s likely not the end of the site. Until it is, of course.

From: TF , for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.

Pirate IPTV providers have a tendency to come and go, and some struggle to provide consistently high-quality streams.

Through reliability, stability and quality, subscribers were attracted to the SmoothStreams brand; the availability of masses of unlicensed content was obviously the main reason to stay.

SmoothStreams had been under investigation since 2018 and in the summer of 2022, major entertainment industry companies were at Canada’s Federal Court aiming to bring it all crashing down.

After filing a complaint mid-June, by the end of the month Bell Media, Rogers Media, Columbia Pictures, Disney Enterprises, Paramount Pictures, Universal City Studios, Universal City Studios Productions, and Warner Bros., had the permission they needed.

An interim order containing an interim injunction, required SmoothStreams’ alleged operators, Marshall Macciacchera and Antonio Macciacchera, to shut down the entire SmoothStreams system and hand control of its infrastructure to an independent supervising solicitor (ISS).

The order enjoined the men from dissipating, transferring, or concealing assets, and required them to authorize banks and other financial entities to disclose details of their assets. Court authorization, which allowed the plaintiffs to search premises linked to Marshall and Antonio and seize evidence – without having to give any prior warning – arrived courtesy of a controversial Anton Piller order.

Details of the operation , which spanned the homes of the defendants and other locations, appear in our earlier coverage .

Yet despite those events taking place over two years ago, the lawsuit against Marshall and Antonio Macciacchera (dba SmoothStreams), plus companies allegedly under one or the other’s control – Arm Hosting Inc., Star Hosting Limited, and Roma Works Limited – has thus far focused on the alleged conduct of the defendants during the raids, not necessarily the alleged conduct that led to the raid taking place.

Contempt of Court (Antonio): Serious and Expensive

As reported late 2023 , after failing in various ways to comply with the Court’s orders in 2022, both defendants faced the prospect of being held in contempt.

By “steadfastly refusing” to permit the Independent Supervising Solicitor (ISS) to enter his home and execute the order, and after he “deliberately deprived the plaintiffs of the element of surprise,” on December 13, 2023, Antonio Macciacchera was found in contempt of court and ordered to pay the plaintiffs over US$70,800 in legal fees and other costs.

Even before this decision, the costs of defending the lawsuit in general were clearly taking their toll. Precise figures are unknown but even if close to the costs being incurred by the plaintiffs, legal bills of hundreds of thousands of dollars are a massive burden for most defendants. For the plaintiffs, still relatively small change, when all things are considered.

Marshall Macciacchera, who is said to have controlled SmoothStreams support companies Arm Hosting Inc., Star Hosting Limited (Hong Kong), and Roma Works Limited (Hong Kong), faced allegations that he failed to comply with the terms of the order which contained, among other things, the Anton Piller order and a range of injunctive relief.

An order handed down by Justice Rochester at the Federal Court in Ontario last month, made available to the public in the last few days, paints a grim picture of what has become a slow-motion nightmare for all parties, and a potentially ruinous money pit for the defendants.

Contempt of Court (Marshall): Serious and Horrendously Expensive

Following the execution of the interim order in 2022, the plaintiffs sought an order charging Marshall Macciacchera, and three of the corporate defendants (Arm Hosting Inc., Star Hosting Limited, and Roma Works Limited) with contempt for refusing to comply with many aspects of the order.

Justice Rochester describes Marshall as the president of Arm Hosting Inc. and the sole director of the other companies [corporate defendants]. In 2022, Justice Lafrenière concluded that Marshall and the corporate defendants had, on a prima facie basis, failed to comply with the order by “deliberately failing to make the required financial disclosures, refusing to answer numerous questions regarding their assets, various login credentials, and certain unauthorized streaming services.”

Marshall and the corporate defendants were charged and a contempt hearing took place in April 2023 before Justice Rochester, with further submissions filed up until January 2024.

Defendants Alleged Bias

The plaintiffs alleged that the defendants “lied, concealed and attempted to conceal evidence” and all remained in breach.

The defendants appear to have built their defense on the alleged misconduct of the independent supervising solicitor; searches that “robbed” Marshall of his dignity, allegations that the ISS is not independent but is biased and therefore lacks integrity, met similar claims including doubts over expert evidence, even suggestions that the Court may not be impartial.

These allegations were examined in detail, but it’s clear from the order they were poorly received.

“The Charged Defendants have failed to call into question ISS Drapeau’s independence and integrity. There is no indication that anything untoward occurred, despite the Charged Defendants attempts to make it appear that way,” Justice Rochester’s order reads.

“Allegations of bias or a lack of independence against a member of the legal profession acting as an independent supervising solicitor should not be made lightly. Such allegations strike at the very core of the duties incumbent on an ISS. In the present case, I consider that not only were they made lightly, considerable Court time was used seeking to call into question the integrity of ISS Drapeau when there was no foundation for doing so.”

Allegations that the Court acted with “partiality, unfairness, and in essence, bias,” faired no better. Justice Rochester notes that the defendants provided “no cogent evidence” and relied on “bald allegations” instead.

Breaches of the Interim Order

Justice Rochester’s 80-page order is detailed; in respect of the details surrounding the execution of the order in 2022, oftentimes excruciatingly so for the defense. The full order is linked below and the Judge’s key findings follow:

• Marshall failed to disclose the required technical information associated with SSTV Services
• Defendants failed to provide credentials for the required accounts, domains, subdomains and servers
• Marshall provided login credentials for the registrar account of armhosting.ca
• Marshall did not provide credentials for live247.tv or credentials for the Live247 streaming server
• Court satisfied that Marshall is able to access the required credentials to comply with the order
• Marshall intentionally failed to disclose information relating to the two Hong Kong companies
• Star Hosting Limited and Roma Works Limited intentionally failed to comply
• Marshall intentionally failed to disclose assets, accounts, and details of overseas cryptocurrency
• Marshall intentionally failed to disclose his computer password

“Having found that the requisite elements of contempt have been established beyond a reasonable doubt, I nevertheless retain a discretion to find the Charged Defendants not guilty of contempt,” Justice Rochester notes.

“I am not satisfied that a finding of guilt would be an injustice in the present case.”

Costs and Penalties

Having found the defendants guilty of contempt of the interim order, the next stage is a hearing to determine the appropriate penalty. But before that takes place, the issue of the plaintiff’s costs needed to be addressed.

“The Plaintiffs seek an all-inclusive lump sum in the amount of $375,312.93 [~US$277,000], payable forthwith, comprised of (i) 50% of their total legal fees incurred for the contempt proceedings; and (ii) their reasonable disbursements,” the order reads.

When deciding the actual amount to be awarded, many factors are considered, including the conduct of the parties involved. The defendants argued they should pay no costs given the manner in which the interim order was executed. Justice Rochester’s order delivers the bad news in a paragraph (item 6).

The Charged Defendants are, jointly and severally, liable to the Plaintiffs for costs, payable forthwith, in a lump sum amount of $375,312.93, which is inclusive of legal fees, disbursements, and taxes thereon.

With costs of US$277,000 for contempt alone and the “appropriate penalty” yet to be decided, how this case continues to its ultimate conclusion is currently unknown.

SmoothStreams reportedly made around US$1.1 million per year, which sounds like a lot, at least until the unknown costs of the next year, or years, are factored in.

Justice Rochester’s order is available here (pdf)

From: TF , for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.

Pirate IPTV providers have a tendency to come and go, and some struggle to provide consistently high-quality streams.

Through reliability, stability and quality, subscribers were attracted to the SmoothStreams brand; the availability of masses of unlicensed content was obviously the main reason to stay.

SmoothStreams had been under investigation since 2018 and in the summer of 2022, major entertainment industry companies were at Canada’s Federal Court aiming to bring it all crashing down.

After filing a complaint mid-June, by the end of the month Bell Media, Rogers Media, Columbia Pictures, Disney Enterprises, Paramount Pictures, Universal City Studios, Universal City Studios Productions, and Warner Bros., had the permission they needed.

An interim order containing an interim injunction, required SmoothStreams’ alleged operators, Marshall Macciacchera and Antonio Macciacchera, to shut down the entire SmoothStreams system and hand control of its infrastructure to an independent supervising solicitor (ISS).

The order enjoined the men from dissipating, transferring, or concealing assets, and required them to authorize banks and other financial entities to disclose details of their assets. Court authorization, which allowed the plaintiffs to search premises linked to Marshall and Antonio and seize evidence – without having to give any prior warning – arrived courtesy of a controversial Anton Piller order.

Details of the operation , which spanned the homes of the defendants and other locations, appear in our earlier coverage .

Yet despite those events taking place over two years ago, the lawsuit against Marshall and Antonio Macciacchera (dba SmoothStreams), plus companies allegedly under one or the other’s control – Arm Hosting Inc., Star Hosting Limited, and Roma Works Limited – has thus far focused on the alleged conduct of the defendants during the raids, not necessarily the alleged conduct that led to the raid taking place.

Contempt of Court (Antonio): Serious and Expensive

As reported late 2023 , after failing in various ways to comply with the Court’s orders in 2022, both defendants faced the prospect of being held in contempt.

By “steadfastly refusing” to permit the Independent Supervising Solicitor (ISS) to enter his home and execute the order, and after he “deliberately deprived the plaintiffs of the element of surprise,” on December 13, 2023, Antonio Macciacchera was found in contempt of court and ordered to pay the plaintiffs over US$70,800 in legal fees and other costs.

Even before this decision, the costs of defending the lawsuit in general were clearly taking their toll. Precise figures are unknown but even if close to the costs being incurred by the plaintiffs, legal bills of hundreds of thousands of dollars are a massive burden for most defendants. For the plaintiffs, still relatively small change, when all things are considered.

Marshall Macciacchera, who is said to have controlled SmoothStreams support companies Arm Hosting Inc., Star Hosting Limited (Hong Kong), and Roma Works Limited (Hong Kong), faced allegations that he failed to comply with the terms of the order which contained, among other things, the Anton Piller order and a range of injunctive relief.

An order handed down by Justice Rochester at the Federal Court in Ontario last month, made available to the public in the last few days, paints a grim picture of what has become a slow-motion nightmare for all parties, and a potentially ruinous money pit for the defendants.

Contempt of Court (Marshall): Serious and Horrendously Expensive

Following the execution of the interim order in 2022, the plaintiffs sought an order charging Marshall Macciacchera, and three of the corporate defendants (Arm Hosting Inc., Star Hosting Limited, and Roma Works Limited) with contempt for refusing to comply with many aspects of the order.

Justice Rochester describes Marshall as the president of Arm Hosting Inc. and the sole director of the other companies [corporate defendants]. In 2022, Justice Lafrenière concluded that Marshall and the corporate defendants had, on a prima facie basis, failed to comply with the order by “deliberately failing to make the required financial disclosures, refusing to answer numerous questions regarding their assets, various login credentials, and certain unauthorized streaming services.”

Marshall and the corporate defendants were charged and a contempt hearing took place in April 2023 before Justice Rochester, with further submissions filed up until January 2024.

Defendants Alleged Bias

The plaintiffs alleged that the defendants “lied, concealed and attempted to conceal evidence” and all remained in breach.

The defendants appear to have built their defense on the alleged misconduct of the independent supervising solicitor; searches that “robbed” Marshall of his dignity, allegations that the ISS is not independent but is biased and therefore lacks integrity, met similar claims including doubts over expert evidence, even suggestions that the Court may not be impartial.

These allegations were examined in detail, but it’s clear from the order they were poorly received.

“The Charged Defendants have failed to call into question ISS Drapeau’s independence and integrity. There is no indication that anything untoward occurred, despite the Charged Defendants attempts to make it appear that way,” Justice Rochester’s order reads.

“Allegations of bias or a lack of independence against a member of the legal profession acting as an independent supervising solicitor should not be made lightly. Such allegations strike at the very core of the duties incumbent on an ISS. In the present case, I consider that not only were they made lightly, considerable Court time was used seeking to call into question the integrity of ISS Drapeau when there was no foundation for doing so.”

Allegations that the Court acted with “partiality, unfairness, and in essence, bias,” faired no better. Justice Rochester notes that the defendants provided “no cogent evidence” and relied on “bald allegations” instead.

Breaches of the Interim Order

Justice Rochester’s 80-page order is detailed; in respect of the details surrounding the execution of the order in 2022, oftentimes excruciatingly so for the defense. The full order is linked below and the Judge’s key findings follow:

• Marshall failed to disclose the required technical information associated with SSTV Services
• Defendants failed to provide credentials for the required accounts, domains, subdomains and servers
• Marshall provided login credentials for the registrar account of armhosting.ca
• Marshall did not provide credentials for live247.tv or credentials for the Live247 streaming server
• Court satisfied that Marshall is able to access the required credentials to comply with the order
• Marshall intentionally failed to disclose information relating to the two Hong Kong companies
• Star Hosting Limited and Roma Works Limited intentionally failed to comply
• Marshall intentionally failed to disclose assets, accounts, and details of overseas cryptocurrency
• Marshall intentionally failed to disclose his computer password

“Having found that the requisite elements of contempt have been established beyond a reasonable doubt, I nevertheless retain a discretion to find the Charged Defendants not guilty of contempt,” Justice Rochester notes.

“I am not satisfied that a finding of guilt would be an injustice in the present case.”

Costs and Penalties

Having found the defendants guilty of contempt of the interim order, the next stage is a hearing to determine the appropriate penalty. But before that takes place, the issue of the plaintiff’s costs needed to be addressed.

“The Plaintiffs seek an all-inclusive lump sum in the amount of $375,312.93 [~US$277,000], payable forthwith, comprised of (i) 50% of their total legal fees incurred for the contempt proceedings; and (ii) their reasonable disbursements,” the order reads.

When deciding the actual amount to be awarded, many factors are considered, including the conduct of the parties involved. The defendants argued they should pay no costs given the manner in which the interim order was executed. Justice Rochester’s order delivers the bad news in a paragraph (item 6).

The Charged Defendants are, jointly and severally, liable to the Plaintiffs for costs, payable forthwith, in a lump sum amount of $375,312.93, which is inclusive of legal fees, disbursements, and taxes thereon.

With costs of US$277,000 for contempt alone and the “appropriate penalty” yet to be decided, how this case continues to its ultimate conclusion is currently unknown.

SmoothStreams reportedly made around US$1.1 million per year, which sounds like a lot, at least until the unknown costs of the next year, or years, are factored in.

Justice Rochester’s order is available here (pdf)

From: TF , for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.

Pirate IPTV providers have a tendency to come and go, and some struggle to provide consistently high-quality streams.

Through reliability, stability and quality, subscribers were attracted to the SmoothStreams brand; the availability of masses of unlicensed content was obviously the main reason to stay.

SmoothStreams had been under investigation since 2018 and in the summer of 2022, major entertainment industry companies were at Canada’s Federal Court aiming to bring it all crashing down.

After filing a complaint mid-June, by the end of the month Bell Media, Rogers Media, Columbia Pictures, Disney Enterprises, Paramount Pictures, Universal City Studios, Universal City Studios Productions, and Warner Bros., had the permission they needed.

An interim order containing an interim injunction, required SmoothStreams’ alleged operators, Marshall Macciacchera and Antonio Macciacchera, to shut down the entire SmoothStreams system and hand control of its infrastructure to an independent supervising solicitor (ISS).

The order enjoined the men from dissipating, transferring, or concealing assets, and required them to authorize banks and other financial entities to disclose details of their assets. Court authorization, which allowed the plaintiffs to search premises linked to Marshall and Antonio and seize evidence – without having to give any prior warning – arrived courtesy of a controversial Anton Piller order.

Details of the operation , which spanned the homes of the defendants and other locations, appear in our earlier coverage .

Yet despite those events taking place over two years ago, the lawsuit against Marshall and Antonio Macciacchera (dba SmoothStreams), plus companies allegedly under one or the other’s control – Arm Hosting Inc., Star Hosting Limited, and Roma Works Limited – has thus far focused on the alleged conduct of the defendants during the raids, not necessarily the alleged conduct that led to the raid taking place.

Contempt of Court (Antonio): Serious and Expensive

As reported late 2023 , after failing in various ways to comply with the Court’s orders in 2022, both defendants faced the prospect of being held in contempt.

By “steadfastly refusing” to permit the Independent Supervising Solicitor (ISS) to enter his home and execute the order, and after he “deliberately deprived the plaintiffs of the element of surprise,” on December 13, 2023, Antonio Macciacchera was found in contempt of court and ordered to pay the plaintiffs over US$70,800 in legal fees and other costs.

Even before this decision, the costs of defending the lawsuit in general were clearly taking their toll. Precise figures are unknown but even if close to the costs being incurred by the plaintiffs, legal bills of hundreds of thousands of dollars are a massive burden for most defendants. For the plaintiffs, still relatively small change, when all things are considered.

Marshall Macciacchera, who is said to have controlled SmoothStreams support companies Arm Hosting Inc., Star Hosting Limited (Hong Kong), and Roma Works Limited (Hong Kong), faced allegations that he failed to comply with the terms of the order which contained, among other things, the Anton Piller order and a range of injunctive relief.

An order handed down by Justice Rochester at the Federal Court in Ontario last month, made available to the public in the last few days, paints a grim picture of what has become a slow-motion nightmare for all parties, and a potentially ruinous money pit for the defendants.

Contempt of Court (Marshall): Serious and Horrendously Expensive

Following the execution of the interim order in 2022, the plaintiffs sought an order charging Marshall Macciacchera, and three of the corporate defendants (Arm Hosting Inc., Star Hosting Limited, and Roma Works Limited) with contempt for refusing to comply with many aspects of the order.

Justice Rochester describes Marshall as the president of Arm Hosting Inc. and the sole director of the other companies [corporate defendants]. In 2022, Justice Lafrenière concluded that Marshall and the corporate defendants had, on a prima facie basis, failed to comply with the order by “deliberately failing to make the required financial disclosures, refusing to answer numerous questions regarding their assets, various login credentials, and certain unauthorized streaming services.”

Marshall and the corporate defendants were charged and a contempt hearing took place in April 2023 before Justice Rochester, with further submissions filed up until January 2024.

Defendants Alleged Bias

The plaintiffs alleged that the defendants “lied, concealed and attempted to conceal evidence” and all remained in breach.

The defendants appear to have built their defense on the alleged misconduct of the independent supervising solicitor; searches that “robbed” Marshall of his dignity, allegations that the ISS is not independent but is biased and therefore lacks integrity, met similar claims including doubts over expert evidence, even suggestions that the Court may not be impartial.

These allegations were examined in detail, but it’s clear from the order they were poorly received.

“The Charged Defendants have failed to call into question ISS Drapeau’s independence and integrity. There is no indication that anything untoward occurred, despite the Charged Defendants attempts to make it appear that way,” Justice Rochester’s order reads.

“Allegations of bias or a lack of independence against a member of the legal profession acting as an independent supervising solicitor should not be made lightly. Such allegations strike at the very core of the duties incumbent on an ISS. In the present case, I consider that not only were they made lightly, considerable Court time was used seeking to call into question the integrity of ISS Drapeau when there was no foundation for doing so.”

Allegations that the Court acted with “partiality, unfairness, and in essence, bias,” faired no better. Justice Rochester notes that the defendants provided “no cogent evidence” and relied on “bald allegations” instead.

Breaches of the Interim Order

Justice Rochester’s 80-page order is detailed; in respect of the details surrounding the execution of the order in 2022, oftentimes excruciatingly so for the defense. The full order is linked below and the Judge’s key findings follow:

• Marshall failed to disclose the required technical information associated with SSTV Services
• Defendants failed to provide credentials for the required accounts, domains, subdomains and servers
• Marshall provided login credentials for the registrar account of armhosting.ca
• Marshall did not provide credentials for live247.tv or credentials for the Live247 streaming server
• Court satisfied that Marshall is able to access the required credentials to comply with the order
• Marshall intentionally failed to disclose information relating to the two Hong Kong companies
• Star Hosting Limited and Roma Works Limited intentionally failed to comply
• Marshall intentionally failed to disclose assets, accounts, and details of overseas cryptocurrency
• Marshall intentionally failed to disclose his computer password

“Having found that the requisite elements of contempt have been established beyond a reasonable doubt, I nevertheless retain a discretion to find the Charged Defendants not guilty of contempt,” Justice Rochester notes.

“I am not satisfied that a finding of guilt would be an injustice in the present case.”

Costs and Penalties

Having found the defendants guilty of contempt of the interim order, the next stage is a hearing to determine the appropriate penalty. But before that takes place, the issue of the plaintiff’s costs needed to be addressed.

“The Plaintiffs seek an all-inclusive lump sum in the amount of $375,312.93 [~US$277,000], payable forthwith, comprised of (i) 50% of their total legal fees incurred for the contempt proceedings; and (ii) their reasonable disbursements,” the order reads.

When deciding the actual amount to be awarded, many factors are considered, including the conduct of the parties involved. The defendants argued they should pay no costs given the manner in which the interim order was executed. Justice Rochester’s order delivers the bad news in a paragraph (item 6).

The Charged Defendants are, jointly and severally, liable to the Plaintiffs for costs, payable forthwith, in a lump sum amount of $375,312.93, which is inclusive of legal fees, disbursements, and taxes thereon.

With costs of US$277,000 for contempt alone and the “appropriate penalty” yet to be decided, how this case continues to its ultimate conclusion is currently unknown.

SmoothStreams reportedly made around US$1.1 million per year, which sounds like a lot, at least until the unknown costs of the next year, or years, are factored in.

Justice Rochester’s order is available here (pdf)

From: TF , for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.

Manga and anime have become increasingly popular in recent years. These formats originate in Japan, but they are now popular all over the world .

Available in static and animated form, ‘hentai’ describes the adult versions of the above. With a growing audience of many millions of fans, hentai is also benefiting from the boom.

As with any type of media, not all consumers are paying for access. Anime and manga piracy is more prevalent than music piracy today, and hentai is no exception. The nHentai.net website, for example, had nearly 80 million visits in June this year.

Copyright holders are not happy with the unauthorized distribution of their content. Many take countermeasures, which often involves sending DMCA takedown notices to the ‘pirate’ platforms, but not all recipients respond by taking content offline.

Rightsholder Targets nHentai

California company PCR Distributing is one of the affected copyright holders. The company does business under various brands, including J18 and JAST USA, and sees nHentai as a major threat to its operation.

PCR obtained a DMCA subpoena a few weeks ago, requiring Cloudflare to unmask the people behind the site, which allegedly failed to process takedown notices. As is frequently the case, a court clerk swiftly granted the subpoena, requiring Cloudflare to comply. In this case, however, that wasn’t straightforward.

A few days after the DMCA subpoena was issued, lawyers representing nHentai slammed on the brakes. They argued that no personal data should be disclosed as the subpoena should have never been granted .

At the time of writing, the matter is still pending in court. NHentai’s opposition is well argued and certainly has a chance of success. However, even if the subpoena is quashed, nHentai’s legal issues are far from over, as PCR has just filed a full-blown copyright infringement lawsuit.

PCR Sues nHentai for Copyright Infringement

In a complaint filed last Friday at a California federal court, PCR describes nHentai as a popular ‘pirate’ site with dozens of millions of visitors. The site shares copyrighted material without permission, taken from digital or physical books, while the operators don’t allow users to upload content.

“NHentai.net is a widely visited platform for adult manga and doujinshi content, attracting over 79,000,000 visits per month,” the complaint reads.

“The website hosts a vast collection of hentai works, including commercially produced content, much of which, based on information and belief, is shared without proper authorization from the owners.”

The lawsuit emphasizes that nHentai doesn’t rely on user-generated content. Those types of services can typically rely on a safe harbor under the DMCA. In this case, however, nHentai can’t claim this protection, PCR argues.

“nHentai is not a user-generated content website. There is no user upload capability. Defendants are not ‘service providers,’ are not engaged in the storage of content at the direction of users, and thus are not entitled to any of the safe harbors afforded under Section 512 of the [DMCA].”

Failed Settlement Attempt

The complaint doesn’t identify the owners of nHentai, who have yet to be named. However, PCR and nHentai are certainly no strangers. Last October, attorneys for the alleged pirate site offered to confidentially settle all copyright infringement claims with PCR.

The proposed terms of the agreement are unknown, but PCR declined and insisted that nHentai should take down pirated copies of their works.

“In October 2023, the nHentai Defendants […] attempted to have PCR enter into a ‘HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL SETTLEMENT AND RELEASE AGREEMENT’ to settle claims, including copyright infringement, between the Plaintiffs and Defendants in this case. PCR declined the agreement and further requested the removal of its works from nHentai.”

Despite these efforts, nHentai allegedly failed to remove any of the infringing works in response to PCR’s takedown requests.

“Plaintiff or its agents sent DMCA compliant takedown notices identifying infringing works on Defendants’ website to the email address provided for reporting abuse. Additional DMCA-complaint takedown notices were sent to nHentai’s known service providers. However, 100% of the reported URLs remain active.”

Damages and a Broad Injunction

PCR accuses nHentai of various forms of copyright infringement and demands damages as compensation. In addition, the company seeks a broad injunction to effectively shut down the site.

The injunction should prohibit the site’s operator from infringing the copyrights of PCR’s works going forward and require the registrar of nHentai.net to transfer the domain to PCR.

If a domain transfer isn’t granted, the proposed injunction requires third-party intermediaries to block the domain in the United States. That would apply to search engines, hosting providers, ISPs, domain name registrars, domain name registries, and other service or software providers.

At the time of writing, nHentai has yet to comment on or respond to the complaint. However, given the site’s previous opposition to the DMCA subpoena request, we expect that it will file a response in due course.

—

A copy of PCR Distributing’s complaint, filed at the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, is available here (pdf)

From: TF , for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.

Manga and anime have become increasingly popular in recent years. These formats originate in Japan, but they are now popular all over the world .

Available in static and animated form, ‘hentai’ describes the adult versions of the above. With a growing audience of many millions of fans, hentai is also benefiting from the boom.

As with any type of media, not all consumers are paying for access. Anime and manga piracy is more prevalent than music piracy today, and hentai is no exception. The nHentai.net website, for example, had nearly 80 million visits in June this year.

Copyright holders are not happy with the unauthorized distribution of their content. Many take countermeasures, which often involves sending DMCA takedown notices to the ‘pirate’ platforms, but not all recipients respond by taking content offline.

Rightsholder Targets nHentai

California company PCR Distributing is one of the affected copyright holders. The company does business under various brands, including J18 and JAST USA, and sees nHentai as a major threat to its operation.

PCR obtained a DMCA subpoena a few weeks ago, requiring Cloudflare to unmask the people behind the site, which allegedly failed to process takedown notices. As is frequently the case, a court clerk swiftly granted the subpoena, requiring Cloudflare to comply. In this case, however, that wasn’t straightforward.

A few days after the DMCA subpoena was issued, lawyers representing nHentai slammed on the brakes. They argued that no personal data should be disclosed as the subpoena should have never been granted .

At the time of writing, the matter is still pending in court. NHentai’s opposition is well argued and certainly has a chance of success. However, even if the subpoena is quashed, nHentai’s legal issues are far from over, as PCR has just filed a full-blown copyright infringement lawsuit.

PCR Sues nHentai for Copyright Infringement

In a complaint filed last Friday at a California federal court, PCR describes nHentai as a popular ‘pirate’ site with dozens of millions of visitors. The site shares copyrighted material without permission, taken from digital or physical books, while the operators don’t allow users to upload content.

“NHentai.net is a widely visited platform for adult manga and doujinshi content, attracting over 79,000,000 visits per month,” the complaint reads.

“The website hosts a vast collection of hentai works, including commercially produced content, much of which, based on information and belief, is shared without proper authorization from the owners.”

The lawsuit emphasizes that nHentai doesn’t rely on user-generated content. Those types of services can typically rely on a safe harbor under the DMCA. In this case, however, nHentai can’t claim this protection, PCR argues.

“nHentai is not a user-generated content website. There is no user upload capability. Defendants are not ‘service providers,’ are not engaged in the storage of content at the direction of users, and thus are not entitled to any of the safe harbors afforded under Section 512 of the [DMCA].”

Failed Settlement Attempt

The complaint doesn’t identify the owners of nHentai, who have yet to be named. However, PCR and nHentai are certainly no strangers. Last October, attorneys for the alleged pirate site offered to confidentially settle all copyright infringement claims with PCR.

The proposed terms of the agreement are unknown, but PCR declined and insisted that nHentai should take down pirated copies of their works.

“In October 2023, the nHentai Defendants […] attempted to have PCR enter into a ‘HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL SETTLEMENT AND RELEASE AGREEMENT’ to settle claims, including copyright infringement, between the Plaintiffs and Defendants in this case. PCR declined the agreement and further requested the removal of its works from nHentai.”

Despite these efforts, nHentai allegedly failed to remove any of the infringing works in response to PCR’s takedown requests.

“Plaintiff or its agents sent DMCA compliant takedown notices identifying infringing works on Defendants’ website to the email address provided for reporting abuse. Additional DMCA-complaint takedown notices were sent to nHentai’s known service providers. However, 100% of the reported URLs remain active.”

Damages and a Broad Injunction

PCR accuses nHentai of various forms of copyright infringement and demands damages as compensation. In addition, the company seeks a broad injunction to effectively shut down the site.

The injunction should prohibit the site’s operator from infringing the copyrights of PCR’s works going forward and require the registrar of nHentai.net to transfer the domain to PCR.

If a domain transfer isn’t granted, the proposed injunction requires third-party intermediaries to block the domain in the United States. That would apply to search engines, hosting providers, ISPs, domain name registrars, domain name registries, and other service or software providers.

At the time of writing, nHentai has yet to comment on or respond to the complaint. However, given the site’s previous opposition to the DMCA subpoena request, we expect that it will file a response in due course.

—

A copy of PCR Distributing’s complaint, filed at the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, is available here (pdf)

From: TF , for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.

Manga and anime have become increasingly popular in recent years. These formats originate in Japan, but they are now popular all over the world .

Available in static and animated form, ‘hentai’ describes the adult versions of the above. With a growing audience of many millions of fans, hentai is also benefiting from the boom.

As with any type of media, not all consumers are paying for access. Anime and manga piracy is more prevalent than music piracy today, and hentai is no exception. The nHentai.net website, for example, had nearly 80 million visits in June this year.

Copyright holders are not happy with the unauthorized distribution of their content. Many take countermeasures, which often involves sending DMCA takedown notices to the ‘pirate’ platforms, but not all recipients respond by taking content offline.

Rightsholder Targets nHentai

California company PCR Distributing is one of the affected copyright holders. The company does business under various brands, including J18 and JAST USA, and sees nHentai as a major threat to its operation.

PCR obtained a DMCA subpoena a few weeks ago, requiring Cloudflare to unmask the people behind the site, which allegedly failed to process takedown notices. As is frequently the case, a court clerk swiftly granted the subpoena, requiring Cloudflare to comply. In this case, however, that wasn’t straightforward.

A few days after the DMCA subpoena was issued, lawyers representing nHentai slammed on the brakes. They argued that no personal data should be disclosed as the subpoena should have never been granted .

At the time of writing, the matter is still pending in court. NHentai’s opposition is well argued and certainly has a chance of success. However, even if the subpoena is quashed, nHentai’s legal issues are far from over, as PCR has just filed a full-blown copyright infringement lawsuit.

PCR Sues nHentai for Copyright Infringement

In a complaint filed last Friday at a California federal court, PCR describes nHentai as a popular ‘pirate’ site with dozens of millions of visitors. The site shares copyrighted material without permission, taken from digital or physical books, while the operators don’t allow users to upload content.

“NHentai.net is a widely visited platform for adult manga and doujinshi content, attracting over 79,000,000 visits per month,” the complaint reads.

“The website hosts a vast collection of hentai works, including commercially produced content, much of which, based on information and belief, is shared without proper authorization from the owners.”

The lawsuit emphasizes that nHentai doesn’t rely on user-generated content. Those types of services can typically rely on a safe harbor under the DMCA. In this case, however, nHentai can’t claim this protection, PCR argues.

“nHentai is not a user-generated content website. There is no user upload capability. Defendants are not ‘service providers,’ are not engaged in the storage of content at the direction of users, and thus are not entitled to any of the safe harbors afforded under Section 512 of the [DMCA].”

Failed Settlement Attempt

The complaint doesn’t identify the owners of nHentai, who have yet to be named. However, PCR and nHentai are certainly no strangers. Last October, attorneys for the alleged pirate site offered to confidentially settle all copyright infringement claims with PCR.

The proposed terms of the agreement are unknown, but PCR declined and insisted that nHentai should take down pirated copies of their works.

“In October 2023, the nHentai Defendants […] attempted to have PCR enter into a ‘HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL SETTLEMENT AND RELEASE AGREEMENT’ to settle claims, including copyright infringement, between the Plaintiffs and Defendants in this case. PCR declined the agreement and further requested the removal of its works from nHentai.”

Despite these efforts, nHentai allegedly failed to remove any of the infringing works in response to PCR’s takedown requests.

“Plaintiff or its agents sent DMCA compliant takedown notices identifying infringing works on Defendants’ website to the email address provided for reporting abuse. Additional DMCA-complaint takedown notices were sent to nHentai’s known service providers. However, 100% of the reported URLs remain active.”

Damages and a Broad Injunction

PCR accuses nHentai of various forms of copyright infringement and demands damages as compensation. In addition, the company seeks a broad injunction to effectively shut down the site.

The injunction should prohibit the site’s operator from infringing the copyrights of PCR’s works going forward and require the registrar of nHentai.net to transfer the domain to PCR.

If a domain transfer isn’t granted, the proposed injunction requires third-party intermediaries to block the domain in the United States. That would apply to search engines, hosting providers, ISPs, domain name registrars, domain name registries, and other service or software providers.

At the time of writing, nHentai has yet to comment on or respond to the complaint. However, given the site’s previous opposition to the DMCA subpoena request, we expect that it will file a response in due course.

—

A copy of PCR Distributing’s complaint, filed at the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, is available here (pdf)

From: TF , for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.