TorrentSpy refusing to pay $110 million fine

Checked their accounts and found themselves short

9 May 2008 13:35 GMT / By Katie Scott

Lawyers for TorrentSpy, which has been hit with one of the largest fines in copyright history, have shrugged their shoulders and said that the fine won't get paid.

In a landmark ruling, a US judge slapped a $111 million court order on the search engine, following on from a high profile battle with film industry reps, the Motion Picture Association of America.

The MPAA won a default judgement when TorrentSpy refused to hand over internal documents, and a federal judge then levied the $111 million penalty whilst also ordering the site never to go online again.

But TorrentSpy's lawyers have now said that their clients will not pay the money.

Valence Media, the owner of TorrentSpy, has now filed for bankruptcy protection in England "and has no appreciable assets", attorney Ira Rothken said.

He added cuttingly: "This was a Hollywood publicity stunt".

The MPAA is still going to pursue its cash and in the meantime hopes that the case will serve as a lesson to others.

The TorrentSpy lawyers are going to appeal.