Profitability sorting the file-sharing criminals from the consumers

01 Jun 2009 | 17.29 Europe/London

A man who downloaded over three thousand copyrighted movies on the Internet has been let off the hook in the Spanish courts. Meanwhile, police in Russia - previously seen as a safe haven for file-sharers - have launched what could be their first ever raid on a BitTorrent tracker. It may sound like the world has been turned upside down, but one factor puts everything in perspective: money.

Our man in Spain was caught with the suspiciously round number of 3322 illegally downloaded films. But with its legal system apparently reluctant to prosecute anyone shares files but doesn't profit from doing so, the Criminal Court of Pamplona ruled that he hasn't broken any laws. While the defendant had obtained the movies "without the consent of the copyright holders" he did so for "private use of sharing with other Internet users." His acquittal follows a similar verdict in 2006.

According to Spanish law, there has to be an "intent to profit" in order for someone to be held judicially accountable for copyright infringement. That means websites with links to P2P websites - i.e. torrent trackers - can be legally bulletproof too. This has led countries like the US to criticise Spain's system, complaining that its government has done little "to change the widespread misperception in Spain that peer-to-peer sharing is legal."

But perceptions towards file-sharing could be changing in Russia with police having raided the Moscow HQ of BitTorrent tracker Interfilm. The site's founders - a married couple known only as "Ripper" and "Nadezha" (must have made for some interesting vows at the ceremony) - were arrested, along with several of their staff. The Interfilm site reportedly suffered some downtime as a result but is now back online, hosted from a server in the Netherlands.

According to the authorities, Interfilm is behind a lot of cammed films and networks with privacy groups outside of Russia to exchange the newest releases. It seems it was the Music Publishers' Association (MPA) that put them on the trail. Russian anti-piracy group RAPO, which is a founder member of the MPA, claims the site was making money from advertising - and that users had the option of paying money to its owners to get faster download speeds.

In this case the precedent - which saved AllofMP3 - is unlikely to affect proceedings; Ripper and Nadezha could now be imprisoned for up to six years and fined around 10,000 pounds if they're found guilty. "In the past there were different interpretations of legislation in the field of copyright," lawyer Victor Naumov told TorrentFreak, "but now if a distributor of films or music is not in a licensing agreement with the rights holders, the violation is right there."

While individual countries may still be finding their feet when it comes to peer-to-peer law, a trend could be starting to appear in Spain and Russia: no financial gain, no pain.

[ TorrentFreak ]