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Two people connected to T411, once the most visited torrent site in France, have been sentenced to prison by a Rennes criminal court. The couple, who were located through PayPal records and IP addresses, must also pay €489 million in damages for hacking. One of the defendants, a Ukrainian systems operator living in Sweden, informs TorrentFreak that he will appeal the sentence.
During the summer of 2017, French law enforcement achieved great success with the T411 closurea popular semi-private torrent tracker with over five million registered members.
The site, aimed at a French-speaking audience, had been on the radar of rights holders for some time. After avoiding the long arm of justice on several occasions, the curtain finally fell.
Following the news of the site's downfall, it turned out that not all the people working on the site were French. The main suspect was located in Canada and the system administrator was from Ukraine. Several French suspects were also identified, but were primarily considered moderators.
Today, more than six years after the closure of T411, L'Informe informs that a Criminal Court in Rennes has handed down prison sentences and unprecedented damages of almost a quarter of a billion euros to the two main suspects.
Award to three years in prison and massive damages
In a landmark ruling, the court ordered the Canadian creator of the torrent site Jolicoeur to serve a three-year prison sentence and pay a fine of 150,000 euros ($158,000). The accused was not present in court and an arrest warrant was issued for him, which Canadian authorities must follow up on.
In addition, the court awarded an unprecedented compensation of 489 million euros ($516 million) to the rights holders. This is the largest damages award against pirate site operators we have ever seen. In comparison, the founders of The Pirate Bay had to pay damages amounting to less than seven million euros.
The amount in this case appears to be based on the total number of downloads that could be traced back to the site. The prosecution counted more than 190,000 torrents, which generated more than 270 million downloads in various categories.
Movies and television series were by far the most popular, which explains why the bulk of the damages, €471 million, went to companies in the film industry such as Warner, Pathé, Gaumont, UGC and Film24. The remaining 18 million euros are awarded to the French musical group SACEM.
18 months for Ukrainian Sysop
In addition to the main suspect, the court also convicted T411 systems operator Mr. RV, who previously shared his version of events with TorrentFreak.
RV, who now lives in Sweden, was present at the hearings and was sentenced to 18 months in prison, of which 13 are conditional. The systems operator has already served preventive detention this time, so he remains free.
The court also held the system operator responsible for 30% of the compensation for damages, more than 146 million euros in total. It is practically a monetary life sentence, which is a great disappointment.
Speaking with TorrentFreak, RV says he will appeal the ruling. He describes the amount of compensation as abnormal and, half-jokingly, adds that if it is confirmed, it would be better for him to quit his job.
“I'm not going to pay it, but even if they force me to, I will leave my job and live on social benefits for the unemployed. Otherwise, I will have to work 3,500 years to pay that fine,” says RV.
RV also notes that the defense had no opportunity to challenge the calculation of the compensation amount, something that will likely come up during the appeal.
Modest phrases for moderators
In addition to the site's founder and administrator, the court also sentenced several French T411 moderators. The five defendants must pay 250 euros each to all listed rights holders.
The report reports that authorities began investigating the site in 2015. They were eventually able to identify the suspects by cross-referencing their PayPal accounts, IP addresses, and banking details.
For rights holders and French authorities, the convictions represent a major victory, but their work is not done yet. Shortly after T411 was shut down, YggTorrent took its place and despite multiple attempts to disconnect itthe site remains online today.
