RENNES (France), Oct 19 – A French court ordered the administrators of an illegal movie downloading site to pay more than €625 million (RM3.1 billion) in fines and interest to film studios, including major studios Americans. , prosecutors said yesterday.
Six administrators and moderators of the Torrent 411 site were tried between October 11 and 13 in Rennes and the Canadian founder of the site was tried in absentia.
Major American studios, including Disney, 20th Century Fox, Columbia Pictures, Universal, Paramount and Warner Brothers, were awarded damages and interest.
Torrent 411 had more than 700,000 links to illegally download movies and music before the site's administrators were arrested in 2017.
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The French moderators received suspended prison sentences after pleading guilty before trial, according to the France Ouest newspaper.
The computer scientist received a short prison sentence that was covered by his preventive detention.
The site's founder, Jonathan Jolicoeur, was not extradited by Canada to France. He was found guilty in absentia and sentenced to three years in prison and a fine of 150,000 euros.
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"Civil penalties are always very high in these types of cases," Rennes chief prosecutor Philippe Astruc told AFP. — AFP
