An illegal movie downloading site Torrent 411 has been slapped with a Ksh97 billion tax ($650 million) in fines and damages by a French Court on Wednesday, October 18.
Before the ruling was delivered, six administrators and moderators of the site Torrent 411 were tried between October 11 and 13 in Rennes, and the site’s Canadian founder was tried in absentia.
It was observed that the site allowed users to download various movies and shows illegally. They also failed to acquire authorization from the copyright owners.
Their actions led to major losses to copyright owners.
Major American studios such as Disney, 20th Century Fox, Columbia Pictures, Universal, Paramount and Warner Brothers were all awarded damages and interest.
Torrent 411 held more than 700,000 links for illegally downloading films and music before the site’s administrators were detained in 2017.
The French moderators received suspended jail terms after pleading guilty before the trial, according to the France Ouest daily.
The IT specialist received a brief jail term that was covered by his pre-trial detention.
The founder of the site, Jonathan Jolicoeur, was not extradited by Canada to France. He was convicted in absentia and sentenced to three years of jail and fined 150,000 euros.
“The civil penalties are always very high in these types of cases,” the head prosecutor in Rennes, Philippe Astruc, told AFP.
