The battle over software and video piracy took a turn yesterday when a Florida file hosting service sued Warner Brothers for allegedly engaging in copyright fraud and abuse of anti-piracy laws. Hotfile accuses the Warner Bros of using the hosting company’s anti-piracy tools to remove titles the studio doesn’t own, including open source software. Hotfile is asking a court to make it whole for the losses they claim Warner Bros caused.
The suit is in response to a ruling in a related case. This spring, Warner joined with four other studios and the Motion Picture Association of America to sue Hotfile for facilitating illegal file transfers. Two weeks ago, a judge ruled that Hotfile must release detailed information about its users and affiliates. Hotfile’s countersued yesterday, alleging copyright fraud — via redwolf.newsvine.com