TorrentSpy ordered to spy on behalf of MPAA

TorrentSpy, one of the world’s largest torrent dump sites, has been ordered by a federal judge to monitor its users in order to create detailed logs of their activities which must then be handed over to the MPAA.

On May 29, TorrentSpy - one of the web’s most famous .torrent dump sites was told by federal judge Jacqueline Chooljian in the Central District of California that despite the site’s privacy policy which states they will never monitor their visitors without consent, they must start creating logs detailing their user’s activities.

Understandably, this is a worrying move by the court - even more so when one considers these logs must then be turned over to the MPAA. This is believed to be the first time a judge has ordered a defendant to log visitor activity and then hand over the information to the plaintiff. The decision - arrived at last month but under seal - could force sites that are defendants in a law suit to track the actions of their visitors.

The owners have been granted a stay of the order in order to make an appeal, which must be filed by June 12, says Ira Rothken, TorrentSpy’s attorney.

“It is likely that TorrentSpy would turn off access to the U.S. before tracking its users,� said Rothken. “If this order were allowed to stand, it would mean that Web sites can be required by discovery judges to track what their users do even if their privacy policy says otherwise.