Court Orders Pirate Sites to Redirect to Lawsuit Docs

LEGALAND—In a case that has caught the worried attention of both TorrentFreak and the Electronic Frontier Foundation, an Oregon judge issued an order under seal August 8 that authorized the plaintiff in the case to, among other things, take offline defendant websites that had been accused of copyright and trademark infringement...without informing them beforehand. The suit was filed Aug. 7 in federal court in Portland, Oregon by ABS-CBN, which TF calls "the largest media and entertainment company in the Philippines," against Jeffrey and Lenie Ashby and 11 websites, many using the informal demonym Pinoy, as in pinoy-tube.com. The company claimed in the complaint that the Oregon-based Ashbys are "owners and/or operators of the Subject Domain Names and pirate websites through which Plaintiffs’ intellectual property in its programs and brands is being infringed on an ongoing basis." Specifically, the complaint alleges that Jeffrey Ashby "is personally and directly responsible for copying and uploading ABS-CBN’s content to servers from which TV and movie videos are performed through Defendants’ and many other pirate sites," and that the defendants, "infringe, and induce, cause and/or materially contribute to the infringing activity of their users by promoting the presence and availability of Filipino content and, specifically, ABS-CBN’s content, through their websites, social media, and through search engine optimization and metatags." The complaint also details specific examples of infringement that allegedly took place on each of the websites named as defendants in the suit, and outlines the extent to which the plaintiff claims to have tried to prevent further infringement by submitting complaints to hosting companies and registrars used by the defendants. Unfortunately, the complaint claims that the efforts were futile because of a cat-and-mouse game used to thwart responsibility. "All too frequently," it continues, "this is the game to which rights holders are subjected by service providers in the Internet industry, such as the hosts and registrars, who attempt to avoid taking any action, even upon multiple, explicit notices of infringement. Worse, attempts to halt the infringement, such as those by Plaintiffs, are met with complete and utter disregard and contempt by pirates such as Defendants, who with impunity and without restriction, move to other registrars and hosts, as with several of the Subject Domain Names, and re-launch their infringing content. For these reasons, Plaintiffs have no recourse but to apply to this Court for relief, including injunctive relief to prevent Defendants from further infringing Plaintiffs’ works through their current domains, as well through future domains." "To stop the sites from operating as quickly as possible the media company requested a temporary restraining order," reported TF. "This was done under seal without the knowledge of the defendants, as ABS-CBN feared that they would otherwise switch domain names and continue operating as usual." The plaintiff argued, “Absent a temporary restraining order, Defendants will be able to completely erase the status quo by transferring the benefits of their prior illegal activities to new websites." Judge Anna Brown complied with the request Aug. 8, filing her preliminary injunction under seal and taking other extraordinary actions in the case. For instance, noted TF, "The court also ordered the domain name registrars to point the domains to a copy of the complaint, so the website owners would know why their sites had been wiped from the Internet. Further, to prevent the defendants from passing on Google traffic to a new domain, ABS-CBN was granted permission to access the Google Webmaster Tools of the defendants." There's more, but the point has been made. "The preliminary injunction," says TF, "is unique in its kind, both due to its broadness and the fact that it happened without due process. This has several experts worried, including EFF’s Intellectual Property Director Corynne McSherry. McSherry told TF, “It’s very worrisome that a court would issue a rapid and broad order affecting speech based on allegations, without careful consideration and an opportunity for the targets to defend themselves." TF also worries that the decision could be the start of a trend that could get "messy." Judge Brown's order can be read here. An example of a redirected site can be seen here.