Court in Canada Shuts Down Torrent Site

Due to the Microsoft’s survey we reported about yesterday which showed that kids below the age of 16 are the real digital piracy aficionados, the peer-to-peer (P2P) market faced a heavy legal action against it in Canada.

According to Mediacaster, in Quebec a court has favoured claims coming from the Canadian music and media industries and ruled for the urgent closure of music and media file-sharing torrents on Web site QuebecTorrent.com.

The clear-cut decision resulted in the immediate shutting down of QuebecTorrent’s media torrent streams. It also addressed a warning to those who had anything to do with the running of the site. They are “to refrain from being involved in any website using the bittorrent technology, peer to peer, and any other technology allowing the download of any work protected by copyright.”

ADISQ ((Association du disque, de l'industrie du spectacle québécois et de la vidéo) and AFPTQ had forwarded allegations according to which QuebecTorrent was consciously letting its service users to illegally swap unauthorized music, TV shows and films made by legitimate media producers based in Quebec and also across Canada.

Clare Samson, president and CEO of trade group APFTQ, which represents about 130 Canadian television and cinema producers, hailed the court’s decision and saw as a much needed back up which “allows us to defend the legitimate interests of our members and all beneficiaries concerned, in respect of copyright and contracts signed between producers and artists in the sector Audiovisual.”