Mininova disables infringing service

26th November 2009

Mininova has today disabled its infringing service, following a recent judgment by a Dutch court.

Mininova was one of the world’s most popular BitTorrent sites and one of the top 100 most-visited websites worldwide. More than 10 billion downloads have been facilitated by the service, most of which consisted of copyright-protected films, games, music and television programmes.

A district court in the Netherlands ruled three months ago that Mininova had to remove all torrents that linked to illegal content. The court held that Mininova’s notice and take down policy was insufficient to keep it operating within the law and instead it was required to proactively check for infringing torrents. As a result, Mininova has chosen to close down its operation except for the limited “featured content” service, which offers licensed content.

Tim Kuik, Director of Dutch anti-piracy group BREIN, says: “We applaud the fact that Mininova now uses the BitTorrent technology for legal business. We are not against the technology but only against the use of that technology for illegal purposes.”

Jo Oliver, General Counsel of IFPI, which represents the recording industry worldwide, says: “Today’s news is a welcome development for artists, songwriters and producers worldwide. Following on from convictions of four individuals behind The Pirate Bay in Sweden earlier this year, the news is further proof that courts will not tolerate operations that offer infringing torrents. By curbing the illegal distribution of content online we can create an environment in which investment in legitimate digital music services can thrive.”