Dutch Torrent Site Host Must Pay Damages

Dinged for insisting on a court order

Dutch antipiracy group BREIN has won a landmark case that found a torrent site's former hosting provider was culpable for damages suffered by copyright holders as a result of the site's activities.

The Court of The Hague ruled today that XS Networks, the former host of torrent site SumoTorrent, was guilty of facilitating copyright infringement and should have acted to remove the site when requested to do so. The ruling may have far-reaching implications for hosting providers' liability for the conduct of their clients.