Direct Download: Hotfile to provide their user’s information

In the war against the MPAA, Hotfile seems to have lost a set. A court in Miami has ordered the service to provide their user’s information, including those situated outside of the US.

The MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America), who represents cinema copyright holders in the United States, has scored a victory against Hotfile, accusing the hosting service of sharing files and "facilitating the theft of films and TV series" protected by copyright.

For the MPAA, Hotfile has become one of the top 100 sites in the world for traffic use, with this being due to the "massive theft that they promote". To prove these statements, the MPAA has lodged a filing with the courts to get their hands on all information belonging to Hotfile.

A court in Miami has found this request has merit, although they have refused to provide access to the source code. For the rest, Hotfile has to provide information and details about all files stored online, the number of downloads and the IP addresses of users (those who put copyright infringing content online and those who downloaded the files). The request also includes all information about users situated outside of the United States.

Information also needs to be provided by partners renumerated by Hotfile, meaning the top 500 partners in their affiliation program. This program pays depending on the number of downloads generated by the content placed online.

All of this information needs to be provided by the 12th of September 2011 so that it can be analysed to try and prove that the majority of the content distributed by Hotfile violates copyright law.