QuebecTorrent Shut Down by Courts

Authorities in Canada have done what once seemed the inevitable: they've shut down a Torrent site. According to reports, Quebec Superior Court has ordered web site QuebecTorrent to permanently shut down its operations, which to date included a forum for the exchange of TV episodes, music, and movies.

The decision came down last Wednesday, and represents a permanent injunction against QuebecTorrent and its administrators. Media is buzzing over the move, given that it's the first of the kind in the province and represents a new stage in the copyright battle between representatives of the music/movie industries and downloaders who say that ownership of this kind of property cannot be clearly defined. (Source: canada.com)

The order against QuebecTorrent, which covers the entire province, marks the end of a long road commencing last year by The Association quebecoise de l'industrie du disque, du spectacle et de la video (ADISQ), Quebec's own version of the Record Industry Association of America (RIAA). The ADISQ's director-general, Slange Drouin, believes the decision sends a clear message to the many downloaders in the province of Quebec, and surely elsewhere as well. "We hope this judgment will have a dissuasive effect, because nothing prevents us now to target other sites that engage in the same kind of illegal transactions," Drouin said. (Source: cbc.ca)

The allure of torrents is their ability to provide an exchange of music, movie, and TV material free. Although that makes them very attractive to users, the cost is proving anything but cheap for QuebecTorrent; it only escaped $200,000 in damages to the ADISQ by promising it wouldn't find the permanent injunction.

Perhaps part of the reason QuebecTorrent became such an easy target for Quebec's courts can be explained by its downloadable material. The web site specifically promoted Quebec content, and claims tens of thousands of members promised to donate to the site.

According to some, that might make QuebecTorrent as much of a contributor to French-Canadian culture as the ADISQ.