$42M IPTV Piracy Lawsuit against VSYS.Host (Virtual Systems, LLC)

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VSYS.Host hit by $42M Lawsuit

I Just randomly found out about this lawsuit on TorrentFreak:

A lawsuit filed at a Seattle court this week targets Ukraine-based hosting Provider Virtual Systems. Coordinated by the International Broadcaster Coalition Against Piracy (IBCAP), the lawsuit focuses on Virtual Systems' self-promotion as a 'DMCA-ignored' host. After allegedly ignoring over 500 DMCA-style infringement notices relating to dozens of pirate IPTV services, the lawsuit demands over $42m in copyright damages.

My opinion regarding Piracy:

I am personally not against (IPTV) Piracy. Especially since there is no single legal streaming provider that offers as much content anymore, Netflix for example removing content permanently while users are paying that much for it. And I like to stream movies over Discord for few friends, and while thats not impossible (afaik) its way easier with dmca protections removed from Jellyfin for example.

Your opinion regarding this / piracy in general:

I decided to make a poll for this. Btw I used gpt-4o and gemini 1.5 pro for questions/answers, but changed some of it. (My brain was too slow to think of any)

Sources / mentioned articles:

TorrentFreak: IPTV Piracy Lawsuit Targets ‘DMCA Ignored’ Host in $42M Lawsuit

GlobalNewswire: IBCAP announces $41 million lawsuit against Virtual Systems

Your Opinions
  1. Should there be stricter regulations for hosters against piracy?42 votes
    1. Yes, to protect copyright holders
        9.52%
    2. Yes, Only if balanced with fair use protections
      19.05%
    3. No, it could lead to overreach and censorship
      64.29%
    4. I'm not sure
        7.14%
  2. Under what circumstances do you think piracy is justified?42 votes
    1. Never
        9.52%
    2. High cost of legitimate services
      30.95%
    3. Lack of availability of legitimate services
      35.71%
    4. Poor quality of legitimate services
      14.29%
    5. Other (comment pls)
        9.52%
  3. Do you think the $42 million lawsuit is justified?42 votes
    1. Yes, they should have complied with the notices
      23.81%
    2. No, the amount is excessive
      76.19%
Tagged:

Comments

  • yoursunnyyoursunny OG

    DMCA ignored!
    Port 25 permanently open!
    ⚠️ Patron Provider Tag Suspended

    Thanked by (5)Freek RTB satorik Calin Peppery

    HostBrr aff best VPS; VirmAche aff worst VPS.
    Unable to push-up due to shoulder injury 😣

  • somiksomik OG

    If you are still calling it piracy, then it's clearly not allowed under most laws that respect copyrights.

    Websites have ads, I have ad-blocker.

  • ascicodeascicode

    I guess the outcome would be: We don't care and can't be taken to jail, as long as we not leave romania.
    Wonder how long it goes, they get taken down by the lawyers.

  • treesmokahtreesmokah
    edited October 20

    Worst case scenario they will have to pull servers from US. I do not think this lawsuit will matter much, as it has no legal basis in Ukraine where they are located.

    I'm not a lawyer though, but I have seen providers getting slapped with similar suits and continuing to operate just fine. Worst case scenario you dissolve the company and make a new one like Ecatel does over and over again.

    These lawyers think they are hot shit for getting a UK/CZ legit provider to comply(Datapacket), they won't have the same luck in this case. I do not think VSYS will even reply to them.
    Even if the legal landscape changes in Ukraine, they have enough money to move elsewhere. They already have shell companies in Seychelles, Bulgaria, ...

    Can't wait for them to sue Ecatel for the 50th time and call it a "victory" when they just re-name and rotate shell companies. These lawsuits are only for media attention, nothing else, they rarely have any basis and go anywhere.
    US court can find them guilty, have them pay shit, but none of it matters at the end of the day because they are not Americans. Good luck going through Ukraine legal system to try and deliver it physically in a literal warzone, I'm sure they don't have anything better to do than dealing with some funny and baseless "copyright" slapp suits. /s

    Or maybe I'm just biased, as I hate copyright mafia with my whole heart. ¯_(ツ)_/¯

    Thanked by (1)taizi
  • egororegoror

    "In a world where you do not own what you've paid for, piracy is totally justified" (c)

    Thanked by (1)Calin
  • legendarylegendary

    I'am against piracy for profit. If one have torrent site where users share files - ok. But if you run blatant IP infringement and profit from that - you should be served into your ass.

  • YmpkerYmpker OGContent Writer

    Anyone still remembers Calins replies to the dmca letters?

    Thanked by (1)sh97

    Ympker's VPN LTD Comparison, Uptime.is, Ympker's GitHub.

  • sh97sh97

    @Ympker said:
    Anyone still remembers Calins replies to the dmca letters?

    Warner brost hate me.

    Best shit I ever read 🤣

    Thanked by (1)Ympker

    The Ultimate Speedtest Script | Get Instant Alerts on new LES/LET deals | Cheap VPS Deals
    FREE KVM VPS - FreeVPS.org | FREE LXC VPS - MicroLXC

  • YmpkerYmpker OGContent Writer

    @sh97 said:

    @Ympker said:
    Anyone still remembers Calins replies to the dmca letters?

    Warner brost hate me.

    Best shit I ever read 🤣

    Peak comedy😂

    Thanked by (1)sh97

    Ympker's VPN LTD Comparison, Uptime.is, Ympker's GitHub.

  • ascicodeascicode

    @legendary said:
    I'am against piracy for profit. If one have torrent site where users share files - ok. But if you run blatant IP infringement and profit from that - you should be served into your ass.

    If the movie/tv companies would respect that and let's say, earn 60% of the marge IPTV makes a year, why not say yes? They would profit in any way.

  • legendarylegendary

    @sh97 said:

    @Ympker said:
    Anyone still remembers Calins replies to the dmca letters?

    Warner brost hate me.

    Best shit I ever read 🤣

    Share.

  • sh97sh97

    @legendary said:

    @sh97 said:

    @Ympker said:
    Anyone still remembers Calins replies to the dmca letters?

    Warner brost hate me.

    Best shit I ever read 🤣

    Share.

    https://lowendtalk.com/discussion/193774/comeso-hollywood-and-warner-brost-hate-me/p1

    Thanked by (2)Ympker Shot²

    The Ultimate Speedtest Script | Get Instant Alerts on new LES/LET deals | Cheap VPS Deals
    FREE KVM VPS - FreeVPS.org | FREE LXC VPS - MicroLXC

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