CNET is reporting a federal court in California has ordered TorrentSpy to create and maintain logs of user activity. The company is appealing the order.
TorrentSpy Ordered To Track Users
June 8, 2007
Share this post
2 Comments

Law Bytes
Episode 278: Ben Waldman on Gander Social and the Challenges of Building a Sovereign Social Network
byMichael Geist

August 10, 2026
Michael Geist
Search Results placeholder
Michael Geist on Substack
Recent Posts
A Century After Keeping Jewish Students Out, Universities Are Letting Them Be Pushed Out
The Lessons of 9/11 We Forgot After October 7th
Named to Canadian Lawyer’s Top 25 Most Influential Lawyers
Be Careful What You Wish For: Why Asking Google Maps to Defy the U.S. on Lake Ontario Would Undermine Canadian Digital Sovereignty
Big Money, Bigger Design Changes: What the Meta Settlement Means for Canada, Bill C-34, and the Age Verification and Privacy Risks That Remain

Arten
So just because I use TorrentSpy to download software, music or art in general by artists and creators that CHOSE to release it freely to the public—I shall be tracked \”just in case\”?
What are the chances of a software defect or even abuse of the system to take down innocent users that are using TorrentSpy for legitimate reasons?
I can imagine that \”if your IP address, ISP says you were downloading illegal X, then you are guilty until proven innocent\”…
Folks… accidents happen and software defects are more common than you think, and relying on these sites to monitor traffic will lead to a lot of false positives in the end and innocent people will be treat like criminals. This is of course what the MPAA and RIAA would like.
PirateBay
PirateBay for your torrents and New York Indians for your cigarettes. If you are doing something that might cost you money or land you in court you need to be dealing with people that protect their records.