Cyprus porn company faces €7.85m fine
By Patrick Dewhurst Published on June 24, 2011 +-Text size
A CYPRUS-based company is embroiled in a heated encounter with one of the world’s largest porn video producers after allegedly pirating and streaming 75 X-rated movies.
YoungTek Solutions Ltd faces a €7.85 million (USD $11.3 million) fine by a court in the American state of Iowa after allegedly streaming the Private Media Group content on their empflix.com and tnaflix.com websites.
Much like the popular youtube.com website, Youngtek’s empflix.com and tnaflix.com let their users upload and view all content for free, earning tens of millions of dollars each year, according to Private.
Despite incorporating anti-piracy software, both sites reportedly streamed some of Private’s bestsellers, including Guns and Rough Sex, House of Love, Ibiza Sex Party 5, Pornolympics and Lady of the Rings.
Asked about the court case, Barcelona based Private said: "The amount at stake is large, but the defendant is a commercial venture that operates one of the busiest online commercial properties in the world. Only a large award will serve to deter these arrogant defendants from future illegal action."
According to xbiz.com YoungTek responded by saying that it was not subject to Iowa state jurisdiction and that Private’s damages claim rang hollow after Private’s CEO Berth Milton said the added exposure on the Cypriot website was beneficial.
Youngtek said: “Despite the dramatic and overblown prose of [Private's] complaint, and the damage claims asserted in its motion for default judgment, [Private] does not even believe its own rhetoric.”
The statement continues: “Berth Milton, has recently stated in media interviews that the company believes that internet pirates are a benefit to [Private], providing them with free promotion”.
However, Private spokesman Jason Tucker said: "To say that we do not believe our own claim is just ridiculous. This is nothing more than an effort by thieves to delay the inevitable."
Private claims the two websites are big players in the online porn industry, with EmpFlix.com attracting 1.5 million surfers a day and TnAflix.com attracting three million, generating "annual revenue estimated in tens of millions of dollars".
Neither YoungTek nor Private were available for comment yesterday.
http://www.cyprus-mail.com/cyprus/cy...-fine/20110624