VPN Provider Must Pay Movie Companies About $15 Million

Virtual Private Networks (better known by the abbreviation VPN) providers have long been the target of the content industry. Because with VPN you can disguise your identity, also in relation to copyright infringements. Now a provider had to declare defeat. VPN services are popular, in business, but also in the private sphere.

The focal points here are security and data protection, how the customers use it is irrelevant to the VPN companies. However, it is clear that such services are also used for illegal purposes, especially in connection with downloading copyrighted content. In recent years, VPN providers have therefore been increasingly scrutinized by movie companies and their anti-piracy service providers and lawyers. Especially if they explicitly advertise their piracy-related services.

Explicitly advertised with piracy

Just like LiquidVPN: because the company was essentially sued for complicity in piracy a year ago. As TorrentFreak reported, VPNs are actually neutral services, just like traditional providers. According to the suing film companies, this is not the case with LiquidVPN. Plaintiffs wrote, “The LiquidVPN Defendants are actively promoting their LiquidVPN service with a view to film piracy, including infringing on Plaintiffs’ works.”

In particular, it was alleged that they explicitly advertised themselves as “Popcorn-Time VPN” and also helped distribute the plaintiffs’ films (including “Angel Has Fallen,” “Dallas Buyer’s Club,” “Hellboy” and “Rambo 5 : Last Blood”) can be obtained illegally. “LiquidVPN’s defendants have deliberately incited and encouraged Popcorn Time users to commit direct violations,” federal judge Beth Bloom wrote in her ruling. LiquidVPN has to pay damages for a total of 66 movies, at 150,000 per violation. That equates to almost ten million dollars. Add to that nearly $5 million for altering copyright management information, which is a DMCA violation.