April 14, 2009

Webmaster offering links is jailed

A webmaster whose website offered links to copyrighted material has been fined and jailed in Spain after it was found that the operation was illegal.

Some people may find it strange that the webmaster has found himself in such a predicament. However, there is a distinct difference between running a site that offers just links to copyrighted material and a site that offers the same links as well as advertising.

It is the advertising that makes the operation illegal because it is looked at, as profiting from copyright infringement, which is illegal in Spain.

This is a significant ruling by the court and could affect court cases all around Europe. There are many cases of where webmasters have been stopped from running such sites, but where nothing has happened to take the case further.

Source [Torrent Freak]