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A New York Federal Court has issued further rulings in the copyright case against DVD ripping software DVDFab.
The licensing firm in charge of the copy protection scheme on Blu-rays, the AACS LA, sued Chinese software firm Fengtao Software Inc for copyright infringement almost exactly a year ago. With Fengtao Software Inc failing to respond to the lawsuit at that time, the judge issued an order by default, granting the preliminary injunction which saw DVDFab's domain names, social media accounts and payment accounts all seized.
The software company did eventually respond in the name of defendant Feng Tao, arguing that since the DMCA only applied in the US, the company should be allowed to continue to do business as long as it no longer sold the product to US customers.
But it appears that DVDFab's promise was not as sincere as it seemed, with the AACS contending that DVDFab had opened new domain names with the specific intention of selling to US customers.
This revelation did not please the judge, and further orders were issue to seize these new domain names, which include TDMore.com, BluFab.com, Boooya.org, DVDFab.de, and FabImg.net.
District Court Judge Vernon Broderick was scathing in his critique of the defendant, Feng Tao.
"Tao's explanations for his continued trafficking of infringing products into the United States - the product is not his, the product was not created 'primarily' for AACS circumvention, or the product was not intended for U.S. users - is simply not credible. The record overwhelmingly demonstrates these statements are not true," wrote Judge Broderick.
As for the limited jurisdiction of the DMCA, the Judge said that Tao's behavior after the preliminary injunction was issued forced the court to take broader action.
"It was not my intention to sweep within the Preliminary Injunction lawful conduct, i.e. entirely extraterritorial conduct. However, Defendant's recalcitrant persistence in accessing the United States market makes clear to me that no more narrowly-tailored relief would be effective," the Judge writes.
This latest development could represent a major setback for the software company, with these new domain name seizures, and the continued blocking of social media websites and payment processors from working with the company.
The licensing firm in charge of the copy protection scheme on Blu-rays, the AACS LA, sued Chinese software firm Fengtao Software Inc for copyright infringement almost exactly a year ago. With Fengtao Software Inc failing to respond to the lawsuit at that time, the judge issued an order by default, granting the preliminary injunction which saw DVDFab's domain names, social media accounts and payment accounts all seized.
The software company did eventually respond in the name of defendant Feng Tao, arguing that since the DMCA only applied in the US, the company should be allowed to continue to do business as long as it no longer sold the product to US customers.
But it appears that DVDFab's promise was not as sincere as it seemed, with the AACS contending that DVDFab had opened new domain names with the specific intention of selling to US customers.
This revelation did not please the judge, and further orders were issue to seize these new domain names, which include TDMore.com, BluFab.com, Boooya.org, DVDFab.de, and FabImg.net.
District Court Judge Vernon Broderick was scathing in his critique of the defendant, Feng Tao.
"Tao's explanations for his continued trafficking of infringing products into the United States - the product is not his, the product was not created 'primarily' for AACS circumvention, or the product was not intended for U.S. users - is simply not credible. The record overwhelmingly demonstrates these statements are not true," wrote Judge Broderick.
As for the limited jurisdiction of the DMCA, the Judge said that Tao's behavior after the preliminary injunction was issued forced the court to take broader action.
"It was not my intention to sweep within the Preliminary Injunction lawful conduct, i.e. entirely extraterritorial conduct. However, Defendant's recalcitrant persistence in accessing the United States market makes clear to me that no more narrowly-tailored relief would be effective," the Judge writes.
This latest development could represent a major setback for the software company, with these new domain name seizures, and the continued blocking of social media websites and payment processors from working with the company.