Not all stream-ripping sites throw in the towel without a fight though.\u00a0FLVTO.biz<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a02conv.com<\/a>, owned by Russian developer Tofig Kurbanov, remained online despite\u00a0being sued by several record<\/a>\u00a0labels last August.<\/p>\n Where other site owners often prefer to remain in the shadows, Kurbanov filed a\u00a0motion to dismiss the case<\/a>. According to the defense, the court has no jurisdiction over the matter. Only a small fraction of the visitors come from the US, and the site is managed entirely from Russia, it argued.<\/p>\n The RIAA labels, including Universal, Warner Bros, and Sony,\u00a0clearly disagreed<\/a>. In response, they argued that the operator of FLVTO.biz and 2conv.com downplays the connections to the US and Virginia. Therefore, he should stand trial there.<\/p>\n Yesterday, US District Court Judge Claude M. Hilton ruled on the matter. In a 14-page opinion, he clearly sides with the operator of the YouTube rippers. Kurbanov doesn\u2019t have to stand trial in the US so the case was dismissed.<\/p>\n The ruling is merely about jurisdiction and doesn\u2019t make an assessment of the alleged copyright infringements. The court carefully reviewed how the site operates and found no evidence that they\u00a0purposefully targeted either Virginia or the United States.<\/p>\n The sites are available in the US and have plenty of visitors there, but that by itself is not enough.<\/p>\n \u201cEven if the Websites\u2019 servers knew exactly where the users were located, any interaction would still be in the unilateral control of the users as they initiate the contacts,\u201d Judge Hilton\u2019s opinion reads.<\/p>\n There could be personal jurisdiction if there\u2019s a \u201ccommercial contract\u201d involved. However, that\u2019s not the case here. The site generates revenue from users through advertisements, but that\u2019s not seen as a basis for a commercial contract, the court concludes.<\/p>\n \u201cAs the Websites are semi-interactive, the interactions with the users are non-commercial, and there were no other acts by the Defendant that would demonstrate purposeful targeting, the Court finds that Defendant did not purposefully avail himself of the benefits and protections of either Virginia or the United States.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Court finds that exercise of personal jurisdiction over Defendant would be unconstitutional as a violation of due process\u2026\u201d Judge Hilton\u2019s opinion adds, before dismissing the case.<\/p>\n In addition, the opinion stresses that without personal jurisdiction the record labels don\u2019t have the option to refile the case in California or elsewhere in the US.<\/p>\n The ruling<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Val Gurvits<\/a>, one of the attorneys who represented the site operator, is thrilled with the outcome. He believes this will also be beneficial to other foreign sites that offer similar functionality.<\/p>\n \u201cThis decision goes a long way towards curbing the copyright owners\u2019 misuse of the US legal system to bully foreign website operators,\u201d Gurvits informs TorrentFreak.<\/p>\n In many copyright-related cases, foreign defendants decide not to appear at all, but this case shows that fighting back can pay off.<\/p>\n \u201cAll too often plaintiffs file actions in US courts against foreign defendants that have no connections with the US \u2013 and all too often foreign defendants are subjected to default judgments for failure to appear in a US court,\u201d Gurvits says.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are happy we were able to save our client from having to defend this action in a US court thousands of miles away from where the relevant business activities take place,\u201d he adds.<\/p>\n The major record labels have yet to comment on the outcome. TorrentFreak reached out to the RIAA for a response, but we haven\u2019t heard back thus far.<\/p>\n \u2014<\/em><\/p>\n A copy of the memorandum opinion supporting the dismissal is available here (pdf<\/a>).<\/em><\/p>\n Source: \u00a0![\"\"](\"https:\/\/torrentfreak.com\/images\/2conv.png\")
<\/center> <\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/torrentfreak.com\/images\/dismissed.png\")
<\/p>\n![\"TorrentFreak\"](\"http:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/torrentfreak.png\")
<\/a> TorrentFreak.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"