That’s a big ‘oops’ for Torrentspy, the download site that went down last March because of the ongoing court battle. If you ever thought it would be a good idea to start up a torrent site and have some fun, this should make you think otherwise. Torrentspy juts got ordered to pay the MPAA $111 million, $30,000 x 3,700 violations (movies). A great victory for the Motion Picture Association of America.

Needless to say, site owner Valence Media LLC filed for bankruptcy.

New York attorney general Andrew Cuomo is backing a law that will make recording a movie a misdemeanor for first-time offenders. Doing so could get you up to one year in jail and a $1,000 fine. Doing it again could turn it into a felony, with even higher penalties. Cuomo noted 140,000 jobs are lost because of piracy annually and as stated many times before by the MPAA, it cost the film industry over $6 billion in 2005.

If you get caught recording a movie now, it’s equal to a misdemeanor, like getting a parking ticket. But this new bill is not here to stop the average kid from recording a movie. “This is modern-day organized crime,” Cuomo said. “The wide distribution of pirated films originating from New York costs our state vital economic resources, including thousands of jobs and millions of dollars in tax revenue.“

In a speech at the National Press Club, Motion Picture Association of America president Dan Glickman said the movie industry had to adjust to the current ‘tech-savvy generation.’ The MPAA actually realized the people downloading movies still go to the theater in much greater numbers than the average consumer.

While he felt that regulation is still needed, he said, “We also know that consumers increasingly want to enjoy our films in new ways. We have to give folks the choices they desire — legally — in the comfort of their homes and wherever else they wish to enjoy our movies.“

Basically admitting legal downloading always was and still isn’t where it has to be to satisfy consumers. “There are technology and policy issues to work through. [...] I think we’ll soon see some progress that will really open up how exciting this future could be for all of us,” Glickman said.

After that, he lightly touched upon net neutrality. The MPAA is still in favor of regulating internet usage, but he said “laws of unintended consequences are always applicable. We need to be extremely cautious before going down this road.“