Legal Standings

So far it seems there are a range of different issues that must be considered in this case:
Due to the nature of Bittorrent, how will regulations be placed on legally purchased iTunes HD movies to other users over the network? Is it the job of Apple or of BitTorrent to ensure DRM standards? How will HD movies that are limited in availability to other computer applications be treated? How will regulations be placed on international sharing of HD movies that are not yet available in other countries? How will foreign violators of the regulations imparted by either iTunes or BitTorrent be punished according to the terms of the DMCA?

Here is an overview of some relevant court cases I've looked over so far:

Suprnova.org, closed in December 2004 because the Suprnova computer servers were confiscated by Slovenian authorities. After threats tothe webmaster of this site and its counterpart, lokitorrent, were ordered by the court to pay a fine and supply the MPAA with the IP addresses of visitors.

EliteTorrents.org was shut down by the US FBI and Immigration and Customs Enforcement. At first it was thought that a malicious hacker had gained control of the website, but it was soon discovered that the website had been taken over by the US government. Ten search warrants relating to members of the website were executed.

In 2005, a 38-year-old Hong Kong BitTorrent user allegedly distributed the three movies in violation of copyright, subsequently uploading the torrent file to a newsgroup. He was convicted of breaching the copyright ordinance, Chapter 528 of Hong Kong law. He was sentenced to jail for three months but was immediately granted bail pending an appeal to the High Court, which was dismissed.

In November, 2005, the movie industry and BitTorrent Inc., whose CEO is the creator of BitTorrent, signed a deal they hoped would reduce the number of unlicensed copies available through bittorrent.com's search engine, run by BitTorrent, Inc. It meant BitTorrent.com had to remove any links to unlicensed copies of films made by seven Hollywood movie studios. As it covered only the BitTorrent.com website, it is unclear what overall effect this has had on copyright infringement.

The Pirate Bay is another popular BitTorrent website. The site also contains torrents which point to copies of copyright-protected material. In May, 2006 however, The Pirate Bay's servers, which are based in Sweden, were raided by Swedish police; the site owners might be facing charges for copyright infringement or facilitating it according to the accusations on the search warrant. No charges have been made so far. However, after securing new servers in The Netherlands and using a recent backup, The Pirate Bay was back online in less than 72 hours. Recently, The Pirate Bay has returned to Sweden. The return has been facilitated by the public and media backlash against the Swedish Government's actions. The Pirate Bay is now, supposedly, going to counter-sue the Swedish government for millions of Swedish kronor lost from having their website shut down.

HBO, in an effort to combat the distribution of its programming on BitTorrent networks, has been sending out cease and desist letters to the ISPs of BitTorrent users. Many users have reported receiving letters from their ISP's that threatened to cut off their internet service if the alleged infringement continues. HBO, unlike the RIAA, has so far declined to sue anyone for sharing the files

(Wikipedia)
-Erin