Hollywood studios sue Chinese website over movie piracy

The Motion Picture Association in Hollywood is suing a popular website in China for film piracy, seeking about $1 million US from the company responsible for the site.

TheMPAaccuses the Xunlei Networking Technology Co. of permitting users of its file-sharing service to download hundreds of movies from other websites, despite repeated warnings.

The move expands the MPA's campaign against movie piracy in China, which it has estimated costs Hollywood studios more than $2.7 billion US a year in lost revenue.

The MPA says Xunlei's clients have downloaded copies of many movies includingSpider-Man 3, War of the Worlds and Miami Vice. It says the company ignored 78 warnings sent by MPA lawyers.

The Hollywood organization has filed a series of lawsuits against Chinese vendors and has been awarded abouttwo million yuan ($280,000 US) since 2006.

The MPA sued Chinese website Jeboo.com in November, accusing the site of providing pirated copies of 13 recent Hollywood films to a Shanghai internet caf.

The group contends the Chinese government has fuelled movie piracy by limiting the release of foreign films in China. Only about a dozen new Hollywood films are allowed to be screened in the country every year.

Music piracy is also rampant in China.A music industry group, the International Federation of Phonographic Industries, won a suit in December against Yahoo Inc.'s China arm, which had links to outside sites with pirated music.

The Chinese government has only recently imposed tougher penalties and launched repeated crackdowns on movie and music pirates.

The Motion Picture Association represents major Hollywood studios Paramount Pictures, Sony Pictures, Twentieth Century Fox, Universal City Studios and Warner Bros.