According to several reports including one from
Wired, a group of over twenty film studios are repeatedly pursuing legal action against popular VPN providers.
These filmmakers are attempting to recoup the millions of dollars in lost revenue from piracy.
Hollywood companies have also alleged for a long time that VPN providers encourage online piracy and have clear evidence that their customers are abusing the privacy provided by VPNs.
Two popular VPN providers that have been in the crosshairs of Hollywood so far in 2022 include
ExpressVPN and Private Internet Access (PIA). Both of these VPNs are owned by the parent company Kape Technologies.
These two VPNs along with several others claim a “no logs policy” meaning the VPN provider does not store any Internet activity logs of its users.
In other words, VPN providers with a “no logs policy” can’t access user data to turn over to authorities if confiscated.
According to the official court documentation, on March 26, 2022, several film companies brought allegations against ExpressVPN and PIA (Kape Technologies) for allegations of user piracy.
The plaintiffs argued that VPN providers “refuse to prevent users from using their services to commit serious illegal acts and run marketing campaigns that boast about law enforcement being unable to extract any user information.”
The lawsuit against Kape Technologies states the following:
“Emboldened by Defendants’ promises that their identities cannot be disclosed, Defendants’ end-users use their VPN services not only to engage in widespread movie piracy, but other outrageous criminal conduct such as harassment, illegal hacking, and murder.
When these crimes become public, Defendants use these tragic incidents as opportunities to boast about their VPN services.”
The attorneys defending Kape Technologies responded to these allegations:
“These allegations are completely irrelevant and serve only to inflame emotions in a misguided attempt to prejudice the Court and the public against the defendants by false association with the non-parties whose conduct is described in these paragraphs.”
You can view official court documentation below:
Hollywood Companies & Kape Technologies Court Documentation (PDF)
More VPNs Sued by Hollywood
In addition to ExpressVPN and Private Internet Access (PIA), Hollywood has targeted numerous other VPN providers in the past.
This is highlighted by TorGuard, LiquidVPN, and VPN.ht.