Judge orders online movie pirate to pay $23.8 million

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Wednesday, Nov. 24, 2004 | 9:58 a.m.

LOS ANGELES -- A Malaysian man must pay film studios $23.8 million for running a Web site that allowed paying members to watch pirated movies, the Motion Picture Association of America said.

A federal judge announced the decision against Tan Soo Leong at a hearing Monday, said John Malcolm, the association's director of worldwide anti-piracy operations.

Leong ran the Web site film88.com and a company called MasterSurf Inc., which set up computer servers overseas to protect the business from liability, Malcolm said Tuesday.

The MPAA said Leong previously ran a similar Web site, movie88.com, which was shut down by officials in Taiwan.