Disney Enterprises, Inc. et al v. Hotfile Corp. et al

Filing 390

NOTICE by Hotfile Corp., Anton Titov Defendants' Notice of Filing the Publicly Filed Redacted Version of the Declaration of Andrew Leibnitz and Exhibits Thereto, Filed in Support of Defendants' Opposition to Plaintiffs' Motion for Summary Judgment and Exhibits Thereto (Attachments: # 1 Exhibit A, # 2 Exhibit 1, # 3 Exhibit 2, # 4 Exhibit 3, # 5 Exhibit 4, # 6 Exhibit 5, # 7 Exhibit 6, # 8 Exhibit 7, # 9 Exhibit 8, # 10 Exhibit 9, # 11 Exhibit 10, # 12 Exhibit 11, # 13 Exhibit 12, # 14 Exhibit 13, # 15 Exhibit 14, # 16 Exhibit 15, # 17 Exhibit 16, # 18 Exhibit 17, # 19 Exhibit 18, # 20 Exhibit 19, # 21 Exhibit 20, # 22 Exhibit 21, # 23 Exhibit 22, # 24 Exhibit 23, # 25 Exhibit 24, # 26 Exhibit 25, # 27 Exhibit 26, # 28 Exhibit 27, # 29 Exhibit 28, # 30 Exhibit 29, # 31 Exhibit 30, # 32 Exhibit 31, # 33 Exhibit 32, # 34 Exhibit 33, # 35 Exhibit 34, # 36 Exhibit 35, # 37 Exhibit 36, # 38 Exhibit 37)(Munn, Janet)

EXHIBIT 2

Highly Confidential
Page 1
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA
CASE NO. 11-20427-WILLIAMS/TURNOFF
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - DISNEY ENTERPRISES,
INC., TWENTIETH CENTURY
FOX FILM CORPORATION,
UNIVERSAL CITY STUDIOS
PRODUCTIONS LLLP,
COLUMBIA PICTURES
INDUSTRIES, INC., and
WARNER BROS.
ENTERTAINMENT, INC.,
Plaintiff,
v.
HOTFILE CORP., ANTON
TITOV, and DOES 1-10,
Defendants.

HOTFILE CORP.,
Counterclaimant,
v.
WARNER BROS ENTERTAINMENT
INC.,
Counterdefendant.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - VOLUME I
H I G H L Y C O N F I D E N T I A L
(Pursuant to protective order, the following
transcript has been designated highly confidential)
30(b)(6) DEPOSITION OF ANTON TITOV
Radisson Blu Hotel
Sofia, Bulgaria
Monday, December 5, 2011
Job Number: 44174
TSG Reporting - Worldwide

800-702-9580

Highly Confidential
Page 2
1
2
3
4

A P P E A R A N C E S
ATTORNEY FOR THE PLAINTIFFS:
JENNER & BLOCK
BY: STEVEN B. FABRIZIO, ESQ.
1099 New York Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20001

5
6
7
8
9
10
11

ATTORNEY FOR THE DEFENDANTS HOTFILE CORP.,
AND ANTON TITOV:
FARELLA, BRAUN & MARTEL
BY: RODERICK M. THOMPSON, ESQ.
235 Montgomery Street
San Francisco, California 94104

12
13
14
15

BOSTON LAW GROUP
VALENTIN GURVITS
825 Beacon Street
Newton Center, MA 02459

16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25

TSG Reporting - Worldwide

800-702-9580

Highly Confidential
Page 3
1

Also present:

2

Court reporter:

3

Fiona Farson
TSG Reporting

4
5
6

Videographer:
Simon Rutson
TSG Reporting

7
8
9

Interpreter:
Assist. Prof. Boris Naimushin, Ph.D.

10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25

TSG Reporting - Worldwide

800-702-9580

Highly Confidential

TSG Reporting - Worldwide

800-702-9580

Highly Confidential
Page 17
1

A.

Yes.

2

Q.

Okay.

From August 2008, again going forward, can you

3

identify the people who were working with you on the

4

development of the Hotfile website?

5

MR. THOMPSON:

Objection, overbroad.

6

today?

7

MR. FABRIZIO:

8

A.

9

Do you mean up to

BY MR. FABRIZIO:

Yes.

Strictly on developing, it would be Diyan Chuburov.

10

Q.

Can you spell, please?

11

A.

D-I-Y-A-N, C-H-U-B-U-R-O-V.

12

Q.

Chuburov:

13

A.

Yeah.

14

Did I say that right?

He was working approximately from the beginning.

15

Q.

Does he still work on the Hotfile website?

16

A.

Yes, he does.

17

Q.

What are the nature of his responsibilities?

18

MR. THOMPSON:

19

BY MR. FABRIZIO:

20

Q.

21
22

Today?

Can you please describe from the inception, and if
they've changed, as they've changed through today.

A.

He's responsible for programming the website, the actual

23

website of hotfile.com, and internal administrative web

24

pages.

25

Q.

Have those been his duties from the inception?

TSG Reporting - Worldwide

800-702-9580

Highly Confidential
Page 27
1

developing hotfile.com.

2

Q.

Any other companies, beyond RapidShare?

3

A.

RapidShare was market leader, and we would normally

4

compare to them, ourselves to them, but I believe we

5

looked at others too.

6

Q.

What were the others?

7

A.

I think MediaFire.

8

Q.

Did you say MediaFire?

9

A.

MediaFire.

10

Q.

Any others?

11

A.

It's very hard to judge in the time when you've seen

12
13

anything.
Q.

14
15

MR. THOMPSON:

Megaupload?

Just so the question is clear, is there

a time?
MR. FABRIZIO:

18
19

Let me -- let me suggest a couple of names and

you can tell me.

16
17

Sure.

This is in the time they were developing the

functionality for Hotfile.
A.

We were probably aware of Megaupload, but I don't think

20

we were really looking at Megaupload as an example of

21

functionality or anything else.

22

BY MR. FABRIZIO:

23

Q.

Okay.

So is it fair to say that you principally looked

24

to RapidShare to get ideas for functionality for

25

Hotfile?

TSG Reporting - Worldwide

800-702-9580

Highly Confidential
Page 28
1

A.

Yes, pretty fair to say that, yes.

2

Q.

Was there somebody that had responsibility for analyzing

3

the RapidShare functionalities to determine whether some

4

of them might be appropriate for Hotfile?

5

A.

Well, I don't think that anybody was officially given

6

or -- this task, or -- but I would say that Rumen

7

Stoyanov would normally look at the competition.

8

Q.

And what about yourself?

9

MR. THOMPSON:

Objection, vague.

10

A.

Probably, yes, I would.

11

BY MR. FABRIZIO:

12

Q.

Other than the people you've already identified, is

13

there anybody else that worked with you on Hotfile

14

functionality design?

15

A.

No, I won't say so.

16

Q.

Okay.

17

Turning to another area you identified, which was

website design.

18

A.

Yes.

19

Q.

Did you work -- did you personally work on the website

20
21

design?
A.

22

I'm not a designer.

I might fix some small visual

things, but I won't say that I'm working on the design.

23

Q.

Okay.

24

A.

The initial Hotfile design was pretty simple, and

25

Who worked on the design of the Hotfile website?

I would say that only the logo was developed by an

TSG Reporting - Worldwide

800-702-9580

Highly Confidential
Page 29
1

actual designer; that would be an external contractor.

2

And the rest, to the extent there was design, was done

3

by Diyan, and maybe --

4

Q.

Mr. Chuburov?

5

A.

Yes.

6
7

And there could be my help there, but I won't say

it would be substantial.
Q.

8

Who was the outside contractor that designed the logo,
the initial logo?

9

A.

A friend of mine.

10

Q.

Can you spell, please?

11

A.

N-I-K-O-L-A-I, T-E-N-E-V.

12

Q.

Was Mr. Tenev a designer by trade?

13

A.

Sorry?

14

Q.

Was his business designing things like logos?

15

A.

Yes.

16

Q.

Okay.

17

His name is Nikolai Tenev.

He's a web designer.
You said the initial design was pretty simple.

Did there come a time when the site was redesigned?

18

A.

Yes, there was a time.

19

Q.

When was that?

20

A.

I'm afraid that my memories are not very clear in time,

21

but I would say somewhere in the beginning 2010.

22

Q.

Why was the site redesigned?

23

A.

I can't think of a particular reason besides that we

24

wanted to make it looking more professional or

25

attractive and better, generally better.

TSG Reporting - Worldwide

800-702-9580

Highly Confidential
Page 30
1

Q.

2

And you said "we"; who is the "we" in your sentence?
Did that include you?

3

MR. THOMPSON:

Objection, compound.

4

BY MR. FABRIZIO:

5

Q.

Well, let me ask the question this way:

Who

6

participated in the decision to redesign the Hotfile

7

website in the beginning of 2010?

8

A.

It was probably me, Rumen Stoyanov and Atanas Vangelov.

9

Q.

Do you, Mr. Stoyanov, and Mr. Vangelov have an

10

understanding as to which responsibilities each of you

11

will take primary -- let me rephrase the question.

12

Did you, Mr. Stoyanov, and Mr. Vangelov have an

13

allocation of responsibilities among yourselves with

14

regard to the Hotfile system?

15

MR. THOMPSON:

16

A.

17

Objection, vague and overbroad.

There are some principal understandings, but they're not
really hardly defined.

18

BY MR. FABRIZIO:

19

Q.

What are those understandings?

20

A.

I would generally cover everything that goes on the

21

technical part.

Rumen would be normally responsible for

22

finances, and I would say that he's a bit more involved

23

in day-to-day operations.

24

generally -- would generally deal with potential

25

investors, advertising on the site, to the extent we

And Atanas Vangelov would be

TSG Reporting - Worldwide

800-702-9580

Highly Confidential
Page 31
1

have it, and some communication, just -- some external

2

contractors, people.

3

Q.

4

But you said the roles are not particularly -- are not
strictly defined?

5

MR. THOMPSON:

6

A.

7

BY MR. FABRIZIO:

8

Q.

Is that correct?

9

Objection, vague.

I won't say that they are strictly defined, yes.

Do you have any role in the day-to-day operations of the
Hotfile website?

10

MR. THOMPSON:

11

A.

Objection.

Overbroad, vague.

I wouldn't say day to day, because days can pass --

12

a lot of days can pass without me doing anything.

13

I have some, I would say, recurring duties.

14

BY MR. FABRIZIO:

15

Q.

What are your recurring duties?

16

A.

But

I am responsible for making the payments to the

17

affiliates every Monday.

18

Q.

19

MR. THOMPSON:

20

A.

21

BY MR. FABRIZIO:

22

Q.

23
24
25

Who's paying the affiliates today, as you sit here?
Objection, assumes facts.

Today is a long day.

Understand.

What other responsibilities do you have

that are recurring?
A.

I wouldn't say that there is anything.

It really

depends if I -- I have certain duties to oversee, the

TSG Reporting - Worldwide

800-702-9580

Highly Confidential
Page 32
1

technical part.

2

nobody bothers me for a month, it's okay.

3

breaks down, I can work every day, but I won't say

4

recurring every day.

5

Q.

Okay.

If I manage to do it in a way that
If something

Was there anybody else that works on the web

6

design of the Hotfile site, other than the people you've

7

identified?

8

A.

No.

9

Q.

Okay.

10

You identified general operations as another

general area.

11

A.

Yes.

12

Q.

Who were the people that worked on the general

13

operations of the Hotfile system?

14

MR. THOMPSON:

15

BY MR. FABRIZIO:

16

Q.

Is there a difference?

17

A.

I would say so, yes.

18

BY MR. FABRIZIO:

19

Q.

20
21

Okay.

Do you mean currently, or from the beginning?

So let's start at the beginning and then work

forward to currently.
A.

First I would like to mention that in my understanding,

22

general operations begin when the site becomes public.

23

But before that, I would consider everything

24

development.

25

Q.

Does that sound reasonable?

I'm not sure I understood what you just said, so why

TSG Reporting - Worldwide

800-702-9580

Highly Confidential
Page 33
1
2

don't you say it again.
A.

General operations would be -- begin once the site

3

starts operating.

Everything else before that is

4

development, in my understanding.

5

Q.

Okay.

6

A.

Do you agree?

7

Q.

That's fair enough.

8

A.

So, from the beginning or almost from the beginning,

9

Andre Ianakov would be responsible for communications

10

with users, and handling DMCA takedown notices.

11

Q.

12

MR. THOMPSON:

13

Is Mr. Ianakov a manager?
Objection, vague.

Calls for a legal

conclusion.

14

BY MR. FABRIZIO:

15

Q.

16

Let me ask it this way:

Does Mr. Ianakov have a title

at Hotfile?

17

A.

I don't think anybody at Hotfile really has a title.

18

Q.

Is Mr. Ianakov employed by Hotfile Corporation?

19

A.

He's employed by Blue Ant Ltd., but works -- he does

20
21

work for Hotfile Corporation, yes.
Q.

22

To your knowledge, does he perform work for any other
company?

23

A.

I am not aware of any.

24

Q.

And you said communicates with users and DMCA takedown

25

notices.

Does Mr. Ianakov have any other general

TSG Reporting - Worldwide

800-702-9580

Highly Confidential
Page 34
1
2

operations responsibilities?
A.

3
4

I don't think anything else would be -- could be defined
as his responsibility.

MR. THOMPSON:

Mr. Fabrizio, perhaps you should get the

5

spelling, for the record.

6

a little differently than the witness is.

7

MR. FABRIZIO:

8
9

Okay.

I think you're pronouncing it

I have the spelling for Ianakov as

I-A-N-A-K-O-V.
A.

That's one of the valid spellings.

10

BY MR. FABRIZIO:

11

Q.

12

Does anybody else have responsibility for general
operations of Hotfile?

13

A.

At a certain point, Stanislav Manov.

14

Q.

And that's S-T-A-N-I-S-L-A-V, M-A-N-O-V?

15

A.

Exactly.

16

Q.

When did Mr. Manov assume responsibilities for general

17
18

operations?
A.

19
20

I believe.
Q.

21
22

He started helping Andre Ianakov in spring 2010,

So prior to spring of 2010, it was just Mr. Ianakov
handling operations?

A.

I'm not sure of what your definition of "operations" is.

23

He was handling communications with users and, again,

24

DMCA takedown notices.

25

Q.

Did Mr. Ianakov report to anybody else?

TSG Reporting - Worldwide

800-702-9580

Highly Confidential
Page 35
1

MR. THOMPSON:

2

A.

Objection, vague.

I don't think he -- we have strictly defined reporting

3

structure, but it is my impression that he would

4

normally report to Rumen Stoyanov.

5

technical problems would be reported to me.

6

BY MR. FABRIZIO:

7

Q.

8

MR. THOMPSON:

9

A.

And of course

Professionally, you were Mr. Ianakov's superior?
Objection, vague and ambiguous.

I consider myself superior to Mr. Ianakov.

10

BY MR. FABRIZIO:

11

Q.

If you gave him instructions about things to do with

12

Hotfile, you would expect him to carry them out because

13

you told him to, correct?

14

MR. THOMPSON:

15

A.

Objection, overbroad.

I would expect so.

But to the extent if he thinks that

16

instruction I'm giving him he's considering unimportant,

17

he show choice, he would probably ask if I conferred

18

with Rumen and probably Atanas.

19

BY MR. FABRIZIO:

20

Q.

Okay.

Other than Mr. Ianakov and eventually Mr. Manov,

21

has anybody else worked on the general operations of

22

Hotfile?

23

MR. THOMPSON:

24

A.

25

Objection, vague.

It really depends what you -- how you define "general
operations."

TSG Reporting - Worldwide

800-702-9580

Highly Confidential
Page 36
1

BY MR. FABRIZIO:

2

Q.

Well, how do you define "general operations"?

3

A.

This is my first time defining general operations, but

4
5

I would say things that had to be done day to day.
Q.

6
7

All right.

With that definition, other than Mr. Ianakov

and Manov, was there anybody else?
A.

To the extent that Hotfile servers require and required

8

maintenance, and that we would be needing off on

9

provisioning of new servers at first, I was dealing with

10

these tasks.

And since Vasil Kolev started working for

11

Hotfile Corp., and the more he -- he started performing

12

most of the these duties.

13

Q.

Okay.

14

A.

And --

15

Q.

Go ahead.

16

A.

And we relied on the data center support or external

17

contractor to perform actual physical server movements,

18

like mounting, replacement, hard drive replacement, and

19

so on.

20

Q.

21

And who is the person that handled the physical aspects
of server replacement or additions?

22

MR. THOMPSON:

23

A.

Objection, assumes facts.

During the periods we would normally use the normal

24

support of the data center, I can't really say any

25

names, but there are probably documents --

TSG Reporting - Worldwide

800-702-9580

Highly Confidential

TSG Reporting - Worldwide

800-702-9580

Highly Confidential
Page 92
1

contract is with Hotfile Limited?

2

MR. THOMPSON:

3

BY MR. FABRIZIO:

4

Q.

5

Objection, vague.

Well, let me ask it this way:

Was that an accurate

statement, when you made it?

6

A.

It is.

It was.

7

Q.

Okay.

8

A.

It is.

9

Q.

So Lemuria has a contract with Hotfile Limited to

And is it accurate today?

10

provide web hosting services for the Hotfile website,

11

correct?

12

A.

Lemuria has a contract with Hotfile Limited to the

13

extent that Hotfile Limited -- to the extent that

14

Hotfile Limited is acting on behalf of Hotfile Corp.

15

(Reporter clarification.)

16

MR. THOMPSON:

"... acting on behalf of Hotfile Corp."

17

BY MR. FABRIZIO:

18

Q.

19

MR. THOMPSON:

I object to calling for a legal conclusion.

20

MR. FABRIZIO:

Well, the witness is -- every time I use the

And in paragraph 5, what did you mean by a "contract"?

21

term "contract," he expresses a misunderstanding of what

22

I mean.

23

MR. THOMPSON:

24
25

So I want to just get a common understanding.
Same objection.

You can answer if you understand the question.
A.

I understand the question, and beyond the fact that

TSG Reporting - Worldwide

800-702-9580

Highly Confidential
Page 93
1

there is no written contract, I think that -- my

2

understanding was that verbal or other kind of

3

understanding is still a contract.

4

BY MR. FABRIZIO:

5

Q.

6

Okay, I just want to confirm:

So there is no written

contract between Lemuria and Hotfile Limited?

7

A.

I don't know anything about any such contract.

8

Q.

Okay.

9

agreement under the terms as to which Lemuria would

10
11

provide web hosting services to Hotfile?
MR. THOMPSON:

12
13

Did Lemuria and Hotfile Limited reach an

Objection, vague, calls for a legal

conclusion.
A.

14

Since the two companies are doing business, I think it's
fair to say that they have reached an agreement.

15

BY MR. FABRIZIO:

16

Q.

Well, I guess what I'm trying to get at is, was there

17

a point in time when Hotfile Limited and Lemuria sat

18

down and said, "Here's what our agreement is," and

19

specified the terms of their agreement?

20

MR. THOMPSON:

21

A.

Objection, vague.

It was more like Hotfile Corp defining the terms of

22

agreement and then Hotfile implementing them with their

23

contract with Lemuria.

24

BY MR. FABRIZIO:

25

Q.

I'm not quite sure I understood your answer.

TSG Reporting - Worldwide

800-702-9580

Highly Confidential

1

MR. THOMPSON:

2

A.

Objection, vague and assumes facts.

I don't think it's a fair assumption to -- to do

3

something, you need to quit your previous job.

4

I informed you previously, I was last employed by

5

host.bg as late as early 2010.

6

BY MR. FABRIZIO:

7

Q.

And as

8
9

Okay.

Who provided the initial capital for the Hotfile

website?
MR. THOMPSON:

Objection, assumes facts.

10

A.

It was a company.

11

Q.

I'm sorry, did you say it was a company?

12

A.

Yes.

13

Q.

What company?

14

A.

The name was Elonex Corp.

15

Q.

Can you spell that, please.

16

A.

E-L-O-N-E-X.

17

Q.

And what is Elonex Corp.?

18

MR. THOMPSON:

19

A.

20

BY MR. FABRIZIO:

21

Q.

22

MR. THOMPSON:

23

A.

24

Objection, vague as to time.

A Panamanian corporation.

A Panamanian corporation.

And what is its business?
Objection, vague as to time.

I don't know about all business activities of Elonex
Corp.

TSG Reporting - Worldwide

800-702-9580

Highly Confidential

1

Q.

2

MR. THOMPSON:

3

A.

4

Who owns Elonex Corp?
Same objection.

To my best knowledge, back in the time, it was owned by
Atanas Vangelov and Rumen Stoyanov.

5

BY MR. FABRIZIO:

6

Q.

7

MR. THOMPSON:

8

A.

9

BY MR. FABRIZIO:

10

Q.

11

Is it currently owned by Messrs. Vangelov and Stoyanov?
Objection, lacks foundation.

I don't really know.

Do you currently have any interest in Elonex
Corporation?

12

MR. THOMPSON:

13

A.

14

BY MR. FABRIZIO:

15

Q.

No?

16

A.

No.

17

Q.

Do you know whether Elonex Corporation today has any

18

Objection, vague.

No.

owners other than Mr. Vangelov and Mr. Stoyanov?

19

A.

No, I don't know.

20

Q.

Did Webzilla provide any initial capital for Hotfile?

21

A.

No, I don't believe so.

22

Q.

Did anyone else other than Elonex provide additional

23
24

capital for Hotfile?
A.

TSG Reporting - Worldwide

800-702-9580

Highly Confidential

TSG Reporting - Worldwide

800-702-9580

Highly Confidential

1

BY MR. FABRIZIO:

2

Q.

You identified awareness of -- of users of this lawsuit.

3

Do you believe the mere filing of this lawsuit caused

4

Hotfile to lose users?

5

A.

It's not impossible.

6

Q.

But I'm asking what you believe.

7

MR. THOMPSON:

8
9

Objection.

Asked and answered, calls for

speculation.
A.

10

I don't want to talk about quantities, but at least to
some degree, it can happen.

11

BY MR. FABRIZIO:

12

Q.

13

What is it about the filing of this lawsuit that in your
mind would cause users to leave Hotfile?

14

A.

Some invasion in their privacy that they can expect.

15

Q.

What invasion of their privacy?

16

A.

As a result of the discovery process that is ongoing.

17

Q.

Anything else?

18

A.

Nothing that I can think of now.

19

Q.

Okay.

Prior to the filing of this complaint, did

20

Hotfile respond to each and every DMCA notice it

21

received by blocking access to the files identified?

22

MR. THOMPSON:

23

A.

24

Objection, overbroad.

It was general policy of Hotfile to do its best to be
able to respond to each DMCA takedown notice and to

TSG Reporting - Worldwide

800-702-9580

Highly Confidential
Page 188
HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL
CERTIFICATE OF DEPONENT

1
2

4
5
6

I, ANTON TITOV, hereby certify that I have read the
foregoing pages of my deposition of testimony taken in these
proceedings on Monday, December 5, 2011, and, with the
exception of the changes listed on the next page and/or
corrections, if any, find them to be a true and accurate
transcription thereof.

8
9
10
Signed:
11
Name:

ANTON ITOV

Date:

1/.42

12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25

TSG Reporting - Worldwide

800-702-9580

Highly Confidential
Page 190
1

HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL

2
ERRATA
3
Deposition of ANTON TITOV
4
Page/Line No.
5

14:18

Description
Eitinerum --> Itinerum

Reason for change
Correct transcription

6

14:20

EITINERUM --> ITINERUM

Correct transcription

7

14:21

internet --> intranet

Correct transcription

8

14:24

all in shelves --> online shops

Correct transcription

9

15:7

webcasting --> webhosting

Correct transcription

10

15:10

webcasting --> webhosting

Correct transcription

11

18:6

Ilan --> Elan

Correct transcription

12

20:9 Manix: M-A-N-I-X -> Maniax: M-A-N-I-A-X Correct trans.

13

35:16

unimportant --> important

14

35:17

he show choice --> he may choose Clarify record

15

37:6

16

37:8

S T I L L I N G S --> S-T-A-L-L-I-N-G-S Correct trans.

17

38:3

qualification --> collocation

18

39:2

Equinix bandwith --> Equinix, bandwith Clarify record

Stillings --> Stallings
-

-

-

-

-

-

-

Correct transcription

Correct transcription

-

Correct transcription

19
20

Signed:

21

Name:

22

Date:

ANTON TITOV

23
24
25

TSG Reporting - Worldwide

800-702-9580

Highly Confidential
Page 190
1

HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL

2
ERRATA
3
Deposition of ANTON TITOV
4
Page/Line No.

Description

Reason for change

5
6

44:1

7

46:16

8

46:17

Correct transcription

IT --> IP

with the grade,

--> would degrade

Correct trans.

the traffic flows into there from --> when the traffic

9

flows into their network from

Correct transcription

10

47:3 We can say any old --> We cannot say we want

11

57:23

12

61:15

13

65:24

14

77:11

15

89:6

SA --> Yes

16

89:21

I know what --> I don't know what

17

99:11

Panek --> Penev

Correct transcription

18

109:23

Chubarov --> Chuburov

Correct transcription

costing --> hosting

Correct trans.

Correct transcription
Correct transcription

Konstantin Lucyan --> Constantin Luchian
lemur --> Lima

Correct trans.

Correct transcription
Correct transcription
Correct trans.

19

20

Signed:

21

Name:

22

Date:

ANTON TITOV

23
24
25

TSG Reporting - Worldwide

800-702-9580

Highly Confidential
Page 190
HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL

1
2

ERRATA
3
Deposition of ANTON TITOV
Reason for change

Description

Page/Line No.
5

Conform to facts

6
7

111:15

SecPay --> SegPay

Correct transcription

8

119:5

Limewire --> Limelight

Correct transcription

9

119:13

Limewire --> Limelight

Correct transcription

10

126:10

I was there --> I checked

Correct transcription

11

128:17
Correct transcription

12
13

128:18

enforce --> in force

Correct transcription

14

138:8

Ignitov --> Ignatov

Correct transcription

15

138:10

I-G-N-I-T-O-V

I-G-N-A-T-O-V

16

65:24, 66:3, 66:8, 67:4, 68:3,

17

Correct transcription

Lucyan --> Luchian

Correct trans.

68:16, 70:13, 70:19, 70:21,
71:13, 71:18, 72:3, 72:7, 72:9,

18

74:3, 75:10, 75:18, 76:4, 76:5, 76:8

19

72:17

20

Signed:

.Correct transcription

•

21' Name:
22

Lucyan's

Date:

ANTON ITOV

(7.29A2-0(2..

23
24
25

TSG Reporting - Worldwide

800-702-9580

Highly Confidential
Page 189
1

HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL
CERTIFICATE OF COURT REPORTER

2
3
I, Fiona Farson, with TSG Reporting, hereby certify that the
4 . testimony of the witness Anton Titov in the foregoing
transcript, taken on Monday, December 5, 2011 was reported
5
by me in machine shorthand and was thereafter transcribed by
me; and that the foregoing transcript is a true and accurate
6
verbatim record of the said testimony.
7
I further certify that I am not a relative, employee,
counsel or financially involved with any of the parties to
the within cause, nor am I an employee or relative of any
counsel for the parties, nor am I in any way interested in
the outcome of the within cause.
10
11
12
13
14
Signed:
15
Fiona Farson
16
Dated:

December 15th, 2011

17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
Y.1.4.216

TSG Reporting - Worldwide

800-702-9580

Highly Confidential
Page 191
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA
CASE NO. 11-20427-WILLIAMS/TURNOFF
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - DISNEY ENTERPRISES,
INC., TWENTIETH CENTURY
FOX FILM CORPORATION,
UNIVERSAL CITY STUDIOS
PRODUCTIONS LLLP,
COLUMBIA PICTURES
INDUSTRIES, INC., and
WARNER BROS.
ENTERTAINMENT, INC.,
Plaintiff,
v.
HOTFILE CORP., ANTON
TITOV, and DOES 1-10,
Defendants.
HOTFILE CORP.,
Counterclaimant,
v.
WARNER BROS ENTERTAINMENT
INC.,
Counterdefendant.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - VOLUME II
H I G H L Y C O N F I D E N T I A L
(Pursuant to protective order, the following
transcript has been designated highly confidential)
30(b)(6) DEPOSITION OF ANTON TITOV
Radisson Blu Hotel
Sofia, Bulgaria
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
AT: 9:10 a.m.
Job No: 44175
TSG Reporting - Worldwide

[phone]

Highly Confidential
Page 192
1
2
3

A P P E A R A N C E S
ATTORNEY FOR THE PLAINTIFFS:

4

JENNER & BLOCK
BY: STEVEN B. FABRIZIO, ESQ.
1099 New York Avenue, NW

5

Washington, DC

20001

6
7
8
9
10
11

ATTORNEY FOR THE DEFENDANTS HOTFILE CORP.,
AND ANTON TITOV:
FARELLA, BRAUN & MARTEL
BY: RODERICK M. THOMPSON, ESQ.
235 Montgomery Street
San Francisco, California 94104

12
13
14

BOSTON LAW GROUP
VALENTIN GURVITS
825 Beacon Street
Newton Center, MA 02459

15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
TSG Reporting - Worldwide

[phone]

Highly Confidential
Page 193
1

Also present:

2

Court reporter:

3

Fiona Farson
TSG Reporting

4
5
6

Videographer:
Simon Rutson
TSG Reporting

7
8
9

Interpreter:
Assist. Prof. Boris Naimushin, Ph.D.

10
11
12

Technical expert:
Kelly Truelove

13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25

TSG Reporting - Worldwide

[phone]

Highly Confidential
Page 276
1

A.

2
3

a compatible statement was there since the beginning.
Q.

4
5

A comparable statement?

What do you consider

a comparable statement?
A.

6
7

I don't know for a fact, but it's my belief that

A statement that will carry all -- carry on the same
substance, I guess.

Q.

Right.

Currently, today, in its IP policy page, Hotfile

8

informs users that it has a policy to terminate repeat

9

infringing users, correct?

10

A.

I believe so.

11

Q.

Okay.

12

And when did that IP policy page first appear on

Hotfile?

13

A.

I think approximately May or June 2010.

14

Q.

Okay.

And before May or June of 2010, where did --

15

where on its website did Hotfile inform users of

16

a policy to terminate repeat infringers?

17

A.

In terms of service, I think.

18

MR. FABRIZIO:

Okay.

I'm asking the court reporter to mark

19

as Titov exhibit 31 a printout from Hotfile terms of

20

service.

21

Q.

This is printed from archive.org.

And you will undoubtedly recognize from convention,

22

Mr. Titov, that this reflects an archive.org capture as

23

of February 2010.

24
25

(Titov exhibit 31 marked for identification.)
BY MR. FABRIZIO:

TSG Reporting - Worldwide

[phone]

Highly Confidential
Page 277
1

Q.

My question to you, sir, is going to be:

Where in those

2

terms of service does Hotfile inform its users of

3

a policy to terminate repeat infringers?

4

MR. FABRIZIO:

For the record, the witness took a pencil and

5

marked on exhibit 31, so the markings on exhibit 31 are

6

the witness's.

7

Q.

8

It's perfectly okay, Mr. Titov; the record just needs to
reflect that.

9

A.

It's a bit slow.

I'm not sure if I...

10

Q.

No problem.

11

A.

Yes.

12

Q.

First of all, do you recognize exhibit 31 as a copy of

Are you ready?

13

the terms of service for Hotfile that were in existence

14

in early 2010?

15

A.

I don't have any reason to believe that it's not true.

16

Q.

Okay.

And where in exhibit 31 do you believe Hotfile

17

informs its users of a policy to terminate repeat

18

infringers?

19
20
21

A.

There is a list of rules on the second page, and one of
the paragraphs reads:
"Loading, accommodation, sending by way of e-mail,

22

transmission or publication by other means of

23

information, which offends the rights of some party on

24

all patents, trademarks, commercial secrets, copyrights

25

or other property rights."

TSG Reporting - Worldwide

[phone]

Highly Confidential
Page 278
1

And a list of things -- the things that the user is

2
3

not supposed to do.
Q.

All right.

And where do you believe Hotfile informs its

4

users of a policy to terminate repeat copyright

5

infringers?

6

A.

I believe that after the -- all the rules are listed,

7

there is a language that says "complaints of the persons

8

breaking our rules are accepted here."

9

probably a link.

10

Or -- "here" is

"Each complaint will be considered, and depending on

11

the results, can lead to the deletion of the Client's

12

account without preliminary prevention."

13

Q.

So it's Hotfile's contention that those two provisions

14

in the terms of use inform Hotfile subscribers that

15

Hotfile has a policy of terminating repeat infringers?

16

A.

I believe so.

17

Q.

Okay.

Is there any other place where you believe

18

Hotfile's -- Hotfile informs users of a policy to

19

terminate repeat infringers, other than the terms of

20

use?

21

MR. THOMPSON:

22

BY MR. FABRIZIO:

23

Q.

Vague as to time.

Objection.

In the period of time prior to Hotfile publishing its IP

24

policy on its website in May or June of 2009, is there

25

any other place, other than the terms of service, where

TSG Reporting - Worldwide

[phone]

Highly Confidential

1

A.

It's not accurate in the fact that he's suggesting that

2

something automatic is happening, and it may be at his

3

discretion who's monitoring, Porn Guardian or somebody

4

else.

5

BY MR. FABRIZIO:

6

Q.

Do you know whether he was?

7

A.

No, I don't know.

8

MR. FABRIZIO:

9

We've marked as Titov exhibit 34 a document

produced by Hotfile, Bates numbered HF00000048 through

10

315.

11

excerpt of that document that omits the pages between

12

HF49 through HF284.

13

filing of this complaint, and we were focusing on dates

14

prior to the filing of this complaint.

15

The version we have marked as exhibit 34 is an

Those pages reflect dates after the

Mr. Thompson, this is the document I sent you some

16

days ago and asked you if Mr. Titov would read and

17

affirm whether the entries highlighted in yellow

18

represented the only instances, prior to the filing of

19

this complaint, that Hotfile had terminated a user for

20

reasons related to copyright infringement.

21

(Titov exhibit 34 marked for identification.)

22

BY MR. FABRIZIO:

23

Q.

24

Mr. Titov, have you had an opportunity to review what
we've marked as exhibit 34 prior to today?

25

TSG Reporting - Worldwide

[phone]

Highly Confidential

1

Q.

And did you look at the yellow entries and consider the

2

question we had posed through your counsel?

3

whether the entries highlighted in yellow represent the

4

only instances prior to the filing of this complaint

5

where Hotfile terminated a user for reasons of copyright

6

infringement?

7

A.

And that is

I spoke with Andrew on this matter, and since at the

8

beginning we didn't have the functionality of suspending

9

the user rather than -- we only had functionality of

10

deleting the user, which would vanish all information

11

about it from the database.

12

some users were terminated by deletion.

13

MR. THOMPSON:

14

He thinks that at least

I'm not sure everyone got the -- "vanished

the information."

15

BY MR. FABRIZIO:

16

Q.

Does Hotfile have any records of any other users being

17

terminated for reasons related to copyright

18

infringement?

19

MR. THOMPSON:

20

A.

Objection, overbroad.

I don't think Hotfile has any records that are not

TSG Reporting - Worldwide

[phone]

Highly Confidential

TSG Reporting - Worldwide

[phone]

Highly Confidential

1

Q.

And immediately prior to the first termination, which is

2

on page 313 and -- well, let me ask you this:

The

3

column headed -- is column C, headed "Date," the date of

4

the termination?

5

A.

Correct.

6

Q.

And column A, headed "User ID," that's the user ID of

7

the user terminated?

8

A.

I believe so.

9

Q.

Okay.

10

And column B, headed "Reason," that's the reason

for the termination?

11

A.

Yes.

12

Q.

Okay.

So looking at page 313, the first Corbin Fisher

13

termination occurred on January 21, 2010.

14

that?

15

A.

Yes, I see that.

16

Q.

Okay.

Do you see

Had Hotfile -- had Hotfile been served with a TRO

17

granted in favor of Liberty Media immediately preceding

18

that termination?

19

MR. THOMPSON:

20

BY MR. FABRIZIO:

21

Q.

22
23

Objection.

Lacks foundation.

And by "TRO," I mean temporary restraining order, issued
by a federal judge.

A.

I know about -- I don't know about the exact timeline,

TSG Reporting - Worldwide

[phone]

Highly Confidential

TSG Reporting - Worldwide

[phone]

Highly Confidential

TSG Reporting - Worldwide

[phone]

Highly Confidential

TSG Reporting - Worldwide

[phone]

Highly Confidential

TSG Reporting - Worldwide

[phone]

Highly Confidential

TSG Reporting - Worldwide

[phone]

Highly Confidential

TSG Reporting - Worldwide

[phone]

Highly Confidential

TSG Reporting - Worldwide

[phone]

Highly Confidential

TSG Reporting - Worldwide

[phone]

Highly Confidential

TSG Reporting - Worldwide

[phone]

Highly Confidential

TSG Reporting - Worldwide

[phone]

Highly Confidential

TSG Reporting - Worldwide

[phone]

Highly Confidential

TSG Reporting - Worldwide

[phone]

Highly Confidential

TSG Reporting - Worldwide

[phone]

Highly Confidential

TSG Reporting - Worldwide

[phone]

Highly Confidential

TSG Reporting - Worldwide

[phone]

Highly Confidential

TSG Reporting - Worldwide

[phone]

Highly Confidential

TSG Reporting - Worldwide

[phone]

Highly Confidential

TSG Reporting - Worldwide

[phone]

Highly Confidential

TSG Reporting - Worldwide

[phone]

Highly Confidential

TSG Reporting - Worldwide

[phone]

Highly Confidential

TSG Reporting - Worldwide

[phone]

Highly Confidential

TSG Reporting - Worldwide

[phone]

Highly Confidential

TSG Reporting - Worldwide

[phone]

Highly Confidential

TSG Reporting - Worldwide

[phone]

Highly Confidential

TSG Reporting - Worldwide

[phone]

Highly Confidential

TSG Reporting - Worldwide

[phone]

Highly Confidential

TSG Reporting - Worldwide

[phone]

Highly Confidential
Page - 371
1

HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL
CERTIFICATE OF DEPONENT

2
3
4
5
6

I, ANTON TITOV, hereby certify Lhat I have read the
foregoing pages of my deposition of testimony taken in these
proceedings on Tuesday, December 6, 2011, and, with the
exception of the changes listed on the next page and/or
corrections, if any, find them to be a true and accurate
transcription thereof.

7
8
9
10
Signed:
11
Name:
12
Date:

ANTON TITOV

/I 2_ p7,2( .(„Z

13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24

25
TSG Reporting - Worldwide

[phone]

Highly Confidential
Page 373

HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL

1

ERRATA
3
Deposition of ANTON TITOV
Page/Line No.

Description

Reason for change

5
6

225:25

Remind me.

- -> There might be.

Correct transcription

7

234:20

Presentation - -> representation

Correct transcription

8

234:20

cost of the -- > concept of

Correct transcription

9

261:2

As --> That's

Correct transcription

10

273:20

Limewire --> Limelight

Correct transcription

11

279:3

is --> would

Correct transcription

12

293:11

following --> logging

Correct transcription

13

306:5

calls --> holds

Correct transcription

14

306:6

15

321:6

would decide it --> with this ID

Correct transcription

16

333:20

brought --> blocked

Correct transcription

L7

337:7

file --> file ID

Correct transcription

18

Signed:

19

Name:

20

Date:

service at hotfile.com --> to [e-mail] Correct

ANTON TITOV

21
22
23
24
25

TSG Reporting - Worldwide

[phone]

Highly Confidential
Page 373
1

•HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL

2
ERRATA
3
Deposition of ANTON TITOV
4
Page/Line No.

Description

Reason for change

5
state --> table

Correct transcription

6

361:25

7

368:7 users stay on our uploads --> users cowner upload Correct t [cans

8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18

Signed:

19

Name:

20

Date:

7
ANTON TITOV

il 20/2-9/-2-

21
22
23
24
25

TSG Reporting

7

Worldwide

[phone]

Highly, Confidential

HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL
CERTIFICATE OF COURT REPORTER

1
2
3

I, Fiona Farson, with TSG Reporting, hereby certify that the
testimony of the witness Anton Titov in the foregoing
4
transcript, taken on Tuesday, December 6, 2011 was reported
5 by me in machine shorthand and was thereafter transcribed by
me; and that.the foregoing transcript is a true and accurate
6
verbatim record of the said testimony.
7
8
9

I further certify that I am not a relative, employee,
counsel or financially involved with any of the parties to
the within cause, nor am I an employee or relative of any
counsel for the parties, nor am I in any way interested in
the outcome of the within cause.

10
11
12
13
14
Signed:
15
Fiona Farson
16
Dated: 12/17/2011
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
,

.

I

L.4. IL

_AL-

.11141.114 ILi

TSG Reporting - Worldwide

, ,./...14417

-14Q4

[phone]

H I G H L Y

C O N F I D E N T I A L
Page 374

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA
CASE NO. 11-20427-WILLIAMS/TURNOFF
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - DISNEY ENTERPRISES,
INC., TWENTIETH CENTURY
FOX FILM CORPORATION,
UNIVERSAL CITY STUDIOS
PRODUCTIONS LLLP,
COLUMBIA PICTURES
INDUSTRIES, INC., and
WARNER BROS.
ENTERTAINMENT, INC.,
Plaintiff,
v.
HOTFILE CORP., ANTON
TITOV, and DOES 1-10,
Defendants.

HOTFILE CORP.,
Counterclaimant,
v.
WARNER BROS ENTERTAINMENT
INC.,
Counterdefendant.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - VOLUME III
H I G H L Y C O N F I D E N T I A L
(Pursuant to protective order, the following
transcript has been designated highly confidential)
30(b)(6) DEPOSITION OF ANTON TITOV
Radisson Blu Hotel
Sofia, Bulgaria
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
AT: 9:09 a.m.
Job # 44429
TSG Reporting - Worldwide

H I G H L Y

C O N F I D E N T I A L
Page 375

1
2
3
4

A P P E A R A N C E S
ATTORNEY FOR THE PLAINTIFFS:
JENNER & BLOCK, LLP
BY: STEVEN FABRIZIO, ESQ.
1099 New York Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20001

5
6
7
8
9
10

ATTORNEY FOR THE DEFENDANTS HOTFILE CORP.,
AND ANTON TITOV:
FARELLA, BRAUN & MARTEL, LLP
BY: RODERICK THOMPSON, ESQ.
235 Montgomery Street
San Francisco, California 94104

11
12
13

BOSTON LAW GROUP
BY: VALENTIN GURVITS
825 Beacon Street
Newton Center, MA 02459

14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25

TSG Reporting - Worldwide

H I G H L Y

C O N F I D E N T I A L
Page 376

1

Also present:

2

Court reporter:

3

Fiona Farson
TSG Reporting

4
5
6

Videographer:
Simon Rutson
TSG Reporting

7
8
9
10

Interpreter:
Assist. Prof. Boris Naimushin, Ph.D.
Elena Alexieva

11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25

TSG Reporting - Worldwide

H I G H L Y

C O N F I D E N T I A L
Page 386

1

Q.

Okay.

2

A.

Currently it's only Andre -- Andre Ianakov.

3

Q.

Okay.

And has it always been only Andre Ianakov?

I'm sorry, did you say "no"?

4
5

Is it one particular person's responsibility?

A.

I didn't.

It was Stanislav Manov was helping him, to my

best knowledge --

6
7

Q.

Okay.

8

A.

-- at the time he was working for Hotfile.

9

Q.

So has Mr. Ianakov been -- strike that.
Has reviewing and responding to user communications

10
11

been part of Mr. Ianakov's responsibilities from the

12

launch of Hotfile through to the present?

13

MR. THOMPSON:

Objection, overbroad.

14

A.

15

BY MR. FABRIZIO:

16

Q.

I believe so.

Okay.

And what are Mr. Ianakov's and, while he was

17

doing it, Mr. Manov's responsibilities with regard to

18

user correspondence?

19

MR. THOMPSON:

20

A.

Objection, overbroad.

Generally to address users' problems and to try to help
them.

21
22

BY MR. FABRIZIO:

23

Q.

24
25

Okay.

Did you supervise Mr. Ianakov and/or Mr. Manov,

when he was there, with regard to user communications?
MR. THOMPSON:

Objection, vague.

TSG Reporting - Worldwide

H I G H L Y

C O N F I D E N T I A L
Page 387

1

A.

I won't say it's fair to say that I do supervise them.

2

To the extent that a user may have a technical problem,

3

they may contact me, if they think that it's a problem

4

I can help them with.

5

BY MR. FABRIZIO:

6

Q.

Okay.

Does somebody have a responsibility for

7

supervising Mr. Manov and Ianakov in responding to user

8

communications?

9
10

MR. THOMPSON:
A.

Same objection.

Well, it's not strictly written anywhere or anything

11

else, and my understanding is that, to a certain extent,

12

Rumen Stoyanov is supervising them.

13

BY MR. FABRIZIO:

14

Q.

Well, maybe I should put it this way; while he was there

15

Mr. Manov and throughout the period, Mr. Ianakov, were

16

they empowered by Hotfile to exercise their discretion

17

in answering user correspondence?

18

MR. THOMPSON:

Objection.

Vague and calls for a legal

conclusion.

19
20

A.

21

BY MR. FABRIZIO:

22

Q.

23

MR. THOMPSON:

24

A.

25

I would say to a certain extent.

"To a certain extent"?

What does that mean?

Objection, vague.

Probably there would be problems that they will address
to Rumen or to me, and if they want me to tell them how

TSG Reporting - Worldwide

H I G H L Y

C O N F I D E N T I A L
Page 440

so on Hotfile's behalf?

1
2

A.

I believe so.

3

Q.

So he was acting for Hotfile when he did it?

4

MR. THOMPSON:

5

A.

6

BY MR. FABRIZIO:

7

Q.

Objection, calls for a legal conclusion.

I don't know, he was just filling out a form.

Okay, I'm going to -- switching gears.
Why does the Hotfile website not have a function to

8

allow users to search for files that are hosted on the

9

Hotfile website?

10
11

A.

It was the industry's model back in the time.

12

Q.

What industry's model?

13

A.

Hotfile is a storage facility that users can store their

14

own personal files, and that doesn't go well with search

15

function.

16

Q.

Is there any other reason that Hotfile does not have
a search function on the website?

17
18

MR. THOMPSON:

19

A.

Objection, vague, overbroad.

Except the fact that it's easier not to do something

20

again than to do something and it was the case with

21

Rapidshare that we looked at in the beginning.
I think these are the reasons.

22
23

BY MR. FABRIZIO:

24

Q.

25

MR. THOMPSON:

My question was; is -- is there any other reason?
Objection, asked and answered.

TSG Reporting - Worldwide

H I G H L Y

C O N F I D E N T I A L
Page 443

downloading files from Hotfile, correct?

1
2

A.

without uploading and you can -- yeah.

3
4

That would be one of the activities, you can download

Q.

Well, Hotfile doesn't charge users for uploading, does
it?

5
6

MR. THOMPSON:

7

A.

Objection, vague.

You can upload files without paying, but if you are

8

a paid user, you have certain privileges also in loading

9

and storing information.

10

BY MR. FABRIZIO:

11

Q.

And that is, if you're not a premium user, any files

12

you've uploaded will be deleted after a certain period

13

of time if they have not been downloaded, correct?

14

MR. THOMPSON:

15

A.

Objection, vague as to time.

And also the redundancy of the files of the premium
users is higher.

16
17

BY MR. FABRIZIO:

18

Q.

What does that mean?

19

A.

That means that all the files of premium users, we have
two copies on different servers for them.

20
21

Q.

And for non-premium users, that's not the case?

22

A.

I believe so.

23

Q.

I'm just going to try and clarify, but my question was

24
25

not artful.
Does Hotfile maintain a backup copy on a separate

TSG Reporting - Worldwide

H I G H L Y

C O N F I D E N T I A L
Page 445

1

BY MR. FABRIZIO:

2

Q.

Okay.

And it would not be difficult from a technical

3

matter to have a search function that only would locate

4

files that users have designated for public

5

distribution, correct?

6

MR. THOMPSON:

7

A.

8

BY MR. FABRIZIO:

9

Q.

10

Objection, vague and overbroad.

It's possible, yes.

Okay.

So I ask again, why does Hotfile not have such

a search function on its website?

11

MR. THOMPSON:

Objection, asked and answered.

12

A.

13

BY MR. FABRIZIO:

14

Q.

15

MR. THOMPSON:

16

A.

17

BY MR. FABRIZIO:

18

Q.

It just doesn't.

Well, my question, sir, is; why?
Objection, asked and answered, now twice.

The same reasons I said before.

And before you said that Hotfile was effectively for

19

storage, and I believe now we've established that it's

20

for downloading as well, so, with that new context, I'd

21

like to understand as best you can tell us why Hotfile

22

doesn't have a search function on its website?

23

MR. THOMPSON:

Objection to the preamble as argumentative,

24

misstating testimony.

25

The question has been asked and

answered three times.

TSG Reporting - Worldwide

H I G H L Y

C O N F I D E N T I A L
Page 446

If you have any more -- any more to add, go ahead.

1
2

A.

Well, you are correct that downloading is part of the

3

process, all the Hotfile idea is for the user to choose

4

who would be downloading his files and not to publish

5

them to the whole word.

6

MR. FABRIZIO:

Okay.

We'll leave it there.

I'm going to mark as Titov exhibit 146 a document

7
8

numbered HF34459, marked as 147 is a document numbered

9

HF34686, and as Titov exhibit 148, a document numbered
HF34587.

10
11

(Titov exhibits 146, 147 and 148 marked for identification.)

12

BY MR. FABRIZIO:

13

Q.

Have you had a chance to look at exhibits 146, 147 and
148, Mr. Titov?

14
15

A.

Yes, I did.

16

Q.

Are these further examples of user communications to
Hotfile through the Contact us page?

17
18

MR. THOMPSON:

Objection, vague.

19

A.

20

BY MR. FABRIZIO:

21

Q.

I don't have any reason to believe they're not.

Okay.

And are they true and correct copies of user

22

communications to Hotfile in the February 2001 [sic]

23

timeframe?

24

MR. THOMPSON:

25

A.

Objection, compound.

2011?

TSG Reporting - Worldwide

H I G H L Y

C O N F I D E N T I A L

TSG Reporting - Worldwide

H I G H L Y

C O N F I D E N T I A L

TSG Reporting - Worldwide

H I G H L Y

C O N F I D E N T I A L
Page 507

1

A.

Vobile is a company that will provide technology for

2

fingerprinting, taking fingerprints from videos --

3

videos, and they -- then they have service for

4

presenting these fingerprints to them, and they will

5

respond if this video matches any video in their

6

database.

7

BY MR. FABRIZIO:

8

Q.

And when they respond, because a finger -- they have

9

a fingerprint match, do they provide information about

10

the copyright owner and instructions from a copyright

11

owner with regard to a particular file?

12

MR. THOMPSON:

13

A.

Objection, compound and vague.

I know for sure that they provide the copyright owner,
but I'm not sure about the instructions.

14
15

BY MR. FABRIZIO:

16

Q.

Okay.

Well, let me put it this way, if there's a -- if

17

upon submission of a fingerprint to Vobile there's

18

a fingerprint match, Vobile sends information back to

19

you?

20

A.

It's more like we are supposed to connect and to check

21

if the submission is processed, but basically that's the

22

idea.

23

Q.

Okay.

And when Hotfile connects in to check, what

24

information does Vobile make available to Hotfile about

25

the file that it was checking?

TSG Reporting - Worldwide

H I G H L Y

C O N F I D E N T I A L

TSG Reporting - Worldwide

H I G H L Y

C O N F I D E N T I A L
Page 553

HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL
CERTIFICATE OF COURT REPORTER

1
2
3
4
5
6

I, Fiona Farson, with TSG Reporting, hereby certify that the
testimony of the witness Anton Titov in the foregoing
transcript, taken on Wednesday, December 7, 2011 was
reported by me in machine shorthand and was thereafter
transcribed by me; and that the foregoing transcript is a
true and accurate verbatim record of the said testimony.

7
8
9

I further certify that I am not a relative, employee,
counsel or financially involved with any of the parties to
the within cause, nor am I an employee or relative of any
counsel for the parties, nor am I in any way interested in
the outcome of the within cause.

10
11
12
13
14
Signed: _____________________

15
Fiona Farson

16
Dated: 12-19-2011

17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
TSG Reporting - Worldwide

H I G H L Y

C O N F I D E N T I A L
Page 555

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA
CASE NO. 11-20427-WILLIAMS/TURNOFF
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - DISNEY ENTERPRISES,
INC., TWENTIETH CENTURY
FOX FILM CORPORATION,
UNIVERSAL CITY STUDIOS
PRODUCTIONS LLLP,
COLUMBIA PICTURES
INDUSTRIES, INC., and
WARNER BROS.
ENTERTAINMENT, INC.,
Plaintiff,
v.
HOTFILE CORP., ANTON
TITOV, and DOES 1-10,
Defendants.

HOTFILE CORP.,
Counterclaimant,
v.
WARNER BROS ENTERTAINMENT
INC.,
Counterdefendant.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - VOLUME IV
H I G H L Y C O N F I D E N T I A L
(Pursuant to protective order, the following
transcript has been designated highly confidential)

Job #44430

30(b)(6) DEPOSITION OF ANTON TITOV
Radisson Blu Hotel
Sofia, Bulgaria
Thursday, December 8, 2011
AT: 9:10 a.m.
TSG Reporting - Worldwide

H I G H L Y

C O N F I D E N T I A L
Page 556

1
2
3
4

A P P E A R A N C E S
ATTORNEY FOR THE PLAINTIFFS:
JENNER & BLOCK
BY: STEVEN FABRIZIO, ESQ.
1099 New York Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20001

5
6
7
8
9
10
11

ATTORNEY FOR THE DEFENDANTS HOTFILE CORP.,
AND ANTON TITOV:
FARELLA, BRAUN & MARTEL
BY: RODERICK THOMPSON, ESQ.
235 Montgomery Street
San Francisco, CA 94104

12
13
14

BOSTON LAW GROUP
By: VALENTIN GURVITS, ESQ.
825 Beacon Street
Newton Center, MA 02459

15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25

TSG Reporting - Worldwide

H I G H L Y

C O N F I D E N T I A L
Page 557

1

Also present:

2

Court reporter:

3

Fiona Farson
TSG Reporting

4
5
6

Videographer:
Simon Rutson
TSG Reporting

7
8
9

Interpreter:
Assist. Prof. Boris Naimushin, Ph.D.

10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25

TSG Reporting - Worldwide

H I G H L Y

C O N F I D E N T I A L

TSG Reporting - Worldwide

H I G H L Y

C O N F I D E N T I A L

TSG Reporting - Worldwide

H I G H L Y

C O N F I D E N T I A L
Page 651

1

the uploader affiliate has sold or the ratio, or some

2

ratio of sales?

3

MR. THOMPSON:

4

A.

Objection, vague as to "it."

I believe it is based on the total sum of sales that the

5

affiliate converted, and I believe that the formula also

6

includes some estimates for Hotfile expenses for

7

bandwidth on this user.

8

BY MR. FABRIZIO:

9

Q.

"User" meaning the uploader affiliate?

10

A.

Yeah.

11

Q.

Focusing just for a second on the first part of the

12

equation, just to make sure we understand it, you said

13

the total sum of sales that the affiliate converted, so

14

the total number of users who converted to premium --

15

well, from the downloader page of a file that was

16

uploaded by one of those affiliates, correct?

17

A.

I actually meant that the money value also matters.

18

(Reporter clarification.)

19
20

The money value.
Q.

21

The money value?

Oh, what -- what level of premium

service that downloader purchases, okay.

22

A.

Correct.

23

Q.

Let me just ask by way of illustration to confirm

24
25

something.
Assuming the downloader purchased -- two

TSG Reporting - Worldwide

H I G H L Y

C O N F I D E N T I A L
Page 652

1

downloaders -- I'm sorry.

Assuming every downloader

2

purchases the same level of premium, so I don't -- so we

3

don't have the -- that variable to confuse things, if

4

one uploader affiliate had one file up and it was

5

downloaded a thousand times and one person converted,

6

and another uploader affiliate only had -- had one file

7

up, but only one person downloaded it, but that person

8

converted, both -- in both cases there was one converted

9

premium user, and there was only one file uploaded, but

10

in one case that file had been downloaded a thousand

11

times in order to get the one conversion and, in the

12

second case, the first download resulted in

13

a conversion -- do you understand the distinction I'm

14

drawing?

15

A.

Yes, I do.

16

Q.

When you're -- when considering the part of the equation

17

that is the total sum of sales that the affiliate

18

converted, are those two uploader affiliates the same,

19

considered to be equivalent?

20

MR. THOMPSON:

21

A.

Objection, compound, vague and ambiguous.

Are you asking if they will yield the same rank or where

22

one is --

23

BY MR. FABRIZIO:

24

Q.

25

I'm saying both of them have one converter, and does
that mean that the total sum of sales that each of them

TSG Reporting - Worldwide

H I G H L Y

C O N F I D E N T I A L
Page 653

1
2

converted is one?
A.

3

Again, I think in the -- it's monetary value, so it will
be nine.

4

(Reporter clarification.)

5

The monetary value, dollars, so I think it will be

6
7

$9 if they purchased -Q.

Okay.

So the total sum -- the total monetary sum of

8

sales that each affiliate converted, okay, I was

9

thinking "sum" as being number of downloads, all right.

10

So if the up -- if the downloading users both

11

converted to premium at the $9 rate, in both instances

12

the uploading affiliate would -- would have a total

13

number of sales converted of $9, okay?

14

A.

Correct.

15

Q.

And that's not affected by the ratio of the number of

16
17

downloads it took to get that conversion?
A.

As I said, it is a formula, and what -- the monetary

18

value is part of the formula, so, yes, the ratio is

19

an issue.

20

Q.

Let me -- let me try to simplify it; if you look at

21

exhibit 165, at the top on the right-hand side there is

22

the heading "Ranks" --

23

MR. THOMPSON:

Excuse me.

24

BY MR. FABRIZIO:

25

Q.

-- and towards the bottom of that paragraph there's two

TSG Reporting - Worldwide

H I G H L Y

C O N F I D E N T I A L
Page 654

1

numbered paragraphs, and one says -- and then they

2

are -- they're talking about -- well, it says:

3

"Your status mainly depends on your conversion ratio

4

which includes:

5

1.

The ratio of the users that downloaded your

6

files and the users that become premium based on your

7

uploaded files."

8

Do you see that?

9

A.

Yes, I do see that.

10

Q.

What does that mean?

11

MR. THOMPSON:

12
13

Objection, vague and ambiguous.

The document

speaks for itself.
A.

As I tried to explain before, the formula actually works

14

like a money equation; you have income and you have

15

expenses, you divide them, and you get a number, and,

16

based on this number, a rank will be assigned.

17

BY MR. FABRIZIO:

18

Q.

What I'm trying to figure out is how the income and

19

expenses description you're giving me relates to the

20

description in exhibit 165.

21

A.

22
23
24
25

And given the fact that one of the expenses is
bandwidth, so it counts here.

Q.

Okay.

And on exhibit 165 -- 165, number 2 says:

"The ratio of uploaded files to [the] number of
downloaded files," that's the part that accounts for

TSG Reporting - Worldwide

H I G H L Y

C O N F I D E N T I A L
Page 655

1

expenses?

2

A.

Yes.

3

Q.

Okay.

And if I understand that, a user that has

4

uploaded one file downloaded 10,000 times is going to

5

have a higher rank than a user that uploaded 10,000

6

files each downloaded once, correct?

7

MR. THOMPSON:

8
9
10

Objection, vague and ambiguous and incomplete

hypothetical.
BY MR. FABRIZIO:
Q.

11

I should actually -- that actually is right because
other factors may affect the rank.

12

It is better for a user's rank to have uploaded one

13

file, downloaded 10,000 times, than to have uploaded

14

10,000 files, each downloaded once, correct?

15

MR. THOMPSON:

16

A.

17

Same objection.

Given the fact that if you assume the same file size for
it, then you are correct.

18

BY MR. FABRIZIO:

19

Q.

Okay.

20

A.

That is the formula our affiliate program is using.

21

Q.

I understand that.

And why is that?

Why does your affiliate program use

22

a formula that rewards users more for uploading a fewer

23

number of files that are downloaded very frequently than

24

for uploading a large number of files that are

25

downloaded only infrequently?

TSG Reporting - Worldwide

H I G H L Y

C O N F I D E N T I A L
Page 665

1

from the downloading patterns of users from countries

2

that are not on the list of 54?

3

MR. THOMPSON:

4

A.

5

BY MR. FABRIZIO:

6

Q.

7

Same objection.

I can't think of anything.

Have the list of 54 -- well, have the same 54 countries
been on this list since the beginning of Hotfile?

8

A.

No, I don't think so.

9

Q.

So the list has changed over time?

10

A.

Yes, I think so.

11

Q.

How has the list changed?

12

A.

I think that countries has been added -- added.

13

Q.

Which countries have been added?

14

A.

I don't know the full history of the list.

15

Q.

Okay.

16

Can you describe for us how the site operator's

affiliate program operates?

17

MR. THOMPSON:

18

answered.

19

A.

20

Objection, overbroad, also asked and

It is a program where site owners would get commission
of the sales, the users referred to by their website.

21

BY MR. FABRIZIO:

22

Q.

23

And they get 5 per cent of the sale price for every user
they refer that converts to a premium account?

24

A.

I think it could be 5 or more per cent.

25

Q.

Under what circumstances would it be more than 5 per

TSG Reporting - Worldwide

H I G H L Y

C O N F I D E N T I A L
Page 706

1

correct?

2

MR. THOMPSON:

3

A.

4

BY MR. FABRIZIO:

5

Q.

6

Objection, vague, overbroad.

That is probably possible.

And is Hotfile purposely avoiding exploring what its
users are downloading?

7

MR. THOMPSON:

8

A.

9

BY MR. FABRIZIO:

10

Q.

Objection, vague and ambiguous, overbroad.

I don't believe so.

Do you believe that Hotfile's revenues would go down if

11

Hotfile were to eliminate all infringement on its

12

system?

13

MR. THOMPSON:

14

Objection, calls for a legal conclusion,

hypothetical, and opinion testimony.

15

A.

I don't know.

16

BY MR. FABRIZIO:

17

Q.

You don't know?

18

other?

19

MR. THOMPSON:

20

A.

21

BY MR. FABRIZIO:

22

Q.

You don't have a belief one way or the

Objection, asked and answered.

I don't know.

Is there any doubt in your mind that at least some

23

portion of Hotfile's profits are a result of copyright

24

infringement?

25

MR. THOMPSON:

Objection, calls for a legal conclusion and

TSG Reporting - Worldwide

H I G H L Y

C O N F I D E N T I A L
Page 710

1

A.

2

I believe there are two factors involved, one being if
the upload is anonymous or not.

3

Q.

One being if the uploader was anonymous?

4

A.

If the file was anonymously uploaded.

5

Q.

Okay.

6

A.

And the second factor would be whether the file was ever

7
8

downloaded at all.
Q.

9

Okay.

So is it the case that if the file was uploaded

anonymously and had never been downloaded before, the

10

period of time is 14 days?

11

A.

That is my belief.

12

Q.

And if the file was uploaded by a registered but

13

non-premium user and the file had been downloaded at

14

some point, then the period becomes 90 days?

15

A.

16
17

Yes, that is my belief, that it will be 90 days from the
last download.

Q.

Okay.

And is it possible -- is it possible that the

18

period of time could be something between 14 and 90

19

days, or is it one or the other?

20

A.

It is possible.

21

Q.

And is it based on the same considerations, just

22

different combinations of them?

23

A.

Correct.

24

Q.

Okay.

25

Why does Hotfile delete the files of non-premium

users when they haven't been downloaded for a period of

TSG Reporting - Worldwide

H I G H L Y

C O N F I D E N T I A L
Page 711

1

time?

2

A.

I believe that is to free disk space.

3

Q.

But if Hotfile is supposed to be at least in part

4

a storage service, isn't it contrary to the notion of

5

storage that Hotfile deletes files that have been stored

6

on it?

7

MR. THOMPSON:

8

A.

9

Objection, argumentative, and assumes facts.

I think it was implemented based on the model of other
websites.

10

(Reporter clarification.)

11
12

Model of other websites.
BY MR. FABRIZIO:

13

16

Q.

Has Hotfile ever given consideration to, instead of

17

deleting those files, simply charging those users to

18

store them?

19

MR. THOMPSON:

20

A.

Objection, overbroad and vague.

If user buy a premium account, these files will be in

21

fact stored.

22

BY MR. FABRIZIO:

23

Q.

Switching topics again -- I'm getting towards the end,

24

so I'm trying to cover some things I missed along the

25

way, that's why there will be a lot of shifting.

TSG Reporting - Worldwide

HIGHLY

CONFIDENTIAL
Page 729

1

CERTIFICATE OF DEPONENT
2
3
4

5
6

I, ANTON TITOV, hereby certify that I have read the
foregoing pages of my deposition of testimony taken in these
proceedings on Thursday, December 8, 2011, and, with the
exception of the changes listed on the next page and/or
corrections, if ,any, find them to be a true and accurate
transcription thereof.

7
8
9
10
Signed:
11
Name:

.ANTON TITOV

Date:

1/ /l ° 1/ 2_
g

12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25

TSG Reporting - Worldwide

HIGHLY

CONFIDENTIAL
Page 731

1

NAME OF CASE: Disney Enterprises Inc. v. Hotfile Corp.

2

DATE OF DEPOSITION: 12-8-2011

3

NAME OF WITNESS: ANTON TITOV

4

Reason Codes:

5

1.

To clarify the record.

6

2.

To conform to the facts.

7

3.

To correct transcription errors.

8

Page

581

9

From

make it to the

10

Page

581

11

From

12

Page

582

13

From

cannot exist

14

Page

Line

Line

8

9

to

3
make it to

Reason

3

to

log, the

Line

Reason

17

log the

Reason
to

16

Page

Reason

17

From

force on

18

Page

586

19

From

or

20

Page 586

21

From

can notice if

Reason

15

582
Line
20
accounts hacking,
From limitation

3

582

Line

Line

22

1
accounts to prevent hacking is a
to limitation

to
16

Reason

3
force hacking on

3

to
Line

servers of

17

Reason
to

of
3
service

22
23
24

ANTON TITOV

25

TSG Reporting - Worldwide

HIGHLY

CONFIDENTIAL
Page 731

1

NAME OF CASE:

2

DATE OF DEPOSITION:

3

NAME OF WITNESS: ANTON TITOV

4

Reason Codes:

5

1.

To clarify the record.

6

2.

To conform to the facts.

7

3.

To correct transcription errors.
587

Disney Enterprises Inc. v. Hotfile Corp.
12-8-2011

8

Page

9

From

10

Page

587

11

From

stage

12

Page

13

From

14

Page

592

15

From

it

16

Page

597

17

From the shareholders

18

Page

19

From

Lucyan

20

Page

612

21

From

Line

3

all product

589

3

Reason

will protect

to

Line

5

3

Reason

limitation

to
Line

24

it's correct
Line

Reason
to

25

Reason
to

Line

25

Reason

3
it isn't a correct
i
we would
3
2

611

Line

22

to
Reason
to

Line

Lucyan

8

Reason
to

two shareholders
3
Luchian
3
Luchian

22
23
24

ANTON TITOV

25

TSG Reporting - Worldwide

A

HIGHLY

CONFIDENTIAL
Page 731

1

NAME OF CASE: Disney Enterprises Inc. v. Hotfile Corp.

2

DATE OF DEPOSITION: 12-8-2011

3

NAME OF WITNESS: ANTON TITOV

4

Reason Codes:

5

1.

To clarify the record.

6

2.

To conform to the facts.

7

3.

To correct transcription errors.

8

Page

612

9

From

Lucyan

10

Page

11

From

12

Page

616

'13

From

FABRIZIO

14

Page

616

15

From

16

Page

17

From Lemuria paid

18

Page 620

19

From other

20

3
Line 5
Page 620
Reason
and if there is still other
and the answer is still no, and
From shareholders
to
other shareholders, no.

21

612

Line

15

3
Luchian

to

Line

17

Lucyan

Reason
to

Line

8

3

Luchian

Reason

3

to

Line

13

THOMPSON

Reason

3

to

man
620

Reason

Line

Line

4

Reason
to

4

Reason

to

him
3
Lemuria ever paid
3

any

22
23
24

ANTON TITOV

25

TSG Reporting - Worldwide

HIGHLY

CONFIDENTIAL
Page 731

1

NAME OF CASE: Disney Enterprises Inc. v. Hotfile Corp.

2

DATE OF DEPOSITION: 12-8-2011

3

NAME OF WITNESS: ANTON TITOV

4

Reason Codes:

5

1.

6

2. To conform to the facts.

7

3. To correct transcription errors.

To clarify the record.

8

Page 626

9

From

financial election

10

Page

632

11

From

a port tool

12

Page

649

13

From

paid to the

14

Page

675

15

From

responding to the

16

Page

675

17

From query in

18

Page

19

From frequently questions

20

Page

21

From

675

701

Line

Line

Line

Line

Line

22

25

Reason

3
upload tool

Reason
t o paid through the

13

14

Reason
to re ondin to user

Reason
to

Line 15 .

Line

FinArt transaction

to

to
25

3

Reason

11

inquiries via

Reason

1

to frequently asked questions
Reason

ask him the question to

3
ask him a new question

22
23
24

ANTON TITOV

25

TSG Reporting - Worldwide

t

HIGHLY

CONFIDENTIAL
Page 731
Inc. v. Hotfile Corp.

1

NAME OF CASE: Disney Enterprises

2

DATE OF DEPOSITION:

3

NAME OF WITNESS: ANTON TITOV

4

Reason Codes:

5

1.

To clarify the record.

6

2.

To conform to the facts.

7

3.

To correct transcription errors.

8

Page

9

12-8-2011

From

723

Line

10

From

12

Page

13

From

Lucyan

14

Page

612

15

From

Lucyan

16

Page, Line

17

From

Lucyan

18

Page

812

19

From

Lucyan

20

Page

612

21

From

22
23
24

Line

Line

- Lucyan

22

3
Hotfile

Reason

3

to
8

Reason

Luchian
3
Luchian

to
12

Reason

is

Reason
to

Line

posted

to

to

Line

3

Reason

our court file
611

Reason,
to

hosted
726:25-727:1
Page ,
Line

11

16

17

Reason
to

3
Luchian
3
Luchian
3
Luchian
/
// ---,.'_--'<'

/
ANTON TT/ V

25

TSG Reporting - Worldwide

HIGHLY

1

CONFIDENTIAL

HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL
CERTIFICATE OF COURT REPORTER

2
3
4
5
6

I, Fiona Farson, with TSG Reporting, hereby certify that the
testimony of the witness Anton Titov in the foregoing
transcript, taken on Thursday, December 8, 2011 was reported
by me in machine shorthand and was thereafter transcribed by
me; and that the foregoing transcript is a true and accurate
verbatim record of the said testimony.
I further certify that I am not a relative, employee,
counsel or financially involved with any of the parties to
the within cause, nor am I an employee or relative of any
counsel for the parties, nor am I in any way interested in
the outcome of the within cause.

10
11
12
13
14
Signed:
15
Fiona Farson
16
Dated: 12-20-2011
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
TSG Reporting - Worldwide