Judge Orders Madster to Pull the Plug

Stiffening the pretrial restraints he imposed in October, a federal judge has ordered the operator of the Madster file-sharing service to disable all computers he controls and pull the plug on his Internet services immediately.

U.S. District Judge Marvin E. Aspen issued the order after Madster, formerly known as Aimster, did not comply with his earlier injunction against piracy on its system. The major music and movie firms are suing Madster creator John Deep and the firms he controls in Troy, N.Y., for alleged copyright infringement.

Aspen said the restraints, which he applied Monday, would remain in place until Dec. 22. He also scheduled a hearing Dec. 19 to determine whether to find Madster in contempt for failing to comply with the October injunction.