A Hollywood group said Friday it is suing a popular Chinese Web site by film piracy, expanding a legal battle by use of the World Wide Web by China’s thriving industry in product copying.

The Motion Picture organization accused Xunlei Networking Technology Co. of allowing users of its file-sharing service to download hundreds of movies from other Web sites despite repeated warnings. The group said it is seeking 7 million yuan (US$1 million; EU660,000).

Industry groups say explosive growth in World Wide Web use in China is fueling unlicensed copying. Pirate Web sites offer free music, movies, software or games to attract users and produce money from advertising or online commerce.

Popular Chinese Web sites additionally have been sued by accusations that they link to sites that carry pirated music.

MPA accused Xunlei of allowing users of its peer-to-peer, or P2P, service to download copies of movies including “Spider-Man 3,” “War of the Worlds” and “Miami Vice.” It accused Xunlei of

continuing to allow violations after the group’s lawyers sent 78 warnings.

“These actions demonstrate that copyright holders can and will vigorously defend their property by any legal means,” Frank Rittman, the MPA’s Asia-Pacific vice president, said in a statement.

“P2P piracy is a huge problem in China, which whether left unattended will threaten the continued development of valid online services supported by copyright owners,” Rittman said.

A woman who answered the phone at Xunlei’s headquarters in the southern city of Shenzhen and refused to give her name said no one was available to comment.

The MPA additionally has filed a series of lawsuits against Chinese vendors of illegally copied DVDs. The group says it has been awarded 2 million yuan (US$280,000; EU180,000) since 2006.

Entertainment and games are among the most valuable attractions for Web sites in China, which has 210 million public online, the second-largest population of Net users after the…

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