June 22, 2006 6:10 PM PDT
Torrentspy names alleged MPAA hacker
- Related Stories
-
MPAA accused of hiring a hacker
May 24, 2006 -
File-swapping leaders nearing D-day
February 1, 2006
Valence Media, the parent company of Torrentspy.com, charges that the MPAA paid the Canadian resident $15,000 for information on Torrentspy and its executives, according to documents filed Thursday with the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California in Los Angeles.
"I contacted (the MPAA) and offered to provide it information regarding (Torrentspy.com founder) Justin Bunnell and Torrentspy," according to a signed statement by Robert Anderson, the man identified elsewhere in the filing as a "hacker."
Among the claims by Valence Media is that as part of its attempt to gather information on Torrentspy, the MPAA hired private investigators to comb the trash cans of Torrentspy executives. Valence Media obtained this information from Anderson, who for undisclosed reasons has agreed to help the company against the Hollywood industry group, according to copy of the suit obtained by CNET News.com. Valence Media has asked a judge to order the MPAA to turn over the information taken by Anderson and to identify anyone that the association may have shared it with.
This is the latest volley in a legal battle that began in February, when the MPAA sued Torrentspy and other directories that it accuses of contributing to the theft of copyright movies. Some file sharers use search engines, such as Torrentspy, to locate downloadable movies. The movie industry group has aggressively pursued those accused of distributing copyright material, as well as directories that the MPAA says are abetting piracy.
An MPAA spokeswoman did not immediately return phone calls, but the association issued a broad denial to Torrentspy's initial charges.
Valence Media charged in its suit that on June 10, 2005, MPAA executives met with Anderson, a resident of Vancouver, Canada. Dean Garfield, the MPAA's director of legal affairs, was among the association's representatives who agreed to pay Anderson $15,000 to obtain private e-mails, financial and technology information, according to the court documents. Garfield could not be immediately reached for comment.
An MPAA executive told Anderson: "We don't care how you get it," Valence Media alleges in the court documents.
Anderson, who could not be immediately reached for comment, was successful at breaching Torrentspy's computer system, Valence Media alleges. By rigging Torrentspy's e-mail system, Anderson received copies of company e-mail as soon as they were sent or received, as well as important login information, according to the suit. This allowed him broad access to company data, Valence Media claims.
The company's suit said Anderson managed to pilfer a spreadsheet of company earnings and expenses, indexes of file architecture, screen shots of proprietary search functions and even a utility bill belonging to one Torrentspy executive.
In July 2005, the MPAA reviewed Anderson's work and wired $15,000 to a Toronto-based bank account, according to the court documents.
See more CNET content tagged:
Dean Garfield,
court document,
association,
hacker,
suit
http://www.techknowcafe.com/content/view/547/42/
Theft typically requires physically removing something from someone else?s possession, coupled with the intent to deprive them of its use. Copyright infringement physically removes nothing (since a copy is being made) and although it may deprive the owner of the rights of some potential income, it does not deprive them of the use of the original.
Check it out with a lawyer if you do not believe me.
Who buys this whole "we're just a search engine" crap anyway ? It would not be that hard for them to make sure that they do not index copyrighted material by implementing a name-matching function (don't index files with DVDRIP in their names, or files containing names of popular warez groups,files with 'screener').
Just start browsing the website and you see torrent of copyrighted material immediately. They could take it down if they wanted to, but instead wait until they are contacted (and by the time they take down the infringing material, somebody else has already posted a new link).
This should be interesting.
company co-owner, I understand the whole "we own the
content" thing, but I to employ a hacker to illegally get
information about people downloading movies (and the RIAA's
similar tactics), then sue 'em for it is (1) illegal from an evidence
stand-point, (2) under the old proverb, "two wrongs don't make
a right", and (3) nothing to worry about if heavy copy protection
is encoded into the film prints and DVDs that are coming out
(see Underworld Evolution for new copy protection schemes,
very well done, I applaude it). But to hire this fellow to swipe
data? Nope. Sorry. That's stealing. I'm on Torrentspy's side on
this one, and I own media property of various sorts at my two
companies. No, we don't dump content, especially from the
media company, onto the Net, but we don't copyright the
podcast or blogs under a restrictive copyright, either. In the
position we're in, piracy may help with exposure, but not the
bottom-line (my accountant doesn't want to read that).
I crap on Hollywood for using a hacker, but applaude them for
new copy protection techniques. And I applaude Torrentspy and
that lady last year your slammed a countersuit against the RIAA
for using the same techniques. Strange how the RIAA suits are
drying up for just randomness, because, gasp! they need to get
"real" evidence through "legal" means (tell the FBI, the FBI goes
to a judge, presents the case, gets a warrant, goes to house,
takes said computer, ergo, the legal process upheld).
Programmer #A-5 of www.totallyparanoia.com
PS I also own restraunts, but only had maybe $50 total in stolen
food over ten years taken from me.