MPAA accused of hiring a hacker

[canadateck]

A lawsuit filed Wednesday accuses the Motion Picture Association of America of hiring a hacker to steal information from a company that the MPAA has accused of helping copyright violators.

The lawsuit (click for PDF), filed in U.S. District Court for the Central District of California by Torrentspy.com parent Valence Media, doesn't identify the man the company says was approached by an MPAA executive. But the suit calls the man a former associate of one of the plaintiffs and alleges that he was asked to retrieve private information on Torrentspy.com, a search engine that directs people to download links.

Torrentspy's complaint includes claims that the man whom the MPAA allegedly paid $15,000 to steal e-mail correspondence and trade secrets has admitted his role in the plot and is cooperating with the company.

"It is a Hollywood drama, what happened here," Ira Rothken, Torrentspy's attorney, said in a telephone interview Wednesday evening.

The allegations come three months after the MPAA filed suit against Torrentspy and other directories for allegedly making it easier for pirates to distribute movies over the Internet.

"These claims (by Torrentspy) are false," Kori Bernards, the MPAA's vice president of corporate communications, said in an e-mail to CNET News.com. "Torrentspy is trying to obscure the facts to hide the fact that they are facilitating thievery. We are confident that our lawsuit against them will be successful because the law is on our side."

The suit filed by the MPAA was a departure from the organization's previous strategy of going after Web sites that were directly involved in aiding file sharing. By suing Torrentspy, as well as such companies as IsoHunt, BTHub.com, and TorrentBox.com, MPAA was declaring that it saw little difference between the file-swapping networks that the studios have aggressively taken to court and those companies that direct people to works that may be protected by copyright.

One MPAA executive is quoted in Torrentspy's lawsuit as saying: "We don't care how you get it," referring to the alleged assignment to dig up information on Torrentspy.

Some of the information that the man allegedly pilfered included a spreadsheet containing Torrentspy income and expenses from January to June 2005, copies of private e-mails between Torrentspy employees, detailed information on the company's servers, and billing information, according to the lawsuit.

Torrentspy alleges in the suit that the man, whom the company refers to as the "informant," has provided documents that prove the nature of his relationship with the MPAA, including a written agreement signed by the hacker and an MPAA executive, Rothken said.

"We have very significant proof of wrongdoing and the MPAA's involvement," Rothken said. "We think it's ironic for the MPAA to claim that they are protecting the rights of the movie studios and then go out and pirate other people's property."

Rothken said that the MPAA also paid the hacker to "gather nonpublic information" about other Torrentspy-related sites. Rothken declined to specify which sites.

Following all this, the "informant" had a change of heart and contacted Torrentspy.

"By doing that, he's mitigating the harm that he did," Rothken said. "He is also allowing us to get a remedy against the MPAA and to help us stop them from using the stolen data."

Torrentspy has asked the court for unspecified damages and a jury trial.


http://news.com.com/MPAA+accused+of+hiring+a+hacker/2100-1030_3-6076665.html?tag=nefd.top

[ROF]

Sounds like Torrentspy is reaching for straws in order to fend off the rightful lawsuit by the MPAA. When your sole purpose is to link to illegal files I guess you have to make up stories in order to defend yourself.

[thecoalman]

If the story is true coporate espionage is hardly reaching for staws. The MPAA is not above the law.

And how may I ask do you know they made it up?

[ROF]

I do not know for sure, but since when is it a crime to have a corporate spy? Without such corporate spy heroes as Bill Gates we would not be having these communications. How do you think East Asian companies survive today? I am not aware of any law that forbids corporate spying. In any case, if Torrentspy has nothing to hide then this corporate spy would obviously have had nothing noteworthy to transmit to the MPAA now would he? Torrentspy should be shut down for the simple reason they are illegally profiting off the ill-gotten wares of others. They are no better then the guy on the street corner selling counterfeit merchandise.

Corporate Espionage == Competitive Intelligence. Why is Torrentspy not suing the spy? Oh that's right, he works for them.

[Bullworth]

I'm no fan of the MPAA and it's Gestapo tactics so it's natural for me to side with Torrentspy. If the MPAA is going after them because they have legally obtained proof that they're facilitating illegal downloads and profiting from them then there's no room for discussion, they should pay for it. But if the MPAA is indeed using methods that are criminal in order to get proof for their case would be intolerable; the courts should throw out the MPAA's case. This of course is assuming that they indeed did hire a hacker to break into their systems. Two wrongs don't make a right.

[dafoe]

If the story is true coporate espionage is hardly reaching for staws. The MPAA is not above the law.

And how may I ask do you know they made it up?

Come on man, it's ROF! I honestly think that ROF is nothing more than a handle used by various industry members- MPAA members perhaps?

If I'm wrong, I apologize. I don't advocate piracy, but ROFs views on the matter are so ridiculously out there that most people don't take him seriously on this issue.

He defended the Sony Root Kit if that tells you anything.

[rumplestiltskin]

ROF,

A short Google search would have turned up the following:

With the enactment in 1996 of the Economic Espionage Act[1] ("EEA"), the Federal Government has moved aggressively into the protection of private property rights in trade secrets. The overriding reasons behind the enactment of the legislation were the fully documented efforts of foreign governments to gain access to the trade secrets of U.S. companies, particularly in the high-tech and computer industries, in order to advance the economic interests of their private sector. However, the EEA is not limited to enforcement against foreign governments, or even foreign-based companies. It applies as well to any typical trade secret dispute involving purely domestic concerns. With fines up to $5,000,000 and imprisonment of up to 10 years for the domestic theft of trade secrets, the EEA provides a new and very powerful intellectual property regime that extends well beyond the U.S. borders. This article will briefly review the legislative history of the EEA, compare its provisions with existing, more traditional, protection of trade secrets, discuss the criminal law aspects of the EEA, and provide an update on the cases that have been brought to date under the EEA.

http://www.oblon.com/Pub/economicespionageactII.html

Lots of other links, as well. It certainly -is- a crime. Note that I'm not commenting on Torrentspy's situation. If you want to justify breaking the criminal law to find what you believe to be a civil liability, then say so. Oh, wait. You already have. And then you add Bill Gates into this dubious list of criminals as if it's some kind of badge of honor. I'm sure Bill will be pleased you characterized him in this manner. Why don't you eMail him?

[RLT69]

I do not know for sure, but since when is it a crime to have a corporate spy?

You're kidding right.

Well I guess Merck wouldn't mind if Eli Lilly stole some of their research and started to manufacturer products from that research.

MPAA broke the law be breaking into Torrentspy's computers and stealing their electonic files. That is a crime. MPAA can no more do that than SONY can install their rookit software without you the user, knowing about it.

Regardless if what you might think of Torrentspy, MPAA broke the law here.

[VegasBud]

Corporate or industrial espionage can be legal, or illegal, depending on the methods used. Unauthorized access to a computer is not legal. Paying someone to gain unauthorized access to a computer is not legal.

Why is Torrentspy not suing the spy? Oh that's right, he works for them.

In the lawsuit, it says "The informant had no business associations with Plaintiffs or the Torrentspy.com website at the time..." of his activities, nor did he have authorization. Does he work for them now? I don't know, and neither do you, since his name is not disclosed.

[BobK]

When your sole purpose is to link to illegal files I guess you have to make up stories in order to defend yourself.

Absolutely. The judge should throw this lawsuit out without a hearing. Couldn't possibly be any evidence against the MPAA- they're entitled to do whatever they want, so why bother waiting for any facts that you might not like.

When your sole purpose is to protect the MPAA profit margin I guess you don't have to worry about the rights of anyone except yourself.

In any case, if Torrentspy has nothing to hide then this corporate spy would obviously have had nothing noteworthy to transmit to the MPAA now would he?

And exactly what did the corporate spy transmit to the MPAA? Oh, that's right- you don't know.

Maybe we should all pitch in and hire a hacker to go into the MPAA's computers and get whatever information is available there. If the MPAA has nothing to hide then apparently ROF wouldn't have a problem with it.

[thecoalman]

I do not know for sure, but since when is it a crime to have a corporate spy?

Under the assumption that the story is true.......Breaking into a computer to steal inforamtion is no different than if they broke into a locked file cabinet. I find it ironic that you are defending the MPAA for what amounts to the very same practices they are trying to stop. What's so different than breaking into a computer to COPY files than breaking encryption on a disc to copy it.

[thecoalman]

From the link above corporate espionage:

The Federal EEA was seen as a complement to the two-centuries-old patent and copyright laws:


"For many years federal law has protected intellectual property through the patent and copyright laws. With this legislation, Congress will extend vital federal protection to another form of proprietary economic information - trade secrets. There can be no question that the development of proprietary economic information is an integral part of America's economic well-being. Moreover, the nation's economic interests are a part of its national security interests. Thus, threats to the nation's economic interest are threats to the nation's vital security interest."

Ironic isn't it?

[lenti_75]

Sounds like Torrentspy is reaching for straws in order to fend off the rightful lawsuit by the MPAA. When your sole purpose is to link to illegal files I guess you have to make up stories in order to defend yourself.

dude, everybody is sick by your posting....unless you have something REALLY useful, you should shut up.
the is no prize for posting everyday....

since when is a crime to link to illegal stuff ???? they don;t host anything illegal...

:P

[disturbed1]

Is it just me, or does $15,000 sound rather cheap? That alone leads me to believe it could be bogus. If the amount had been at least 3x that, then maybe. But come on, $15,000

If in fact the MPAA did do this, it will be a drop in the bucket fine compared to what torrentspy will have to pay them if they are found guilty of copyright violations.

[Paul_G]

@ROF

No point defending them.

They are no better than the so-called "theives" that they hunt down.

[Bullworth]

Here's a pretty good article with some examples Economic Espionage Convictions

If the espionage charge is true I sure would like to hear how th MPAA spin doctors are going to justify this one. If indeed they were brazen enough to hack into a system to steal documents they probably had a story ready for this eventuality. On the other hand since they might have found some sort of legal loophole in the EEA but this is highly unlikely. Another scenario is they'll try to distance themselved from the hacker and claim they did not tell him to any such thing. I'm Not a bad thread to follow since now my interest in the matter has really risen.

[guns1inger]

Guys, be gentle on ROF, I suspect he suffers from Multipe Personality Disorder that is driven by the forum he posts in. When he posts here, he has the personality of an MPAA stooge, rabidly supportive of their bully-boy tactics, wildy offended by the thought that anyone would want to make a backup of DVDs that they have rightfully paid for and own.

Yet when he posts in the conversion forums he has the personality of a slightly condecending user who backups his own commercial DVDs on a reasonably regular basis.

While this may be difficult to reconcile in a normal person, put in the context of a mental disorder it all makes perfect sense.

[sweetfreek]

The MPAA is not a classic corporate entity, they are more like a medieval guild (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guild).

Because of their status as a corporate entity ("shining beacon of capitalism"), they already have the moral standing with the public, thus giving them the moral authority to dictate policy for the legislatures to enact for the "public good"... all this is reenforced by the outright bribery ("lobbying") that goes through the both parties from the MPAA Member's pocketbooks and bank accounts. Given that they can effectively hijack Our Republic, it is inconceivable to me that they wouldn't feel themselves within their rights to commit to other lawless actions whenever they believe they are justified.

The fact that they (and other similar and related guilds) redefined the words "property", "to own", and "to steal" from the long-establish standards to suit their desires...
The fact that they created laws and bribed officials to favor their industry (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cartel)...
The fact that they have engaged in several previous endeavours involving the use of underhand technology (rootkits and currupt p2p files just for appetizers)...

...the MPAA is not innocent until proven guilty, they will be considered guilt until proven innocent.[/url]

[CrayonEater]

While this may be difficult to reconcile in a normal person, put in the context of a mental disorder it all makes perfect sense.

[schunn99]

hey all,
couple of comments,
ROF,
"Sounds like Torrentspy is reaching for straws in order to fend off the rightful lawsuit by the MPAA. When your sole purpose is to link to illegal files I guess you have to make up stories in order to defend yourself."
A rightful lawsuit ROF?
torrentspy has a clear posting on their website that states if you own copyrights to any particular torrent to e-mail them and it will be removed. I think torrentspy has a valid point, if mpaa used an illegal method to obtain trade secrets, then they are guilty of coporate espionage and then they should be punished accordingly.

I believe that the mpaa will use any means they deem necessary to bring down what they believe is piracy,whether or not it is legal or illegal. And I think that is just wrong. I think that the mpaa riaa have both served their purpose and need to either revamped or disbanded. Neither, I believe are actually looking out for the artists who create the products anymore, all they can about is trying to blame "someone" for their sagging sales. If both stop trying to sell poor products or stop trying to price gauging customers then maybe people would stop downloading so much.

well, there's my two cents,

later,
Schunn99

[painkiller]

You know, I have a little clip of a video with Jack Valenti (MPAA head) at a meeting in DC stating "... you know, any 9 or 10 year old, computer experts, can go riding up to the Internet."

Not with it, I'd say.

And this gang claims an entire product/technology to be illegal (Torrentspy, in this topic) just because of what some are doing on it.

Never mind that there are positive sides and abilities with this new technology.

These twits are so bent out of shape since they lost the infamous (to them) Betamax/VCR case that they are now more determined than ever to lock down all the content they possibly can - with whatever friendly help they garner in DC.

They don't give a wit that there are bonafide uses for bit torrent technology.

And worse, some believe the MPAA on its face.

[FulciLives]

Guys, be gentle on ROF, I suspect he suffers from Multipe Personality Disorder ... While this may be difficult to reconcile in a normal person, put in the context of a mental disorder it all makes perfect sense.

[limpy]

Hmm Torrentspy is just a search engine for torrents. Do a search for a torrent on yahoo and it'll get you some results also. Torrentspy does a better job of finding links but Yahoo is also "breaking the law" if that's what you want to call it. We all know that the MPAA won't go after Yahoo or Google though.

I hope this story is true so they can bite them back a little

[whitejremiah]

ffs, i hope they DO try and go after google...google probably has the money to shut the RIAA down completely........not saying that i agree with downloading movies and such, but on the other hand, i do not agree at ALL with their scare tactics.....