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MPAA Being Sued For Allegedly Hacking Torrentspy

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the shoe-is-on-the-other-camel's-foot dept.

goldaryn writes "Valence Media, the parent company of Torrentspy.com, one of the web's largest torrent search engines, has filed a lawsuit against the MPAA for allegedly hiring a hacker to steal e-mail correspondence and trade secrets. From the suit: 'The Motion Picture Association of America willfully and intentionally obtained without authority, conspired to obtain without authority, purchased, procured, used and disclosed private information that it knew was unlawfully obtained through unauthorized access to Plaintiffs' computer servers and private email accounts, in violation of United States and California privacy and computer security laws.'"

3 of 448 comments (clear)

  1. But who cares about a pirate? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Interesting

    That's exactly what they're going to say. The MPAA is, after all, practically a subsidiary of our government now. They are going to say that they had no choice but to fight fire with fire!

    And, do you know what? Since people have only a rudimentary understanding of the "dark Internets," everyone will eat their explanation up, and then head to the nearest Wal-Mart to purchase a CD published by a RIAA affiliate.

    Sorry to burst your bubble, Torrentspy.

  2. Re:But by size1one · · Score: 3, Interesting
    People download the movies even if they are crap because it costs them almost nothing. The cost of bandwidth is negligible because its used for other things as well. The majority of these people would probably not pay any amount to see these movies because as you said, its trash and has very little value. The only thing reinforcing the concept that C movies are viable is the idea that every download is a lost sale.

    Piracy is just a scapegoat for an industry that churns out horrible products. I'd love to see piracy stopped just so the MPAA and RIAA no longer have anyone to blame.

  3. Differences..and the face of it. by RobertKozak · · Score: 5, Interesting

    On the face of it, it looks as though what **AA did was only (allegedly) break in and steal some emails while TorrentSpy is (allegedly) facilitating copyright infringement (but not actually infringing themselves).

    But the act of breaking into a computer system breaks CRIMINAL laws while copyright infringement breaks only CIVIL laws. BIG difference.

    Where are the FBI Raids? This country is so turned around now that, if you are big and powerful, you can get away with criminal acts while if you are a small timer you get the book thrown at you for minor offences.

    I am very disappointed!

    --
    Bet this .sig looks familiar.