Leaked MediaDefender Emails Show Student P2P Traffic Down

An anonymous reader writes "The MPAA and the RIAA have been targeting universities in a fury claiming that college students are causing them huge losses. However, some leaked MediaDefender emails show that may be a huge exaggeration. 'I also want to state that I am not for the illegal sharing of files. I am absolutely against it. I just want to make sure that the numbers presented in the media are fair numbers. I have a feeling they aren't fair at all. '"

Comments

Actually...

[adona1]

They don't show that student P2P traffic is down, just that the methods that the MAFIAA use to give numbers of students using P2P are flawed and the numbers are probably lower than they say. Given their sterling track record with manipulating numbers, it's hardly surprising. Plus, it really only deals with the Gnutella network, whereas most of the traffic nowadays would probably be using Bittorrent.

Damned if we do, damned if we don't.

[SanityInAnarchy]

If the numbers went down, the MAFIAA will claim that their anti-piracy efforts are working. This means that not only will those anti-piracy efforts not go away, but people are much more likely to take them seriously with their next claim.

If the numbers didn't go down, the MAFIAA will claim that piracy is rampant, and use that as an excuse to do even more DRM, and get even more laws passed for them.

It's called spin. Let me try some of my own:

If the numbers went down, I claim that this proves that piracy isn't as much of a threat to their profits as they thought, and therefore, DRM should end.

If the numbers didn't go down, I claim that this proves that people are so sick and tired of the MAFIAA's bullshit on their legitimate products that they're willing to turn to piracy.

Here's my trump card, though: If we really can't tell who's right, the default position should be consumer freedom.