MPAA Spying Case To Be Appealed

esocid writes "Back in 2005, the MPAA hired Robert Anderson, a former associate of TorrentSpy's owner, to illegally obtain internal emails and trade secrets. He did so by routing the email from the internal server to his own Gmail account. He subsequently sold 34 pages of stolen information for $15,000 to the MPAA. TorrentSpy owner Justin Bunnel sued them for spying, but lost the case due to a ruling that stated it was not illegal since the information was not intercepted under the Wiretap Act. The EFF called this decision a 'dangerous attempt to circumvent privacy laws,' since it implies that the unauthorized interception of anyone's personal email is legal. The appeal could have ramifications for MPAA president Dan Glickman, as the decision is expected around the time of his contract renewal."

Comments

Re:Maybe it's the wrong charge.

[Anonymous Coward]

Yes, indeed it would be very ironic. Thanks for clarifying that one, I don't know where the world would be without Captain Obvious!

Re:Maybe it's the wrong charge.

[PriceIke]

The real irony here is that the MPAA is paying someone who did NOT create the content for the use of that content (the emails and the information therein), which to anyone with common sense is plainly a crime. I am quite confident Anderson will distribute his earnings to the content creators in a manner consistent with that in which the MPAA distributes their earnings to their artists.