Media Defender Buys P2P.net: Preparing for their Next Scam?
Written by Ernesto on July 12, 2007The infamous anti-piracy organization Media Defender recently bought the P2P.net domain. Currently P2P.net redirects to Google and at this point it is still unclear what their plans are for the domain. However, it is likely that they will use it for one of their pirate traps such a the fake video download service Miivi or the fake BitTorrent trackers they run.
P2P.net (not P2Pnet.net) was up for auction at eBay earlier this year. Initially it wasn’t sold because the original owner wanted a higher price for the domain. It turns out that Media Defender was one of the interested parties, and they probably paid thousands of dollars to get the domain in their possession. Because of the huge amount of money that’s involved it is not likely that the domain will stay unused for a long time.
Last week we discovered that Media Defender actively tried to lure people into downloading blockbuster movies from their fake download site, Miivi.com. As expected, only a few hours after we made the news public the site was taken offline.
Media Defender later told Ars Technica that Miivi was an internal project to test out an online video project, but we know better. We’re convinced that they will try this, or a similar trick again in the near future.
Media Defender is hired by companies like the MPAA, BSA and RIAA to track down people who try to download copyrighted content. They record IP-addresses from BitTorrent trackers and other P2P networks. But they also utilize more proactive methods such as uploading fake .torrent files and setting up fake video download sites.
Luckily most BitTorrent site admins are aware of their shady practices and remove these fake files from their sites before they can do any harm. Pirate Bay admin Brokep offered his help to other BitTorrent admins to help them identifying and removing these fake files, he told TorrentFreak:
“Since the Miivi-incident we can’t keep quiet about them anymore. We want their employers to stop using them so they go bankrupt”
To our friends at Media Defender from all of us here at TorrentFreak… We’re watching you…
Update: Media Defender decided to redirect P2P.net to this article, thanks guys.
Whois Info P2P.net
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39 Responses
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MediaDefender is going to go nowhere
MediaDefender is a criminal gang. Let’s see what’s next.
Hmm… wounder if they would mind if I uploaded fake .torrent files onto their p2p.net webpage once its up??? X-P
P2P.net is redirecting to this entry…
It actually directs P2P.net to this very article! That’s crazy!
Wow…wtf???
[quote comment="131943"]P2P.net is redirecting to this entry…[/quote]
haha, that’s great
Boy, they sure showed us.
PG2 blocks it as media defender. Crazy they would direct it here.
These scammers are only catching the lame home users who download the odd film/mp3 for their family. Hardcore users dont use torrents because they are slow.
FTPs ftw tbh.
Isn’t downloading pirated software/movie/games considered stealing? Im pretty sure id be very pissed off if i put a ton of time, money,and effort into a project and then have a bunch of people steal it from me. Im pretty sure you would feel the same way.
[quote comment="132196"]Isn’t downloading pirated software/movie/games considered stealing? Im pretty sure id be very pissed off if i put a ton of time, money,and effort into a project and then have a bunch of people steal it from me. Im pretty sure you would feel the same way.[/quote]
Yes, but there are overprice movies that the majority of the time are not that good, plus, when i buy a DVD - why do i have to sit through trailer after trailer and then, they have the cheek to add an anti piracy advert in there too.
I dont think any movie star is worth the ridiculous amount of £10m per film of make crazy demands for more money, they should stop rippin us off first!!!
Fake whois info. 90049 is in L.A., not San Diego.
[quote comment="132196"]Isn’t downloading pirated software/movie/games considered stealing?[/quote]
Lol, wonder if that was a MPAA/Media Defender chronie. No it isn’t stealing. stealing involves something actually being taken. When a digital file is illegally downloaded, NOTHING is taken. It’s copyright infringement, not theft. No matter what the smacktards in the entertainment industry would have you believe.
[quote comment="132527"][quote comment="132196"]Isn’t downloading pirated software/movie/games considered stealing?[/quote]
Lol, wonder if that was a MPAA/Media Defender chronie. No it isn’t stealing. stealing involves something actually being taken. When a digital file is illegally downloaded, NOTHING is taken. It’s copyright infringement, not theft. No matter what the smacktards in the entertainment industry would have you believe.[/quote]
You mean like , printing money or making fake credit cards ? Yes it’s not stealing… So it’s allright..
That is excellent news Anonymous Hippie. When I electronically withdrawal funds from your bank account I expect no crying as NOTHING is being stolen.
First of all, thank you Ernesto for exposing these crooks. TorrentFreak is quickly becoming one of my favorite sites.
I am really curious to see what there official reason will be for purchasing P2P.net. Also, I can’t wait to hear why they redirected the domain to this article. It would be great to meet the guy who comes up with this sh@t. Ernesto, you should try to get an interview with the guy in charge of Media Defender.
Only stupid people will get caught by these sites. haha i love how p2p.net redirects here
[quote comment="133514"]That is excellent news Anonymous Hippie. When I electronically withdrawal funds from your bank account I expect no crying as NOTHING is being stolen.[/quote]
Not comparable. You realize the difference between copying and moving? Of course with physical objects moving is really the only choise - but here we go with digital data: If I move money from your bank account to mind you actually lose something and I have actually taken away, aka stolen, it from you. If I break into your computer it might be crime, but if I then copy a file from there you will still have it - I haven’t taken anything away from you.
People like you, for some reason, have a block in their mind the stops them from understanding what it actually means to steal something. Downloading copyrighted data might be a crime, but it most certainly is not stealing and should not be discussed as such.
yes it certainly is a crime, BUT not stealing.
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its funny how some can force a world population to change their ways, while others have to adapt..
if alcohol came today it would be illigal, its so deep in the cultures now it cant be made illigal.
p2p is the bandwith use of the internet, its whats driving development and new tech, p2p evolves everything and without it there would be no internet as we know today.
there would only be a screen with some text and a corperate logo…
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