MPAA’s Hacking Past Comes Back to Hunt
Written by Ernesto on April 12, 2009The MPAA isn’t known for wasting opportunities to obtain information about BitTorrent sites and their users. In 2005 the MPAA paid around $15,000 to a hacker who obtained emails from TorrentSpy and The Pirate Bay. The case was heard in court and won by the MPAA, but this decision will soon be appealed.
In an attempt to dig up dirt on the owner of TorrentSpy and the people behind The Pirate Bay, the MPAA hired a “hacker”, better known as Robert Anderson, to steal e-mail correspondence and trade secrets.
Anderson, a former associate of TorrentSpy owner Justin Bunnel, configured the TorrentSpy mail server to copy and forward all of the site’s email to his own Gmail account. The 34 pages of information he gathered was then sold to the MPAA for $15,000. TorrentSpy’s owner later sued the MPAA, arguing that they had spied on him illegally, but this case was lost.
The court ruled that the MPAA did not technically intercept them under the WireTap Act, although jurisprudence would suggest otherwise. TorrentSpy owner Justin Bunnel told TorrentFreak that he has filed a brief at the Court of Appeals and that the MPAA is expected to do the same in the near future. From then on it can take up to a year before the appeal is heard in court.
TorrentSpy is supported by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) that described the earlier decision as a “dangerous attempt to circumvent privacy laws.” Indeed, if upheld the ruling will basically legalize the unauthorized copying of other people’s emails, which raises serious privacy concerns.
The Pirate Bay, who were also the target of MPAA spying activities, have not taken any action. Instead, spokesman Peter Sunde laughed it away. “I think it’s amazingly funny if the MPAA bought information like that, expensively, and against the US law. Only proves their stupidity and that they have no case,” he told TorrentFreak earlier.
For the MPAA, losing the appeal might have some serious repercussions, especially for MPAA President Dan Glickman. Glickman is already highly criticized among Hollywood insiders for his lack of effectiveness. Since his contract renewal is due around the same time the hacker case appeal will be decided on, his job is on the line.
Previously: Poll: Will The Pirate Bay Crew Be Found Innocent or Guilty?
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43 Responses
It worries me that people can get away with this crap.
Then again, I’m coming from the country where Deep packet Inspection is not only legal, the government are planning on doing it to every citizen (UK) so I can;t really talk -__-
they arent planning to do it m8 it was just an overblown proposal. deep packet inspection would be hugely expensive, exaustitive and beyond the realms of practical use. its just more scare tactics to make everyone stop pirating. :)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SnLB8wysMbY ’nuff said in that song.
The phrase is ‘Comes Back to Haunt Them’.
You’ve said ‘hunt’ instead.
so former guy who didnt hack ,had password
and did what the most gay thing ever
lol @ number 4 failure.
and rofl @ mpaa
Cool. ok, so it’s legal to hack now? Thanks MPAA, i’m hacking some sites now.
I think the MPAA believes it’s a one man operation, if one man hacks, sure there’s a chance of getting away with it.
The MPAA being basically a business means on no terms should it be using stolen evidence as evidence, therfore I’d be supprised if they got away with it. Stranger things have happened though.
seed please I’m at 99.8&!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
They’ll essentially be giving the green light to the emails retrieved from MediaDefender. If so, we might expect all the cases where MediaDefender is still named/involved to fall to pieces with the information gleaned from that operation.
@3 JTK:
Damn nice link! ROTFL! Love that track!!
“The 34 pages of information he gathered was then sold to the MPAA for $15,000. TorrentSpy’s owner later sued the MPAA, arguing that they had spied on him illegally, but this case was lost.”
I still can’t believe that torrent spy lost that case… talk about a messed up legal system where money buys justice and freedom :/
I can imagine the next news item… “News headline misspelling causes uproar, MPAA to blame”
ACTA draft leaked on to wikileaks:
http://www.inquisitr.com/21747/secret-acta-international-copyright-treaty-leaked-to-wikileaks/
sorry, direct link here, stupid reddit
http://wikileaks.org/wiki/Classified_US%2C_Japan_and_EU_ACTA_trade_agreement_drafts%2C_2009
w a t c h c e l e b r i t y . c o m
well this sounds like usa gov/big business politics as long as it works in their favor its legal… they have broke no laws… if you fell other wise too bad so sad for getting in their way… prove the MPAA had any wrong doing all these judges on the lower level are all bought and paid for… none of them think for themselves they are always told how they will rule on a court hearing and none of them at a local court want to give constitutional rulings…which is what i thought they where supposed to do that is the oath they take to uphold the constitution… they are all like George w Bush and believe that its just a piece of paper…
so in oder for anything to be done they will need cash and lots of if… like $150k min to $300k to get a chance at having a real judge rule on it
Nothing I didn’t already kno?
lol @14.
People, people please read the article 2 before you make some comments on it.
The MPAA (aka.Fukers) did nothing illegal here, and therefore the court can’t judge them for this what Torrentspy are accusing them for.
Nr.1 The Hacker was an former friend of Torrentspy owner. “R. Anderson, a former associate of TorrentSpy owner Justin Bunnel,”
So Technical speaking, he could have free access to the Mail server, without to have hacking in to it. “he configured the TorrentSpy mail server to copy and forward all of the site’s email to his own Gmail account.”
Nr.2 The Hacker SOLD his information to the MPAA, they DID NOT PAY HIM for doing this hack, he SOLD IT TO THEM, there is a HUGE difference between this two actions. “The 34 pages of information he gathered was then sold to the MPAA for $15,000.”
So in my eyes here, Torrentspy have NO evidence and 100% ground info that MPAA have something to do whit this.
The only think Torrentspy have, is that mails have been copy’t and sold to MPAA (aka.goat Fuxxes).
So what Torrentspy could do, is to get an confession fron the hacker in the court, that MPAA has offer’t him this $15′000, and commit him to hack the mail server and get this mails for the MPAA.
And Torrentspy NEED to work whit The Piratebay to get more materials for the case, (who was trying to hack The Piratebay to in this case)
This is the only chance that torrentspy have to win this case in my opinion.
@19 it is illegal to buy stolen goods, and it they would have to prove that they did not hire the hacker.
Actually, the expression is: It is illegal to ‘receive’ stolen goods.
Which means you don’t even have to buy them to be guilty.
Das müsst ihr euch unbedingt angucken!!!
Es ist wirklich abgefahren!!!:D
http://www.youtupe-com-watch-2332-fsdkjfc-1223-11ds.inserat.in
Look at this!!!
It´s unbelivable!!!:D
http://www.youtupe-com-watch-2332-fsdkjfc-1223-11ds.inserat.in
Yes, you both have right in this what you writs, but you both have a flaw in your explanation.
Because here was not made any Material transaction of stolen goods.
article clip:
“”The MPAA isn’t known for wasting opportunities to obtain information about BitTorrent sites and their users.”"
The KEY word is OBTAIN INFORMATION about BT sites and USERS.
Okay let’s try to paint this on a wall so everybody can understand this.
A person (the hacker) steals some mail whit some Info in it over a long time.
After he got 34 pages written down FROM THIS STOLEN’S MAILS (article clip: “”The 34 pages of information he gathered”") of some kind Names and User Data that MPAA want, then he sell’s this 34 pages of information ABOUT & FROM this mail to the MPAA, but he did NOT SELL the mails he stole.
And NOW please tell me, what is ILLIGAL ABOUT THIS kind of information he SOLD to the MPAA.
And if somebody think that this kind of information is illegal, so just think about this, what every country is doing every day to catch us P2P users.
They are spying on your bittorrent connection and they are gathering information on you, to give/sell the information to MPAA or others so they can SUE you in the curt.
So PLEACE TELL ME where is the Illegal difference.
Isn’t “Robert Anderson” Neo’s real name in The Matrix? Seems somewhat fitting that the guy’s a “hacker”
To the author of this post; please fix the title; it can be misleading (From what I understood before I read this post was that this title meant that MPAA’s paying hackers again.)
Hey Stormblade?
Go blow a goat, u spamming jackass!
ya mean like how in 2002 they took a root kit off a hacker and without knowledge turned it into your sony root kit?
I have no problem with the MPAA doing illegal things–as long as we’re all equal.
However, once in court, the judges seem not to notice any illegalities from the anti-pirates.
I wonder why that is? ;)
What sentence did the guy who hacked Palin’s email get? And how long did it take to convict him?
@Average Dave:
Its actually Thomas Anderson, but yeah I’m glad I’m not the only one who noticed that haha.
I wasnt going to say anything because i forgot the first name… all i remember is when he says MR. Anderson.
If it was illegal in the case of the HP spying scandal, then it should also be illegal for the MPAA doing essentially the same thing:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_HP_spying_scandal
Those greedy MPAA & RIAA mobsters must stop before they going too far.
Just one correction > *an “hacker”
@4 – Go Pirates!
Who the hell says ‘comes back to hunt’. How can a ‘hacking past’ hunt? Do a Google phrase search and this article is the top result as nobody freaking says it. Bloody Europeans and their broken English. ;P
I hope they keep him and don’t fire him, íf he gets replaced they may get more effective.
Lawyers are placed in this world by God to be killed.
comes back to hunt?
“It worries me that people can get away with this crap.”
me to.
But it should worry the MPAA even more. No justice no peace specially when a gun is a lot shiper than a lawer.
Wow! So a third-party paying $15,000 to someone inside a compagny (or whatever TorrentSpy was) to provide personnal infos from the database isn’t illegal!? What the hell? That call that spying. They probably had to deal with a stupid judge.
@25
It’s Thomas Anderson, not Robert…would be funny tho
It is rather ironic that, in a case that is about the misuse of intelectual property that evidence comes from, the misuse of intelectual property. The MPAA are trying to bring a broarder net around the whole pirating network so it encompasses host providers and ISP’s by stating that they all knowingly let a crime happen. Using a companies trade secrets is as far as I know a crime. How does buying these trade secrets from someone committing a crime not have at least an equal link between them and the crime as an ISP and the crime of pirating.
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