MediaDefender: Difference between revisions
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On August 1, 2005, [[ARTISTdirect]] announced that it had acquired MediaDefender for $42.5 million in cash. MediaDefender is estimated to have between 2,000 and 6,000 servers <ref>[http://arstechnica.com/articles/culture/mediadefender.ars A war of attrition]</ref> using 9 GB/s of bandwidth and hosted in California. |
On August 1, 2005, [[ARTISTdirect]] announced that it had acquired MediaDefender for $42.5 million in cash. MediaDefender is estimated to have between 2,000 and 6,000 servers <ref>[http://arstechnica.com/articles/culture/mediadefender.ars A war of attrition]</ref> using 9 GB/s of bandwidth and hosted in California. |
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==The Real Face of Media Defender== |
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The truth, [http://torrentfreak.com/mediadefender-emails-leaked-070915/ here]. |
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==Miivi.com== |
==Miivi.com== |
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Revision as of 15:07, 15 September 2007
MediaDefender is a company which offers services designed to prevent and stop people who engage in peer-to-peer copyright infringement, using tactics such as flooding peer-to-peer networks with decoy files that tie up a user's computer[1]. MediaDefender is based in Los Angeles California in the United States, and its president is Randy Saaf. MediaDefender has approximately 60 employees[2].
Increasingly these type of organizations are being hired to stymie P2P traders through a variety of methods including: posting fake files online, recording individuals who contribute copyrighted material, etc. Key clients include Universal Pictures, 20th Century Fox, Virgin Records, HBO, Paramount Pictures, and BMG [3].
On August 1, 2005, ARTISTdirect announced that it had acquired MediaDefender for $42.5 million in cash. MediaDefender is estimated to have between 2,000 and 6,000 servers [4] using 9 GB/s of bandwidth and hosted in California.
The Real Face of Media Defender
The truth, here.
Miivi.com
In February 2007, MediaDefender launched a video sharing site called Miivi.com that according to p2pnet news was developed in order to trap unsuspecting uploaders of copyrighted content.[5][6] The sites origins were discovered by a blogger who looked up Miivi.com domain registration information.[7] After news travelled throughout the blogosphere, the site was shut down on 7/04/2007.[8]MediaDefender, however, denied allegations that it was trying to convict anyone. In an interview with Ars Technica, MediaDefender claimed that "MediaDefender was working on an internal project that involved video and didn't realize that people would be trying to go to it and so we didn't password-protect the site." MediaDefender blamed file sharing groups such as The Pirate Bay for starting the story.[9] When questioned, the MPAA denied any involvement with MediaDefender.[10] However, when internal emails were leaked to The Pirate Bay, doubt led to facts that MiiVi was in fact a set up to catch potential copyright violators. [11]
Criticism
MediaDefender has continually been criticized for its 'bait and switch' tactics that border on the edge of entrapment. On September 14, 2007, thousands of internal emails were leaked from the company, some which linked them to projects they previously denied involvement in, while others confirm the speculation that MiiVi.com was indeed an anti-piracy "honeypot" site. As of September 15, 2007 there has been no official response from the company. The Internal email leak goes on to discuss everything from 'damage control' tactics (for when certain projects were to be eventually linked to MediaDefender) along with upcoming projects, problems in and around the office, and even what employees were going to have for lunch.
Fact sheet
- Website: MediaDefender Website
- IP Slots: 38.117.6.0/23, 38.102.233.185/204/70
See also
References
- ^ Advertising to the File-Sharing Crowd
- ^ [1]
- ^ "Record Labels Turn Piracy Into a Marketing Opportunity"
- ^ A war of attrition
- ^ "MediaDefender ‘miivi.com’ scam" P2PNet
- ^ "MPAA Dummy Site Snares Pirates" DigitalTrends.com
- ^ "Domain Registration Information"
- ^ "Miivi.com goes down"
- ^ "MediaDefender denies miivi.com allegations"
- ^ "MPAA denies involvement with MediaDefender"
- ^ "The Biggest Ever BitTorrent Leak: MediaDefender Internal Emails Go Public"
External links
- MediaDefender's Official Website
- LA Times article about Piracy, with a quote from Randy Saaf.
- "MPAA Caught Uploading Fake Torrents" — TorrentFreak (IP addresses of fake torrents traced back to MediaDefender)
- "Anti-Piracy Gang Launches their own Video Download Site to Trap People" — TorrentFreak (The domain registration of a fake video upload / download service called miivi has been traced to MediaDefender).
- Article about email leak at TorrentFreak