MediaDefender Internal Email Leak Confirms Plans To Launch Honeypot File Sharing Network

from the oops dept

Back in July, there was a report that MediaDefender, a company that works for the MPAA and RIAA polluting file sharing networks with fake files, was working on a fake file sharing network that would trick users into downloading some spyware that could then be used to send details back to the entertainment industry for use in various lawsuits. After the news broke, MediaDefender denied that this was the intended purpose of the project, and said it was just an internal project that was accidentally made public. Speaking of internal stuff accidentally made public, late Friday the news began to spread that a bunch of MediaDefender's internal emails were now available on file sharing systems, and looking through them seems to indicate not only that MediaDefender was spending an awful lot of time on this fake site (called MiiVi.com) but even after it was exposed, the company was still working on it, while trying to find a new name that wouldn't be connected to MediaDefender. Of course, we should point out that hacking MediaDefender to get its internal emails (and phone calls, apparently) is not very smart. It makes MediaDefender start to look like the victim and opens up a very real (and reasonable) possibility of a lawsuit against whoever got (and then leaked) the emails. MediaDefender was a company that would have collapsed on itself eventually anyway. There's no reason to help push them over the edge -- especially using illegal or unethical means.
Hide this

Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.

Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.

While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.

–The Techdirt Team

Filed Under: data leak, email, p2p
Companies: mediadefender


Reader Comments

Subscribe: RSS

View by: Time | Thread


  1. identicon
    AC, 17 Sep 2007 @ 2:16am

    Juicy!

    link to this | view in thread ]

  2. identicon
    Anarchy_Creator, 17 Sep 2007 @ 2:21am

    MPAA and RIAA?

    What are these things of which you speak?

    link to this | view in thread ]

  3. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 17 Sep 2007 @ 2:30am

    Re: MPAA and RIAA?

    its the MAFIAA

    link to this | view in thread ]

  4. identicon
    GoblinJuice, 17 Sep 2007 @ 2:56am

    Re: MPAA and RIAA?

    Mr. Hands is worse than TubGirl. =P

    link to this | view in thread ]

  5. identicon
    GoblinJuice, 17 Sep 2007 @ 2:57am

    Re: MPAA and RIAA?

    Mr. Hands is worse than TubGirl. =P

    link to this | view in thread ]

  6. identicon
    John, 17 Sep 2007 @ 3:05am

    MediaBlunder

    Fake files are bad enough (back when I used Kazaa, the ones I hated the most were ones where the chorus section of a song loops repeatedly so that you have to spend a minute trying to figure out if it's the real song or not!), but a fake file sharing site is pretty weak and won't last more than a few days if it ever gets online! In any case, file-sharing between millions of strangers is on it's way out as people discover the merits of private and encrypted file-sharing between friends (ex: GigaTribe)...

    link to this | view in thread ]

  7. identicon
    matt, 17 Sep 2007 @ 3:18am

    they can't do much for torrents

    also, if you read the emails, you'll note that they can't do that much about torrents since poisoning/bad seeds are easy to get around. Also notice that they don't even attempt to stop piratebay (because bad seeds are found there very quickly)

    link to this | view in thread ]

  8. identicon
    Overcast, 17 Sep 2007 @ 6:26am

    Just now...

    I thought for a long time that a few of them already were, LOL. Especially Limewire. Dang, too bad I was wrong!

    link to this | view in thread ]

  9. identicon
    citizenj, 17 Sep 2007 @ 8:20am

    dang

    If you go through the emails, you see just how frickin' bad this is for MediaDefender. I do so hope the mainstream news gets ahold of this one.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  10. identicon
    LB USNavy, 17 Sep 2007 @ 8:41am

    Legallity?

    This almost sounds illegal. I could lawsuit after lawsuit on this. So to put it this in real terms...If someone were to do something illegsl like break into my house, I could then go break into his house and get away with it? Eye for an eye? I think not. Mediadefender definitely went the wrong direction with trying to stop piracy. These companies pay software engineers big bucks to come up with theft prevention techniques. Couldnt they have come up with something a ittle more creative? I mean really?

    link to this | view in thread ]

  11. identicon
    james Brown, 17 Sep 2007 @ 10:16am

    Fight Fire with Napalm

    I say screw the ethics, cheers to whoever leaked the emails, and keep at it. Don't give these bastards an inch.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  12. identicon
    Ricky Clinch, 17 Sep 2007 @ 10:56am

    Entrapment

    Clear and simple case of entrapment. Someone better at it than i am should write a virus that sniffs out one of these fakes and tracks back with the data to infect the MediaDefender computers.

    Maybe even detect and publish the Ports being used by MD to the greater web, I am sure there are lots of folks that can find something to do with them.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  13. identicon
    scroter, 17 Sep 2007 @ 2:16pm

    Virus

    naw - let them set up the website to download alleged "Illegal" content. This way the public can go after them for copyrighted materials. Either that or someone needs to write a virus that will download something from their site secretly on everyones computers around the world. Could you imagine the traffic and court cases that they would have to pay for for false accusations? Either that or someone needs to write a virus that just downloads illegal crap silently and do the same thing, that would in turn shut everything down I think.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  14. identicon
    4ensic, 17 Sep 2007 @ 4:33pm

    Made the WSJ

    Page 1B of the 9-17-07 Wall Street Journal had a good size article on MediaDefender’s leak. Looks like more than just the tech community will know about MD’s problem...

    link to this | view in thread ]

  15. identicon
    Unka Bullshyte, 17 Sep 2007 @ 6:02pm

    What a joke!

    The Media defender people decide to launch a fake filesharing site and call it...

    MiiVi.com??

    Mii = me
    Vi = #4 = D
    -----------------
    MeeDee

    Oh, suuuuuure! No one will ever figure out who MeeDee is...

    link to this | view in thread ]

  16. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 17 Sep 2007 @ 7:29pm

    "Vi = #4 = D"

    Roman numerals aren't your strong point, eh?

    link to this | view in thread ]

  17. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 18 Sep 2007 @ 4:03pm

    Awesome.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  18. identicon
    Anarchy_Creator, 19 Sep 2007 @ 1:57am

    Re:

    LoL seriously.
    You were off by 1 digit.
    I'll let you guess if it's +/-

    link to this | view in thread ]

  19. identicon
    Anonymous, 20 Sep 2007 @ 5:39pm

    MediaDefender

    phuck with da b3st di3 lik3 th3 r3st.

    da ball iz in ur c0urt.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  20. identicon
    Lifeisdeath, 22 Sep 2007 @ 12:15pm

    Re: Re:

    off by one digit? try 2. VI is 6.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  21. identicon
    tom, 1 Dec 2008 @ 4:57am

    Re: Re: Re:

    I could then go break into his house and get away with it? Eye for an eye? I think not. Mediadefender definitely went the wrong direction with trying to stop piracy. These companies pay software engineers laptop AC adapters big bucks to come up with theft prevention techniques. Couldnt they have come up with something a ittle more creative? I mean really?

    link to this | view in thread ]


Follow Techdirt
Essential Reading
Techdirt Deals
Report this ad  |  Hide Techdirt ads
Techdirt Insider Discord

The latest chatter on the Techdirt Insider Discord channel...

Loading...
Recent Stories

This site, like most other sites on the web, uses cookies. For more information, see our privacy policy. Got it
Close

Email This

This feature is only available to registered users. Register or sign in to use it.