Remember How The DMCA 'Stopped' The Release Of Ashley Madison Cheaters Data? About That...

from the boom-goes-the-dynamite dept

Last month, you may recall, the news broke that the "dating site for people who want to cheat on their spouse," Ashley Madison, had its systems hacked, and all its data leaked. For rather obvious reasons, this had a lot of people rather worried about what would be revealed. However, the company insisted that there was no problem at all, because it had used the DMCA to take down all leaked copies. We pointed out how ridiculous this was on multiple levels. First, that's not what the DMCA is for, and as embarrassing as this was for Ashley Madison's parent company Avid Life Media, it does not hold the copyright in such data. Second, the idea that this would actually stop the data from reaching the public was ludicrous.

And... it took longer than expected, but less than a month later, the data file has leaked online, and you can bet that lots of people -- journalists, security researchers, blackmailers and just generally curious folks -- have been downloading it and checking it out.

Maybe, next time, rather than claiming copyright, the company will do a better job of protecting its systems.

Filed Under: cheating, copyright, dmca, infidelity, leak
Companies: ashley madison, avid life media