Promises of Hollywood fame and fortune persuaded a young hacker to betray former associates in the BitTorrent scene to Tinseltown’s anti-piracy lobby, according to the hacker.
In an exclusive interview with Wired News, gun-for-hire hacker Robert Anderson tells for the first time how the Motion Picture Association of America promised him money and power if he provided confidential information on TorrentSpy, a popular BitTorrent search site.
According to Anderson, the MPAA told him: “We would need somebody like you. We would give you a nice paying job, a house, a car, anything you needed… if you save Hollywood for us you can become rich and powerful.”
In 2005, the MPAA paid Anderson $15,000 for inside information about TorrentSpy – information at the heart of a copyright-infringement lawsuit brought by the MPAA against TorrentSpy of Los Angeles. The material is also the subject of a wiretapping countersuit against the MPAA brought by TorrentSpy’s founder, Justin Bunnell, who alleges the information was obtained illegally.
It’s dumb to try and combat these things…one gets taken down something else will replace it…You will always be fighting techie geeks who are two three steps ahead of any technology the corporations trying to stop them can come up with…
Interesting read. Legally, since the hacking laws don’t have anything about vicarious liability, I think the MPAA is safe. Unless BitTorrent can find some smoking gun email showing that BitTorrent was fully away this guy was illegally hacking in to get the information they haven’t done anything criminal. They simply paid for information from someone who contacted them.
And I don’t blame the MPAA for fighting piracy. Sure, techie geeks are always going to be a step ahead, but you have to fight the battle to keep the piracy in the hands of techies. The reason Napster became such a problem was it was so idiot proof. With just a minimum of computer knowledge you could find, download and install the program and get free music. No filters to filter out dummy versions, no signing up, no unzipping multi-part rars. Just search, click, free music.
It’s dumb to try and combat these things…one gets taken down something else will replace it…You will always be fighting techie geeks who are two three steps ahead of any technology the corporations trying to stop them can come up with…
[/quote]
So true.
isohunt.com is still alive and running. I was saddened over the loss of TS but w/e. Life goes on.
Interesting read. Legally, since the hacking laws don’t have anything about vicarious liability, I think the MPAA is safe. Unless BitTorrent can find some smoking gun email showing that BitTorrent was fully away this guy was illegally hacking in to get the information they haven’t done anything criminal. They simply paid for information from someone who contacted them.
And I don’t blame the MPAA for fighting piracy. Sure, techie geeks are always going to be a step ahead, but you have to fight the battle to keep the piracy in the hands of techies. The reason Napster became such a problem was it was so idiot proof. With just a minimum of computer knowledge you could find, download and install the program and get free music. No filters to filter out dummy versions, no signing up, no unzipping multi-part rars. Just search, click, free music.
[/quote]
Um…They have the hacker admitting that he stole the emails. The court opinion is bullshit, MPAA should have known it was obtained unethically since if there was some other way to get it, they would have.
Um…They have the hacker admitting that he stole the emails. The court opinion is bullshit, MPAA should have known it was obtained unethically since if there was some other way to get it, they would have.
[/quote]
Admitting it now. Prove that the MPAA knew he was going to hack in to get the information. Plaintiffs get inside information from whistle blowers all the time and it’s perfectly legal. You cross the legal line when you knowingly hire someone to get information illegally.
I was reading that story this morning and he sounds like a real asshole. TorrentSpy didnt want him so he got pissed and went to the MPAA about him and now MPAA didnt want him so he went to TorrentSpy to admit to what he did.
Admitting it now. Prove that the MPAA knew he was going to hack in to get the information. Plaintiffs get inside information from whistle blowers all the time and it’s perfectly legal. You cross the legal line when you knowingly hire someone to get information illegally.
[/quote]
I have 2 things to say to this.
1.) Name me one other way someone with no affiliation to TS got their hands on privileged emails.
2.)Now that they know the emails in question were stolen, shouldn’t they be barred from using them in any court proceedings? (ethically or legally)
there is more to the story that i read last week… but he guessed the admin password in > 30 attempts… ya, what he did was illegal, but i blame the retarded admin.
there is more to the story that i read last week… but he guessed the admin password in > 30 attempts… ya, what he did was illegal, but i blame the retarded admin.
“The MPAA does not dispute it paid Anderson for the sensitive information, but insists that it had no idea that Anderson stole the data.”
Bull Fucking Shit~ TorentSpy was the best torrent site by far.
[/quote]
Anderson’s brief Hollywood career began in the spring of 2005, after a online advertising venture with TorrentSpy founder Bunnell turned sour.
Good luck proving that. Anderson had a prior relationship with TorrentSpy so the MPAA can claim they thought the information he provided came from that relationship. Unless an email or recorded phone conversation surfaces where the MPAA tell Anderson to hack in and steal the information they are in the clear.
“But U.S. District Judge Florence-Marie Cooper in Los Angeles dismissed Bunnell’s lawsuit Aug. 21 on the grounds that Anderson’s intrusion did not violate the federal wiretapping statute.”
Oh, really…hacking a server and rerouting all communication isnt apparently hacking. Lets go people, I want credit cards, bank accounts, steamy insider information…Its a fucking free for all!!
“But U.S. District Judge Florence-Marie Cooper in Los Angeles dismissed Bunnell’s lawsuit Aug. 21 on the grounds that Anderson’s intrusion did not violate the federal wiretapping statute.”
Oh, really…hacking a server and rerouting all communication isnt apparently hacking. Lets go people, I want credit cards, bank accounts, steamy insider information…Its a fucking free for all!!
[/quote]
Probably should have included the VERY NEXT SENTENCE in that quote.
Attorney Rothken says he did not sue under the federal computer-hacking law, because it doesn’t allow for vicarious liability.
They rolled the dice hoping they could make wire tapping law cover computer hacking, when computer hacking laws were clearly the ones that were broken. They did it because they knew full well they could only go after Anderson for hacking.
Face it, it was the right decision. People are just pissed because they don’t want to pay for copyrighted content anymore.
And before Rubi calls me a hypocrite because he knows I have a modded 360 and download games, I’ll admit I’m a pirate too. But there’s a difference between downloading games and knowing it’s piracy and trying to argue that the big bad MPAA is the bad guy for shutting down torrent sites. Look in the mirror, we’re the bad guy. We’re the ones stealing while they’re just trying to protect the store.