The MediaDefender-MiiVi debacle continues on, so I thought
we’d take a look at the truth behind the whole sorry saga.
Miivi is a site once thought to be your average run of the
mill peer-to-peer channels, home to both legal and illicit
linking, but now discovered to be a front, run by
MediaDefender, an “establishment” now known to be operated under the
auspices of Big Media.
Knowing this, you’ve likely now judged those in
their respective ivory
towers as no-good [expletive], whose underhanded (and possibly illegal,
if one can successfully argue entrapment is/was at play) activities as
of late all but warrant the complete abandonment of decency when
dealing with them and their copyrighted materials.
In other words, you’d really just like to stick
those media execs
with the “crooked” tag, and think it’s
just that you play your part as
a consumer-advocacy-minded pirate and play this game of cat and mouse
as dirty as the big guys are playing it.
MediaDefender Overstepped The Mark
Which is completely understandable. There’s a case
to be made that
MediaDefender and its (for lack of a better word) defenders overstepped
their role as the maintainers of their copyrights, and should expect to
have that quite valuable 700MB-sized collection of internal email
correspondence now travelling to and fro the P2P world used against
them.
Currently, MediaDefender is frantically working to stave the
flow of
transfers of these very valuable notes, memos and conversations, but as
the damage is already done, there’s little the group can do
other than
halt operations, lest it cast an even worse light on itself for the
legal proceedings to come.
Evidence In Attorney Generals Hands
As things currently stand, the 700MB chunk of evidence of foul
play
by MediaDefender has made it into the hands of those at the New York
State Attorney General’s office. The state’s AG has
yet to comment on
the matter.
Right now, MediaDefender is claiming that one or multiple
parties
had “illegally accessed” the group’s
email, claiming that “trade
secrets and confidential information” was included in the
“bounty” (my
word, not MD’s), and requests that various P2P sites that
have links to
files with said information take down those access points
immediately.
Thus far, MediaDefender has targeted IsoHunt, MegaNova,
according to a
report on the matter made last week by Ryan Paul of ArsTechnica,
though I suspect the reach of the 700MB stash has expanded
exponentially across the Web as time has progressed, making
MD’s effort
to stifle the files’ proliferation “an exercise in
futility,” in the Mr
Paul’s words.
Reeks Of Shady Activity
Overall, this story reeks through and through of shady
activity on
the part of MediaDefender. While it’s one thing to go after
those
responsible for illegal distribution of copyrighted content,
it’s
something else entirely to bait the seeders and leechers of the
Internet for the sole purpose of entrapment.
Yes, MediaDefender can
make an attempt to argue that it is solely the fault of the party
infringing on a copyright clause to be working the “black
market” in
the first place, but it’s doubtful that such a line would
hold up in
court.
Particularly as the investigative work was done by
MediaDefender
alone, and not by the appropriate authorities tasked with working the
anti-piracy angle in the US. (Or so I assume that that was how
MD’s
dirty work was done.)
By default I more or less side with the consumer advocates in
this
instance (heck, when do I not?), as it’s fairly clear that
MediaDefender has breached the kosher/non-kosher divide.
Heading For Court?
Whether it
succeeds in court (I presume that’s where this case is
headed) is up to
a judge or jury to decide, but I suspect that after all is said and
done, MediaDefender won’t be walking out its head held very
high.
I very much look forward to seeing how this case progresses.
And I’d
very much like to hear what you have to say about it. What’s
your take
on the issue? Let us know in the comments below.
Paul Glazowski is a contributing author discussing the social networking world, his work can be found on Profy.com
