The thought that motion picture studios, including members of the Motion Picture Association of America, or MPAA, have been pirating content through the use of BitTorrent is one of those things that’s long been suspected, and TorrentFreak reports that they now have proof. Specifically, they worked with BitTorrent monitors Scaneye to track down what IP addresses associated with the member studios of the MPAA have been illegally accessing, and the results were pretty much what you’d expect.
TorrentFreak and Scaneye found that IP addresses associated with Paramount Pictures, Warner Bros., 20th Century Fox, and Walt Disney were using BitTorrent to access a variety of illegal content. Someone at Paramount, for example, was caught grabbing The Hunger Games, while another person over at Warner Bros. apparently just wanted a little porn. One of the pirates at Disney, however, showed a little class by downloading an episode of Downton Abbey.
Once again, none of this is terribly surprising. If nothing else, opponents to controversial copyright infringement legislation that’s been pushed by the MPAA should feel vindicated. The worst part of all this? It’s likely going to be shrugged off by the entertainment industry’s lobbyists. Introspection is not exactly their strong suit.
The final tidbit from TorrentFreak notes that BitTorrent was also caught sharing a bunch of stuff, but the files were all being shared with permission.
(via TorrentFreak)
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