Busted: BitTorrent Pirates at Sony, Universal and Fox

[CptStern]

With increasing lobbying efforts from the entertainment industry against BitTorrent sites and users, we wondered whether these companies hold themselves to the same standards they demand of others. After some initial skimming we’ve discovered BitTorrent pirates at nearly every major entertainment industry company in the US, including Sony Pictures Entertainment, Fox Entertainment and NBC Universal. Busted.

A few days ago we wrote about a new website that exposes what people behind an IP-address have downloaded on BitTorrent. The Russian-based founders of the site developed the service so people can show their friends how public their downloading habits are, and that is exactly what we’re going to do today.

Armed with the IP-ranges of major Hollywood studios we decided to find out what they’ve been downloading. As expected, it didn’t take us long before we found BitTorrent ‘pirates’ at several leading entertainment industry companies. Yes, these are the same companies who want to disconnect people from the Internet after they’ve been caught sharing copyrighted material.

lol ****ing hypocrites

http://torrentfreak.com/busted-bittorrent-pirates-at-sony-universal-and-fox-111213/

 

[MuToiD_MaN]

Yes, hypocrites, because surely the people who are torrenting are the same ones lobbying to crack down on pirating. Shame on their respective IT departments for not catching company employees in the act. Also, Is there a chance that these IPs could be ironic spoof choices?

 

[Sulkdodds]

Yes, hypocrites, because surely the people who are torrenting are the same ones lobbying to crack down on pirating. Shame on their respective IT departments for not catching company employees in the act.

In the UK, such companies lobbied the last government to pass an act allowing the state to lean on ISPs to cut off internet to any IP address where just one person has downloaded something, potentially punishing families or businesses for the actions of one member. If these companies were themselves held to the same standards, it seems clear they'd incur considerable expense getting a new line or moving premises (perhaps providing all their employees with pay-as-you-go 3G dongles in the meantime). Likewise, when the copyright lobby has been aggressively pushing for websites to be subject to prosecution if they unwittingly allow pirated material to be hosted on them, it seems incumbent on the company to ensure that none of its employees are unwittingly allowed to pirate using their resources. Moreover, if the IPs may have been spoofed, then who's to say the same has not been done to the IPs of citizens arrested for piracy? Finally, the real point is that piracy is so absolutely widespread as to make criminalizing it an extremely dangerous game. When you allow aggressive punishments for something everyone does, you open the way for targeted, discretionary policing against individuals.

 

[Viperidae]

I think we at least agree they have terrible taste in movies/music (other than GoT).

 

[AtomicSpark]

Well, youhavedownloaded.com has no records for me. Success!

 

[MuToiD_MaN]

In the UK, such companies lobbied the last government to pass an act allowing the state to lean on ISPs to cut off internet to any IP address where just one person has downloaded something, potentially punishing families or businesses for the actions of one member. If these companies were themselves held to the same standards, it seems clear they'd incur considerable expense getting a new line or moving premises (perhaps providing all their employees with pay-as-you-go 3G dongles in the meantime). Likewise, when the copyright lobby has been aggressively pushing for websites to be subject to prosecution if they unwittingly allow pirated material to be hosted on them, it seems incumbent on the company to ensure that none of its employees are unwittingly allowed to pirate using their resources. Moreover, if the IPs may have been spoofed, then who's to say the same has not been done to the IPs of citizens arrested for piracy? Finally, the real point is that piracy is so absolutely widespread as to make criminalizing it an extremely dangerous game. When you allow aggressive punishments for something everyone does, you open the way for targeted, discretionary policing against individuals.

Interesting. Agreed, and way more well-thought-out of a counter-argument than my post deserved. ntl;r

 

[Remus]

Well, youhavedownloaded.com has no records for me. Success!

Hilarious, according to them they "busted" me for downloading 1 program I've never even heard of. GG guys, gg.

 

[kineaesth]

I don't know much about the internet, but if they keep disabling people's connections won't we eventually run out of IP addresses???

 

[BabyHeadCrab]

You're hilarious.

 

[DEATHMASTER]

Well, youhavedownloaded.com has no records for me. Success!

Same.

 

[Kadayi]

lol ****ing hypocrites

I'm fairly sure any organisation of any size regardless of it's particular avenue has people in it who torrent. However that some guys in IT torrent doesn't necessarily equate to it somehow being a refutation of company stance on an issue. Anthropmophising organisations made up of thousands of free thinking individuals is kind of trite tbh.

 

[Raziaar]

Well, youhavedownloaded.com has no records for me. Success!

Well how about that, cocksuckers!

 

[Remus]

I'm fairly sure any organisation of any size regardless of it's particular avenue has people in it who torrent. However that some guys in IT torrent doesn't necessarily equate to it somehow being a refutation of company stance on an issue. Anthropmophising organisations made up of thousands of free thinking individuals is kind of trite tbh.

You're missing the point Kadayi. These companies want an Internet connection to be terminated when a person is caught downloading pirated content, regardless if that would affect an entire family or small business. That's where the real hypocrisy lies. If the same standard applied to them, the entire company should be denied access to the Internet based on the action of some random employee.

 

[Krynn72]

Maybe they were using it for research?

 

[TechnoHippyChic]

Maybe they were using it for research?

That's what all my torrenting is for. Research. Yeah.

 

[Vegeta897]

Well women don't watch porn so I believe you.

 

[Azner]

Well, youhavedownloaded.com has no records for me. Success!

lol, my records are loaded. Haven't been downloading anything.

 

[DEATHMASTER]

I have the internet. Goes to show who the pr0h@x0rs are.

 

[<RJMC>]

I dont feel confortable knowing aboutt a webpage over there who can see what I have dowloaded.....

 

[BabyHeadCrab]

I think that's the idea breh

 

[ríomhaire]

Obviously they were only downloading public domain works.

 

[Acepilotf14]

I'm not totally sure how that website works. I just had to buy a new router and my IP changed, and I hadn't downloaded anything on public trackers after the IP change, yet it still sprung up with something I'd downloaded long before. I think it might actually be uploading on a different PC in this house, inwhich case is it looking at things that are being p2p shared on your PC?

 

[morgs]

That site came up with nothing for me, I'm not sure if it's working properly.

 

[Stylo]

Some files that people have downloaded

The.X.Factor.USA.S01.E16.VeroVenlo . avi (229.44 MB)

WHAT IS WRONG WITH PEOPLE?

Also, Hi. We have no records on you.

 

[MuToiD_MaN]

I'm not totally sure how that website works. I just had to buy a new router and my IP changed, and I hadn't downloaded anything on public trackers after the IP change, yet it still sprung up with something I'd downloaded long before. I think it might actually be uploading on a different PC in this house, inwhich case is it looking at things that are being p2p shared on your PC?

All the computers in your house would have the same external IP, which is the one the tracker would contain.

 

[Wanted Bob]

Haha, that site makes me laugh, being able to see what others download.

I showed up clean, I'm interested in what process that website uses.

 

[Bad^Hat]

I'm fairly sure any organisation of any size regardless of it's particular avenue has people in it who torrent. However that some guys in IT torrent doesn't necessarily equate to it somehow being a refutation of company stance on an issue. Anthropmophising organisations made up of thousands of free thinking individuals is kind of trite tbh.

Corporations are people too, my friend.

 

[Kadayi]

You're missing the point Kadayi. These companies want an Internet connection to be terminated when a person is caught downloading pirated content, regardless if that would affect an entire family or small business. That's where the real hypocrisy lies. If the same standard applied to them, the entire company should be denied access to the Internet based on the action of some random employee.

In short No. Again you are trying to assign a single mindedness to organisations made up of hundreds if not thousands of individuals.

 

[Sulkdodds]

In short No. Again you are trying to assign a single mindedness to organisations made up of hundreds if not thousands of individuals.

Yes...which is, on a larger scale, what those companies' boards and leaders are pushing for in legislature.

 

[MuToiD_MaN]

I'm also in the clear. Thank god for private trackers. Also for having moved since I downloaded all sorts of embarrassing stuff en masse.

 

[Kadayi]

Yes...which is, on a larger scale, what those companies' boards and leaders are pushing for in legislature.

So if I go out a murder a bunch of people on company time then my director is somehow responsible? No, the real world doesn't work like that. I doubt very much the CEOs of those companies are particularly happy about staff within them using bittorrent, but I also suspect they the CEOs of those companies aren't omniscient as to the actions and activities as to every member of staff within their companies. This idea that therefore they can all be somehow labelled as hypocrites on a corporate level is frankly infantile. :dozey:

 

[Acepilotf14]

They should absolutely be able to regulate what happens on their own IP address, their own computer systems. If they can't regulate it, then it's incompetence on part of the company, if they simply won't, then it's either laziness or hypocrisy.

 

[BabyHeadCrab]

OOOOOOOOooooooooooooohhhhhhhhhhhh BUSSSSTEDDDDD :V!!!

 

[Sulkdodds]

So if I go out a murder a bunch of people on company time then my director is somehow responsible?

No, Kadayi, but if you go out and murder a bunch of people on company time, and your director has been lobbying for a law that would allow police to evict the families and businesses of murderers from their premises as punishment, then it does undermine his moral case for the law, because it's one that he himself would suffer by if it was applied.

Rather like if government ministers who propose evicting the families of rioters from their council houses turned out to A) live in a council house and B) have children who rioted.

 

[Kadayi]

They should absolutely be able to regulate what happens on their own IP address, their own computer systems. If they can't regulate it, then it's incompetence on part of the company, if they simply won't, then it's either laziness or hypocrisy.

Who watches the watchmen? The worst offenders for torrenting etc are generally the IT savvy staff in the first place. The head of Sony isn't going to know jack about what his staffs internets habits are, and frankly it's not his job to.

No, Kadayi, but if you go out and murder a bunch of people on company time, and your director has been lobbying for a law that would allow police to evict the families and businesses of murderers from their premises as punishment, then it does undermine his moral case for the law, because it's one that he himself would suffer by if it was applied.

Only if he were attempting to cover up evidence of my misdemeanours, which isn't the case (so therefore your counter-argument is wholly irrelevant). You're welcome :dozey: