Online Anti-Piracy Firm's Email Leaked

Email Leaked

Hackers who intercepted e-mail from MEDIADEFENDER INC., a firm that tries to stymie unauthorized downloading of songs and movies on behalf of record companies and HOLLYWOOD film studios, have released hundreds of megabytes of data on the Internet, reports BUSINESSWEEK.

The hackers, who identified themselves as "MEDIADEFENDER-Defenders," over the weekend posted a 700-plus-megabyte file of e-mails and an audio recording of what appears to be a 25-minute conference call between MediaDefender executives and law enforcement officials.

Some of the leaked e-mails appeared to bolster the idea that MEDIADEFENDER was secretly operating a website where computer users could upload videos and using it to track users who shared copyrighted files without permission, allegations that surfaced in recent months among technology bloggers and the online file-sharing community.

The company has denied running such a site. But at least one of the leaked e-mails appears to be a discussion about using the website MIIVI.COM to load software onto users' computers that would relay bogus files and clutter file-sharing networks, the WALL STREET JOURNAL reported MONDAY.

Some of the e-mails reviewed by the ASSOCIATED PRESS that were said to have been intercepted from MEDIADEFENDER featured communications between the company and record labels such as EMI MUSIC and UNIVERSAL MUSIC GROUP. Some of the missives also included confidential information.

« see more Net News