MPAA Used Hackers to Get Info: TorrentSpy

It seems like everyday one gets to read about how the MPAA juggernaut has pulled down another BitTorrent or some other P2P site and claimed a major victory. For long this has lead me to wonder just how they have managed to get enough information on anyone, apart from the appalling DMCA rule which forces US ISP’s to divulge information and contact details of their users whom the MPAA have deemed as violators. Well I guess one does not have to wonder anymore. While going across the normal news stories of the day I came across a rather startling article on the fight between TorrentSpy.com and the MPAA. It seems Valence Media, which operates the file-sharing portal site TorrentSpy, has accused the MPAA of hiring a computer hacker to help garner information for use in the industry group’s patent infringement suit against the site. In a lawsuit filed in California, Valence and its owners have countersued, claiming that the MPAA paid a known hacker to infiltrate the company’s IT systems to extract potential evidence. According to the suit, the MPAA “willfully and intentionally” purchased, procured, used and disclosed private information that it unlawfully obtained via a break into Valence’s computing systems. The filing further claims that the MPAA paid its hacker US$15,000 to steal e-mails and screen prints from Valence’s servers, including client bills and the documents related to the firm’s technology. Well looks like there is no bridge that the MPAA will not cross or any depth they will stoop to in order to justify their actions.