Slashdot Log In
MediaDefender's BitTorrent-Based DOS Takes Down Revision3
Posted by
timothy
on Thu May 29, 2008 05:03 PM
from the well-that's-certainly-reasonable dept.
from the well-that's-certainly-reasonable dept.
Sandman1971 writes "Over the long Memorial Day weekend, Revision3 was the target of a malicious Denial Of Service Attack which brought R3 to its knees. After investigating the matter, it was discovered that the source of the attacks came from MediaDefender, the famed company hired by the MPAA and RIAA to try and stop the spread of illegal file sharing. The kicker? Revision3 was taken down for running a bittorent tracker to distribute its own legal content."
Related Stories
[+]
MediaDefender Denies Entrapment Accusations 104 comments
Ortega-Starfire writes "We've previously discussed the subject of MediaDefender setting up a site to catch movie pirates. Ars Technica covers the response from MediaDefender, which basically states the entire thing was a mistake and was only an internal site they forgot to password protect, and that they were not using this with the MPAA. The article asks: 'If this is true, why did MediaDefender immediately remove all contact information from the whois registry for the domain? Saaf said that after everything hit the fan, the company decided to take everything on the site down because it was afraid of a hacker attack or "people sending us spam." Yes, spam. The MPAA's Elizabeth Kaltman also chimed in to say that they had no involvement with MiiVi: "The MediaDefender story is false. We have no relationship with that company at all," she told Ars.'"
[+]
IT: Internal Emails of An RIAA Attack Dog Leaked 427 comments
qubezz writes "The company MediaDefender works with the RIAA and MPAA against piracy, setting up fake torrents and trackers and disrupting p2p traffic. Previously, the TorrentFreak site accused them of setting up a fake internet video download site designed to catch and bust users. MediaDefender denied the entrapment charges. Now 700MB of MediaDefender's internal emails from the last 6 months have been leaked onto BitTorrent trackers. The emails detail their entire plan, including how they intended to distance themselves from the fake company they set up and future strategies. Other pieces of company information were included in the emails such as logins and passwords, wage negotiations, and numerous other aspect of their internal business."
[+]
Leaks Prove MediaDefender's Deception 230 comments
Who will defend the defenders? writes "Ars Technica has posted the first installment in their analysis of the leaked MediaDefender emails and found some very interesting things. Apparently, the New York Attorney General's office is working on a big anti-piracy sting and they were working on finding viable targets. It also discusses how some of the emails show MediaDefender trying to spy on their competitors, sanitize their own Wikipedia entry, deal with the hackers targeting their systems, and to quash the MiiVi story even while they were rebuilding it as Viide. Oh yes, they definitely read "techie, geek web sites where everybody already hates us" like Slashdot, too."
[+]
MediaDefender and the Streisand Effect 206 comments
Foldarn writes "It looks like MediaDefender, in an effort to quell the explosion of negative publicity over its leaked email archive, has instead done the opposite (also known as the Streisand Effect) and spread it even more widely. Ars Technica is reporting that MediaDefender has sent scary-lawyer letters to two popular BitTorrent sites, MegaNova and IsoHunt, demanding that they remove the offending content. Both sites have responded with derision. Also, Ars notes that MediaDefender seems to be behind a DDoS attack against the site that originally leaked its email." Final word to Ars's Ryan Paul: "MediaDefender's entire business model has been based on recognition of the inescapable fact that litigation cannot stop the spread of content on the Internet, so it is ironic that the company has turned to legal threats."
This discussion has been archived.
No new comments can be posted.
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
Full
Abbreviated
Hidden
Loading... please wait.
Criminal investigation? (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Criminal investigation? (Score:5, Insightful)
Parent
Re:Criminal investigation? (Score:5, Insightful)
Parent
Re:Criminal investigation? (Score:5, Funny)
Parent
Re:Criminal investigation? (Score:5, Informative)
Parent
Re:Criminal investigation? (Score:5, Interesting)
So... how long until we see MediaDefender's board get perp-walked? (too much to hope for seeing the RIAA board getting arrested, but hey...)
*sigh*... I know, I know. MediaDefender will likely claim that some poor (scapegoated) bastard employee of theirs did it without authorization, yadda yadda... then said poor bastard will get to watch in horror as his entire life goes down the toilet.
Then again, if it does go down like that, it would stand as a prime example of how one should always give priority to personal ethics before accepting a job offer...
Parent
Re:Criminal investigation? (Score:5, Insightful)
Parent
Re:Criminal investigation? (Score:5, Informative)
Parent
Re:Criminal investigation? (Score:5, Insightful)
Parent
Re:Criminal investigation? (Score:5, Informative)
Parent
Re:Criminal investigation? (Score:5, Insightful)
Parent
Re:Criminal investigation? (Score:5, Insightful)
Parent
Re:Criminal investigation? (Score:5, Insightful)
Parent
Re:Criminal investigation? (Score:5, Insightful)
2. Committing a crime to retaliate in response to another crime is still wrong, and committing a crime in retaliation for a mere civil infraction doubly so.
Parent
TO paraphrase world of warcraft (Score:5, Insightful)
That'll teach 'em (Score:5, Funny)
Really? Lucky We Have Laws (Score:5, Insightful)
Failure to achieve these things will not reflect well on the fitness of the rulers to rule.
Re:Really? Lucky We Have Laws (Score:5, Insightful)
Failure to achieve these things will not reflect well on the fitness of the rulers to rule.
ROFL... You must be new here. Allow me to welcome you to planet Earth. Expect no useful action against Media Defender. And again, welcome to our humble planet...
Parent
Re:Really? Lucky We Have Laws (Score:5, Insightful)
Parent
Please bear in mind... (Score:5, Funny)
Parent
"Hey guys, we just got the servers ba-" (Score:5, Funny)
And the rustling noise (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Shouldn't have publicized it on their blog (Score:5, Insightful)
Except then RIAA could have just paid up and fixed their scripts and moved on.
The FBI investigation is going to turn up more dirt and likely will lead to lots of discovery. Imagine the connections between organizations proper discovery could come up with. Also imagine the work needed to comply. "Ok, RIAA turn over all correspondence you have had concerning enforcement for the last 3 years".
This does not mean Revision 3 can't sue for damages. But letting the FBI get the ball rolling is the first step. And if the FBI do lay charges then the money part gets a lot easier.
Parent
Re:smells like... (Score:5, Insightful)
That would be the best thing that could happen. Judges have absolutely no sense of humor about people who pull shit like that.
Parent
Re:smells like... (Score:5, Insightful)
DOS attacks are a felony. People go to jail for committing felonies.
R3 can sue, in addition to the criminal charges brought forward by the state, in order to recoup any damages sustained by the attack, but even if they don't, MD still has to face the federal government for breaking the law.
-Rick
Parent