MPAA download ’sting’ operation
p2pnet.net news special:- As the number of new filesharers increases by the thousands every week, and the cartels’ failure to have filesharers convicted of crimes – despite their never-ending endeavors to pressure domestic and foreign governments and their police forces, internet service providers, and courts – they never fail to invent new ways to try and indoctrinate and/or trap the innocent, unwashed masses.
From inaccurate, unskippable ads on legally purchased DVDs that claim filesharing is a crime equal to car theft and that filesharers are hardened, drug-trafficking criminals and pirates, to the ridiculously-conceived, notorious brainwashing tactic failure of ‘You can click, but you can’t hide’ advertising, comes another soon-to-be failure.
Besides believing filesharers are criminals, and doing all they can to promote their view in the lamescream media, it seems the MPAA’s newest tactic is to try to convict innocent people online by enticing them to download fake files, thereby collecting IP addresses in which to use as so-called ‘evidence’ should a case ever come to court.
They’ve tried and failed at this in the past, just as they will this time. The difference is they’ve learned a few lessons from previous attempts, but still don’t get it.
In the past, the MPAA set up their own trackers, filling them with fake files. The names were clearly recognizable as faked due to the fact the cartels were unaware of how to conform to standard p2p file labeling. This was revealed here on p2pnet last year when fake ‘Cars’ rips started circulating. People stayed away from those files and trackers in droves, and the trackers were subsequently put on Peerguardian block lists and other website watch lists.
Running a tracker costs money – sometimes a lot of money – as anyone who has done will confirm. So they got out of the tracker business.
In the intervening months after this debacle, the MPAA contracted with Bram Cohen’s official BitTorrent company to sell low quality DRM-infected TV shows and movies at premium rates.
The MPAA’s apparent current sting operation works like this:
Using the ID ‘tag’ www.FreeOpenProxy.com typically reserved for identifying the original ripper, files with standardized labeling are uploaded onto Pirate Bay trackers and the torrents posted to open listing websites such as the popular Mininova, which will then ensure their being picked up by others like Torrent Spy and similar search & scrape websites.
But don’t be fooled. We’re not. Every file posted has exactly the same size: either 346.06KB, or double that of 692.13KB, nowhere near what a real DVD rip would be.
Looking at the list of files contained inside of the torrents reveals rar-ed ‘movies’, as well as rar-ed MS ‘Vista’ files. All are clearly faked, although with the standard labels they look real.
Who knows what’s actually in those compressed files? Only the original uploader knows – probably a paid and contracted agent of the MPAA.
In the files’ description listings on Mininova are listed a few websites they’d like you to visit:
FreeOpenProxy.com
HideOutProxy.com
ProxyBean.com
They’re ‘Uber Cool’!
Don’t bet on it.
Don’t do it! This is clearly a scam and a sting operation being conducted by the MPAA and other unknown interested parties to record your IP address in order to gather ‘evidence’ against you should they decide to have you arrested by domestic S.W.A.T. teams and tried for ‘theft’.
But it’s not entirely clear how that would work since the files are clearly fakes uploaded by the MPAA and downloaded from legal trackers by unsuspecting and innocent people – the millions of potential customers they lose each time they employ inane tactics like this because their Madison Avenue scripted threats fall on deaf ears.
Well, the jig is up. It’s my opinion that these files are fakes created by, and for the use of, the MPAA and other unknown interested parties. And I’d like anyone to prove me wrong. I won’t download any of these files and I’ll tell all who’ll listen to also not download them. I wouldn’t be surprised if Bram Cohen and his cohorts at his official BitTorrent company are also involved in this scam in order to generate negative publicity in the lamescream media and try and convince the unwashed masses to migrate to his tracker.
The cartels think filesharers are stupid enough to download these files so the MPAA can easily log IP addresses.
No, they’re smarter than that – and much smarter than the MPAA – as proven by this, and previous, exposés here on p2pnet.
Those listings above appeared Sunday, March 18th, 2007 (less than 24 hours before this writing) and hopefully they’ll soon be deleted by the administrators of Pirate Bay, Mininova, any other listing sites, as well as having the uploader’s IP address(s) publicly blacklisted and banned.
Stay tuned.
catflap – p2pnet
Also See:
inks and bytes – Lucky and Flo, back again, March 14, 2007
Associated Press – 2 Sniffer Dogs, on Loan From the MPAA, Help Malaysian Officials Find Bootleg DVDs, CDs, March 20, 2007
all-time high – Hollywood reports record revenues, March 6, 2007
If your Net access is blocked by government restrictions, try Psiphon from the Citizen Lab at thIs the end (of the Net) nigh?zze University of Toronto’s Munk Centre for International Studies. Go here for the official download, here for the p2pnet download, and here for details. And if you’re Chinese and you’re looking for a way to access independent Internet news sources, try Freegate, the DIT program written to help Chinese citizens circumvent web site blocking outside of China. Download it here.
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Tired of being treated like a criminal? They depend on you, not the other way around. Don’t buy their ‘product’. Do bug your local politicians. Use emails, snail-mail, phone calls, faxes, IM, stop them in the street, blog. And if you’re into organizing, organize petitions, organize demonstrations and then turn up on your local political rep’s doorstep, making sure you’ve contacted your local tv/radio station/newspaper in advance. Don’t just complain. Do something!
March 20th, 2007 at 10:55 pm
I stupidly typed in the FreeWebProxy Web address into my Web browser out of curiosity, even though I didn’t download these fake files. Do you really think that I could have had my IP address logged?
March 20th, 2007 at 10:58 pm
We’ve just removed all these shit torrents off ISOHunt.
March 21st, 2007 at 4:43 am
What value could the MPAA get out of trapping you into downloading non-copyrighted files? I’ll tell you – NONE.
This is plain old-fashioned spam and as much as I dislike the MPAA, I don’t think you do anyone any favors with these unfounded scare tactics.
March 21st, 2007 at 12:25 pm
Errr… what good are webproxies (for surfing!) to spy on p2p filesharer?
None – these are complete different protocols!