p2pnet news | Movies:- Lately, it’s just been one embarrassment after another for entertainment cartel online scalp- and bounty-hunter MediaDefender.

Its emails leaked online in September cost it dearly, says P2P Blog, going on:

“A recent SEC filing of Mediadefender parent ArtistDirect reveals that the company lost at least 825,000 dollars due to the hack – enough money to eat up all of ArtistDirect’s profits for the third quarter. The biggest chunk of the money was apparently spent to keep Mediadefender’s clients on board.”

Randy Saaf’s (right) MediaDefender, “has been posting fake download files on behalf of entertainment cartel hit organisations, principally Hollywood’s MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America), which then releases statements claiming the ’spoofs,’ as they’re called, are the work of ‘pirates’,” said p2pnet, going on:

“In one of the most recent examples, ‘Pirates frequently make ’spoofs’ of titles available on peer-to-peer networks, so what you think you are downloading might in fact be a fake,” said the MPAA’s MPA (Motion Picture Association).

The post included a spoof of its own, saying Saaf and alter-ego Octavio Herrera were to be arraigned on 10,00,324 charges of illegal uploading with intent to deceive, bandwidth theft, and grievous misrepresentation.

Now, “The SEC filing also details why this breach was so expensive,” says P2P Blog, quoting from the filing, to wit:

As a result of this development, MediaDefender recorded approximately $600,000 for service credits to customers, which were recorded as a reduction to revenues during the three months ended September 30, 2007. This amount was determined based on various factors, including discussions with customers, and is subject to adjustment in future periods based on additional information. MediaDefender also recorded approximately $225,000 of legal, consulting and other direct costs related to the breach during the three months ended September 30, 2007.

P2P Blog adds:

“600,000 dollars in service credits sounds a lot for a breach that essentially was based on hacking a GMail account – unless a company just has a handful of clients that need to be kept happy at any cost.”

Slashdot it!

Also See:
emails leaked online – Online crooks often escape prosecution, November 18, 2007
P2P Blog – Mediadefender hack costs company 825,000 USD, November 20, 2007
recent examples – Hollywood invades Taiwan schools, September 20, 2007
spoof of its own – MediaDefender boss Randy Saaf arrested, September 22, 2007

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 20th, 2007 at 2:26 pm and is filed under Movies, Music. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

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