p2pnet news view Freedom | P2P:- Terminated RIAA `private investigator` MediaSentry, acquired by SafeNet Digital Rights Management for $20 million in 2005 and sold to rival MediaDefender three years later for a paltry $136,000 in cash and the promise of another $800,000, has now reared its head in Canada.

Not that its appearance is anything new.

But before we get to that, a couple of months back we revealed MediaSentry, fired by the RIAA in the US, was up to its usual antics in Australia with Eureka confirming nothing has changed.

“Recently, an Australian company of which I’m a director received an email from its ISP accusing us of downloading and sharing certain copyrighted files as part of a torrent,” s/he says in a Reader’s Write dated September 15, going on »»»

The details of the accusation were false; the source, MediaSentry.

We’re now changing ISPs and encrypting our Internet traffic.

My understanding is that MediaSentry is covertly monitoring telecommunications without authorisation from an Australian court. Not only has MediaSentry defamed us to an ISP, I believe they’re risking charges of illegal surveillance.

This is a public issue, and I think it’s time Australians who’ve been accused by MediaSentry launch mass complaints about this vigilante.

Now, “What does a sleazy American private detective who spends his nights slumming around file-sharing sites snooping out illegal downloaders look like?” – asks Joshua Errett.

Writing in Toronto’s Now, “No trench coat and sunglasses here,” he says. “It`s U.S. anti-piracy company MediaSentry. And this summer it`s operating in Ontario.”

Two months ago, “I wanted to give you a heads-up that MediaSentry (yes the very same discredited a**holes!) are still up to their old tricks here in Canada  — Ontario at least! said a p2pnet reader, including a copy of an email s/he received yesterday.

Under the name of Rogers Cable, and with Apple iTunes included, it goes »»»

Rogers Cable (Rogers) has received a notice stating that activities associated with your IP address are infringing copyright in material(s) owned or exclusively licensed by others.

The full notice is appended to this e-mail below.

Wednesday, July 01, 2009
Rogers Cable Inc.

RE:  Unauthorized Distribution of the Copyrighted Published Work Entitled The Tales of Beedle The Bard (Document)

Dear Rogers High-Speed Internet:

On behalf of the rights holder for the content listed below, we are writing this letter to state that we have a good faith belief that the unauthorized sharing (distribution) and downloading of this content has occurred by an individual making use of the IP address below at the date and time referenced at the end of this notice.

The Tales of Beedle The Bard (Document)

We also state, under penalty of perjury, that the information in this notice is accurate and that we are authorized to act on behalf of the rights owner.  Since you own this IP address, we request that you inform the individual who engaged in this conduct of the following:

Unauthorized file sharing is illegal.  However, we truly appreciate your interest in The Tales of Beedle The Bard (Document).  We are making every attempt to provide this wonderful content to you in a host of legitimate ways, one of which is through the following website:

http://www.apple.com/itunes

If you believe you have received this notice in error, please contact us at CLCopyright@mediasentry.com, and kindly include this identification number xxxxxxxxx, also noted above, in the subject line.

Thank you for your cooperation in this matter.

Respectfully,

A Kempe
MediaSentry Operations

INFRINGEMENT DETAIL

Infringing Work: The Tales of Beedle The Bard (Document)
First Found: 1 Jul 2009 00:49:28 EDT (GMT -0400)
Last Found: 1 Jul 2009 00:49:28 EDT (GMT -0400)
IP Address: xxxxxxxx
IP Port: xxxxxx
Protocol: BitTorrent
Torrent InfoHash: 4CBDECB81685C5FCD96B5C3B8B8B76970EEFD120
Containing file(s):
young-adult fiction.torrent (409,735,327 bytes)

–PTCP_67a2bb9903259307d9
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8
Content-Transfer-Encoding: Quoted-Printable

=EF=BB=BFWednesday, July 01, 2009

I wouldn`t touch the kind of trash they are accusing me of downloading with a ten-foot pole, so this would be funny — except for the false accusation part and having Rogers threaten to cut off my internet, said the p2pnet reader, adding,Maybe a few of your readers would like to send MediaSentry a few choice words.  God knows I just might

But MediaSentry goes way back in Canada.

As  p2pnet put it in 2005, “Organized Music fink firm MediaSentry was in July once again found to have presented shoddy and, ultimately, extremely costly, results to one of its clients,” going on »»»

It blew the game for the CRIA (Canadian Recording Industry Association of America) in 2004 when the latter demanded that a Canadian court order five ISPs to hand over the names of clients. Justice Konrad von Finckenstein was singularly and quotably unimpressed by MediaSentry `evidence`.

Then the company blew it again in Holland when the District Court of Utrecht decided MediaSentry`s investigation of p2p file sharing wasn`t only flawed, it was unlawful, ruling that Dutch ISPs didn`t have to provide customer information to the CRIA`s Netherlands counterparts.

In Now, Errett says the company is still doing its thing through Rogers.

He goes on »»»

… MediaSentry is sending notices to users who download copyrighted material illegally.

In some cases, the notices come to users who haven`t downloaded a single thing.

Using language like You are prohibited from using Rogers… to engage in illegal activities, including activities that infringe copyright and Rogers has the right to take appropriate action against you, the notices are threatening, to say the least.

MediaSentry and its shadowy investigator, A. Kempe, are infamous for hunting downloaders in a most invasive way.

They are indeed. BecauseKempe is a busy boy, firing off  MediaSentry missives around the world.

“Even though MediaSentry has no teeth to prosecute anyone in Canada, the fact that it can reach into someone`s home with threatening messages is chilling,” says Now, adding:

“The company should be made to feel unwelcome. From any angle, a predatory copyright protector cannot be viewed as a positive presence in the fight for fair use. MediaSentry has been chased out of states like Michigan for a reason. Who will do the same in Ontario?”

Answer?

No one.

Like so many other parasite companies associated with the entertainment cartels, it doesn’t matter what it does or how phuked up it’s proved to be: its ‘evidence’ can be still be used in world-wide corporate intimidation schemes, and as long as the likes of Rogers play ball, Kempe will continue to draw his handsome salary.

No need to stay tuned.

Follow p2pnet on Twitter.

First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win ~ Mahatma Gandhi

up to its usual antics – MediaSentry in Australia: Part V, May 23, 2009
Now – Net detectives, go home, September 16 – 23
discredited a**holes! – MediaSentry phuks up in Canada, July 2, 2009
Organized Music fink firm – MediaSentry`s Dutch p2p foul-up, November 14, 2009

September, 2009

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This entry was posted on Thursday, September 17th, 2009 at 3:13 pm and is filed under P2P. 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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