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In the latest chapter of the David and Goliath saga between the film industry and file-sharing software companies, Valence Media has sued the Motion Picture Association of America, alleging that the MPAA hired a hacker to steal information from the media company.
In its suit, Valence Media, operator of TorrentSpy, alleges that in July last year, the MPAA paid a man $15,000 to infiltrate Valence Media's systems and find trade secrets.
The suit claims that the hacker accessed TorrentSpy servers, allegedly copying TorrentSpy's financial information, private e-mails, and sensitive marketing documents.
TorrentSpy is an indexing service designed to facilitate the distribution of large data files, thus enabling users to search for and download copyrighted television and movie programs.
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In the EFF's published analysis of the battle between the MPAA and TorrentSpy, the nonprofit organization made a point that an earlier lawsuit filed by the MPAA against TorrentSpy is not just about copyright, but about Internet indexing.
"What's the difference between a 'good' index and a 'bad' index?" the EFF asked on its publication, EFFector. "The complaint gives little guidance about what the studios think separates TorrentSpy from any other index."
The EFF analysis pointed out that in its motion to dismiss the MPAA suit, TorrentSpy poses the following question: "How is TorrentSpy different from Google? After all, Google indexes dot torrent files too."
In its suit, Valence Media, operator of TorrentSpy, alleges that in July last year, the MPAA paid a man $15,000 to infiltrate Valence Media's systems and find trade secrets.
The suit claims that the hacker accessed TorrentSpy servers, allegedly copying TorrentSpy's financial information, private e-mails, and sensitive marketing documents.
TorrentSpy is an indexing service designed to facilitate the distribution of large data files, thus enabling users to search for and download copyrighted television and movie programs.
>
>
In the EFF's published analysis of the battle between the MPAA and TorrentSpy, the nonprofit organization made a point that an earlier lawsuit filed by the MPAA against TorrentSpy is not just about copyright, but about Internet indexing.
"What's the difference between a 'good' index and a 'bad' index?" the EFF asked on its publication, EFFector. "The complaint gives little guidance about what the studios think separates TorrentSpy from any other index."
The EFF analysis pointed out that in its motion to dismiss the MPAA suit, TorrentSpy poses the following question: "How is TorrentSpy different from Google? After all, Google indexes dot torrent files too."