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MediaDefender is a long time “enforcement” agency of the MPAA. Recently they were caught setting up a fake online video site (think YouTube for pirated movies) and now claim the site was only an internal project and that they were the victims of libel. The site was taken down amid controversial blogging and coverage from geek portal Digg.com. Shortly afterwards the DNS registrations were also wiped clean. Ars Technica reports that the site also offered a software package that was purported to “increase download times” but instead “performed searches of the user’s computer for other illegal software and reported its findings back to MediaDefender.” That kind of behavior definitely falls under spyware no matter how noble the intentions are supposed to be. Companies like MediaDefender have already toed the line of what is permissible under law by stalking children and students through networks like bittorrent and now seem to be developing technology to search their hard drives without consent. If anyone has a copy of the software I would be extremely interested in taking a look at what it does and reporting on it.

screenshot of MediaDefender offering commercial movie downloads

screenshot of DNS registration before MediaDefender altered it