Fake download service created to spy on users

Media Defender, a group apparently working to fight fight “piracy” on behalf of media representative such as the RIAA and MPAA, have apparently set up a fake downloads site called Miivi.

The reported aim of the site is that once signed up, users are encouraged to download illegal files. However, the Miivi software will then search a users hard drive for other illegal downloads - alerting MediaDefender furtively of the users IP address and other details.

Which reminds me of a series of nasty sting tactics the UK polics tried a few years back - they’d park a lorry filled with alcohol and cigareets, open up the back, then walk away and leave it. Anyone tempted to grab a packet from the back ended up grabbed themselves by plains clothed officers nearby.

I think what the recent Media Defender move really underlines is how clueless record and movie companies have become. They want to own every inch of the music they distribute - which is fair enough - but they have never totally grasped this thing called the internet.

In the meantime, the way remains open for internet-based media companies to pull the rug under from underneath the billion dollar corporate giants, who have yet to wake up to the opportunities of the 21st century.

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