The MediaDefender-MiiVi debacle continues on, so I thought we’d take a look at the truth behind the whole sorry saga.

Miivi is a site once thought to be your average run of the mill peer-to-peer channels, home to both legal and illicit linking,  but now discovered to be a front, run by MediaDefender, an “establishment” now known to be operated under the auspices of Big Media.

Knowing this, you’ve likely now judged those in their respective ivory towers as no-good [expletive], whose underhanded (and possibly illegal, if one can successfully argue entrapment is/was at play) activities as of late all but warrant the complete abandonment of decency when dealing with them and their copyrighted materials.

In other words, you’d really just like to stick those media execs with the “crooked” tag, and think it’s just that you play your part as a consumer-advocacy-minded pirate and play this game of cat and mouse as dirty as the big guys are playing it.

MediaDefender Overstepped The Mark

Which is completely understandable. There’s a case to be made that MediaDefender and its (for lack of a better word) defenders overstepped their role as the maintainers of their copyrights, and should expect to have that quite valuable 700MB-sized collection of internal email correspondence now travelling to and fro the P2P world used against them.

Currently, MediaDefender is frantically working to stave the flow of transfers of these very valuable notes, memos and conversations, but as the damage is already done, there’s little the group can do other than halt operations, lest it cast an even worse light on itself for the legal proceedings to come.

Evidence In Attorney Generals Hands

As things currently stand, the 700MB chunk of evidence of foul play by MediaDefender has made it into the hands of those at the New York State Attorney General’s office. The state’s AG has yet to comment on the matter.

Right now, MediaDefender is claiming that one or multiple parties had “illegally accessed” the group’s email, claiming that “trade secrets and confidential information” was included in the “bounty” (my word, not MD’s), and requests that various P2P sites that have links to files with said information take down those access points immediately. 

Thus far, MediaDefender has targeted IsoHunt, MegaNova, according to a report on the matter made last week by Ryan Paul of ArsTechnica, though I suspect the reach of the 700MB stash has expanded exponentially across the Web as time has progressed, making MD’s effort to stifle the files’ proliferation “an exercise in futility,” in the Mr Paul’s words.

Reeks Of Shady Activity

Overall, this story reeks through and through of shady activity on the part of MediaDefender. While it’s one thing to go after those responsible for illegal distribution of copyrighted content, it’s something else entirely to bait the seeders and leechers of the Internet for the sole purpose of entrapment. 

Yes, MediaDefender can make an attempt to argue that it is solely the fault of the party infringing on a copyright clause to be working the “black market” in the first place, but it’s doubtful that such a line would hold up in court.

Particularly as the investigative work was done by MediaDefender alone, and not by the appropriate authorities tasked with working the anti-piracy angle in the US. (Or so I assume that that was how MD’s dirty work was done.)

By default I more or less side with the consumer advocates in this instance (heck, when do I not?), as it’s fairly clear that MediaDefender has breached the kosher/non-kosher divide. 

Heading For Court?

Whether it succeeds in court (I presume that’s where this case is headed) is up to a judge or jury to decide, but I suspect that after all is said and done, MediaDefender won’t be walking out its head held very high.

I very much look forward to seeing how this case progresses. And I’d very much like to hear what you have to say about it. What’s your take on the issue? Let us know in the comments below.

Paul Glazowski is a contributing author discussing the social networking world, his work can be found on Profy.com

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