One thing the MPAA has realised is that if a popular movie sharing website is shutdown, its former users will start looking elsewhere to download and upload movies. So, in an aim to catch those who share its movies, the infamous anti-piracy group Media Defender had set up its own movie file sharing website miivi.com and encourages users to upload movies, going by this ZeroPaid report. Those who came across the site thinking they found the perfect place to upload and download content were in for a nasty surprise.
The site contains fake torrents claiming very high download transfer rates to lure unsuspecting visitors into downloading the client. However, not only does this custom client log the IP address, it also scans the computer for copyrighted content. As a result, not only does it try catching the user red-handed downloading a copyrighted title, it has also found out what the user has on their PC already. The consequences are potentially even worse for the unlucky ones who attempted uploading new content.
While the website has recently gone down, there are likely other scam file sharing websites run my Media Defender disguised as websites to share content, so it is worth checking with others first before trying out a new file sharing website. It is bad enough as it is to have all the scam pay sites that trick people into paying membership for freely available clients and search services, never mind scam sites now being run by anti-piracy organisations.
Thanks to DamnedIfIknow for letting us know about this news, with the following comment: Well, just when you thought the MPAA couldn't stoop any lower they prove you wrong again! Apparently the "miraculous" new program is actually a trojan horse which scans your computer for illegal content and reports back to the MPAA. Now they have all the proof they need to bust you in court. Highly unethical, probably illegal, but when it is cheaper to settle than to hire an attorney to fight it most average people will cave and pay the extortion fee demanded by the MPAA. 🙁
