Net pirate monitoring firm hacked !
May 18, 2011
A firm employed by the French government to track down net pirates has been hacked. Trident Media Guard is believed to have exposed a range of data, including advice on how to avoid detection. TMG monitors peer-to-peer networks as part of France's efforts to find those guilty of copyright infringements. Eric Walter, head of the French anti-piracy unit, confirmed on Twitter that it had "temporarily suspended" links with TMG. France's so-called HADOPI law has caused controversy since it was introduced in 2009. Suspected illegal file-sharers receive three official warnings, after which they are reported to a judge who can hand out a range of punishments, including disconnecting them from the internet. The UK is due to introduce similar legislation, although at this stage it has no plans to punish offenders with disconnection. But it will need to employ a firm similar to TMG. When anti-piracy firms monitor peer-to-peer networks for copyright infringements, they...