Yesterday we reported unconfirmed reports that the RIAA had fired their “investigative arm”, MediaSentry.
Today the WSJ has confirmed that notion and says the trade group will replace MediaSentry with DtecNet Software ApS, a group it used before hiring MS.
MediaSentry was in charge of collecting evidence to be used against alleged pirates during a lawsuit brought on by the RIAA. Since 2002, over 35,000 lawsuits were brought against P2P users.
MediaSentry has been at the center of controversy for months now and has even been accused of investigating without a license, performing illegal searches and taps, and even destroying evidence.
Result for: sentry
Following last week’s decision that it would stop lawsuits, and instead pressure ISPs, the RIAA appears to be on the verge of cutting ties with MediaSentry, their unethical “investigative arm.”
There is no cause for celebration here however, as the rumor has it that they will be replacing the “watchdog” company with a similar one, such as BayTSP.
Although unconfirmed by MediaSentry or the record industry, the decision to drop MediaSentry should help the trade group retain any integrity it has left. MediaSentry has been at the center of controversy for months now and has even been accused of investigating without a license, performing illegal searches and taps, and even destroying evidence.
Result for: sentry
According to a new report, the content industry is ramping up its efforts to control piracy on college campuses and the RIAA is at the head of the effort.
Judging by the report however, it seems the new tactics are not all that sophisticated. The RIAA will give a list of files to keep on the look for, then hired mercenary Media Sentry searches for infringing materials on common P2P apps such as Limewire. Media Sentry usually uses the same clients as the users it is looking to bust, using the client’s built-in facilities to note IP addresses and browse their shared folders.
Earlier this month, a few notable universities reported that they had received a 10-fold increase in DMCA copyright notices. RIAA president Cary Sherman noted that this was true, citing a “phenomenal jump” in Media Sentry’s “computing efficiency”.
“It’s the same procedures, the same standards, the same list of copyrighted works that we’re using,” said Sherman. “The Internet is a huge place, and there are millions of people connected to it … The amount of resources you put into sending out requests for specific files makes a difference; the more requests you make, the more you’re going to find.”
“We don’t think there’s any more infringement going on,” Sherman added. “We just think there’s more detection of infringement.”
This increase in “computing efficiency” is thanks to new automated scripts. Media Sentry searches for the songs on the RIAA’s list using the script which then jots down “each entry’s IP address and confirms the authenticity of the file in question.” The script will then move onto those users shared folders searching for more infringing music.
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