MediaDefender sends takedowns for leaked mail, gets savagely taunted

MediaDefender -- sleazy copyright enforcers for the entertainment industry -- have responded to last week's gigantic email leak by sending takedown notices to various torrent hosters, demanding that they remove the leaked email from the net. Their demands have been of dubious legality, badly formed and nonspecific, as though they were sputtering through so much rage they can barely type.

Torrent hosters have responded with sarcasm, profanity and a great deal of humor. Ars Technica has rounded up many of the best responses. These are fine reading.

From ISOHunt:

This e-mail serves as a counter notification under USC Title 17 Section 512 (c)(3)(A)(iii) that you have failed to properly identifying links to content that allegedly infringes your copyright/trademark/rights (or, in this case, has something to do with really embarrassing trade secrets *and* employee social security numbers) AND you have failed to address your e-mail to the appropriate agent, namely [e-mail], so I invite you and your clients to take a long walk off a short pier, since you and/or your clients might actually manage to NOT get something that simple wrong... Despite us being located in Canada, if you do actually figure out how to compose a valid DMCA notice, we will honor it, just as soon as we're done laughing at you.

From Meganova:

Dearest little asstunnels, Let me start off by thanking you for your pitiful attempt to have your e-mails removed from the entire internet... In case you haven't noticed, this site is located in Europe (I hope you can point it out on a map) where your stupid copyright claims have no base. But fair is fair you guys did suffer over the past week so here's bit of advice to you guys: F*** you! F*** you again! F*** you again and again and again!

Link (Thanks, Erik!)

• [Anonymous]

  Hilarious. Company is too dumb to run secure servers, gets hacked, and then wants pursue the “hosters” not “crackers” in other countries. Even if the torrents were taken down…it has done its job, which is prolly to make a mockery of these so called DRM/media”defenders”/copyright protectors.

  Its a new era. It calls for revised laws.

• [Anonymous]

  all I can say is (a day late…): arr, mateys, way to stick it to those asstunnels!

• [gnosis]

  I liked this one from MediaDefender-Defenders.com
  ________________________

  Hello, Mr. Bob Gerber.

  First off, this e-mail may not be a complete statement of fact, fiction,
  and I fully reserve a right to change my mind if I feel like it.
  Etc. Oh! Also, this e-mail addresses MD, not your law firm.
  I didn’t feel like digging through the database for an e-mail address, so here I am.

  So! I’d like to make you aware of the following facts:

  * You don’t have any jurisdiction in Norway.
  * The server is located in Norway.
  * I’m located in Norway.
  * Norway is not the United States of America.

  That appears to preclude you from pursuing anything but a pointless scenario of
  e-mailing me in the middle of the night.

  However, fear not! The super-duper Server Admin From North may just yet save you.
  See, if you provide a server in the US, I can upload everything there and redirect
  the domains – then you can C&D that provider, and let the owner of the server
  put in another redirect. Soon, after about a couple hundred C&D’s, we’ll reach
  a state where any client (internet browser) will decide that it’s in a loop, and shut down.

  You could also pay me a lot of money. That might help. That’d actually help immediately.

  But as it stands, it appears that your legal grounds for throwing letters at me
  claiming this-or-that is shaky enough that you might want to relocate.

  I look forward to your prompt reply. If no such reply is recieved within six hours,
  I consider this case null and void as I’m an impatient man.
  Well, it’s already null and void, it’ll just get nuller and voider.

  Best regards,

  Person Who Fakes His WHOIS Information

• [dculberson]

  While amusing, at least these responses are misguided. The lawyer isn’t claiming copyright and demanding DMCA take-down; he’s claiming criminal misconduct. That is very different and doesn’t have a defined procedure like a DMCA notice. He’s saying “this breaks the law, we are demanding that you stop breaking the law. Oh, and we’re going to prosecute.”

  Given the presence of legally protected information in there, I think the community is sort of shooting itself in the foot on this one. I’m sure it’s fun, and gratifying, but they should be more careful.. Especially since some of the laws they may be breaking cross international boundaries and extradition (especially from Canada) isn’t out of the question.

  Still, amazing stuff, and fun to read about. I’m not about to download the torrent, given that it apparently has social security numbers in it. (Who emails those nowadays?!)

• [Freddie Freelance]

  Anyone else reading Meganova’s response in a Monty Python French accent? “Send me another DMCS notice and I shall taunt you again!”