Congress Is Loaded With Pirates

Posted on Jan 17, 2013

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In spite of Congress’ attempt to pass supposed anti-piracy laws such as SOPA, some of its employees have been found to be illegally downloading movies and television shows on official computers, a report by the anti-piracy service ScanEye says.

A study of downloads made to congressional IP addresses shows staffers illegally obtaining such programs and films as “30 Rock,” “The Walking Dead” and “The Dark Knight Rises.” A 2011 blog post at TorrentFreak discussed congressional workers’ downloading of shows and self-help books around the same time legislators were drafting SOPA.

—Posted by Alexander Reed Kelly.

The Guardian:

By tracking IP addresses associated with Congress and running them through location services, ScanEye was able to determine which addresses were illegally downloading. It is possible that more people than shown could be illegally downloading from congressional networks because not every congressional IP address is accounted for.

ScanEye’s data shows that the downloading tastes of congressional employees vary greatly – with some choosing to pirate the British chat show Alan Carr, Chatty Man, and others opting for the documentary The Queen of Versailles.

The blog TorrentFreak has found that IP addresses associated with the biggest players in the anti-piracy legislative campaign are used for illegal downloading. People at Hollywood studios, major record labels and the US department of homeland security have downloaded music, film and television on their employers’ networks.

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