[Infowarrior] - MPAA, RIAA Want to Use Pretexting During Investigations

[Richard Forno]

MPAA, RIAA Want to Use Pretexting During Investigations
Michael Hoffman (Blog) - April 10, 2007 2:01 PM
http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=6856

The RIAA and MPAA want to use pretexting to be able to gain information and
make cases against pirates

The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) and Recording Industry
Association of America (RIAA) are working together to lobby state
legislators to sign a proposed amendment to a California bill that deals
with pretexting.  The amendment would allow the trade organizations to use
pretexting to enforce copyright laws.

In letters sent to Sen. Ellen Corbett, both trade groups said that the
legislation would undermine their anti-piracy efforts -- investigators must
be able to pose as a regular person to be able to acquire pirated material.

Both the MPAA and RIAA claim they need to use deceptive practices to help
monitor and catch bootleggers on the Internet.   The RIAA and MPAA both said
they would not assume a person's identity to get personal information during
an investigation.  However, both entities want to make sure they legally are
able to hide any type of industry connection when pursuing leads into the
black market.

"Basically we want criminals to feel comfortable that who they're dealing
with is probably some other criminal and let us in on what's going on," said
Brad Buckles, RIAA executive vice president for anti-piracy.

Pretexting was brought into the spotlight after a pretexting scandal rocked
Hewlett-Packard late last year.  Investigators hired by HP used pretexting
to get personal records of journalists and employees of the company, a move
that led to a boardroom shakeup.

Late last year, President Bush signed the Telephone Records and Privacy
Protection Act of 2006; the U.S. federal anti-pretexting bill.  The law
makes it illegal for people to "knowingly and intentionally" obtain phone
records by any type of deception.

In addition, the FCC just set its regulations for pretexting over voice
communication devices.  These regulations include contacting customers and
the FBI during breaches of customer privacy, as well as holding phone
companies responsible for pretexting incidents.

Neither associations have a loophole in the new FCC regulation or Telephone
Records and Privacy Protection Act, but the MPAA has successfully lobbied
similar legislation in the past.  Last year, the proposed California bill to
ban pretexting was shot down by a 33-27 vote in the California House.  Three
months prior, the California State Senate voted unamiously in favor of the
bill.