The Motion Picture Association of America hired a hacker to steal information from a company that the MPAA has accused of helping copyright violators, according to a lawsuit filed Wednesday.
The lawsuit (click for PDF), filed in U.S. District Court for the Central District of California by Torrentspy.com parent Valence Media, doesn’t identify the man the company says was approached by an MPAA executive. But the suit calls the man a former associate of one of the plaintiffs who was asked to retrieve private information on Torrentspy.com, a search engine that directs users to download links.
Among Torrentspy’s claims are that the man who the MPAA allegedly paid $15,000 to steal e-mail correspondence and trade secrets has admitted his role in the plot and is cooperating with the company.
“It is a Hollywood drama, what happened here,” Ira Rothken, Torrentspy’s attorney, said in a telephone interview Wednesday evening.
