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October 24, 2011

Makers of porn film "Illegal A** 2" going after Maryland illegal downloaders

If you illegally downloaded a copy of "Illegal A** 2" in Maryland, your butt may be in hot water.

Fresh out of federal court a few days ago, we learned that the makers behind the popular porn film have brought their national campaign against illegal downloading to Maryland. (In case you're wondering about the asterisks, I'm not allowed to write the word "a**.")

Third Degree Films, of Chatsworth, Calif., has been pursuing people who downloaded the film through peer-to-peer online media sharing network BitTorrent. The film typically sells in DVD format for $11.49.

In Maryland, Third Degree is seeking the identities of 118 people who they allege illegally downloaded the film. Interestingly, Third Degree claims these people all swapped the exact same file.

The Smoking Gun website reported in July that an unidentified Purdue University college student tried to quash a Third Degree subpoena that sought his or her identity. The website says the main star of the X-rated "Illegal A** 2" is "Sasha Grey, one of porn’s best-known actresses, who has also appeared in HBO’s “Entourage” and director Steven Soderbergh’s 2009 movie “The Girlfriend Experience.”

Third Degree is going after thousands of illegal downloaders of the film, according to the Smoking Gun.

Below, Sasha Grey:

sasha-grey.jpg


This is an archived version of the technology blog. For updated coverage, see the current baltTech location: baltimoresun.com/balttech
Posted by Gus Sentementes at 11:01 AM | | Comments (3)
Categories: *NEWS*
        

Comments

Porn makers are enjoying much greater success in suing people because they're unwilling to go to court and have their name sullied, unlike people who are accused of downloading mainstream films.

Even if you win in court, your name is forever associated with pornography.

Almost certainly, some of those 118 are not guilty, yet they will settle to avoid court.

Interestingly, Third Degree claims these people all swapped the exact same file.

that's bit torrent. you share/exchange the same file back and forth until you have 100% of the file.

Gus,

Have you read this? http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2011/09/how-a-troubled-west-virginia-lawyer-foisted-a-nightmare-on-the-nation.ars

Similar story line.

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About Gus G. Sentementes
Gus G. Sentementes (@gussent on Twitter) has been writing for The Baltimore Sun since 2000. He's covered real estate, business, prisons, and suburban and Baltimore City crime and cops. He was one of the first reporters at The Sun to use multimedia tools and Web applications -- a video camera, an iPhone -- to cover breaking news. He hopes to cover Maryland geeks and the gadgets and Web sites they build, and learn -- and share -- something new every day.

Gus has a wife, a young daughter and two feuding cats. They live in Northeast Baltimore.
This is an archived version of the technology blog. For updated coverage, see the current baltTech location: baltimoresun.com/balttech
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