I believe we reported on this some time ago but now it seems things are actually rolling.
http://torrentfreak.com/mediadefender-goes-forward-with-p2p-marketing-080614/MediaDefender has been experimenting with P2P marketing for quite some time now. Last year, it earned the company $560,000 and they hope to increase this figure in 2008. This new revenue stream is very welcome for them, since their anti-piracy operations aren’t as profitable as they used to be.
P2P marketing is a win-win situation according to MediaDefender, both advertisers and filesharers will benefit. It gives the advertiser “access to passionate fans of any choosing” and filesharers “…get what they want… free content with unique and compelling offerings that fit their personal tastes.”
The IFPI is trying to educate kids and parents about the great dangers of file sharing, while the record companies they represent hire MediaDefender to distribute authorized content on LimeWire and other P2P networks.
So, on the one hand record labels are going after people who distribute their files online, and at the same time they spam these networks with authorized copies. Strangely enough, there is no way for the file sharer to make sure whether a file is authorized or not.
I'm sure folks on Limewire will enjoy the spam bots deployed by these commercial cyber-criminals, still with their old revenue generators, fake flooding and dos attacks receiving more legal attention recently they need to do something legitimate to stay afloat.
