5,300 British web users shared porn movies online
By IANSTuesday, September 28, 2010
LONDON - Over 5,300 people who use the Sky network’s internet service in Britain downloaded pornographic films and illegally shared them online.
The personal details - names, addresses and the titles of pornographic films they downloaded - have now been leaked on the internet, the Daily Telegraph reported Tuesday.
The list has reportedly been compiled by solicitors ACS:Law, which specialises in tracking down people suspected of film and music piracy.
But experts have said this could be a major breach of Britain’s Data Protection Act.
The Information Commission said the office would investigate the leak and contact ACS:Law to establish how it allowed personal information to be made public.
A spokesman for ACS:Law said the company was a victim of a criminal attack on its systems, and that hackers “opposed to the company’s activities” targeted the firm’s database and posted the details online.
Illegal downloading and file sharing is costing the British film and music industry one billion pounds a year.
