MediaSentry
Encyclopedia
MediaSentry was a United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 company that provided services to the music recording, motion picture, television, and software industries for locating and identifying IP address
IP address
An Internet Protocol address is a numerical label assigned to each device participating in a computer network that uses the Internet Protocol for communication. An IP address serves two principal functions: host or network interface identification and location addressing...

es that are engaged in the use of online networks to share material in a manner said organizations claim is in violation of copyright
Copyright
Copyright is a legal concept, enacted by most governments, giving the creator of an original work exclusive rights to it, usually for a limited time...

. Their most notable customers were several trade associations including the Motion Picture Association of America
Motion Picture Association of America
The Motion Picture Association of America, Inc. , originally the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America , was founded in 1922 and is designed to advance the business interests of its members...

 and International Federation of the Phonographic Industry
IFPI
The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry is the organisation that represents the interests of the recording industry worldwide. It is a not-for-profit members' organisation registered in Switzerland...

.

The company provided several services for this purpose, such as monitoring popular forums for copyright infringement
Copyright infringement
Copyright infringement is the unauthorized or prohibited use of works under copyright, infringing the copyright holder's exclusive rights, such as the right to reproduce or perform the copyrighted work, or to make derivative works.- "Piracy" :...

, aid in litigation, early leak detection, and the distribution of decoy files. MediaSentry also monitored auction sites such as eBay
EBay
eBay Inc. is an American internet consumer-to-consumer corporation that manages eBay.com, an online auction and shopping website in which people and businesses buy and sell a broad variety of goods and services worldwide...

 for distribution of pirated software and other property.

On 13 June 2005 MediaSentry was acquired by SafeNet. SafeNet sold the MediaSentry division to Artistdirect
ARTISTdirect
Founded in 1994, Artistdirect, Inc. is an online digital media entertainment company. It owns several websites including Artistdirect.com, UBL.com and the Artistdirect Network...

 in April 2009.

In late 2007 the University of Oregon
University of Oregon
-Colleges and schools:The University of Oregon is organized into eight schools and colleges—six professional schools and colleges, an Arts and Sciences College and an Honors College.- School of Architecture and Allied Arts :...

, represented by Oregon Attorney General
Oregon Attorney General
The Oregon Attorney General is a statutory office within the executive branch of the state of Oregon, and serves as the chief legal officer of the state, heading its Department of Justice with its six operating divisions. The Attorney General is chosen by statewide partisan election to serve a term...

 Hardy Myers
Hardy Myers
Hardy Myers is a lawyer and Democratic politician who served three terms as attorney general of the state of Oregon, United States...

, refused to provide information on its students to the RIAA, questioning the tactics used by MediaSentry in one of its investigations. The next year Central Michigan University
Central Michigan University
Central Michigan University is a public research university located in Mount Pleasant in the U.S. state of Michigan...

 accused MediaSentry of violating its students' privacy after the company ignored a ruling that it was illegally operating without a private investigator's license.

In January 2009 the RIAA canceled their usage of MediaSentry for undisclosed reasons.

In August 2009, ARTISTdirect
ARTISTdirect
Founded in 1994, Artistdirect, Inc. is an online digital media entertainment company. It owns several websites including Artistdirect.com, UBL.com and the Artistdirect Network...

 restructured MediaDefender
Mediadefender
MediaDefender, Inc. is a company that offers services designed to prevent alleged copyright infringement using peer-to-peer distribution. They are controversial because of their use of unusual tactics such as flooding peer-to-peer networks with decoy files that tie up users' computers and...

 and MediaSentry, creating Peer Media Technologies
Peer Media Technologies
Peer Media Technologies, Inc. is an Artistdirect subsidiary created in 2009 as a merger of MediaDefender and MediaSentry, after the reputations of the predecessor companies were sullied by the exposure of internal emails and the use of investigative tactics deemed illegal in several U.S...

.
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