Over the weekend, over 700MB of leaked MediaDefender emails were being traded on BitTorrent. The emails were taken by a group called “MediaDefender-Defenders" and cover six months of communications. MediaDefender, a unit of ARTISTdirect, provides services to entertainment companies who want to lower piracy of their content. Spoofing, the act of placing dummy files on P2P networks, is one of the companies services.

Tonight the Wall Street Journal reported on the leaks. Or read a post at TorrentFreak that contained some the leaked emails.

Some information is on MiiVii, a website that allows users to upload and download copyrighted movies, TV shows and music. The complaint is that MiiVii would track users' behavior and report back to MediaDefender, which denies it set up the site as a way to entrap users. As these Ars Technica article shows, some skepticism exists about, and proof contradicts, MediaDefender's version of the story. Additionally, that latter linked article has information on MediaDefender's discussions with representatives of the New York Attorney General's office about a system to provide information on users' accessing pornographic material.

One of the emails is from a Universal Music executive and asks if there is any proof that industry lawsuits have reduced file-sharing on college networks. Randy Saaf, MediaDefender's CEO, forwarded it to five employees along with the note, "Take a moment to laugh to yourselves." One of the Ars Technica article revealed MediaDefender's rate to labels: $4,000 for one month of protection for an album, $2,000 for the protection of a track for one month.