How The MPAA Knows You're Downloading
Slate's Explainer answers the tech question: How does the MPAA know who's downloading?
They join the most popular file sharing networks -- or they hire security firms to join -- and put live bait (say, a popular movie) out there and see who downloads it.
In a copyright infringement case, the MPAA made the movie MEET THE FOCKERS available through a BitTorrent filesharing network and has now accused a software executive named Shawn Hogan of sharing it. But he's fighting the charges, saying he did nothing of the kind. Slate's item is a short overview, but this is just the edge of a huge story. Read it.