Researchers uncover the full scale and weaknesses of the monitoring of illegal file sharers

Research by computer scientists at the University of Birmingham has found that the monitoring of online file sharing is more prevalent than previously thought. They also conclude that in many cases, the evidence gathered through monitoring is not admissible in court.

To provide legal evidence of file sharing, a monitoring company must make a direct connection to a suspected file sharer and log their activity. This three-year study is the first to look at the behaviour of monitors that make direct connections.

The researchers' findings include:

Massive monitoring of all of the most popular illegal downloads from the PirateBay has been taking place over the last 3 years.

On average an illegal file sharer, using BitTorrent to download the most popular content, will be connected to and have their IP address logged within 3 hours of starting a download.

Poor collection methods mean the evidence collected by monitors may not stand up in court.