Torrent poisoning is intentionally sharing corrupt data or data with misleading file names using the BitTorrent protocol. This practice of uploading fake torrents is sometimes carried out by anti-infringement organisations as an attempt to prevent the peer-to-peer (P2P) sharing of copyrighted content, and to gather the IP addresses of downloaders.[1]
There are several reasons why content providers and copyright holders may not choose torrent poisoning as a method for guarding their content. First, before injecting decoys, content providers have to normally monitor the BitTorrent network for signs that their content is being illegally shared (this includes watching for variations of files and files in compressed formats).
Poison Greatest Hits Album Torrent
This process can be expensive and time-consuming. As a result, most poisoning is only continued for the first few months following a leak or release.[6] Second, it is also unlikely that torrent poisoning can be successful in disrupting every illegal download.
In 2005, it was reported that HBO was poisoning torrents of its show Rome by providing chunks of garbage data to users.[21] HBO were also reported to have sent cease-and-desist letters to the Internet service providers (ISPs) of downloaders they believe have illegally downloaded episodes of The Sopranos.
Although not targeted specifically at BitTorrent, Madonna's 2003 album American Life was an early example of content poisoning. Before the release of the album, tracks that appeared to be of similar length and file size to the real album tracks were leaked by the singer's record label. The tracks featured only a clip of Madonna saying "What the fuck do you think you're doing?" followed by minutes of silence.[22][23]
After an unauthorized copy of Michael Moore's movie Sicko was uploaded online, it became a hit on P2P websites such as Pirate Bay. MediaDefender was hired to poison torrents using decoy insertion.[25]
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