MediaDefender Acquires Fellow Anti-Piracy Firm MediaSentry

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on April 3, 2009 - 7:53am.

Los Angeles - ArtistDirect, a provider of online music marketing and distribution services, announced that its MediaDefender anti-piracy unit has acquired MediaSentry, a fellow provider of anti-piracy services, from parent company SafeNet for $936,000.

MediaSentry provides services including monitoring of peer-to-peer networks for record labels and other copyright holders; the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) regularly employed the company in its lawsuits against suspected file-swappers until discontinuing its relationship with MediaSentry early this year.

Founded in 2000, MediaDefender provides services such as spoofing of music and video files on peer-to-peer networks in an effort to deter illicit file-swapping.

MediaDefender's two co-founders, Randy Saaf and Octavio Herrera, recently left the company.

"The combination of MediaDefender, the leader in Internet Piracy Prevention (IPP) with MediaSentry, the leader in business and marketing intelligence derived from P2P channels, creates a true powerhouse in the field of intellectual property protection," said ArtistDirect CEO Dimitri Villard.

"This acquisition will enable MediaDefender to dramatically expand its effectiveness by providing customers with a wide range of options to meet the constantly evolving challenges in copyright protection and enforcement."

Related Links:
http://snipurl.com/f5vq6

http://www.artistdirect.com

http://www.mediadefender.com

http://www.mediasentry.com