Accidental Pirate tightens disclosure rule

The pro-copyright lobby group behind the Accidental Pirate website has changed a legal clause that allowed it to disclose the personal information of users to any third party.

iTnews reported earlier this week that the clause had raised suspicions that the site - billed as a means to educate users about piracy habits - was a ‘honeypot' or trap to implicate respondents in illicit activity, with the information handed to law enforcement for anti-piracy investigation.

Users had been asked to take a quiz to determine whether or not they were an "accidental pirate" before supplying personal information to win a $5 DVD rental voucher.

The offending clause was edited on Wednesday but the change still appeared to allow third-party disclosure beyond the firms listed.

"The Promoter and Ezy Entertainment Marketing Pty Ltd collects personal information in order to conduct the promotion and may, for this purpose, disclose such information to third parties including The Furnace (an advertising and marketing agency helping with the conduct of the promotion), and may also disclose the details of any winners to the NSW lottery authority," the new clause stated.

The clause previously stated that it could "disclose such information to third parties, including but not limited to agents, contractors, service providers, prize suppliers and, as required, to Australian regulatory authorities."

A second edit was made late yesterday that limited personal information disclosure to The Furnace and NSW lottery authority.

Accidental Pirate was the first part of a two-year anti-piracy campaign launched by the Intellectual Property Awareness Foundation (IPAF) this week.

Its chief executive Gail Grant had told iTnews there was "nothing clandestine" about the website and that it would not refer people it suspected of illicitly copying TV shows and movies to internal investigators or police.