Piracy fail: Twitter user gets free movie tix for failed attempt to download a torrent
A Twitter user got free tickets to see "Adventureland" from Miramax because she twittered about how she couldn't find a torrent piracy of the movie.
Ever since the end of the original Napster, it's been a known fact that music labels and movie studios watch and monitor what Internet users download. What's less known is how closely they are doing that.
According to TorrentFreak, Twitter user Amanda Music got a nice surprise Monday when Miramax contacted her to offer two free tickets to the film "Adventureland."
It all started Sunday with her twit that read, "Ugh WHY IS ADVENTURELAND NOT ON TORRENTS YET?." Apparently, she was looking to download a pirated copy (recorded by a camcorder inside a movie theater) of the newly released movie, but she failed to find a torrent for it.
Soon after writing the twit, Amanda Music got a message saying, "Cmon Amanda, don't do it. #adventureland #fbi," to which she replied jokingly, "Okay I won't, JUST FOR YOU."
Then, to her surprise, Amanda Music got a message from MiramaxFilms that said, "Thanks Amanda. In return, I have a free Fandango card for 2 tix if you're interested in 'Adventureland.' Just DM us for the code."
In the end, Amanda Music did get one ticket (instead of two) and she said she would go see the movie today. She told TorrentFreak that she "couldn't find a working 'Adventureland' torrent anyway."
While this seems like a good business practice and nobody was harmed, it is kinda scary to know how closely we're being watched. If a company can reach us to give a reward, it may very well be able to do the same when it wants something else.
Maybe it's not a good idea to tell the whole world everything you are up to.