14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft’s name is being dragged into an investigation started by the BBC and supposed to discover the identity of a leaker who published unreleased Doctor Who footage online earlier this year.
BBC first tried to find the source of the leak by seeking a court order aimed at Tapatalk, a forum application which might have been used by the leaker to release the stolen content online.
While no details were provided afterward, BBC now makes another step forward in its investigation, and wants more details about the leaker by requesting another DMCA subpoena targeted at Microsoft.
The infringing material was published on OneDrive, Microsoft’s cloud-based storage service, and BBC believes that the software giant can support the investigation with information about the user.
This could include “any name, account name, address, telephone number, email address, birth date, profile photo, device information, browser info1mation, location information, information from others (e.g., Facebook or Google+) and time posted,” BBC said in its request, according to a report from TorrentFreak.
Leak posted on OneDrive in June
While Microsoft hasn’t responded to the request publicly, a court order could force the company to provide any information it may have on whoever uploaded the file called IMG_ l563.TRIM.MOV to its servers. BBC says the leaked material was stolen from its studio, the cited source adds, and was published on OneDrive in June.
“The infringing material includes, without limitation, an unauthorized copy of copyrighted video content from Season 11, Episode 1 of Doctor Who, for which BBC Worldwide Limited t/a BBC Studios (Distribution) is the exclusive licensee,” BBC explains in court documents.
It remains to be seen how and if Microsoft can support the investigation with any details, but by the looks of things, the BBC isn’t willing to give up on the fight and is going to great lengths to identify the person who leaked its own material.