US House of Representatives enjoy torrenting movies and TV shows; here are some of their favorite BitTorrent downloads

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It looks like the US Congress doesn’t need to look very far for examples of internet piracy for inspiration to put together another internet-related legislation. Turns out pirated movies and TV shows can be found within the walls of Capitol Hill. Anti-piracy forensics company ScanEye has published a report revealing pirated movies and TV shows being downloaded through IP addresses associated with the US House of Representatives.

In October and early November, episodes of TV shows Glee, CSI, Dexter and Home and Away were downloaded while films like Iron Sky, Life of Pi and The Dark Knight Rises were all downloaded over Congress’s network (either Congress-owned computers or private computers connected to Congress’s network). Interestingly, Bad Santa 2, a film that is scheduled for release in December 2013 also makes the list.

Ars Technica also notes that during the height of the SOPA debate in 2011, pirated content was also allegedly downloaded by the Congress, including a copy of Windows 7. There is, of course, no way of knowing whether these downloads were initiated by actual lawmakers or their staff. But it’s still an interesting look inside Congress — something that I’m sure they wouldn’t want the public to know about.

It also proves that piracy is indeed everywhere.

[via Ars Technica, ScanEye Report, image via Alex Guibord]

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