Summit Identifies 'Breaking Dawn' Photo Hacker, War of Words Ensues
A few months ago, some Breaking Dawn Pt 1 set photos leaked. Not sure if I posted any, but chances are, I didn't because it's leaked. I got into minor trouble once when I posted some leaked ones.
Back in March, Summit released a statement concerning leaks. The studio has now identified the hacker as a girl from Argentina.
Summit Entertainment isn't kidding around in its anti-piracy efforts on The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn. The studio today took the unorthodox step of sending out a press release identifying the alleged culprit in a March hacking incident that ended with images of the highly-anticipated vampire romance film circulating on the Internet. Summit's release ID's Daiana Santia of Argentina as having been involved in a group that stole photos, unfinished images and video of Breaking Dawn, which will be released in two parts beginning in November. Summit's four-continent crusade involved the services of investigation firm Kroll Inc. and law firm Keats McFarland & Wilson, which located Santia and others in the northern Argentina town of Posadas. Civil actions have been filed in the U.S. and Argentina, along with a criminal action in Santia's home country. “While we very much appreciate the legions of committed fans of the franchise and encourage them to create community online, we cannot ignore that property was stolen,” says David Friedman, Summit's executive vp and general counsel. “It is not fair to the majority of fans that want to see the final chapter of the Twilight Saga film franchise fully realized by the filmmaker and dedicated cast and crew to have these images out and available on the Internet.”
Santia spoke out in a press conference about this, denying that she was the hacker.
En conferencia de prensa junto a sus abogados, la joven acusada por la productora Summit Entertainmant, de hackear imágenes del film "Crepúsculo", sostuvo que simplemente vio las imágenes “como cualquier fans”. Pero “no las guardé, ni las difundí”. Los defensores, en tanto, aseguraron que “Si hubiese algún hecho a investigar le corresponde a la justicia argentina”. Confirmaron que iniciarán demandas contra la productora y la empresa de seguridad contratada por la misma. “Lo que se hizo con Daiana es un daño a la intimidad y al derecho personalísimo”, aseveró uno de los letrados. [tr. English: At a press conference with her lawyers, she accused the producer Entertainmant Summit, the hacker of images from film "Twilight," he said simply saw the pictures "as any fans." But "not kept, nor I released." Proponents, meanwhile, said that "If there was any research done justice belongs to Argentina." Confirmed that initiate lawsuits against the manufacturer and the security company hired by the company. "What was done with Daiana is damage to privacy and the personal right," said one of the lawyers.]
Summit hit back, defending their case. Here’s the full Summit release.
* First and most important this is NOT about greed or the Studio wanting to bully a woman from a small town in Argentina – rather, it is about stolen material that is private and sensitive which was obtained by illegally accessing private/secure servers as well as personal email accounts. Ms. Santia’s actions came to light after these materials began appearing on the internet towards the end of March, 2011. Since Summit learned of Ms. Santia’s involvement in late May 2011, Summit has been in contact with Ms. Santia and her representatives with no resolution or further good faith efforts on their part, thus the only alternative left was to pursue legal action to ascertain that Ms. Santia no longer holds the images and video in any shape or form. Prior to said action the studio clearly communicated to Ms. Santia and her representatives that a press release would be distributed naming the actions being taken as well as naming her specifically.
* Summit’s first meeting with the Santia family occurred on May 31, 2011 at which point the studio was told they would fully cooperate. A subsequent meeting took place on June 8, 2011 with Ms. Santia and her lawyer at which time Ms. Santia confessed to the intrusions. It is also important to note that Ms.Santia is 24 years of age. The family was contacted as a group as the IP address used was registered under a family name.
* Specifically on June 8, 2011 Ms. Santia confessed in the presence of her attorney that she accessed servers and email accounts via a systematic attack -- stealing photographs, unfinished images and video footage over several months. Additionally there is indisputable evidence linking her directly to IP addresses that were used in the unauthorized access. Her actions appear to be premeditated and not done on a whim, but rather using technology and tactics that require thought as well as time and skill. Because Ms. Santia decided that she does not want to cooperate, Summit has been unable to settle this matter privately with Ms. Santia and her representatives in Argentina.
* Ms. Santia claims to have deleted the stolen materials off her lap top as well as her family’s desktop computer, however both common sense and historically similar cases have proven that a defendant’s word cannot be taken as final. Additionally, Summit must confirm the extent to which Ms. Santia shared the materials with others.
* When first approached by Summit, Ms. Santia’s representatives indicated their willingness to permit Summit to review the computers. Based on this communication, Summit flew technical experts to Posadas, only to have Ms. Santia renege on their offer after the arrival of these experts. To this day, Ms. Santia has refused to cooperate in giving Summit access to these two computers to verify for itself that the images and footage have in fact been deleted, and to confirm the extent to which files were shared. We do not feel this is an unreasonable request but rather a prudent move to protect the IP and the studio. Additionally the studio has made an offer to have representatives chosen by Ms. Santia present when the computers are searched in order to protect the Ms. Santia’s privacy relating to anything else that is not related to this particular situation as they are of no interest to the studio.
* Had Ms. Santia cooperated Summit and its representatives would have worked with her to reach a compromise that would not necessarily involve legal action in Argentina and the United States.
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