Stealth mode, indeed: Meta sued for torrenting 2,396 adult videos to train AI

Adult entertainment company Strike 3 Holdings has filed a lawsuit alleging that Meta pirated and distributed pornographic content for years to accelerate AI training data downloads through BitTorrent networks. The lawsuit claims Meta used a “tit-for-tat” strategy of seeding popular adult videos to gain faster access to massive datasets, potentially exposing minors to explicit content without age verification while hiding its piracy activities through stealth networks.

What you should know: Strike 3 Holdings alleges Meta has been torrenting and seeding copyrighted adult videos since at least 2018 as part of its AI training data collection strategy.
• The company claims to have documented “at least 2,396 movies” that Meta “willfully and intentionally” infringed upon using BitTorrent protocols.
• Meta allegedly continued seeding content “sometimes for days, weeks, or even months” after downloading, with some videos potentially used to train AI models.
• Strike 3 Holdings operates adult video sites that attract “over 25 million monthly visitors” and describes itself as providing “ethical sources” for adult content.

The piracy strategy: Meta allegedly exploited BitTorrent’s reward system by targeting the most popular adult content to accelerate its broader data collection efforts.
• The lawsuit explains that BitTorrent uses a “tit-for-tat” mechanism that “rewards users who distribute the most desired content.”
• Meta supposedly pirated adult videos “often within the most infringed files on BitTorrent websites” on “the very same day the motion pictures are released.”
• Strike 3 Holdings documented at least five episodes where Meta “hand-picked” adult videos for “intense periods of distribution” to avoid seeding other content.

In plain English: BitTorrent works like a digital trading system where users share files with each other. The more popular content you share with others, the faster you can download what you want. Meta allegedly gamed this system by sharing highly sought-after adult videos to get priority access when downloading massive amounts of other data for AI training.

Evidence of concealment: The lawsuit alleges Meta attempted to hide its torrenting activities through multiple methods, including stealth networks and employee involvement.
• Meta allegedly used “six Virtual Private Clouds” forming a “stealth network” of “hidden IP addresses” in partnership with a “major third-party data center provider.”
• The company found “at least one residential IP address of a Meta employee” infringing copyrighted works, suggesting Meta may have directed employees to torrent from home to obscure data trails.
• In total, Strike 3 Holdings claims evidence shows “well over 100,000 unauthorized distribution transactions” linked to Meta’s corporate IP addresses.

Potential harm to minors: The lawsuit raises concerns about Meta distributing adult content to underage users without proper age verification safeguards.
• Strike 3 Holdings alleges Meta’s tactics potentially distributed videos “to minors for free without age checks in states that now require them.”
• The company argues this undermines its reputation as an “ethical source” for adult content and eliminates age-based access controls.

Connection to broader copyright battle: This lawsuit could strengthen ongoing litigation by book authors who previously accused Meta of torrenting training data.
• Earlier this year, authors claimed Meta torrented “at least 81.7 terabytes of data across multiple shadow libraries” to train AI models.
• Meta has largely defeated the authors’ claims and denied uploading pirated data through BitTorrent seeding or leeching.
• The new evidence from Strike 3 Holdings could help authors prove Meta profited from massive piracy operations.

What they’re seeking: Strike 3 Holdings wants extensive damages and permanent injunctive relief to stop Meta’s alleged piracy.
• The company demands Meta delete any stolen videos from AI training data and existing AI models.
• Strike 3 Holdings fears Meta could use high-quality adult content showing “natural, human-centric imagery” and “unique forms of human interactions and facial expressions” to create competing adult video generators.
• “Plaintiffs cannot compete against Meta when it ignores federal and state laws and offers Plaintiffs’ works for free,” the lawsuit states.

What they’re saying: A Meta employee previously expressed discomfort with corporate torrenting practices, according to the lawsuit.
• The filing references a Meta employee who “joked ‘torrenting from a corporate laptop doesn’t feel right.'”
• Strike 3 Holdings noted in subsequent filings that it recognized “the risks to Meta’s business and its employees’ privacy of sharing sensitive information.”