TORONTO - The Pirate Party of Canada has uncovered evidence that Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) and Industry Canada computers may have been used to download copyrighted material. Using the same methods as those used by "copyright enforcement" organization Canipre, the Pirate Party has uncovered that a variety of films, TV shows, and video games were downloaded via the networks of the RCMP and Industry Canada. Last year the Pirate Party found similar copyright infringement happening in the House of Commons: .

"This discovery shows that copyrighted materials have, in fact, been downloaded via the RCMP and Industry Canada networks," states Pirate Party leader Travis McCrea. "However, we cannot be sure who is responsible for downloading the material, or even if it was downloaded by employees, contractors, or a person who was using an open wireless connection. This is why this type of intellectual property enforcement doesn't work - there is no method of reliably telling who actually engaged in the infringement of copyrighted materials."

The movies that appear to have been downloaded by RCMP IP addresses include The Fast and the Furious, Skyfall, The Smurfs, and The Hunger Games. Episodes of PBS shows such as Nova and Masterpiece Theatre, and less educational shows such as The Office and Two and a Half Men, have also been downloaded. The hit HBO series Game of Thrones, which was the #1 most pirated show in 2012, appears on the list of infringing material as well. Fortunately for the RCMP, HBO doesn't seem to mind.

Only the first page of download data was collected for each organization, so there may have been even more infringing content downloaded by the RCMP and Industry Canada. It is interesting to note, however, that there were no pornographic torrents found on the list.

For more detailed information, please refer to our blog post on the Pirate Party of Canada website.

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