You read that headline right. TorrentFreak reveals MediaDefender, the infamous anti-piracy firm working on behalf of Big Content, has been moonlighting as a porn pusher.

To disrupt online P2P networks, MediaDefender often floods searches with false files, many of which redirect users to these porn sites.  The redirects have been extremely effective, converting 1 in 2000 LimeWire users.  MediaDefender’s Ben Grodsky wrote in an email:

One of the theories I’ve had about why the LimeWire redirects sell so many porn subscriptions is because one basically can’t get porn on old versions of LimeWire because our popups and spoofs overwhelm the user.

MediaDefender makes $4,000 to protect an album, $2,000 for a single song, and almost a million dollars for a movie. Basically, MediaDefender is paid by these media companies to promote its other efforts.  That’s a pretty healthy business model, as long as morals aren’t an issue.

Seriously, MediaDefender is doing more to show P2P is a viable business model, something Big Content isn’t looking to admit.  Their tactics are mostly spam and obviously frustrate users, but work. Just think if a caring, responsible company used P2P for promotion, helping users find the content they were looking for or selling related scarce goods for the content users do find.