Adult Film Producer Identifies Meta Executive in Torrent Piracy Case

For over a decade, copyright holders in the U.S. have used federal courts to unmask anonymous BitTorrent users through so-called John Doe lawsuits. Adult film producer Strike 3 Holdings has been a frequent filer of such cases, typically subpoenaing internet providers to reveal subscriber identities and offering settlements to alleged infringers. Recently, Strike 3 expanded its legal efforts by suing Meta, accusing the company of downloading nearly 3,000 adult films via BitTorrent to train artificial intelligence models. This lawsuit, potentially worth $446 million, has now intersected with a routine John Doe case. According to a recent court filing, Strike 3 identified the subscriber behind a residential AT&T IP address as an executive at Meta’s Reality Labs division, which develops Quest VR headsets. The executive’s identity remains sealed by court order, but Strike 3 cited LinkedIn profiles to support the connection. Strike 3 argues that the timing of downloads suggests Meta may have attempted to obscure infringing activity by shifting it from corporate to residential IP addresses shortly after being notified of the alleged piracy. The company recorded nearly 20,000 files downloaded from the executive’s connection, including VR adult content compatible with Meta’s Quest headset. The volume and nature of downloads, including multi-language media packs and AI-generated pornography, led Strike 3 to suggest the activity was related to AI training or research rather than personal use. This is not the first time a Reality Labs employee has been linked to similar allegations; earlier this year, a former data engineer was connected to unauthorized downloads. Strike 3 has requested that the court consolidate the John Doe case with the larger Meta lawsuit to streamline proceedings and potentially use the executive’s downloads as evidence against Meta. The company also seeks to amend the complaint to name Meta directly and compel the company to provide relevant records. Meta has responded by questioning the assumptions linking the subscriber to the company’s activities, emphasizing that an IP address alone does not identify the infringer. The company also highlighted inconsistencies in Strike 3’s claims regarding the timing of downloads and noted previous investigations attributing similar activity to personal use by employees. The court has yet to decide whether to consolidate the cases. Meanwhile, the executive’s identity remains confidential, and Meta continues to deny any direct connection between the alleged downloads and its corporate activities.