Is MediaSentry violating a cease-and-desist order prohibiting it from conducting private investigations in the state of Massachusetts? That's what it looks like at first glance. On January 2, 2008, the Massachusetts State Police Certification Unit sent a letter to MediaSentry's corporate parent SafeNet informing the company that an investigation revealed that it is "advertising and operating a Private Detective company" and that review of state records indicates that the company is "not licensed to conduct investigations" in the state.

Ray Beckerman over at Recording Industry vs. The People has unearthed an exhibit (PDF) in LaFace v. Does 1-17 that shows that MediaSentry has continued to catch Massachusetts residents in its investigatory driftnet. The exhibit, which is a standard part of all of the file-sharing lawsuits filed by the RIAA, lists the IP addresses, dates, and times that the 17 Does were observed on a P2P network by MediaSentry employees.

Does 15 through 17, who were on the GnutellaUS network, were spotted by MediaSentry on January 22, January 31, and February 4, 2008, respectively. In the case of Doe 17, that's over a month after the cease-and-desist letter was sent.

Earlier this week, we noted an RIAA filing in another case in which it argued that MediaSentry shouldn't be subject to state laws in part because MediaSentry "can have no way of knowing... the location from where [the files] are being distributed." That's true... to a certain extent. But, as we have noted, there are ways to narrow it down. Case in point for Does 15-17, all of which had IP addresses from the 168.122 block:

192:~ eric$ nslookup 168.122.177.xx

Server: 66.174.95.44

Address: 66.174.95.44#53 Non-authoritative answer:

43.177.122.168.in-addr.arpa name = buic010-w1401-dhcp043.bu.edu. Authoritative answers can be found from:

122.168.in-addr.arpa nameserver = edns01.bu.edu.

122.168.in-addr.arpa nameserver = edns02.bu.edu.

122.168.in-addr.arpa nameserver = edns03.bu.edu.

That's the output from running the nslookup command in the Mac OS X Terminal app. As you can see by the results, that address block is assigned to Boston University, and you don't need a degree in geography to know in which state that institute of higher learning is located. Despite the presence of the cease-and-desist order, MediaSentry went ahead with its usual downloading.

Aside from demonstrating that BU students listen to Third Eye Blind, Nelly Furtado, U2, Kanye West, and Avril Lavigne, what else does this prove? It may demonstrate that MediaSentry and the RIAA either don't believe that the cease-and-desist order carries any weight, or that the RIAA's counsel has made a determination that the order isn't legally binding on them for some reason. The labels have also argued that even if the evidence was obtained illegally, it should still be admissible.

We asked the RIAA for clarification on the story, including whether MediaSentry is abiding by the order (SafeNet consistently refers us to the RIAA for comment on matters pertaining to P2P litigation). "We believe that the evidence obtained in this case—and in all our cases—is entirely legitimate and provides a strong and persuasive basis for our subpoena request," RIAA spokesperson Jonathan Lamy told Ars, referring us back to SafeNet for comment on the cease-and-desist order.

LaFace v. Does 1-17 was very recently consolidated into another long-running case, with some of the defendants apparently dismissed.