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Alessandra Tarantino/AP

IP addresses from Vatican linked to internet porn downloads

Data from a torrent monitoring website finds that addresses linked to the Holy See have been downloading explicit material.

AN ANALYSIS OF online users of various torrenting websites has found links between internet users in the Vatican and downloads of explicit adult materials.

Torrent news website TorrentFreak says data supplied by the torrent-logging service ScanEye shows regular internet downloads from the Vatican, the headquarters of the Catholic Church.

The downloads mostly relate to TV shows like the US drama Chicago Fire and the supernatural British series Lightfields – and relatively few downloads of recent Hollywood films, which typically make up a lot of internet torrent traffic.

It said the only films that appeared in the Vatican’s download list were the Arnold Schwarzenegger film ‘The Last Stand’, crime drama ‘Snitch’ staring Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson, and the 2003 film ‘Love Actually’.

However, among the titles being downloaded by the Vatican’s IP addresses this year were several adult titles, which are detailed by Gawker.

Journalist Gerard O’Connell told Newstalk’s Breakfast show that the Vatican had questioned the source of the claim, remarking that it had come from only one source and that it had not been substantiated or supported by a second source.

O’Connell also noted that the Vatican had allowed the 6,000 journalists who visited to cover the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI, and the subsequent conclave which elected Pope Francis, to use its internet services freely and without major restriction.

TorrentFreak’s data, however, showed that the two adult titles had been downloaded in mid-January and early February – a week before Benedict surprised the world by announcing his plans to step down from the papacy. This would suggest that the downloads are unlikely to be attributable to a journalist visiting for the conclave.

ScanEye’s data for Irish torrent use for yesterday, April 9, shows the top five most popular downloads as Kodaline’s EP ‘High Hopes’, a Lego version of the Batman movie, video of last weekend’s UFC event which included Irish fighter Conor McGregor, and the latest episodes of ‘Teen Mom 2′ and ‘Dallas’.

Read: Filesharing defendant tells court: ‘You can’t put copyright on porn’

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    Mute themanwiththeplan
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    Jan 21st 2017, 10:13 AM

    Good to see this sort of stuff!

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    Mute Paraic McDonagh
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    Jan 21st 2017, 12:03 PM

    In fairness NASA are great at this sort of thing. Their astronauts give loads of their time in ISS to education.

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    Mute Paraic McDonagh
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    Jan 21st 2017, 12:06 PM

    … at this sort of thing too.

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    Mute Ian Oh
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    Jan 22nd 2017, 10:41 PM

    @Paraic McDonagh: Nasa ARE great at this. They’ve been faking it since the beginning. So good at it now that it nearly appears real. Pity they can’t push past the 600 mile mile Van Allen belt limitation though. Spoils the whole show.

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    Mute Deborah Behan
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    Jan 21st 2017, 12:26 PM

    Fantastic opportunity for these young kids. I am very jealous!

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    Mute Stewart O Neill
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    Jan 21st 2017, 6:07 PM

    Brilliant for these schools.

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    Mute Patrick Mac
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    Jan 21st 2017, 7:43 PM

    Apparently we’re all on a big ball, rotating at a speed of 1000mph and further rotating around a Sun, at 67,000mph. In addition, all of that is hurtling through an infinite universe at speeds up in the 100s of 1000s of mph – yet I feel absolutely zero vibration, lateral movement, or rotational pull from it all.
    Do you?

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    Mute Ian Oh
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    Jan 22nd 2017, 10:38 PM

    @Patrick Mac: And isn’t it interesting that when the Navy projects their 2″ missile beam across over the surface of the seas boasting up to 60 mile of accurate range, they never see any radius or curvature on the sea plain, impeding their view across the 60 mile span. The rise in the middle across 60 miles should be .45 of a mile. I think one would notice that.

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