Torrent news website TorrentFreak is reporting that IP address assigned to the US House of Representatives have illegally downloaded pirated files over 800 times. The acts are seen as particularly hypocritically, considering that the House is the birthplace of the controversial SOPA legislation that would harshly punish such behavior.

I’m sure everyone is shocked– shocked– to find hypocrisy in Congress.

(Also, what does it say about the state of investigative journalism when a site called TorrentFreak is doing the heavy research and exposés?)

The site investigated data available on YouHaveDownloaded, which it calls “a treasure trove full of incriminating data on alleged BitTorrent pirates in organizations all across the world.” It notes that the data covers just a fraction of BitTorrent traffic; so the actual number of incidents is probably much higher.

The article was published at the end of last December, but is just getting attention now, perhaps due to increased awareness and criticism of the Congressional anti-piracy legislation.

TorrentFreak noticed some interesting trends among the downloaded material:

Something that immediately caught our eye are the self-help books that are downloaded in the House. “Crucial Conversations- Tools for Talking When Stakes Are High,” for example, may indeed be of interest to the political elite in the United States. And “How to Answer Hard Interview Questions And Everything Else You Need to Know to Get the Job You Want” may be helpful for those who aspire to higher positions.

The latter could also be useful for aides (and politicians) expecting to be out of a job soon.

Among the pirated material, there was also Microsoft Works, a season of FX’s Sons of Anarchy, and some more “adult” titles.

What do you think?

[Image: Robert Galbraith/Reuters]

[via DailyTech]

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