Just prior to the HP pretexting scandal , California was just about to pass a law banning the practice outright. It was a wide reaching law that looked like it was very good for the average consumer. Pretexting is the act of creating and using an invented scenario (the pretext) to persuade a target to release information or perform an action and is usually done over the telephone. It's more than a simple lie as it most often involves some prior research or set up and the use of pieces of known information (e.g., For impersonation: Birthday, Social Security Number, last bill amount) to establish legitimacy in the mind of the target.

The bill passed the first couple rounds of voting with flying colours before the MPAA caught wind of it. Their powerful lobying group then managed to convince enough member of the California government that the MPAA needed to be able to use this tactic to help stop piracy.

With the MPAA opposing this legislation they have admitted to using the practice, which is frightening. It's a shady practice to begin with and in my view should be banned outright. The MPAA should be forced to use the same legal means as any other group to fight against abusers and that is to get a real subpoena.

Wired News Story .

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