Australian authorities were able to trace the pirated copy to the home of a 21 year old male who allegedly recorded and uploaded the film. AFACT says that the illegal copy of "The Simpsons Movie" is the first to have been identified by Fox on the Internet anywhere in the world.

AFACT alleges that the film appeared on the Internet just hours after its global release. The movie was uploaded to a U.S. based global streaming site before the film was shown in the U.S. and it was viewed or downloaded over 3,000 times.

Industry investigators were able to remove the copy from the Web site within two hours of it being uploaded. By then the film had already migrated to other Web sites.

"More than 90% of newly released movies that illegally appear on the internet and on the streets around the world originate from camcorder copies. This case shows how fast stolen movies spread across the internet, creating a wild fire of illegal copies originating from just one unauthorised recording," said Adrianne Pecotic, Executive Director of AFACT.

"Within 72 hours of making and uploading this unauthorized recording, AFACT had tracked it to other streaming sites and P2P systems where it had been illegally downloaded in excess of 110,000 times and in all probability, copied and sold as a pirate DVD all over the world. The speed and spread of illegal copies across the global internet as a result of this camcord copy being made from a mobile phone in a Sydney cinema is staggering."

As you would imagine, once that’s determined, it opens up the recipient to a flood of new spam.

Martin Thorburg, cofounder of SPAMfighter, says the practice of piggybacking on popular culture is standard among spammers.

"It is common that spammers will use large events, such as film premiers, wide scale media stories, or holidays to coerce e-mail users into a scam. We are hoping to avoid having our users fall victim to these scams by filtering away these e-mails," he said.

SPAMfighter is a third-party downloadable spam filter and certified Microsoft partner. The company says there is also a prize promised in the Simpsons spam to entice recipients into taking the survey.

“Major spamming events such as The Simpsons Movie provide us with an opportunity to educate  all computer users for the need to protect their data and privacy from spammers," said Alix Aranza, Managing Director, SPAMfighter, North America.  

And of course, the information comes with a pitch. Aranza informs us, "SPAMfighter offers all computer users the opportunity to download SPAMfighter Standard for a free 30-day trial.”

Malley was using the domain for a parody site and demanded $50,000 from Fox, according to Reuters, as reimbursement for the work he’d put into it. Fox offered him $300.

Fox called it cybersquatting and Malley called it bullying. Either way, Fox has its movie domain and Malley has some free (well, not really) publicity for his "Keith and the Girl" podcast.

The film studio reiterated its support of next generation Blu-ray DVD technology in a press release today. 20th Century Fox has been on the Blu-ray Disc Association board since October 2004.

The announcement confirms that shows like The Simpsons, 24, and X-Files will be available in the Blu-ray format. Walt Disney Pictures has been backing Blu-ray as well, and it is likely that Blu-ray developer Sony will make its movies available in that format.

Discussions between Sony and rival blue laser standard HD-DVD proponent Toshiba, which has the support of several other major studios, have been at an impasse for most of the last three years. Both Sony and Toshiba have indicated they will move forward and produce devices using their own technology instead of waiting for a single standard to emerge.

The Blu-ray technology allows a single layer DVD to hold 25 GB of data, while a dual-layer DVD can hold 50 GB. Current DVDs can hold less than 5 GB. HD-DVD supporters claim that while their technology won’t hold as much data, the transition for existing DVD manufacturers will be easier and less expensive than changing to Blu-ray production.

Sony’s PlayStation 3 will be one Blu-ray device available on the US market in March 2006. While that device may be expensive, its out-of-the-box support for Blu-ray and high-definition TVs in addition to its game playing function might make it a household choice as a limited media center.

David Utter is a staff writer for WebProNews covering technology and business. Email him here.