What Is RS77_Episode 01? Vatican City Pirates Russian Slave Pornography

While the Catholic Church may not have a doctrine on pirating movies and TV shows, surely it has a stance toward Russian slave pornography.

As we previously reported here, an analysis of the downloading habits in Vatican City revealed a certain penchant for American TV shows and titles featuring adult film stars. Some additional research has found that one of the most mysterious titles on the list, “RS77_Episode 01,” actually refers to “Russian Slaves 77.”

It all started with a blog post on TorrentFreak that told the story of an Irish DVD rental store owner who said one of his regular customers, a Catholic priest, would discuss movies he watched in a film club at the monastery. Several of the titles, including Oscar contenders like “Lincoln,” “Django Unchained” and “Zero Dark Thirty,” were still months away from home release.

Wondering if film piracy was limited to Ireland or was a more widespread phenomenon in the Catholic Church, TorrentFreak analyzed downloading habits using Scaneye. The results found that downloading levels in Vatican City are actually very low, and there was little interest in movies, and “no downloads of DVD screeners whatsoever.”

One IP address from Vatican City frequently downloaded TV shows like “Chicago Fire,” “The Neighbors” and “Touch,” while another seemed fond of “The Americans.” But while Vatican City may not have much interest in Hollywood, several mysteriously titled files did feature the names of adult film stars. According to CBSnews.com, several of the titles were in the BDSM niche. In addition to “Russian Slaves,” the top downloaded videos included “Whipped A**” and “Transsexual P***y Hunters.”

To be fair, nothing proves that priests or other members of the clergy are downloading the porn. There are plenty of laymen who work for the Vatican that have regular access to Vatican City. That, however, has not stopped the Internet community from launching a barrage of puns and jokes at the church’s expense.