"China's Got Talent" mailbox hacked into, confidential documents and $400,000 production manual stolen

The mailbox shared by employees of the discriminatory, transphobic talent show known as China's Got Talent has been hacked into and completely emptied. Confidential documents, including a US$400,000 production manual purchased from Fremantle Media are now gone, reports Shanghai Daily:

All 900 e-mails about the program's detailed running schedules, plans and contestants' resumes were deleted. But the biggest loss is the production manual of the "Got Talent" series, which was purchased from Fremantle Media. It is valued at about US$400,000.

"We're worried that someone might put this confidential document on the Internet so that there would be no secret to this successful TV format," said Lu Wei, a spokesman of the show.

If competitors acquire the manual, they might make copies or parodies of "China's Got Talent," which could badly dent the show's viewership.

The mailbox was for the use of the Dragon TV's internal employees only so it had simple passwords for easy communication.

The program's producers reported the case to the police. They're not sure if the mailbox was invaded by a hacker or by someone on their own staff. [Read more here]

If any of the thieves out there are reading this and have something to whisper into our ear, you know you can reach us at info(@)shanghaiist.com.

And if anyone from Fremantle Media is reading this, we're still waiting for your response to our email.