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Grokster Launches Fear Campaign 443

Posted by ScuttleMonkey from the nothing-like-intimidating-the-huddled-masses dept.
An anonymous reader writes "Slyck is reporting on Grokster's new scare tactic. Suddenly it's become taboo to head over to Grokster.com. In a transparent attempt to scare potential P2P users, Grokster.com has reinforced its anti-P2P sentiment. The visitor's IP address is clearly displayed in large font on the Grokser's homepage while indicating the address was logged."
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Grokster Launches Fear Campaign More

Grokster Launches Fear Campaign

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  • Common Action? (Score:2, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward
    Isn't it common to log an Ip address if you run a website? I do it all teh time

    • Re:Common Action? (Score:3, Insightful)

      by melonman ( 608440 )

      More to the point, don't you have to work quite hard not to log it with Apache (and I suspect, most other web servers)?

    • A Much more effective approach (Score:4, Insightful)

      by User 956 ( 568564 ) on Tuesday January 03, 2006 @05:50AM (#14383181) Homepage
      Isn't it common to log an Ip address if you run a website?

      It is. Wouldn't their approach be much more effective if, in addition to logging your IP, they also installed a rootkit [wired.com] on your machine? That's legal, right? (And maybe they could make it so you're violating the DMCA if you remove it. Excellent.)

  • Won't you be my neighbor (Score:5, Funny)

    by quokkapox ( 847798 ) <quokkapox@gmail.com> on Tuesday January 03, 2006 @04:32AM (#14382945)
    That's funny, when I visited the site it displayed my neighbor's router's IP address.

    Good thing he's a lawyer...

  • Stolen technology (Score:5, Funny)

    by Spy Handler ( 822350 ) on Tuesday January 03, 2006 @04:32AM (#14382946) Homepage Journal
    Grokster is unlawfully using technology from this site!

    http://danasoft.com/sig [danasoft.com]
  • Site displays IP address of visitor - world quakes - EVIL EVIL EVIL. Get a sense of proportion.
    • Site displays IP address of visitor - world quakes - EVIL EVIL EVIL. Get a sense of proportion.
      There's displaying and there's displaying. "I know where you live" might range from innocent to beejesus scary, depending on the context.

      • Re:Get a sense of proportion (Score:5, Interesting)

        by ScrewMaster ( 602015 ) on Tuesday January 03, 2006 @04:58AM (#14383036)
        The context is the same as it has always been for the RIAA. In other words, every content protection measure (for that's all this is) is aimed at the people who are clueless about the law and the technology, and can be easily intimidated by such means. Unfortunately, that means we are talking about the bulk of the population of most countries ... fortunately, because most P2P users are clueless they're pretty hard to intimidate anyway since they have no idea what they're doing.

    • Re:Get a sense of proportion (Score:5, Insightful)

      by KiloByte ( 825081 ) on Tuesday January 03, 2006 @04:58AM (#14383034)
      It's not about knowing the public IP of the machine that issued the http request.
      It's about sending lies and propaganda to the uneducated users.

      We do know that visiting a site tells them about the IP address -- your, your proxy's or a random TOR server's; and also your browser's ID string which usually mentions your operating system.
      But we, users who are knowledgeful about how this works, are not those who are the intended target of this scare campaign. Just as those who know how a washing powder works are not a target of most TV adverts.

      People who are knowledgeful about washing powders balk at nonsence spewed in adverts, but this doesn't stop the nonsense from affecting 99% of the society.
    • The part of this that's interesting is not that they know how to display IPs. It's that they choose to do so in an attempt to scare us that's worth mentioning.
  • In Soviet Russia, IP logs YOU!

    For real, who are they kidding? This is nothing more than the same cheesball .js that every forums troll uses in their sig to brag about how leet they are. I'm also debating whether or not I think this matters...
    • This is nothing more than the same cheesball .js that every forums troll uses in their sig to brag about how leet they are.

      True or not, that doesn't mean they haven't logged your IP address.

      For both Apache and IIS, they would have needed to deliberately disable logging your IP from the default.

      • Re:Predictable joke: (Score:3, Insightful)

        by tulare ( 244053 )
        Oh, I'm quite sure it's logged - I leave logging enabled on my apache boxes also. And honestly, I don't care: even if they weren't currently being bombarded by mad slashdotters, my browser quite properly sent along a referred-by (because I haven't told it not to) that clearly says I went there by clicking on the story linked in TFA. So, assuming they actually chase down each and every one of the 250K uniques they get this evening and attempt to prosecute, it'd be trivial for me to show that I was not visi

  • So.. (Score:2, Interesting)

    by Drac8 ( 823930 )
    If its so bad.... How come they created it in the first place. Looks like Grokster(along with sharman) is more scared of the RIAA then we are of it logging "our" ip addresses.
    • Didn't Grokster enter a lawsuit with the RIAA arguing about whether or not it was doing anything illegal, and was found guilty and that part of the settlement was to display a message on their website?

      Is this just an extension of that? Or are they mocking the RIAA?

  • There's only one thing to do then . . . (Score:5, Informative)

    by Cyberllama ( 113628 ) on Tuesday January 03, 2006 @04:38AM (#14382965)
    Obviously we have to slashdot it. Why is there no link in the story?

    Here: for those too lazy to type it out

    Grokster.com [grokster.com]

  • The Warning Is Misleading (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Scarletdown ( 886459 ) on Tuesday January 03, 2006 @04:39AM (#14382968) Journal
    Quoting from the Grokster homepage...

    The United States Supreme Court unanimously confirmed that using this service to trade copyrighted material is illegal.


    It should read...

    The United States Supreme Court unanimously confirmed that using this service to trade copyrighted material without the copyright owner's permission is illegal.


    The way they worded it makes it sound like it is even illegal for people to distribute their own materials that they have created themselves via P2P. So, I guess according to the powers that be, I'm now a criminal for using Gnutella to distribute my own stories and animations that I have created, and to which I own the copyrights.

    Of course, it isn't illegal, but the way these warnings are worded can sometimes make it seem that way.
    • It should read: The United States Supreme Court unanimously confirmed that using this service to trade copyrighted material without the copyright owner's permission is illegal.

      Of course, it isn't illegal, but the way these warnings are worded can sometimes make it seem that way.

      I'm not sure whether it's malice or the "Well, doh" factor. Is taking a CD from the record shop stealing? I'd answer yes. It could read "Is taking a CD from the record shop without paying the sales price at the check-out counter stea
    • "Taking things which don't belong to you is wrong."
      • "Taking things which don't belong to you is wrong."

        No it's illegal. Whether or not it is wrong is up to people's personal beliefs. What is right and wrong isn't carved in stone, but instead decided by each and every person.
  • SlashDOT 'em
      Log this bucko

    http://www.grokster.com/ [grokster.com]

    Give'm hell boys!
  • Am I the only one who thinks the RIAA/MPAA "wrote" that message?
    • It's pretty much the same wording as that which appeared on another p2p site that was shut down last year - I can't remember which. But they got busted and something very similar to this message apppeared. Was it demonoid?

    • Mashboxx (Score:5, Informative)

      by User 956 ( 568564 ) on Tuesday January 03, 2006 @06:28AM (#14383273) Homepage
      Am I the only one who thinks the RIAA/MPAA "wrote" that message?

      Grokster sold out all their assets to Mashboxx [eweek.com] (including their domain).

      Mashboxx itself [mashboxx.com] is a sham RIAA front company that pitches itself as "the world's first P2P application with content authorized by major record labels". Which is a total load, considering they don't even have a client available to the public.

      So, in short, this is all nothing but a marketing ploy driven by smoke, mirrors, and fear. What else were you expecting from the RIAA?
      • I love the way they have 'Designed by ElipseNetworks' at the bottom of the page, like we're supposed to bow in wonder at those 1337 designers who came up with a centred table filled with text on a white background - oooh, they have red paragraph titles, gotta employ them for our next great website design!

        This post designed by One Childish n00b! [notareallink.com] For all your circa-1990's bog-standard net fare!

      • Re:Mashboxx (Score:3, Interesting)

        by shark72 ( 702619 )

        "Mashboxx itself [mashboxx.com] is a sham RIAA front company"

        Mashboxx is, of course, Wayne Rosso's company. Wayne was the pirate's best friend back when he was Grokster's CEO and when he later ran Optisoft, which provided Blubster -- he was not shy about defending the rights of P2P applications to exist, and regularly told the record companies to fuck off, in so many words. He even founded a trade group of P2P application providers called P2P United [38.119.65.153].

        Providing a P2P application that's compatible wit

  • This reminds me of those banner ads that have freaked out so many (l)users in my family that bounce around saying "Your Computer Is Broadcasting an IP Address" as though the number is your SSN. I would guess (based on how many people I know who bought the software advertised by those banner ads) that this will probably scare a lot of people into compliance.
    Another thing that I've noticed is that a lot of the same people who would be freaked out that a site knows their IP address ALSO tend to not realize that downloading stuff via P2P networks is not exactly legal.
    I remember recently (like within the last couple of weeks) my aunt expressed amazment that all of the music downloading they had done was considered piracy. She'd also never heard of iTunes or any other way of buying music legally online.
    It might be nice if they at least provided some links to places to legally get music for the people who genuinely don't know. For everyone else the whole thing is pointless anyway.

  • All youre IP are logged by us (Score:5, Interesting)

    by gtoomey ( 528943 ) on Tuesday January 03, 2006 @04:44AM (#14382983)
    Humph, 99% of the world population is outside the USA & could not care less.

  • Gotta love the XXAA (Score:4, Interesting)

    by Great Beyond ( 872699 ) on Tuesday January 03, 2006 @04:48AM (#14382993)
    Slightly off topic - I followed the Grokster link to www.respectcopyrights.com [respectcopyrights.com], and I *LOVE* this bit of argument for why you shouldnt pirate movies: "And last but not least, you're cheating yourself out of the movie experiance!" What - I'm cheating myself out of sky high movie ticket prices, jackasses who wont shut up during the movie, numbnuts with C-phones, screaming children at an R rated movie, and half an hour of commercials before the previews? And youre trying to convince me NOT to pirate a movie? Yeah, keep it up fellas - youre doing a REAL good job.
    • I "pirate" movies and music and television shows in order to better choose which ones to go see in the theatre, and which ones to buy... My dollars are being guided to better purchases by Adam Smith's inevitable, invisible hand.

      I'd happily download torrents of my favorite shows which happened to include commercials. I might fast forward through them, or go to the bathroom while they're playing, but I might do that anyway if they were on TV.

      For media companies, this is a wake-up call that's getting l

    • Re:Gotta love the XXAA (Score:3, Insightful)

      by m50d ( 797211 )
      You forgot the best part - half an hour of "the pirates are out to get you" adverts when you actually paid to see the movie.

      I used to have a music teacher who would spend the first half of each orchestra practice complaining about how many people weren't turning up to orchestra practice. Guess how popular her orchestra was?

  • Gee! (Score:5, Funny)

    by SmoothTom ( 455688 ) <Tomas@TiJiL.org> on Tuesday January 03, 2006 @04:50AM (#14382999) Homepage
    First thing I did when I saw this topic was to run off to Grokster.com [grokster.com] for the first time ever to take a look... :o)

    I actually hope about half the planet does. ;o)

    --
    Tomas

  • why.. (Score:2, Interesting)

    by munkay ( 942872 )
    What are they trying to gain by scaring their users away, anyway.
    Why don't they just close up shop and be done with it.

  • Website knows IP address. Film at 11. (Score:3, Funny)

    by iainl ( 136759 ) on Tuesday January 03, 2006 @04:52AM (#14383010)
    And there was me thinking that there was no possible way for the website to know which IP was requesting page data, and so where to send it.

    Shock horror...

  • Do as I say, just not to me (Score:5, Funny)

    by mc6809e ( 214243 ) on Tuesday January 03, 2006 @04:55AM (#14383024)
    This is the same industry that sells Slap My Bitch Up and Been Caught Stealin then expects people to follow copyright law to the letter.

    Hypocrites.

       

  • shaking in my boots (Score:3, Informative)

    by aendeuryu ( 844048 ) on Tuesday January 03, 2006 @04:56AM (#14383025)
    <script language="JavaScript">
    VIH_BackColor = "palegreen";
    VIH_ForeColor = "navy";
    VIH_FontPix = "16";
    VIH_DisplayFormat = "You are visiting from:<br>IP Address: %%IP%%<br>Host: %%HOST%%";
    </script>
    <script language="JavaScript" src="http://www.hashemian.com/js/visitorIPHOST.js. php"></script>
    Yeah, I know, this is client side and the page does it server-side, but do you really think anybody idiotic enough to be scared by this will know the difference? It's not like I'm able to do anything illegal through grokster.com at this point ANYWAY.

    • Re:shaking in my boots (Score:5, Interesting)

      by dolphinling ( 720774 ) on Tuesday January 03, 2006 @05:01AM (#14383044) Homepage Journal
      Oh, I just love the fact that they're hotlinking the script of someone else's web server. I just wish so badly it were mine...
  • I think I'll head over to their page now and start clicking the refresh button over and over. I encourage everyone else to do the same.

  • Telnet is fun (Score:5, Funny)

    by Guspaz ( 556486 ) on Tuesday January 03, 2006 @05:06AM (#14383061)
    They're hosted at ev1servers.net, meaning they're hosting this on a budget dedicated server.

    The domain also resolves to s1.avres.net and avres.net.

    They are running SSH-1.99-OpenSSH_3.6.1p2 on port 22.

    They are running an internet-visible MySQL 3.23.58 server on port 3306.

    They have port 21 (FTP) open and accepting connections, but disconnecting a second later

    While SMTP (port 25) is closed, they are running an unidentified POP3 server on port 110.

    They are running Apache 2.0.46. The box identifies itself as running RedHat, most likely RHEL3.

    Amazing what you can find out by telnetting to a few common port numbers, no?

  • Makes things easier for me... (Score:5, Funny)

    by skyman8081 ( 681052 ) <skyman8081@nOsPAM.gmail.com> on Tuesday January 03, 2006 @05:06AM (#14383062) Homepage
    grokster.com is much easier to type than whatismyip.com. A real timesaver, that is, if I hadn't already memorized it. Thanks anyway RIAA!
  • Is there any connection between grokster and groklaw?

    I got confused by this story. What is/was grokster, anyway?

  • From TFA (Score:5, Interesting)

    by renrutal ( 872592 ) <renrutal@gmail.com> on Tuesday January 03, 2006 @05:15AM (#14383085)
    "The IP address, or Internet Protocol, is the unique numerical identifier assigned to each computer connected to the Internet."

    It's hardly unique, except if you consider it to be 0-dimentional.

    Many computers can have the same ip at different times. Also many computers can have the same ip at the same time within the same network. Indirectly, in hacking cases, even two computers can have the same ip at the same time and not really be in the same network. Well, even one computer can have some different ips assigned to it... or even many networks connected to the same computer... I could go on multiple people using the same computer... or many.

    Ugh... this is funny, now even I don't know if I'm being insightful, informative, or if I'm trolling some modern physics.
  • Anyone else feel like firing up hping2 and hitting them with a bunch of UDP based HTTP GETs with randomly spoofed IPs?

    Let them log 127.0.0.1, I'd love to see a John Doe warrant with that as it's IP.

  • Imbiciles (Score:5, Funny)

    by ds_job ( 896062 ) on Tuesday January 03, 2006 @05:51AM (#14383182)
    YOUR IP ADDRESS IS 62.254.0.48 AND HAS BEEN LOGGED.
    Don't think you can't get caught. You are not anonymous.


    Hmmmm. I hope that they try to 'catch' me from this IP address. Especially as it is one of the transparent proxies of my ISP which is located in a seperate city to the one I reside in. To give them a fighting chance of 'catching' me, my name is David Smith, I was born in Lancashire in the 1970's, I'm 6'0" tall, I have long dark brown hair and a beard, I'm slightly overweigh because of Christmas (yeah right) but most importantly I'm not scared of rudimentary, ill-thought-out script gimmicks from another continent.

    I'll expect the black helicopters to descend on me later today then...

  • Grokster IP log + Slashdot Effect... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Jack Schitt ( 649756 ) on Tuesday January 03, 2006 @05:54AM (#14383193)
    Scare-tactic sponsored by Grokster by logging your IP and mentioning it: 18 unique clicks
    Slashdot story posting that mentions said scare-tacting: 182,395,483 unique clicks in 8 hours
    102mb log file and an $8000+ bandwidth overage charge: priceless

    There are some things scare-tactics can do. For everything else, use Google.

    (I'll laugh when they try to open that log file in notepad before checking it's size...)

  • Billions of defendants (Score:3, Interesting)

    by The OPTiCIAN ( 8190 ) on Tuesday January 03, 2006 @05:55AM (#14383196)
    My question is...
    Will they sue China?

  • What Aholes (Score:5, Insightful)

    by TallMatthew ( 919136 ) on Tuesday January 03, 2006 @07:44AM (#14383487)
    Does anybody remember how it used to be?

    I remember creating a list of CDs I wanted. They'd be prioritized. Some CDs would have multiple songs on them I liked; I'd buy those first. Others would have only one song.

    Every once in a while, I'd splurge. I'd create a "mix tape", which was in fact a cassette tape with several singles recorded on it (yes, I'm old). This would require plunking down $15 on several CDs with only one song on it I like. Creating a mix tape like that would require somewhere in the neighborhood of $300. That was the only option to get those singles I enjoyed.

    The RIAA had it good for years by monopolizing the means of distribution. Then the Net stepped in and I haven't forked down a penny for a CD in years. It started with FTP servers and search engines (remember share ratio?), migrated to Napster, then to the other P2P networks that operate without a central authority. I don't feel a speck of a guilt. The RIAA has been paid in full, as far as I'm concerned. In fact, they owe me.

    This loathesome bullying is typical of an industry that was jerking the public around for years and now is getting it back in spades. I'm glad. Let us eat cake.

  • I would love to be in the court (Score:5, Interesting)

    by SmallFurryCreature ( 593017 ) on Tuesday January 03, 2006 @08:13AM (#14383558) Journal

    Lawyer: Your honor, we want you to award us 1 million dollar in damages for copyright infringement against the defendant.

    Jduge: Indeed, do you have any evidence of this charge?

    Lawyer: Of course, the defendant visited a website!

    Jugge: and?

    Lawyer: AND we logged his IP!

    Judge: and?

    Lawyer: and? your honor I don't understand, we got his IP!!!

    Judge: yes but what do you alledge the defendant did.

    Lawyer: he visited our site!

    Judge: and downloaded copyrighted material wich the original copyright owner did not give him permission to do?

    Lawyer: wha? He visited our site!

    Judge: That is not actually illegal you know. In fact I can see only one criminal act and that is your site records personal information without a privacy statement.

    Lawyer: ah.

    Judge: Indeed.

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