e-Denounce 508
Knacklappen writes: "A British organization named Federation Against Software Theft (FAST) will according to this article on Monday launch a plug-in for Internet Explorer that will put an 'F' button on a user's browser. Pressing the button, one can easily tipoff FAST about pirated software. The plug-in captures a live example of the site for evidence as well as other basic information about the site. Great idea, but why not mark the button with 'D' for 'denounce'?"
F is for (Score:3, Funny)
surely it is F for fink.
Re:F is for (Score:2, Funny)
Re:F is for (Score:3, Interesting)
Now I can easily denounce GPL violators!!
Starting with RM plc (rm.com) for their smartcache product that is GPL software distributed _without_ source, and _without_ offer of source.
I'm getting this! (Score:4, Funny)
Re:I'm getting this! (Score:3, Insightful)
Good point; they don't seem aware of crapflooding.
Also, how secure is the plugin? Why resort to a plugin when you can say "copy'n'paste the url in our webform"? You'd presume people able to install a plugin would be able to copy the offending url, open a new browser window, get www.fast.org.uk from the bookmarks, and paste it there...
This looks just like a publicity stunt to me.
Re:I'm getting this! (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:I'm getting this! (Score:5, Funny)
...Leading to:
"Slow Down Cowboy! - you have to wait two minutes between submissions to give others a chance to tattle on pirates."
Re:I'm getting this! (Score:3, Funny)
-
Mess them up. (Score:2, Troll)
Tim
Re:Mess them up. (Score:4, Interesting)
Lets just reverse engineer the protocol and write our own clients with spoofed source addresses. Shouldn't be that hard.
Re:Mess them up. (Score:4, Funny)
It probably uses TCP. Contrary to popular opinion, spoofing TCP is very difficult. It's about as hard as factoring 1024 bit prime numbers - you can factor 1024 bit numbers "off-line", but you have to guess sequence numbers "real-time" to do TCP spoofing.
Unless of course you are planning on injecting false BGP routes into the backbone - well above the capabilities of most people.
I'm actually getting tired of hearing how easy it is to spoof IPs. For ICMP/UDP? Sure. Old SunOS, Windows, and Linux? Sure. But if you are using modern operating systems, it is nearly impossible to spoof TCP.
Re:Mess them up. (Score:4, Funny)
I can factor 1024-bit primes easily.
Each has two factors -- itself and 1.
Products of 1024-bit primes, on the other hand, could be a bit more difficult...
Re:Mess them up. (Score:3, Interesting)
According to Netcraft [netcraft.com], www.fast.org.uk runs Microsoft Windows 2000 [netcraft.com], which is vulnerable to initial sequence number guessing [securityfocus.com].
Re:Mess them up. (Score:2)
Nah. Download their button and click F while visitng the websites of the RIAA, MPAA, Disney, and Senator Hollings.
The true question.... (Score:5, Insightful)
The average joe-shmoe will never run into a download for pirated software unless he is looking for it. So this "plugin" is pointless.... right?
x-empt
The True Usage (Score:5, Insightful)
A) Self-appointed vigilantes with nothing better to do.
B) Immature little warez kiddies turning in sites that belong to "opposing" warez groups.
As a side note, how many times do you think The Underdogs [the-underdogs.org] will be turned in per day?
The Underdogs (Score:5, Informative)
Re:The Underdogs (Score:2)
That doesn't make it legal, it just makes ethical, and less likely that anyone is going to care.
Re:The Underdogs (Score:4, Funny)
Based on the number of hits to servers hosting sites such as theunderdogs.net (say 1 million) multiplied by the estimated number of hours per day people are playing abandonware games (2 hours per day) divided by the amount of time it takes to beat the average modern game (42 hours) Multiplied by the typical new video game price ($49.95), so called "abandonware" is costing game companies $868 millon lost revenues anually do to theft of valuable consumer entertainment time, not even taking into the consideration the lost mind share innovative game companies are losing to zombie corporations like Commodore, Atari, and
No comment was made about parasite "open source" games such as nethack and doom, but Blizzard executives have accused the first game of "riding on the coattails of their popular Diablo II game" and "infringing on playability copyrights"
Re:The true question.... (Score:5, Interesting)
Okay, we really need to get this straightened out.
First of all, allow me to establish my own credentials. I've been reasonably active in "trading" software for 20+ years, since long before there was any really active internet scene. (/crotchety voice)Back then, if you wanted to trade software you had to link up by BBS with someone, and actually go over to their house with a box full of your big-ass 5.25 floppies. It took work in those days, boy. (/crotchety voice)
Anyway, from the first time the term started being used, warez was always pronounced "wares", to rhyme with "bears".
Said Simple Simon, to the pieman,
let me taste your wares
This "war-ez" business (to rhyme with, i dunno, say, "bore fez") started up some time around the 93-95 zone, in my own experience. I'm not slamming you personally by saying this, just making an observation, but I've tended to see this pronunciation taken up by relative newbies on the scene. I don't like it. "Wares" is simple and elegant, "war-ez" is two syllables, and does not roll off the tounge anywhere near as nicely.
Not that anyone will care, don't listen to your elders, world going to hell in a handbasket these days anyway, I don't know... (wanders away mumbling)
Re:The true question.... (Score:5, Funny)
My real name is Jose Juarez. I am illegal alien. When the people say they are looking for the Juarez, I run and I hide but it is too much, I fear the immigration.
You jus tole me that the people who is looking for the Juarez is just the newbies, I can outrun the newbies, but I cannot run the 20-year professionals. Please do not tell the immigration.
Re:The true question.... (Score:2)
Yup - about the same time variations of the term "elite", which was originally an insult based on the *way* overblown loaders some people released (especially in the C64 scene), started getting used by the insulted parties as a twisted badge of honor. Then newbies, not knowing any better, and following the nimrods who had dubbed themselves B1FFish variants of elite, saw that as their highest goal.
Remember the creepy old guy who had a house full of dirty dishes and piles of floppys everywhere? Remember the guy in the button down shirt with the pack of disks packed so tightly they got crunshed and wouldn't spin? And he still stuffed more floppies in there? Remember how every year or two a BBS would start sponsoring a community wide monthly picnic, and it would be attended well in the first four months, and then eventually trail off to nobody showing? Remember the guy who had Power beyond belief because he was the primary local Fidonet node, or had UUCP access to a fairly central usenet server, and paid by the byte for traffic?
Yeah - it was the same everywhere. Heh. Good times.
--
Evan
Re:The true question.... (Score:2)
Thank you. I cracked a game or two myself so I could put them on my Lt. Kernal [not-sic] hard drive, and can vouch for this.
Seems to me that saying "war-ez" to look cool is like pronouncing the first syllable of "Croissandwich" in French to look cultured. It sounds like something Phil Stubbs would do.
But then, I never used the pound sign as an L, either. Had too much sparkle.
Re:The true question.... (Score:3, Funny)
Given all the questions about Kazaa... (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Given all the questions about Kazaa... (Score:5, Funny)
Homer: Oooh, that's bad.
Store Clerk: But it lets you download music!
Homer: That's good!
Store Clerk: The music is also cursed.
Homer: That's bad.
Store Clerk: But you get your choice of bit rate!
Homer: That's good!
Store Clerk: The maximum bit rate is capped at 128kbps.
Homer:
Store Clerk: That's bad.
Homer: Can I download now?
What if... (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:What if... (Score:2)
So, I fire up Kazaa, see a bunch of copyrighted songs, press 'F' a few times, RIAA gets the message "Copyrighted songs spotted at Kazaa!" It's not like any significant amount (any at all?) of copyrighted music (or video) is distributed over the web. It's probably a bit more for software, but I'd still say that's far from the majority of it.
Idn't that nice... (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Idn't that nice... (Score:3, Funny)
Versus reporting instances of legally pirated software?
Re:Idn't that nice... (Score:2)
Of course, if anyway tries to report me for that, I'll just smack them in the head, 'cuz they'll have to have been in my house to see that.
Re:Idn't that nice... (Score:2)
-9mm-
Re:Idn't that nice... (Score:2)
Waiter, I'll have what he's having.
"Fair use" doesn't mean "I feel like copying it." For instance, posting the entirety of an article is not fair use. It means some very specific exemptions, such as an archival backup copy. If you're using it on a second computer, that's neither archival nor backup.
Do whatever you want, argue about what the law should be, but don't fool yourself into thinking it's legal as the law stands.
Hey, Slashdot needs this (Score:4, Funny)
Of course the editors need an "R" button for "Rejected." But then, I think auto-reject is a feature already built in.
Re:Hey, Slashdot needs this (Score:2, Funny)
See, it works.
For a second there... (Score:2)
Here's a good site (Score:5, Funny)
Seriously though, there was this kid I knew who would spend a week at a time to download software off AOL. He had heard about Linux and wanted to try it out. So he asked me where a good place to get pirated iso's of it were.
MS, MPAA, RIAA (Score:2)
Re:MS, MPAA, RIAA (Score:2)
Fighting the Power (Score:2, Funny)
Alternatively, just use it to send back reports while viewing "adult" sites. Put a grin on the workers faces, because hey, someone has to look at all the reports that get sent back.
How to make this work. (Score:4, Interesting)
Then, in order to give people a motive for using this plug-in, the company should pay bounty money to the vigilante via a Paypal type system.
This fine/bounty system would turn the internet into the wild west, but it might just work. You would end up with roaming internet cowboys who made a living by busting pirates.
However, the system should be more sophisticated, give the user more tools: IRC, USENet, and other protocols are often used for piracy. The report tool should be able to legally document those types of sources.
If noone could pirate software, far more people would end up using free software. Think about it.
Re:How to make this work. (Score:2)
Er, how exactly can anyone be "contractually bound" when they haven't signed a contract? I seriously doubt that people who intend to ddos the fast site would sign such a contract in the first place. Besides, the plug-in appears to have been developed to counter the fact that so few people are bothering to report anything at all to them at the moment (surprise!). Threatening the few who do report anything is hardly going to encourage more people to become informers.
If no-one could pirate software, we would have had most of our free software tools taken from us!
Re:How to make this work. (Score:2)
They're not. But a simple way around it would be to charge people a pound/dollar per site they report. Then, if the site is what FAST is looking for, they reimburse the cash plus whatever they're paying (which might be quite a bit higher than the "deposit"), whereas if it's not they keep the cash.
Of course, it hinges on people trusting FAST.
Re:How to make this work. (Score:2)
Whoever said that downloading and using the plugin was the only way of contacting their site? It should be simple enough to reverse engineer the protocol it uses, for those inclined to do such things.
Re:How to make this work. (Score:2)
Re:How to make this work. (Score:5, Insightful)
I would rather more people use free software because it is of higher quality than commerical software. I personally get a bit disturbed when people say, "I didn't want to pay lots of money, so I decided to use this." These are the first people who then bitch about stuff as if they are paying for support.
People who right free software are not just trying to write free - as in beer - stuff for the moochers of the net, they are trying to write quality software.
I don't use Linux because it's free in either sense of the word. I use it because it's better than Windows.
Re:How to make this work. (Score:5, Interesting)
On the other hand, because I don't have much spare time, and because most Linux desktop apps are very, very immature*, I do not use Linux on my (primary) desktop. I suspect Windows 2000 (or Windows XP Home for home users) and OS/X is a far better choice for most users as a desktop OS -- they are rock solid (for desktop standards) and have a more polished, integrated feel to them.
*Exceptions: Mozilla, OpenOffice, maybe XMMS and the Gimp. For Joe Public this *may* be enough, but there are lots of people who need more. But poor font support [blogspot.com], quirky cut and paste, printers/hardware that are difficult to configure... all these make Linux a poor desktop choice.
My antidotum (Score:3, Funny)
My antidotum would be a website like this:
Hey d00d! cHecK 0u+ Th15 c00L 50f+waRe! wHY pay 4 |t wh3N U can D/L it H3r3 [gimp.org]! HEHEHE!!! Ju5T U53 kEY: 1234514-13451-1345 & U g0T iT f0r FREE!!!!! WAREZ RULEZ!!!! & d0N'+ 4G3T 2 Ch3cK 0u+ Th1Z rU55iAn Und3Rgr0uNd Serv3R [debian.org.ru]! tHey g0+ 4250 wAr3Z pR0grAmz!!!!!! cLiCK h3R3 to G3T 2 mY HidD3N FtP War3Z serv3R wItH ***FULL!!!*** vErS|0Ns Of gImP, m02|LLa, kDe, gN0m3, aPaCH3 WeB s3Rv3R (FULL ENTERPRISE VERSION, noT thE sHar3War3 Sh|T!!!!!) eV3rYtH|nG pAtcH3D & U d0NT nEEd Ser|AL NuMb3rZ & r3G k3Yz!!!!!!! Et cetera...
A fine guaranteed.
Re:How to make this work. (Score:2)
But aren't the very people who have no money the ones that make the most use of warez sites? I'm fairly certain that the proportion of students with unauthorised copies of Windows on their home machines is greater than the proportion of Fortune 100 CEOs who succumb to the temptation to save a couple of hundred dollars.
"R" is for Ratsquad, (Score:2)
WTF would someone take time out to do this - a badly warped paranoid sense of their own importance?
More Info (Score:4, Informative)
Early next week, the London-based nonprofit will launch a software plug-in for Microsoft's Internet Explorer (IE), that when installed will put an "F" button on a user's browser, said lawyer and FAST representative Julian Heathcote Hobbins. The "F" stands for "fast," not "fink." The software will be free and available at the FAST Web site, http://www.fast.org.uk/ [fast.org.uk].
"The software makes reporting instances of illegal software piracy very straightforward and simple. In the past, people would have to go to our Web site and fill out a form to do so and the process was rather complicated. That's completely changed with this software; it's free, easy and you can even make an anonymous report if you'd like," Heathcote Hobbins said.
If a user finds him or herself on a Web site that sells illegal software -- be it music, games, movies or programs -- one click on the "F" will pull up a box. A person can fill in their name, a fake name or no name at all, answer a few other questions, and then click send.
"Included in FAST's software is Webcam software that captures a live example of the site for evidence as well as other basic information about the site," Heathcote Hobbins said.
FAST was set up in 1984 by the British Computer Society's Copyright Committee and works in a fashion similar to the Business Software Alliance (BSA) in Washington, D.C. "The BSA also investigates reports of software privacy, but its reporting process is very complicated," Heathcote Hobbins said.
Companies' revenue losses due to software piracy were nearly $11.8 billion worldwide in 2000, according to the BSA's annual report. The organization's report for 2001 is expected to be published next month.
FAST, which does not concern itself with peer-to-peer file sharing, had been receiving a steady stream of e-mail and telephone calls reporting the sale of illegal pirated software until recently, he said.
"Since between December and this spring, our e-mails have fallen to about 10 on the weekends and one or two a night on the weekdays. That works out to about 1,000 reports a year, which is about a fifth of what it had been. I don't know if that's because pirates have gone more underground or perhaps our old system was a bit of a pain. That's why we created the new reporting software, which we believe is the first of its kind," Heathcote Hobbins said.
Once FAST receives a tip-off about pirated software, it investigates the claim. If FAST is satisfied that the report is valid, Heathcote Hobbins sends a letter to the ISP (Internet service provider) hosting the Internet software pirates' Web site, informing the ISP of the problem and requesting the site be shut down or that similar action be taken.
"ISPs have been very responsive to this issue, and once they are made aware of anything illegal, are generally keen to put a stop to it. FAST is about stopping illegal software but we also work with the other enforcement bodies, covering music, movies and games," Heathcote Hobbins said.
FAST has also been developing a close relationship with the Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA) in Washington, D.C. "Obviously, the Web is global and the problem isn't just confined to the U.K. In fact, I just got a tip-off from the States this week. We are looking to broaden our horizons, but that takes time and money," Heathcote Hobbins said.
FAST is also developing plug-in software for the Netscape browser but is uncertain what the time frame for its release is.
The company makes money through corporate and industry membership fees. Companies like the international engineering, construction and services group, Balfour Beatty PLC, and Yorkshire Electricity Group PLC pay yearly fees beginning at $863, depending on the size of the company, to have FAST audit the company to ensure that all of the software the company is using is legal.
FAST not only monitors for software sold illegally over the Internet, but for unregistered software that is being used by companies. About 37 percent of business software used worldwide in 2000 consisted of illegal copies, according to the BSA report.
"There are different types of people that report different types of things. For example, people reporting the sale of illegal software over the Internet may have been burned when they bought illegal software in the past that was ripped badly. Or an IT manager in a company may want to make sure his employer isn't inadvertently doing something illegal. Or in both cases, people may be reporting instances of illegally pirated software simply out of the goodness of their hearts," Heathcote Hobbins said.
Ironic twist was Re:More Info (Score:4, Insightful)
Hey, what if that webcam captures some of the original stuff I put on the Web? Isn't that, in itself, copyright infringement? And does that mean I should click the "F" button while at their website?
Re:More Info (Score:2)
That's completely changed with this software; it's free
Oh great! That means I won't have to pay $50 or more to do FAST's job for them!
Seriously, why do they keep emphasising that it's "free"? Do they seriously expect people to pay for a plugin like this, just like they expect to be able to shut down every Spectrum game archive on the Web on the grounds that they affect sales of XBox games?
Re:More Info (Score:3, Funny)
So, the question is: Is this the good Federation of Star Trek, or -- more likely, considering its British origin -- the evil Federation of Blake's 7.
Throw in the Trade Federation of Phantom Menace and it becomes clear that evil Federations outnumber good ones.
Re:More Info (Score:2)
Man, do I know what to do for karma now.
Can you say "spin doctoring?" I knew you could! (Score:3, Insightful)
Yeah right. An IT manager who is not sure of that should look for another job. And if he doesn't have the balls (or whatever the PC equivalent for female managers is) to do that, chances are s/he won't rat on his/her employer either.
So it is rather safe to read this sentence as "Or a disgruntled IT manager who has an axe to grind with his employer".
We got ratted on a couple of years ago, had to burn several man months to prove our case, and we got a thank you note in the end because we had way too many licenses. No compensation for being fraudulently accused of theft, obviously. It hasn't crossed the minds of the lyncing mob that having, say, 1000 PC's, only 300 of them were licensed to run version X of a certain excuse for an OS, could mean that we would be legal if 700 of them ran an outdated but perfectly paid-up OS. Hmmm, running wasn't the word actually, we had a stockpile of 486's that we couldn't get rid of because they were technical write-offs, but financially on the books.
Re:More Info (Score:3, Interesting)
Now, here I am 100% behind them. But that's not what they are going to catch with this. Try and find a web site actually selling pirated software. Go on, try. If you find one, is it based in the UK? Didn't think so, and that's all FAST cares about, despite any claims they make to the contrary.
Here's my experience with FAST. I agree with them that commercial piracy does steal from developers (where I disagree is that the amount of lost revenue is the retail cost of the pirated software, not the full price of the licensed version). And so I do actually report commercial piracy to them when I find it. I wouldn't say I'm a vigilante, just that I occasionally spend ten minutes trolling eBay.co.uk looking for obvious pirate sales, and querying the sellers about whether they are selling originals. You'd be surprised how honest and open people are about what they're selling, and it's that casual "of course they're copies, you got a problem with that?" attitude that actually pisses me off the most.
Want to know the net results of about a year of such reporting? A bunch of auctions got pulled. One guy lost his ISP access. And I received a bunch of email threats, including a death threat from a guy who lives just a few miles away (although he doesn't know that, I hope). The police have told me that they aren't in the least bit interested in handling these threats, and in fact the local constabulary suggested (informally) that I consider "not making such a bloody nuisance" of myself. FAST thank me for my efforts, assure me that all necessary steps have been taken to prevent the sale, but regret to inform me that the amounts in question are too small for them to allocate resources to a prosecution.
So, there you go. Net result to commercial pirates: a tiny little bit of inconvenience. Net result to me: I have to buy better locks for my door and keep a fire extinguisher handy.
What FAST are interested in is The Big Bust, tens of thousands of pounds. But they are not going to find this on the web, which is all this tool deals with. The Big Bust happens when they raid a market trader with thousands of CD's, or crash an office (or government department) running unlicensed Microsoft gear. But none of this is exposed on the web. This is a great solution to a problem that never really existed.
why do they think people will help? (Score:2)
There is community support to enforce the gpl but that benefits everyone.
Truly Scary Part (Score:4, Insightful)
The company makes money through corporate and industry membership fees. Companies like the international engineering, construction and services group, Balfour Beatty PLC, and Yorkshire Electricity Group PLC pay yearly fees beginning at $863, depending on the size of the company, to have FAST audit the company to ensure that all of the software the company is using is legal.
Seems like a bit of a conflict to me: sure, pay us to confirm that you don't have illegal software, and we won't tell ourselves.
It's like having to pay protection money, so they won't come and break our kneecaps.
Re:Truly Scary Part (Score:2)
Don't suspect your neighbor -- report him! (Score:4, Funny)
Hmmm (Score:2)
Re:Hmmm (Score:2)
Do they really think there's gonna be that many people willing to be a narc, without any compensation?
Well, they could give you a free copy of the software in question.
I saw a site once (I think it was a porn site) that offered the following deal: if you find any illegal copies of our videotape on the internet, we'll give you a copy of our videotape.
Re:Hmmm (Score:2)
Actually, there is a growing body of research that indicates people will punish non-cooperators in a game, even if that punishment also costs the punisher. There's some socio-equilibrant dynamic going on here... People like fair play and apparently are willing to sacrifice to enforce it.
Of course, then you have to convince people that filesharing is a violation of fair play. Most netizens appear to feel the exact opposite.
My first two thoughts: (Score:2)
or
To MPAA/RIAA:
Dear whatevars:
Eye s3Nd J00 dIs PhIle to h4\/3 J0Ur 4d\/IC3.
I want a version of this... (Score:4, Interesting)
Screw that. But if I could press an F button to say 'this is spam' and have it reported, then in theory maybe somebody'll do something about it, and I'll have less shit in my inbox. That would be a rather satisfactory incentive for me to report stuff like this.
Re:I want a version of this... (Score:2)
Re:I want a version of this... (Score:4, Informative)
Re:I want a version of this... (Score:2)
Razor (Score:2, Informative)
Re:I want a version of this... (Score:2)
Just forward the offending missive to: uce@ftc.gov . Works for me.
Sells!!!! (Score:2, Funny)
"If a user finds him or herself on a Web site that sells illegal software -- be it music, games, movies or programs -- one click on the "F" will pull up a box."
I don't mind them stopping people from selling warez, warez should be FREE
Web Sites???? (Score:2)
Someone tell me (Score:2)
Re:Someone tell me (Score:3, Informative)
Well, the establishment of a self-appointed unaccountable vigilante force roaming the Web certainly seems to bear on YRO. Much like the "safe harbor" provision of the DMCA, this would appear to encourage ISPs to shoot first and ask questions later.
Informer society (Score:5, Insightful)
What makes an informer society is, a pervasive sense that loyalty to someone you don't know and will never see is more important and moral than loyalty to your immediate neighbors. The idea is to establish that it is MUCH better to turn in your neighbor for copying mp3 files than to remain loyal to the neighbor, because both you and the neighbor are a lot less important than the Great Music Industry That Provides For You. Oops, I mean 'turn in your neighbor for talking against Stalin because you and he are less important than the Great Soviet Socialist Society That Provides For You'...
Thus, an informer society, and when people are convinced that some distant but worthy cause IS more important than being loyal to their neighbor, people DO inform. It's not a game. It also produces a culture of suspicion and unworthiness that is VERY effective at furthering the informer society. If you're a total worthless wretch except that you can help something far grander than yourself by supporting the KGB... oops I mean the RIAA, oops I mean the BSA... well, then you can be a little bit bigger by doing so. Not like your neighbor is so special. Besides, they might be conspiring to inform against you!
It's worth considering where the USSR is at now... glasnost, perestroika, the fall of the Wall, many things suggest the Informer Society didn't work all that great for them.
I hope they are laughing their ASSES off as they watch US have a go.
Re:Informer society (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2, Insightful)
Hey (Score:2, Funny)
this won't work (Score:2)
people don't tattle tale too much, it's just too much effort, and even making this simplier for stupid people won't make a diffrence.
Re:this won't work (Score:3, Interesting)
The problem is, it's too easy. These people are kidding themselves if they think that they're not going to get DOS'ed to hell. There will be plenty of erronious submissions from people who mean well but made a mistake, but there will be millions more from people who just want to fuck them over, and they'll win. Ultimately, a human will have to examine each one of these reports so it will be very very easy to flood them to the point that it's not worth it anymore. Besides all that, how often will some honest person run into pirated software anyway, unless they're specifically looking for it just to bust some pirates. But, this would be more like what you're talking about. No one is going to put forth the effort to locate software pirates just to turn them in unless they're getting paid for it.
And you get a cut of the savings! (Score:2)
I'd suppose the reward would be something like "10% of the money that would have been lost by the software industry if the site wasn't shut down".
Just think! The site has a pirated version of MS-Office? Well, if it was downloaded 1000 times over the last week, but then you "F"d 'em, you'd get something like $100,000!
This, my friends, is the wave of the future. The software companies quickly curb piracy, recover huge losses, and for a very very low cost!
And you, the investigator, make lots of money in the process!
This is the free market at it's best!
Does the plug-in work with Mozilla?
Re:And you get a cut of the savings! (Score:2)
No surprises here. (Score:4, Interesting)
Such tactics as these are really quite chilling, and can surely do FAST no favours whatsoever. It's ironic that, by pushing this kind of crap, the powers-that-be continue to harm their cause: these draconian tactics will only serve to encourage the view of the software pirate as a Robin Hood figure fighting an evil force. And, indeed, the organisations who're pushing this kind of stuff generally *are* the true thieves who are *truly* costing the software developers their money. After all, who can really trust people who try to convince you that, in a free market economy, the logical economic response to flagging sales (as a result of piracy) is the raising of prices...?
Most pirates know that what they're doing is questionable; compared with the likes of the RIAA and FAST, though, their sins are made to seem small and insignificant. I can only hope that continued moves like this will encourage society as a whole to address industry-serving laws that allow teenagers who copy games to be locked up, whilst (for example) keeping animal abuse acts a simple misdemeanour [lisaviolet.com] in several states.
We know the real story (Score:2, Funny)
Will this move people away from IE? (Score:5, Interesting)
A plus for Mozilla, Opera, et al. Not necessarily the sort of advertising they'd ever want to use, but every download helps.
Microsoft.. (Score:2)
How different would it be if? (Score:2, Insightful)
There is a lot written about, is this turning us into an 'informing' society?
Perhaps the right question to ask is, what do we wish to count as illegal?
Is smoking dope illegal?
No. Fine.
What about selling copies of Microsoft Word?
Whatever.
What about copies of 'kiddie porn'?
Most crimes are 'solved' because someone told the authorities about them, not due to some Peter Wimsey-esque effort on behalf of the police.
Ask, what do I believe is the crime?
If you believe it is a crime, perhaps you should tell the powers-that-be.
*r
Come on.... (Score:5, Insightful)
There are people out there who depend on software sales for a living. If you don't want to pay for software, you can use free as in beer software. Much of free as in beer software is also free as in speech.
I neither want to pay out hard cash, nor do I want to be restricted by legalese. So, I use GPL'd software where I can. Apache webserver, for example. Samba, instead of Windows network server. You know, stuff like that...
However, I also want to play Half-life, and Counterstrike. It took time and money to make these games. Yes, I could get pirate copies off Gnutella, but I want the *actual real copies* bought in a shop. So I have the right to own the proprietary software I use, and I have the right to use the free software I use.
I'd do it (Score:2)
I have never worked for someone who didn't have at least one "pirated" copy of Microsoft software.
Feeling that they should have been paying me closer to the national average as a System Administrator for Microsoft server and client software, I have been 'this' close to ratting to the BSA.
As soon as one of these organizations pays a "finder's fee", I'm am soooo there.
Yes, I am an oportunistic bastard.
Wow... (Score:4, Funny)
Before such software as that, we had to get it posted on Slashdot.
Yeah, that will work (Score:2)
Make sure you... (Score:3, Funny)
downloaded the software
I am SOOOO getting this..... (Score:3, Funny)
I'm gonna get this thing and click that button on EVERY MICROSOFT PAGE I visit. Come on, you can't think that Microsoft really came up with Windows on it's own! Just stolen from Apple & Xerox of course. Maybe if enough people report Microsoft as a Warez site, they'll have to take it down!
Hey, this is giving me ideas. How about if Apple sends a DMCA notice telling Microsoft to stop selling software that infringes on their IP!!! Love to see the response letter to that!
But seriously, it would be best for everyone on slashdot to download this browser, and setup 'Push the Freaking Button' or similar software to automatically submit every site they visit. In millions of reports of Yahoo.com, do you think they could find the sites that are actually pirates? It would be better for them to just look through every site on the web on their own.
Slashdotters: This is your mission should you choose to accept it... I am the inventor and owner of the color 'white', also known as '#FFFF'. Report any sites on the web you visit that are illegially using MY COLOR! Together, with the help of the DMCA, we can prevent IP infringements!
Re:Pirating? (Score:2, Funny)
Re:DMCA (Score:2)
Re:Will it work? (Score:2)
Re:hmm.. (Score:2)
Of course, if SpamAssassin is working properly, the spams you see will be few and far between anyway. Quite a nice program.
Comment removed (Score:4, Insightful)
Fear is the mind-killer (Score:3)
I guess the obvious response is `says who?' (-:
What God does say is `Prove all things, hold fast that which is good' in 1Thessalonians 5:21, but if you distrust the Bible, why would you apply just that one verse from it? (-:
God is not coin-op, not a performing monkey, but if you seriously ask Him to prove Himself to you personally (ask, not demand), He often will. But you must be listening. Or shall I quote you the parable of the man on the roof of the flooded house?