Denial of Service attacks to legally target P2P file sharing networks???

Phantasm66 · Jun 26, 2002

Oh man, here we go again....!!! Is there nothing that these people will not try to do in the name of not letting me download that Alanis Morissette track? Are you now to condone denial of service attack on these networks in the name of stopping someone from watching a bad quality recording of "Attack of the Clones?" So its OK to DOS attack if you are a rich, evil record company but not OK if you are a kid hacking from your parent's garage? All of the BS makes me sick!!!!!!!!!

Legalizing Attacks on P2P Networks

Posted by timothy on Tuesday June 25, @10:48PM
from the oh-sure dept.

miniver writes: "Rep. Howard Berman (D-Calif.) wants to legalize DoS attacks on P2P networks such as Kazaa and Morpheus by 'copyright holders.' The Washington Post reports on his proposed legislation here. Berman's bill, to be introduced in the next several weeks, would attempt to minimize the illegal trading of copyrighted songs and other content on "peer-to-peer" (P2P) networks by permitting copyright holders to use technology against pirates. As can be expected, the RIAA is in favor of the proposed legislation."

source: http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=02/06/25/2258231

So is next?

1)Hard drives to be designed that autodestruct when illegal mp3s are written to them?

2)P2P network employees allowed to be legally beated up by RIAA senior staff?

3)CDs with hidden data tracks that contain stealth software that reports you to the police for having illegal mp3s or a divx rip of a DVD written on them?

4)Me going mental and shooting one of these sick greedy SOBs?

Phantasm66 · Jun 26, 2002

See also:

http://www.techspot.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1560

http://www.techspot.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1618

Phantasm66 · Jun 26, 2002

Lawmaker Tries To Foil Illegal File-Sharing

By Robert MacMillan
washingtonpost.com Staff Writer
Tuesday, June 25, 2002; 4:07 PM

Copyright holders would receive carte blanche to use aggressive tactics to stop the illegal distribution of their works on online services like Morpheus and Kazaa under legislation outlined today by Rep. Howard Berman (D-Calif.).

Berman's bill, to be introduced in the next several weeks, would attempt to minimize the illegal trading of copyrighted songs and other content on "peer-to-peer" (P2P) networks by permitting copyright holders to use technology against pirates.

While content owners now can try to block access to intellectual property pirates, they cannot use the range of technological options that they want, chiefly because some tactics are illegal under state and federal law. Berman's bill would legalize some techniques over the protests of file-sharing advocates.

Berman, the ranking Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee's intellectual property and Internet panel, represents a California district adjacent to Burbank and Hollywood -- major capitals of the entertainment industry that have long clamored for better online piracy deterrents.

Despite the passage in 1998 of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, piracy continues to nag at copyright holders and businesses. The DMCA has been used to threaten suspected copyright violators, but questions about what constitutes legal sharing and illegal piracy continue to dilute the law's power.

Following the court-ordered shutdown of the popular file-sharing service Napster, P2P systems like Morpheus have become popular because they make it harder for the entertainment industry to detect copyright infringement. Two people sharing music through the Morpheus service establish connections to each others' computers instead of using a Napster-like central server.

Berman said such P2P networks should not be "cleared out," but "cleaned up."

His bill would allow copyright holders to set up decoy files and use other techno-tricks like file-blocking and redirection to throw P2P pirates off the trail, but it would forbid those holders from employing tactics that would damage or destroy pirates' own computer systems.

Destroying, crashing or damaging people's computers, software or other technology systems is illegal under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, as are many of the ideas Berman is suggesting should be available to content owners - though he said that viruses should not be used as defense mechanisms.

"A copyright owner should not be allowed to damage the property of a P2P file trader or any intermediaries, including ISPs," Berman said. "(I) wouldn't want to let a particularly incensed copyright owner introduce a virus that would disable the computer from which copyrighted works are made available ... "

Ellen Stroud, spokeswoman for Morpheus' parent company StreamCast Networks, said that Berman's proposed bill would legalize tactics that currently are considered illegal because they allow online misrepresentation.

"(Berman) has called for a posse of copyright vigilantes," she said.

Howard Coble (R-N.C.), chairman of the House Courts, the Internet and Intellectual Property subcommittee, said in an interview that he likes Berman's proposal, but said it could be "tweaked."

Coble also said that he is awaiting approval from the House Judiciary Committee to hold a July hearing on Internet copyright violations.

"My philosophy, and I think Howard's philosophy, is to prevent larceny and to prevent piracy," Coble said.

The Recording Industry Association of America said in a statement that it supports the Berman proposal, adding that "Internet piracy undermines the growth of legitimate online music sites and hurts all consumers in the long run."

source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A43256-2002Jun25.html

poertner_1274 · Jun 26, 2002

I agree that this seems kind of strange. How some record company can ddos these servers, but if a packet kiddie wanted to do it they could possibly get in trouble. This is the sort of stuff that I don't understand. I don't use these services, but I think people should be able to if htey wanted.

StormBringer · Jun 26, 2002

The recording and entertainment industries have been using DoS attacks for a while now, the only difference is that now they could have the law to back them up. This is just another sign that things are going to get worse for consumers and the only winners here will be the lawyers who cash in on all this. It doesn't even matter anymore whether it is wrong to use these P2P networks or if it is over reaction on the part of the entertainment industry. What is clear is that nothing good can come of this whole situation no matter the outcome.

poertner_1274 · Jun 27, 2002

Good point

Now I wanna go become a lawyer and quick

Vehementi · Jul 2, 2002

These new DDOSers are RIAA funded, no doubt.

Phantasm66 · Jul 2, 2002

Coincidence??

GamesSpy and KaZaA infected by viruses

By John Leyden
Posted: 06/28/2002 at 07:00 EST

Nimda has found its way onto online gaming site GameSpy.com.

In an email to users, GameSpy admitted that its GameSpy Arcade Installer
had become infected with the Nimda-E virus. It has now replaced the infected file with a virus-free version of the installer.

Nimda found it way on GameSpy.com servers to infect the installer program, which was downloaded an estimated 3,100 times on Tuesday and Wednesday this week, Cnet reports.

Meanwhile KaZaA users became exposed to a virus called Backdoor.K0wbot.1.3.B. The virus, which includes a remote control backdoor component controlled by Internet Relay Chat, is the second virus to infect the popular file sharing network in recent weeks.

Users are urged to update their anti-virus protection and to be mindful of the risk of infection that can occasionally come with using file sharing services, which seem to be becoming a target for virus writers. ®

source: http://www.theregus.com/content/56/25424.html

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Denial of Service attacks to legally target P2P file sharing networks???

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