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e-Denounce

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'?"

215 of 474 comments (clear)

  1. F is for by sweet+reason · · Score: 3, Funny

    why not mark the button with 'D' for 'denounce'?

    surely it is F for fink.

    --
    Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler. -- A.E.
    1. Re:F is for by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

      This would give a new meaning to 'f you' I think :]

    2. Re:F is for by azzy · · Score: 3, Interesting

      This is brilliant, I wil get it.
      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.

    3. Re:F is for by darien · · Score: 2

      Then again, I'm not sure I'd trust a plugin from someone like that not to scan everything I look at and on my drive unless I could see the source for it.

      Presumably it'll take about .03 seconds after it's released for someone to capture and analyse the data it sends home. And about .04 seconds for someone to write a script that pretends to be this plug-in and sends FAST every URL on the web in turn.

    4. Re:F is for by markmoss · · Score: 2

      Actually, the article itself says 'The "F" stands for "fast," not "fink."' And if you believe that, here are some hot stock tips...

  2. I'm getting this! by Sadfsdaf · · Score: 4, Funny

    I'm getting this just to claim that every single page on the FAST website is pirated software. Yes, I have no life.

    1. Re:I'm getting this! by carm$y$ · · Score: 3, Insightful

      I'm getting this just to claim that every single page on the FAST website is pirated software.

      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.

      --
      -- No sig today
    2. Re:I'm getting this! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Maybe it's because the plugin actually audits YOUR hard drive for pirated software... ;-)

    3. Re:I'm getting this! by ethereal · · 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."

      --

      Your right to not believe: Americans United for Separation of Church and

    4. Re:I'm getting this! by Alsee · · Score: 3, Funny

      I want this too. I want to report all of the pirated software on Goatse!

      -

      --
      - - You can't take something off the Internet! That's like trying to take pee out of a swimming pool.
    5. Re:I'm getting this! by Reziac · · Score: 2

      To me it looks like the origin point of a new variety of spyware, which will soon be silently incorporated in IE (if it isn't already -- see my other post regarding IE5.5's behaviour). I don't think the object is truly to get more reports from willing finks; I think it's geared more toward a eventual method of capturing info from any warez sites ANYONE visits.

      Well, anyone lame enough to use IE.

      As someone points out, software "piracy" is "bad" -- but living in an informer-driven society is worse.

      --
      ~REZ~ #43301. Who'd fake being me anyway?
  3. Mess them up. by TheOnlyCoolTim · · Score: 2, Troll

    Download their button and click F on every website you go to. Maybe someone could write a program that automatically does this everytime you go to a site.

    Tim

    --
    Omnia vestra castrorum habetur nobis.
    1. Re:Mess them up. by ConsumedByTV · · Score: 4, Interesting

      That would only work if this software simply sends the data of the page and the url where it was found. What if it transmits your ip? Well then you can be filtered out. Only people that have low submissions from a single ip would be counted as where if you submit adobe.com and slashdot.org and freshmeat and they run a parse script, they can tell if you are trying to mess with them. Who knows though?

      Lets just reverse engineer the protocol and write our own clients with spoofed source addresses. Shouldn't be that hard.

      --


      "Not my manner of thinking but the manner of thinking of others has been the source of my unhappiness." - M
    2. Re:Mess them up. by jmaslak · · Score: 4, Funny
      Lets just reverse engineer the protocol and write our own clients with spoofed source addresses. Shouldn't be that hard.

      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.
    3. Re:Mess them up. by gilroy · · Score: 2
      Blockquoth the poster:

      Download their button and click F on every website you go to.

      Nah. Download their button and click F while visitng the websites of the RIAA, MPAA, Disney, and Senator Hollings. :)
    4. Re:Mess them up. by kubrick · · Score: 4, Funny

      It's about as hard as factoring 1024 bit prime numbers

      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...

      --
      deus does not exist but if he does
    5. Re:Mess them up. by BlueWonder · · Score: 3, Interesting

      According to Netcraft, www.fast.org.uk runs Microsoft Windows 2000, which is vulnerable to initial sequence number guessing.

    6. Re:Mess them up. by NoMoreNicksLeft · · Score: 2

      I found an old DirecPC pci card, and I have a spare 18" dish.

      What keeps me from pointing it at the right bird, sniffing that traffic, finding a suitable IP destination address, and spoofing it? The replies will be broadcast, and I will know the sequence numbers.

      More to the point, why can't I go wardriving, and find an open 802.11 proxy? Or hell, setup a wireless relay from it to someplace more comfortable? TCP spoofing is only tough, if you can't think of a way to recieve the reply. You obviously just can't spoof any address, but with both methods, you have a fairly large pool of available ones to work with. The mojo for tcp spoofing isn't quite as deep as infiltrating major backbones.

    7. Re:Mess them up. by ConsumedByTV · · Score: 2

      You forgot your stream insertion operators idiot.

      --


      "Not my manner of thinking but the manner of thinking of others has been the source of my unhappiness." - M
    8. Re:Mess them up. by ConsumedByTV · · Score: 2

      It depends. You can spoof tcp packets easily, however a few things to make it easier are: being on the network to be able to sniff the reply(for the sequence number), only spoof the source address and drop the connection (so that it drops as if the client was erroring) or actually cracking the box itself to generate simple (but seemly random) sequence numbers (etc) ...

      And if it were to use UDP it would be SUPER simple to spoof it as everyone knows that UDP lacks a tcp-like handshake.

      And windows 2000 must not be a modern operating system as it is possible to guessing its tcp sequence numbers.

      --


      "Not my manner of thinking but the manner of thinking of others has been the source of my unhappiness." - M
    9. Re:Mess them up. by darien · · Score: 2

      Why do people do this? What could possibly be their true motivation?

      I think their true motivation is entirely honourable - to see individuals and companies rewarded fairly for their work/innovation.

      They just don't... how can I put it. They don't think like us. And, to be fair, it's easy to imagine them reading this page, with all of us instantly trying to think up ways to screw up their idea, and thinking "Why do people do this? What could possibly be their true motivation?" And indeed I imagine they'd reach a rather less favourable view of us (greedy anarchists) than we have of them (clueless buffoons).

    10. Re:Mess them up. by arcsine · · Score: 2, Informative

      2^i mod i =2

      That will only work if i is a prime number. Proving numbers are primes, is easy.

    11. Re:Mess them up. by Shoten · · Score: 2

      Er, you don't need to guess sequence numbers when you're the one who initiated the connection. You only need to guess sequence numbers if you're hijacking someone else's connection. And there have been scripts to automate this task for years now...

      Still, spoofing isn't easy, and if they are smart, they will come up with ways to filter those who "fink falsely". But if enough of us did it, early on, it would produce enough mischief that it might do the job anyways...

      --

      For your security, this post has been encrypted with ROT-13, twice.
    12. Re:Mess them up. by NoMoreNicksLeft · · Score: 2

      With the satellite, since its downstream only, and I don't have a subscription, I would have to spoof the IP. I just get to listen in on the broadcast traffic, and for this reason I'm able to send more than just the initial packet. I could "complete" any number of connections.

      It could be the same with the 802.11 too. I don't have to use that for outgoing... only to listen in and be able to insert the proper sequences in my spoofed packets. Why would you do this? Well, for one, it would be much less intrusive to the 802.11 network. They'll only see a few weird incoming packets, which I bet most networks do already. If I actively use that link though, likely IDS would see that as something strange much more quickly, and could even attempt to block it.

      With the satellite connection, you could hide very well. The DirecPC satellite covers most of N America, and you could be anywhere on the continent. They can't track reception, only broadcast, which it doesn't use. I suppose they could do a door to door search, of 150 million odd homes, heck, they could even check which have 18" dishes in the yard, and rule some out. But they won't catch you this way.

      What about the other side of things? Well, as long as you're on a different backbone (which I would be with my cable modem), then they lose any reasonable way to track you across it. As long as you don't do the same thing for 12 days in a row, they won't have the time to set all this up. Short term spoofs of 2 hours or less, and infrequent, have no reasonable chances of being trackable by the victim. Besides, you wouldn't use this for something lame like DoS. You'd do something you thought they wouldn't be likely to notice anyway, so that you wouldn't tip them off to the fact you have a new toy. So, small chance of being noticed, plus alot of difficulty in tracking it, equals pretty safe.

      But, the risk doesn't end there. More and more sysadmins are waking up, and somehow acquiring clues. Chances are, my cable modem couldn't even spoof packets, they'd be blocked at the first router that was properly configged. And even if they aren't, maybe that sysadmin would notice something funny, and report it... the goverment is awful when it comes to tech. But what script kiddies never understand, is they are damn good at conventional sleuthing. Pretty soon, an FBI agent puts together that complaint from AT&T Broadband, and the bank that is being infiltrated with spoofed packets. Then, you are toast. But it would take them many hours, to get the proper warrants, and have backbone admins set things up to allow your spoofs to be followed... it's them skipping that part, and seeing your packets on the other side of the fog, and putting 2 and 2 together, that you would have to worry about. Either that, or being a retard, and bragging about it in some chat room.

    13. Re:Mess them up. by jmaslak · · Score: 2

      Actually, both sides of a TCP connection generate independant sequence numbers. Thus, you DO need to guess sequence numbers. The only exception to this is TTCP, which, AFAIK, is not used by web servers.

      If the IP you picked when you spoofed is alive and receiving packets, then it will send a RST packet whenever it receives a connected packet that makes no sense. That will close the connection.

      To the other people who talked about how easy TCP spoofing is: I stand behind my words that this is difficult to do today. I propose a challenge - execute a spoofing attack against a W2K server (the easiest of the modern operating systems to spoof) and post the exploit. Put your code where your mouth is. This code should work against a W2K box with modest activity on it. It should not involve sniffing packets on the Windows 2000 side of the LAN.

      It isn't spoofing if you are on the same wire, either. It is just picking another technically (although not necessarily politically) legitimate IP.

      Sure, you can do proxies, but there are only a few thousand of them. So FAST has to check them out, record them as proxies, and move on. Not a big deal. You can also do it with 802.11b and open LANs. But, once again, this community probably doesn't have access to more then a few thosand of them. When they get bogus links, it will take them a few seconds to figure out they are bogus and block the IP/subnet they were sent from in the case of massive spoofing.

      Wouldn't it be easier just to get an AOL account and do it there? They won't want to block all AOL addresses.

      Of course I don't think I have a problem with people getting busted for piracy, either, so I don't have a problem with FAST. I own the commercial software I use. (I would love to see the Post-Microsoft world that would happen if every user of Windows actually had to pay what MS thinks Windows is worth - some people would figure out that it isn't worth it)

  4. The true question.... by x-empt · · Score: 5, Insightful

    If you are surfing websites looking for warez (pronounced "war-ez" and not "wares" by the true junkies) ... Why the hell would you want to report it to a bunch of copyright police?

    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

    --
    Ever need an online dictionary?
    1. Re:The true question.... by Anonymous Coward · · 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)

    2. Re:The true question.... by Ralph+Malph+Alpha · · 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.

      --
      _________________
      EBAY SAFETY TIPZ!
    3. Re:The true question.... by JabberWokky · · Score: 2
      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.

      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

      --
      "$30 for the One True Ring. $10 each additional ring!" -- JRR "Bob" Tolkien
    4. Re:The true question.... by Jay+L · · Score: 2

      Anyway, from the first time the term started being used, warez was always pronounced "wares", to rhyme with "bears".

      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.

    5. Re:The true question.... by Rasta+Prefect · · Score: 2

      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.

      I never heard this particular perversion of it until I got to college('99) where it seems everyone used it. In my experience, it's just people who haven't figured out the derivation of the word, and therefore how it ought to be pronouced. Personally, it brings out a desire to engage in some bitch slapping, just like when people say Information Superhighway without sarcasm.

      --
      Why?
    6. Re:The true question.... by Rasta+Prefect · · Score: 2

      And now, I've forgotten to close the italics tag after the quote. That sure ruins the '133tness of the whole thing, doesn't it?

      --
      Why?
    7. Re:The true question.... by xtremex · · Score: 2

      I was the guy who had the Fidonet node! I still have every game for the Commie scene on about 1,000 floppies in my attic. If I can get the darn floppy drive to work (and power supply), I'd still be using it.

      --
      If you're not a Liberal in your 20's, then you have no heart.If you're still a Liberal in your 30's you have no brain.
    8. Re:The true question.... by shepd · · Score: 2, Funny

      >This "war-ez" business (to rhyme with, i dunno, say, "bore fez")

      But I wonder wether Juan, Walter and Wally Juarez would wench at what a wrinkle that puts in his business?

      I mean, where would Juan or Wally Juarez go for when Juan or Wally want warez?

      If Wally or Juan Juarez would want some warez they would want then from their brother's store: Walter Jaurez' Warez emporium in Juarez, Mexico of course!

      So, where will you want your warez from today? Would you want them from Juan Jaurez who buys them from Wally Jaurez who bought them from Walter Juarez' Warez in Juarez, or would you willingly ask for them from Wally the Waffly eating WarezMaster himself?

      Yes, I am nothing but a dirty copycat, sosumi.

      But really, what would one want when warez and juarez are called into question but a riveting discussion on the topic at hand? :-)

      Now tell me, was it Walter, Wally or Juan who stole the warez from the warehouse in Juarez?

      --
      If you could be told what you can see or read, then it follows that you could be told what to say or think - BoC
    9. Re:The true question.... by darien · · Score: 3, Funny

      I've always pronounced it "w'four-threez." Is that wrong?? God, no wonder people always seemed a bit suspicious when I told them I was l'three-threet!

    10. Re:The true question.... by mcrbids · · Score: 2
      The difference in pronunciation is to point out the difference between "wares", which connote legal product, and "warez" which contain illicit references.

      Unlike other homonynms like "their" and "there", there is no inferential or sytactical difference in accompanying words that can be used to determine which definition is being used.

      They are not synonyms.

      "wares" are legal, "warez" are not. Thus, to differentiate between the two, there is a pronunciation difference.

      (Why am I typing this?!)

      --
      I have no problem with your religion until you decide it's reason to deprive others of the truth.
    11. Re:The true question.... by ChaosDiscordSimple · · Score: 2

      My experience with "war-ez" has been that it's used derisively. As in, "Look at me, I'm a way kewl leeeet hax-or, I gotz me some mad p-fat war-ez." It was used to make fun of those who thought that trading warez really was cool in some strange way. I was seeing war-ez used this way around 1995. At the same time, ware-z was still used to seriously refer to illegally copied software. Only recently have started seeing the "kewl leet hax-or" types using war-ez to refer to themselves. Every time I hear it I smile to think that they're using a pronunciation intended to mock them to describe themselves.

    12. Re:The true question.... by Jay+L · · Score: 2

      The commercials called it a cruh-sandwich. Just like many Americans say cruh-sahnt.

  5. Given all the questions about Kazaa... by Brento · · Score: 4, Insightful

    You would have to be crazy to even think about installing something like this on your system. If its sole intention is to rat on people, wouldn't you think it would monitor just a little bit more than what you volunteered to offer?

    --
    What's your damage, Heather?
    1. Re:Given all the questions about Kazaa... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      Store Clerk: You may download Kazaa, but beware - it carries a terrible curse.
      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?

  6. What if... by mberman · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Someone smart with a broad userbase, like AOL, got paid a large amount of money by the RIAA to release a FastTrack client with a little "F" button to its users, complete with instructions to press it whenever they see a copyrighted song. I think the likelihood of it working (rather than just backfiring and giving all AOL users access to stolen mp3s) is far higher than any of us would like to think...

    --

    This is a self-referential sig

    1. Re:What if... by glwtta · · Score: 2
      Where do you "see" the song? And what exactly will the button tell RIAA?

      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.

      --
      sic transit gloria mundi
  7. Idn't that nice... by statikuz · · Score: 3, Funny

    "People may be reporting instances of illegally pirated software simply out of the goodness of their hearts..." Aww.

    1. Re:Idn't that nice... by cperciva · · Score: 3, Funny

      "People may be reporting instances of illegally pirated software simply out of the goodness of their hearts..."

      Versus reporting instances of legally pirated software?

    2. Re:Idn't that nice... by reemul · · Score: 2

      That's what called "fair use". An unauthorized copy is technically piracy, but is legally permitted under current law. So my install of a purchased software package on my other computer is essentially legally pirated software.

      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.

      --
      You're just jealous 'cuz the voices talk to *me*
    3. Re:Idn't that nice... by Issue9mm · · Score: 2

      Unless of course this plugin were available now, and I could just hit the "F" key and have you reported MISTER!

      -9mm-

    4. Re:Idn't that nice... by Jay+L · · Score: 2

      So my install of a purchased software package on my other computer is essentially legally pirated software.

      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.

    5. Re:Idn't that nice... by Jay+L · · Score: 2

      Yes. The license can grant you additional rights beyond those you get from fair use in copyright. But the poster seemed to think that using software on two computers was automatically legal, and only "technical piracy", whatever that is.

  8. Hey, Slashdot needs this by The+Original+Bobski · · Score: 4, Funny

    All you have to do is press the "S" button for article submission.

    Of course the editors need an "R" button for "Rejected." But then, I think auto-reject is a feature already built in. :)

    --
    satire, n: 1) witty language used to convey insults or scorn; 2) a form of humor lost on most slashdot moderators.
    1. Re:Hey, Slashdot needs this by shobadobs · · Score: 2, Funny

      FUCK YOU!

      See, it works.

  9. For a second there... by Rayonic · · Score: 2

    I thought it said that it'd put an 'F' button on my keyboard. I must be getting old.

  10. Here's a good site by mfos.org · · Score: 5, Funny

    www.gnu.org

    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.

    1. Re:Here's a good site by blibbleblobble · · Score: 2

      And someone's ebay auction of Linux CDs was blocked by PayPal (i.e. they kept his money rather than forwarding it) until he got a letter signed by microsoft to prove he had permission to copy the software.

    2. Re:Here's a good site by darien · · Score: 2

      Signed by Microsoft ??

      God, I had no idea we were so far gone. That's seriously scary.

  11. MS, MPAA, RIAA by Peyna · · Score: 2

    I'm thinking going to Microsoft.com, MPAA.org, and RIAA.org and clicking that F button 1,000,000 times might be very fun indeed. After all, maybe with the exception of Microsoft, I bet that many of the individuals who are members of MPAA or RIAA or work for them probably make daily use of pirated software/music. Oh dear me.

    --
    What?
    1. Re:MS, MPAA, RIAA by glwtta · · Score: 2

      Alright if someone writes a cross platform script to do these submissions (I am sure you don't need the actual plugin to send the submission), I'll run it 24/7 on the 5 computers I have around :)

      --
      sic transit gloria mundi
  12. Fighting the Power by durstann · · Score: 2, Funny

    I wonder if the plugin could be modified to report back every page I go to. I really don't care if they know what I'm looking at, and if enough people do this they'll be completely overwhelmed.

    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.

  13. The True Usage by Rayonic · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The true users of this software will be:

    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 will be turned in per day?

    1. Re:The True Usage by Some+Dumbass... · · Score: 2

      The true users of this software will be:

      [snip!]

      B) Immature little warez kiddies turning in sites that belong to "opposing" warez groups.


      And vice-versa... ironically, causing the system to work exactly like its creators want it to! :)

    2. Re:The True Usage by mpe · · Score: 2

      B) Immature little warez kiddies turning in sites that belong to "opposing" warez groups.

      What makes you thing this catagory won't extend to software companies?

  14. How to make this work. by Jagasian · · Score: 4, Interesting

    In order for this to work, each time you give a site an "F", you should be contractually bound so that if it turns out that the site is legit, then you are the one that gets in trouble: you would have to pay a fine.

    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.

    1. Re:How to make this work. by flossie · · Score: 2
      In order for this to work, each time you give a site an "F", you should be contractually bound so that if it turns out that the site is legit, then you are the one that gets in trouble: you would have to pay a fine.

      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!

    2. Re:How to make this work. by lkaos · · Score: 5, Insightful

      If noone could pirate software, far more people would end up using free software. Think about it.

      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.

      --
      int func(int a);
      func((b += 3, b));
    3. Re:How to make this work. by flossie · · Score: 2
      It could be put in the EULA of the plugin.

      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.

    4. Re:How to make this work. by flossie · · Score: 2

      I hope this doesn't come as too much of a shock to you, but I think that you will find that you have no obligations whatsoever once you have purchased your food. My baker certainly does not have the right to fine me for failing to eat bread in the prescribed manner.

    5. Re:How to make this work. by flossie · · Score: 2
      i would still do it all day. I'm sure a lot of people who are desperate for cash would

      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.

    6. Re:How to make this work. by Pentagram · · Score: 2

      Er, how exactly can anyone be "contractually bound" when they haven't signed a contract?

      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.

    7. Re:How to make this work. by cygnusx · · Score: 5, Interesting
      I don't use Linux because it's free in either sense of the word. I use it because it's better than Windows.
      Good stand to take. Which is why I always have a Linux box lying around which I can SSH to and develop on.

      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, quirky cut and paste, printers/hardware that are difficult to configure... all these make Linux a poor desktop choice.

    8. Re:How to make this work. by phaze3000 · · Score: 2
      Wait, HTTP runs over TCP, which runs over IP.

      But of course people keep using IP to mean intellectual property instead of Internet Protocol now!

      Help! We're running out of TLAs! (And other sorts of acronyms too)

      --
      Blaming GW Bush for the Iraq war is like blaming Ronald McDonald for the poor quality of food.
    9. Re:How to make this work. by flossie · · Score: 2

      That looks like a better solution for preventing abuse of the system. However, as the plugin has being developed because people can't be bothered to bookmark their link and cut-and-paste URLs, I wouldn't have thought that they would get a very good response if they then add the extra hassle of sending them money. The whole point of the plugin is to make it really, really easy to inform. If they are going to start charging/rewarding people, the old web interface would probably suffice.

    10. Re:How to make this work. by cygnusx · · Score: 2

      >Cut 'n paste isn't quirky at all!
      >is it shift-insert or Ctrl-V or right-click
      >and hit paste today?

      All standard winapps (i.e., everything except the Netscape 6.0 address bar) accept C-c, C-v, C-x, S-Ins, C-Ins, S-Del, as well as a menu you can use with the mouse.

      >And printers aren't difficult to configure
      >once you know how to work with printcap

      This is something a lot of users won't stand for, I'm afraid.

      > Hardware difficult to configure? Pray tell
      > me how!

      [Redhat 7.1] On a new Dell at work, everything worked like magic out of the box. On a handbuilt home box with an el cheapo ISA Yamaha 16 bit sound card, it was a round of kernel compiling before sound worked. And MIDI still doesn't work :( (Tips appreciated).

      >out that old SCSI card that's perfect for your
      >CD burner since the last drivers were for win98

      As far as I have seen, if a device gets popular enough, Microsoft will put it on the Windows CD so that the driver is available even if the hardware maker goes under. Of course, if the hardware maker goes under and it's not a common device, you *are* scrvwed.

      >X supports more fonts than windows probably
      >ever will

      Three important ones -- Type 1, TrueType and OpenType -- are supported on Windows as well. Don't think windows can display PS fonts onscreen though. Can Linux show OpenType fonts?

      >I hear all the time they are going to raise the
      >maximum amount of fonts with every distribution.

      As for better fonts, XP ships with a couple more Latin fonts I believe (Franklin Gothic?). But -- it ships with quite a number of fonts for Indian scripts and some others I couldn't recognize and was too lazy to look up (and i'm pretty sure I wasn't using a South Asia edition), so definitely there's some improvement in that department.

      Also, there's an increase in the number of ms supplied windows fonts that support large numbers of scripts -- arial in windows is a good example, you can use it for almost any script. Code 2000 is still better though.

    11. Re:How to make this work. by shepd · · Score: 2

      >Uh. Yeah. You obviously suck at copy and pasting.

      Just did it now. And didn't even have to hit the keyboard. Much better on my RSI.

      >Are you just talking out your ass, or did you really have that happen.

      Yes, it really did happen. I have an old DTC SCSI card that isn't supported anymore, so it was basically junk.

      Wouldn't have happened on an open source OS, like Linux.

      >How do you check if UDMA support is enabled on your hard drives in linux?

      dmesg | grep -i dma

      Woooo, that was *so* hard [/sarcasm]

      >In windows, all hardware driver settings are on the same screen, and I know right where to look.

      In Linux all hardware driver settings are in the same directory, /proc and I know right where to look. Fewer keystrokes and crashes too.

      >Please eat yourself

      Well, that's the maturity level of windows users for ya!

      --
      If you could be told what you can see or read, then it follows that you could be told what to say or think - BoC
    12. Re:How to make this work. by lkaos · · Score: 2

      I think you would be suprised. Ask some free software developers why they develop free software. Usually, the responsible will be that while the "Free" idea is important - and they usually agree with it - the quality and challenge of the software is more important.

      Most free software developers are in it for a love of programming, not for political reasons.

      --
      int func(int a);
      func((b += 3, b));
    13. Re:How to make this work. by lkaos · · Score: 2

      >How do you check if UDMA support is enabled on your hard drives in linux?

      dmesg | grep -i dma


      Or, you can do it the Right(TM) way:

      # hdparm /dev/hda

      or whatever your drive is... Look at using_dma (it will say either on or off).

      --
      int func(int a);
      func((b += 3, b));
    14. Re:How to make this work. by lkaos · · Score: 2

      *Exceptions: Mozilla, OpenOffice, maybe XMMS and the Gimp.

      Don't forget AbiWord and Gnumeric. These are two excellent desktop applications.

      For Joe Public this *may* be enough, but there are lots of people who need more.

      Ok..

      But poor font support [blogspot.com]

      I'm sorry, but I don't understand the importance of fonts. Perhaps I am obtuse, but I do not see the need for anti-aliasing or any of that stuff.

      quirky cut and paste

      I _live_ for Linux cut and paste! That's the main reason I'm helpless on a Windows box. Not to mention the fact that I can use real editor commands in most text areas (C-A, C-K, C-E). Very useful.

      printers/hardware that are difficult to configure...

      Never had a printer or hardware problem. I had them on Windows because I always lose those stupid disks, but not in Linux. I think the printer thing is hearsay for the most part.

      --
      int func(int a);
      func((b += 3, b));
  15. "R" is for Ratsquad, by gelfling · · Score: 2

    F is for you.

    WTF would someone take time out to do this - a badly warped paranoid sense of their own importance?

  16. More Info by Jagasian · · Score: 4, Informative

    THE FEDERATION AGAINST Software Theft (FAST) relies on the kindness of strangers in its effort to short-circuit pirates selling illegal software over the Internet, so in its effort to encourage the reporting of such pirating, the organization wants to make whistle-blowing as simple as the push of a button.

    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/.

    "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.


    1. Re:More Info by kubrick · · Score: 2

      The software will be free

      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?

      --
      deus does not exist but if he does
    2. Re:More Info by gilroy · · Score: 3, Funny
      Blockquoth the poster:

      THE FEDERATION AGAINST Software Theft (FAST)

      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. :)

    3. Re:More Info by Jay+L · · Score: 2

      Did this guy just get modded up to 4 for POSTING THE (non-slashdotted) ARTICLE THAT WAS LINKED?!

      Man, do I know what to do for karma now.

    4. Re:More Info by Tim+C · · Score: 2

      I'm sure they must have heard of the great 'free software' hype or something.

      More likely is that they're protecting themselves from accusations of copyright infringement for offering software for download at no cost...

      Cheers,

      Tim

    5. Re:More Info by Rogerborg · · Score: 3, Interesting
      • in its effort to short-circuit pirates selling illegal software over the Internet

      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.

      --
      If you were blocking sigs, you wouldn't have to read this.
  17. why do they think people will help? by Edmund+Blackadder · · Score: 2

    I dont know why copyright and other assorted ip owners assume that people will go out of their way to help them protect their rights, which they (the owners) will use for their own gain.

    There is community support to enforce the gpl but that benefits everyone.

  18. Truly Scary Part by dcavens · · Score: 4, Insightful

    The really scary part is this: (from the linked article):

    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.

    1. Re:Truly Scary Part by Peyna · · Score: 2

      I would guess that if they found someone in the company using illegal software and paid those yearly fees, they probably wouldn't get so hard for it, but rather just the person caught, instead of the whole company.

      --
      What?
  19. Don't suspect your neighbor -- report him! by Jamie+Zawinski · · Score: 4, Funny

    Suspicion Breeds Confidence!

  20. The Underdogs by Jagasian · · Score: 5, Informative

    The Underdogs really tries to only post the binaries for games that are no longer sold. If a game is re-released, or still sold after a really long time, he has a review of the game, but doesn't post the binaries. The Underdogs tries its best to live up to the Abandonware promise.

    1. Re:The Underdogs by dvdeug · · Score: 2

      The Underdogs really tries to only post the binaries for games that are no longer sold

      That doesn't make it legal, it just makes ethical, and less likely that anyone is going to care.

    2. Re:The Underdogs by Rayonic · · Score: 2

      I know that, and you know that, but do they know that? ::motions toward the rest of the Internet populace::

    3. Re:The Underdogs by ahde · · Score: 4, Funny

      by playing jumpman or bubble bobble you are robbing Microsoft, Nintendo, and Sony of your game playing time.

      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 ...er... Nintendo.

      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"

  21. Hmmm by TheRealFixer · · Score: 2

    Do they really think there's gonna be that many people willing to be a narc, without any compensation?

    1. Re:Hmmm by Dr.+Awktagon · · 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.

    2. Re:Hmmm by gilroy · · Score: 2
      Blockquoth the poster:

      Do they really think there's gonna be that many people willing to be a narc, without any compensation?

      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.

    3. Re:Hmmm by TheRealFixer · · Score: 2

      True... though I seriously doubt that software companies would be as willing as porn companies to give their product away. I just can't see Microsoft giving away OfficeXP for reporting where you can download it. Heck, they don't do that now when you call their piracy-reporting 800 number.

  22. My first two thoughts: by A_Non_Moose · · Score: 2

    Keep sending the address of 1 Microsoft Way saying they have multiple copies of all Windows versions and some of them might not be legal.

    or

    To MPAA/RIAA:
    Dear whatevars:

    Eye s3Nd J00 dIs PhIle to h4\/3 J0Ur 4d\/IC3.

    --
    Have you read the moderator guidelines? Well, have you, PUNK? (and I want a Karma: Gnarly option)
  23. Re:Pirating? by shobadobs · · Score: 2, Funny

    Considering how much newsgathering Yahoo actually does, I believe the correct term would be "articlez."

  24. I want a version of this... by NanoGator · · Score: 4, Interesting

    ... for reporting spam. I am NOT playing vigilante for copyrighted software. It is NOT that hard to find. And what would my reward be?

    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.

    --
    "Derp de derp."
    1. Re:I want a version of this... by jafuser · · Score: 2

      Why can't someone write some sort of community system where whenever a piece of email is reported as spam, some sort of hash is generated from the spam document body and then uploaded to a central server so that it can be distrubuted to everyone else (before they load their email client) so that spam is automatically filtered when it is downloaded?

      --
      Please consider making an automatic monthly recurring donation to the EFF
    2. Re:I want a version of this... by BurritoWarrior · · Score: 4, Informative

      Try Spamcop it can be set up to use with Outlook (not sure about other clients) so that you just click the little magic 8-ball button on your toolbar and your spam is reported.

    3. Re:I want a version of this... by CodeMonky · · Score: 2

      Register at http://www.spamcop.net and setup a bookmark to the report page. Not quite a magic 'F' but pretty close.

      --
      --"Karma is justice without the satisfaction"
    4. Re:I want a version of this... by s390 · · Score: 2

      ... for reporting spam.

      Just forward the offending missive to: uce@ftc.gov . Works for me.

    5. Re:I want a version of this... by driehuis · · Score: 2

      Just forward the offending missive to: uce@ftc.gov . Works for me.

      I used to report spam to the ISP it came from. It appears many of the employ a guy called Dave Null, who seems to be very apt at filing all of them. As it turns out, the FTC employs the very same person as well.

      Just look at their web page. Out of a gazillion reports, they prosecuted, what, a couple of dozen of folks that would have gotten caught if they distributed fliers in mall car parks instead.

      Frankly, I've got the feeling they nailed most of them because of fliers left on FTC staff cars in the FTC car park.

      --

      Bert Driehuis -- All I asked was a friggin' rotatin' chair. Throw me a bone here, people.

    6. Re:I want a version of this... by G-funk · · Score: 2

      Because almost every spam I get has a random number in it somewhere. Many also have one appended to the title

      --
      Send lawyers, guns, and money!
    7. Re:I want a version of this... by Phroggy · · Score: 2, Insightful

      I've been using Spamcop for the last year or so, and have been very happy with it. Unfortunately though, although it works great as a spam filter, reporting all my spam has not reduced the quantity of spam I get. It is rather gratifying to get a reply from a sysadmin saying the user has been dealt with, but the spam just keeps coming. The few minutes it takes to report it just doesn't seem worth it anymore. :-(

      --
      $x='S24;r)>63/* h@<5+oZ)32"5cz';$me='phroggy'x$];
      $x=~y+ -xz+\0-Tx+;print$_^chop$me for split'',$x;
  25. Sells!!!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    people read this:

    "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 :)

  26. Web Sites???? by asv108 · · Score: 2

    A couple of years ago warez newbies would use websites if they didn't know about IRC but these days, P2P clients like KaZaA, Morpheus, and Limewire make downloading warez 10x easier for the non-irc crowd. Why would they worry about web sites now? That's like the RIAA coming out with countermeasures for analog tape piracy.

  27. Someone tell me by JordanH · · Score: 2

    What does this have to do with My (or Your) Rights Online?

    1. Re:Someone tell me by gilroy · · Score: 3, Informative
      Blockquoth the poster:

      What does this have to do with My (or Your) Rights Online?

      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.
    2. Re:Someone tell me by JordanH · · Score: 2
      • Well, the establishment of a self-appointed unaccountable vigilante force roaming the Web certainly seems to bear on YRO.

      I'm not afraid of a "self-appointed unaccountable vigilante force" that just uses their right of free expression to report those that appear to be breaking the law. Besides, I think vigilante is off base here, don't you think? That implies taking the law into their own hands, which is not at all what they are doing here. They are just enlisting people's help in capturing publicly available information about activities which may be illegal. Also, these people are accountable in civil courts. If someone feels that they've been damaged by this activity, by all means, sue them.

      If you want to complain about the DMCA, complain about the DMCA, but this doesn't seem to have much to do with that.

    3. Re:Someone tell me by gilroy · · Score: 2
      Blockquote the poster:

      If you want to complain about the DMCA, complain about the DMCA, but this doesn't seem to have much to do with that.

      Oh, I do complain about the DMCA, loudly and often, but that isn't the point here. Believe it or not, not every troubling disturbance on the Net has to do with the DMCA. I find this irksome because (a) it again presumes that everyone out there is a potential and willing thief and (b) informer societies always turn out to be inimical to basic human freedoms. This is a troubling development, as far as I'm concerned.


      As for "vigilante": Merrian-Webster defines this as (broadly) "a self-appointed doer of justice". That certainly seems to apply, to my eye. This is a group that seems to be encouraging people to going out and reporting occurrences which they believe to be copyright infringements, so that FAST can notify the ISPs to pull the sites. In American law, at least, the first question of a suit is, Do you have standing? That is, are you directly impacted by the alleged misbehavior? You cannot file suit unless you are. Here, FAST is appointing itself guardian of the Web's purity and asking local townsfolk to ride off on the hunt. Sounds like "vigilante" to me.

    4. Re:Someone tell me by JordanH · · Score: 2
      • As for "vigilante": Merrian-Webster defines [m-w.com] this as (broadly) "a self-appointed doer of justice".

      Very broadly. You left out the rest of the definition, which supplies needed context. Also, you're link is no good. Here's a good link. Here's the definition:

      : a member of a volunteer committee organized to suppress and punish crime summarily (as when the processes of law appear inadequate); broadly : a self-appointed doer of justice

      Clearly, the meaning of "doer of justice" here is someone who takes justice into their own hands. These people almost certainly are using the courts and other legal means.

      As I said, I'm not afraid of people collecting publicly available information (Web Pages) for evidence of crimes that may have been committed. If the reports are invalid, then the web page maintainer should be able to defend against the charge. If you think the DMCA is unfair in that it allows for action against alleged wrongdoers without court involvement, that's a problem with the DMCA, not those reporting what they see to be crimes.

      As to legal standing, IANAL, but everyone has standing to report criminal behavior. It's only in civil cases that you have to prove you have standing in order to bring suit. Furthermore, anyone who purchases software can claim to be damaged by people distributing unlicensed material.

    5. Re:Someone tell me by JordanH · · Score: 2
      • Since the DMCA is going to be abused, knowingly helping the abusers select victims is unethical. And "my vendor isn't making as much money as they might" is a tort your vendor can demand relief for, not you.

      I can see your point. As long as there is the DMCA, helping to enforce it's provisions involves YRO. Well, I guess someone told me what this has to do with YRO! :-)

      Funny that this is being done out of England. Does England have anything like the DMCA?

      • Hell, pressing "F" is probably libel unless you're certain the work is copyrighted and they have no license.

      IANAL, but I think to prosecute the libel case you'd have to show that the report was malicious or neglegent. You're putting the burden on the person making the report to make sure there's some violation. You'd have more of a case against FAST, since they should be better able to distinquish.

  28. this won't work by 2MuchC0ffeeMan · · Score: 2

    this won't work, i mean, when was the last time someone who saw a car alarm go off, fill out a report? i don't want to be misdirected by what i wanna do, i wanna get on the net, read, reply, download, do whatever.

    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.

    --
    Runnin' On Empty .... I'm Still Alive
    1. Re:this won't work by feed_me_cereal · · Score: 3, Interesting

      I agree that I think this won't work very well, but I believe for the opposite reason you do. I think it's too easy. First off, car alarms go off mostly for no reason, not because someone is stealing a car. If you see a site distibuting pirated software, it would be more like watching a car driving away with the alarm going off. Now, imagine everyone has a little button on their pants that would alert police that a car is being stolen and give them all the necessary information and evidence to capture and prosecute the car thief. I think people would find this so easy as to be an obligation if they were to witness a car theft.

      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.

      --
      "Question with boldness even the existence of a god." - Thomas Jefferson
  29. And you get a cut of the savings! by standards · · Score: 2

    Obviously no one would use this unless there is a real incentive.

    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?

    1. Re:And you get a cut of the savings! by glwtta · · Score: 2

      Of course this assumes that software piracy actually "costs" the companies money. How many of the people who get pirated software would pay the ridiculous prices for it, had the sites been shut down - 1 in 1,000? 1 in 100,000?

      --
      sic transit gloria mundi
  30. No surprises here. by kafka93 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    FAST has long been at this kind of thing: some years back, they started pushing their "shop your boss" campaign, whereby they encouraged people to report their employers if they were using privated software.

    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 in several states.

    1. Re:No surprises here. by BlueUnderwear · · Score: 2
      Uh, animal abuse acts are often a misdemeanor, because we kill and eat animals every fucking day

      So, are you saying that if I ground up my floppies and CD's, and ate the resulting dust, piracy would become a simple misdaemor as well? ;-)

      And, do I actually have to eat the CD, or is it enough if I put it into the micro-wave oven?

      --
      Say no to software patents.
  31. Ironic twist was Re:More Info by gilroy · · Score: 4, Insightful
    Blockquoth the article:

    "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


    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? :)
    1. Re:Ironic twist was Re:More Info by DunbarTheInept · · Score: 2

      Do these people know what the word "webcam" means? Hint- the word they were looking for was "screenshot". What they are proposing is disturbing enough, but what I though they said the first time I saw the word "webcam" was "Oh, my - they're going to take a picture of the user who's doing the reporting?

      --

      Don't label something "offtopic" unless you know the topic well enough to tell what's on topic.

    2. Re:Ironic twist was Re:More Info by blibbleblobble · · Score: 2

      Hey, what if that webcam captures some of the original stuff I put on the Web? Isn't that, in itself, copyright infringement?

      Sometimes, making copies of stuff for use as evidence or by people working on behalf of a court of law is protected under copyright law (in the UK, for example)

      Also, the person infringing copyright would be the person who clicked on the button, not the person who wrote the button. The "copy and report this page" button is a "tool with potential infringement uses", the same as Notepad, Backup or Morpheus

  32. Re:DMCA by glwtta · · Score: 2

    Yeah, there's a tought thing to do. Blueberry muffins can be attacked using the DMCA!

    --
    sic transit gloria mundi
  33. We know the real story by quinto2000 · · Score: 2, Funny

    FAST is just looking to build up the *ultimate* Top 100 Warez site! I wish I worked for them...

    --
    Ceci n'est pas un post
  34. Re:Will it work? by dragons_flight · · Score: 2

    Remember that FAST already recieves legitmate complaints from people using the older and more cumbersome submission process. Obviously there are people out there who, for whatever reason, like to report on warez sites.

  35. Will this move people away from IE? by palfrey · · Score: 5, Interesting

    One possiblity - all of the assorted "warez" sites may start automatically bouncing anyone with IE, saying "use something that doesn't report us" or similar....

    A plus for Mozilla, Opera, et al. Not necessarily the sort of advertising they'd ever want to use, but every download helps.

    --
    Beware the psychokinetic mimes!
    1. Re:Will this move people away from IE? by OneFix · · Score: 2

      Maybe, but what keeps them from making the plugin available for Mozilla? And I figure this is gonna be one of those things where it gets installed with another plugin (like GAIN/Gator or BonzaiBuddy)...

      Imagine if this plugin was added to something like Macromedia Flash ...

      I figure what this might cause is for some group to create their own version of Mozilla without the possibility for this software to be installed (just disable plugins in the source)...

      The smarter groups bounce stuff around to different countries anyhow...it's not easy to get someone with an address in a developing or poorly policed country...

      I think the only ones they will be able to catch with this are the dumb ones and the ones that are truly selling the stuff...

  36. Microsoft.. by antis0c · · Score: 2

    How long before Microsoft mandates all it's employees use it when they stumble onto a Linux related website..

    --

    ..There's a-dooin's a-transpirin'
  37. Razor by Rufus211 · · Score: 2, Informative

    In addition to spamcop that complains to the sender's ISP, there is also Razor that reports the spam to a filtering network so that it can easilly be filtered out by a spam filter such as SpamAssassin True you won't be vigilante against them, but it'll cut down the the spam for everyone that uses the filters.

  38. How different would it be if? by rcs1000 · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Question: if you had an 'm' button to announce a mugging, or an 'r' button tell the police abouta rape, would that be OK?

    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

    --
    --- My dad's political betting
  39. Come on.... by Gordonjcp · · Score: 5, Insightful

    For fsck's sake people, software piracy is *bad*!

    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.

    1. Re:Come on.... by Gordonjcp · · Score: 2

      Actually, I have both a cheap flat in town, and a large house in the country that I renovated myself. Well done. I'm not too bothered about Bill Gates though.

    2. Re:Come on.... by Gordonjcp · · Score: 2

      Yep, Apache isn't GPL'd, you're right. It was about 1am when I posted, just back in from the pub, so, y'knw, I can live with a little inaccuracy...

      Unauthorised copying is actually theft, though. Even though you're not physically removing something, like if you stole a car, it still is theft. You're using something you don't have the right to. And, yes, I do own something - I own the right to use the software I paid for. Y'see, here in the UK, we still have fair use rights.

    3. Re:Come on.... by ChaosDiscordSimple · · Score: 2
      There are people out there who depend on software sales for a living.

      I depend on software sales for a living. I rely on copyright to make money. However, I still revile the practices of groups like the BSA and FAST. These groups massively misrepresent the real economic damage of illegal copies. Just because Johniee Warezer has a copy of of SQLServer doesn't mean Microsoft lost $1,000. Sure, some illegal copying does represent lost sales, but most doesn't. Many of these people simply would not ever purchase the software, so their illegal copy cannot be reasonably viewed as a loss. (Mind you, warezing is illegal and unethical. I'm not claiming warezers are right, simply that they aren't causing the economic damage the BSA and FAST claim they are.) Lieing about the actual damage makes their other claims suspect. Illegal copies of software software are a problem that needs to be worked on, but not worth turning neighbor about neighbor and employee against employer. Encouraging people to turn each other in, encouraging employers to stay legal themselves not p.Just because you're against the BSA and FAST doesn't mean you are supporting warezers. I'm against people making illegal copies of software, but I'm also against those groups which would have us live in fear, acting as snitches and spies.

    4. Re:Come on.... by ftobin · · Score: 2

      While this is a reasonable position in many circumstances, what about great games such as those for the Sega and NES that you just can't get anymore? I'd pay a reasonable amount for the ability to play General Chaos or Beyond Oasis on my PC in an emulator (no DRM!), but that just isn't an option because they're just not available anymore. Hence, freely-available ROM's are the way to go.

    5. Re:Come on.... by Gordonjcp · · Score: 2

      Yeah, but that's fair use, isn't it? There's a difference between making a copy of something that you can't get anymore, and making a copy of something that's sitting right there in the shop.

      I'm all for abandonware, and I strongly support freedom of intellectual property. But nevertheless, if you want it, and it's for sale, you should buy it.

      It's like swapping MP3's - I'll download a couple of MP3's of a band I haven't heard of, decide if I like them, and if I do, I'll buy the CD (of course, many of the bands aren't exactly well-known). If it's MP3's of tunes I can't get anywhere, they're fair game. If they're MP3's of tunes I used to have but don't have any more (I "lost" a lot of CD's when my ex-girlfriend moved out), again, I'll have them (because I've already bought them at least once). If, after I'd downloaded MP3's of, say, The Dickies, some of their stuff was re-released, I'd go and buy that CD.

  40. I'd do it by foo+fighter · · Score: 2

    I've been tempted several times to turn in an employer.

    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.

    --
    obviously no deficiencies vs. no obvious deficiencies
  41. Wow... by AnimeFreak · · Score: 4, Funny

    It's kind of neat that we can now press a button and take down a website.

    Before such software as that, we had to get it posted on Slashdot.

  42. Re:hmm.. by PurpleBob · · Score: 2

    It turns out that SpamAssassin has an example in its README file of how to set it up with Mutt so that hitting "X" on a spam reports it to the Razor spam filtering database.

    Of course, if SpamAssassin is working properly, the spams you see will be few and far between anyway. Quite a nice program.

    --
    Win dain a lotica, en vai tu ri silota
  43. Can you say "spin doctoring?" I knew you could! by driehuis · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Or an IT manager in a company may want to make sure his employer isn't inadvertently doing something illegal.

    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.

    --

    Bert Driehuis -- All I asked was a friggin' rotatin' chair. Throw me a bone here, people.

  44. Yeah, that will work by Jah-Wren+Ryel · · Score: 2

    Considering all the security holes in IE, how long do you think it will take for the warez community to come up with a bit of javascript that will hijaak the plugin and cause it send a big "Fuck You" to FAST instead of the actual URL and webpage contents? I'm thinking 24 hours and then a week or so for it to spread like a kiddie-script to all the warez websites.

    --
    When information is power, privacy is freedom.
  45. Oh great... by s390 · · Score: 2

    now they're getting slashdotted, then they'll likely get DDoS'd (similar, but worse)... and then they'll probably get hacked. Repeatedly. Serves 'em right. Intrusive f*ckers.

    I wonder why people haven't gone after the BSA, due to their Gestapo tactics: "Hi, we're your friendly BSA - just ignore those big goons with us - you won't mind _proving_ that all your software _is_ licensed, will you? It'll only take a few days/weeks and then we'll be on our way!" Without a _valid warrant_, don't let the BSA a**holes inside.

    Has anyone ever _sued_ the BSA for the costs of a software audit that found no problems? If not, someone should. Or is everyone guilty until proven innocent now? And have to pay to prove it. Pretty soon it's going to be... "Well, we realize you bought all those Win2K licenses, but, um... you didn't upgrade them as required, so we're afraid you're in violation of the vendor's current licensing terms. Would you prefer to pay for those again and then buy the new licenses... or go to jail?" Ex post facto licenses, just you wait...

    1. Re:Oh great... by BCoates · · Score: 2

      See, if you buy software from BSA members, they have clauses about the BSA in the license. Specifically for MS, if you enter into an "eOpen", "Volume", "Solution Provider", or "Reseller" license, they all have notices and clauses allowing MS or a 3rd party to audit you at your expense. Okay, get it?
      People who submit to the BSA also waive rights to sue them. But, it is likely that they have never had an audit that didnt find problems, because they only as a rule go after extreme violators.


      Wouldn't most "extreme violators" have never signed a BSA licence because they always copy software instead of buying it?

      --
      Benjamin Coates

  46. My antidotum by Shiny+Metal+S. · · Score: 3, Funny

    In order for this to work, each time you give a site an "F", you should be contractually bound so that if it turns out that the site is legit, then you are the one that gets in trouble: you would have to pay a fine. 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.

    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! HEHEHE!!! Ju5T U53 kEY: 1234514-13451-1345 & U g0T iT f0r FREE!!!!! WAREZ RULEZ!!!! & d0N'+ 4G3T 2 Ch3cK 0u+ Th1Z rU55iAn Und3Rgr0uNd Serv3R! 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.

    --

    ~shiny
    WILL HACK FOR $$$

  47. Use IE to fight terrorism by Ilan+Volow · · Score: 2

    We could modify the F button to be a T button, and it could be used to alert the FBI about possible terrorists. I just know the old lady next door is a terrorist, and it would be really cool if I could rat on her while I'm surfing for porn.

    --
    Ergonomica Auctorita Illico!
  48. Comment removed by account_deleted · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  49. I can see it now... by shr3k · · Score: 2, Funny

    [begin opening scroll]

    Corp Wars
    Episode X: The Fair-Use Menace

    A long time ago in a galaxy not so far away...

    The enforcement of digital rights in outlying systems is in dispute.

    The Greedy Federation Against Software Theft has started the shipment of FAST 'F' plugins to the small planet of Naboo backed by a blockade of deadly corporations...

    While the Congress of the United States endlessly ignores this alarming chain of events, the Senator from South Carolina, Fritz Hollings, has secretly dispatched representatives from the CBDPTA, the self-appointed guardians of IP, to support this effort..."

    -

  50. Excellent. by mattr · · Score: 2

    Software piracy is the only force which *enables* Microsoft Office to be ubiquitous on the corporate desktop (at least in Japan which I know). Of course the OS comes with the machine, but some pirated/reused copies of the OS are also needed to build new machines etc.

    If everyone had to actually pay for this stuff and see it as a line item they might consider using free software. Perhaps the Fink button could be installed on all government workstations by law?

    Someone should give these assholes the address of that kid in Malaysia. A virus or two written by the BSA, M$ and the RIAA might have more effect (sheesh).

    1. Re:Excellent. by mattr · · Score: 2

      The cover of a Windows magazine here last issue says in HUGE letters, DON'T RUN WINDOWS XP WITH OUT-OF THE BOX SETTINGS.. It is an issue devoted to the new edition of Windows and they say how it totally screws up your computer and does all this bad stuff unless you mess with it first. The consensus in Tokyo seems to be, use Windows 2000 in-house if you can (or older OS's if already installed), DON'T use XP, and WinMe crashes a lot (but so does XP). Win2K seems to be pretty good.

  51. Re:Why not d? by xtremex · · Score: 2

    Just because it's in a book doesn't mean thats it's true!-Christian mom upon seeing son with genetics textbook.

    You REALLY mean:
    Woman who lives on blind faith and only what the pastor says.

    There is NOTHING in the Bible to denounce genetics. The Bible is not a science book. God gave us free will and brains to figure out the world. He gave us spiritual laws. And about who created us. WE can figure out how it was done.

    --
    If you're not a Liberal in your 20's, then you have no heart.If you're still a Liberal in your 30's you have no brain.
  52. Is there a Linux plugin for Mozilla? by xtremex · · Score: 2

    So when I use Direct Conect I can send them the IP of the person housing Oracle 9i. But then, they'll need 5 GB of shit to share before they can bust them :) Oh well, back to freenet I go.

    --
    If you're not a Liberal in your 20's, then you have no heart.If you're still a Liberal in your 30's you have no brain.
  53. How so? by xtremex · · Score: 2

    How is Nintendo losing money from people pirating a game the NO LONGER SELL????

    I mean , come on. If they haven't sold the game in 2 years, and they're bitching about people distributing it, resell it THEN bust them to loss of revenue.

    --
    If you're not a Liberal in your 20's, then you have no heart.If you're still a Liberal in your 30's you have no brain.
    1. Re:How so? by Bronster · · Score: 2

      How is Nintendo losing money from people pirating a game the NO LONGER SELL????

      Well, like - duh. It's because those sad pathetic losers would be playing games regardless, and if they can get the old games, that means that for the hours that they're playing the old game, they're not playing that game from Nintendo THAT THEY WOULD BE PLAYING IF THEY HAD NO OTHER CHOICE!!!!.

      As you can no doubt see, that's theft of game-player time from Nintendo - the same way that listening to non-RIAA artists is stealing valuable music listening time from the RIAA, and should be made illegal.

    2. Re:How so? by mpe · · Score: 2

      How is Nintendo losing money from people pirating a game the NO LONGER SELL????

      It dosn't matter, current copyright law is written in such a was as to allow such hording.

    3. Re:How so? by nosferatu-man · · Score: 2

      YHBT. YHL. HTH. HAND.

      (jfb)

      --
      To spur "enterprise Linux," Big Bang, the distributed two-phase commit.
  54. Make sure you... by mgblst · · Score: 3, Funny

    ...don't press the button until after you have
    downloaded the software

  55. (offtopic) Re:The true question.... by Jeremi · · Score: 2
    (pronounced "war-ez" and not "wares" by the true junkies)


    One of the sysadmins at my previous job pronounced it that way, and I couldn't figure out why... isn't "warez" a shortened/l33t form of "softwares"? If so, shouldn't it be pronounced the same way? War-ez just sounds like Juarez, the city in Mexico...

    --


    I don't care if it's 90,000 hectares. That lake was not my doing.
    1. Re:(offtopic) Re:The true question.... by shyster · · Score: 2
      One of the sysadmins at my previous job pronounced it that way, and I couldn't figure out why... isn't "warez" a shortened/l33t form of "softwares"? If so, shouldn't it be pronounced the same way? War-ez just sounds like Juarez, the city in Mexico...

      Interesting...I've never heard it pronounced War-ez, but I have heard of ware-ez. Sort of a play on "where is", I always figured. Note: if you hang out with software pirates long enough, everything always comes back to "where is xxx"

  56. Re:Warez isn't THAT bad by WildBeast · · Score: 2

    I used Warez when I was a teenager but now that I can afford to buy my software, I've been buying like hell. I buy at least 1 app/game every month.

  57. Comment removed by account_deleted · · Score: 2

    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  58. I am SOOOO getting this..... by evilviper · · Score: 3, Funny

    Oh, sweet sweet irony!!!

    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!

    --
    Slashdot gets worse every day... Pipedot: News for nerds, without the corporate slant
    1. Re:I am SOOOO getting this..... by Peter+Harris · · Score: 2
      I am the inventor and owner of the color 'white', also known as '#FFFF'

      Also known more accurately as "cyan" or "undefined". Yes, all websites with badly-formatted hex colour strings should be shut down! And web designers making heavy use of the colour #00FFFF should probably be treated for pathological lack of taste.

      --

      -- What do you need?
      -- Gnus. Lots of Gnus.
  59. Re:not a very logical idea by maxpublic · · Score: 2

    Because there are people who get a malicious kick out of finding ways to rain on the parade of others. Stuck in small, insignificant lives of their own making, denied the role of Supreme Dictator, they do whatever they can to make others miserable.

    Have you never run into twisted little shits like this? They seem to be a dime a dozen where I sit, all eager to fuck with someone else just to prove that they have some meager amount of power - even if it only amounts to tattling on their neighbors. They want to scream "you'll do what the fuck I tell you to! especially if you don't like it!" and have some force with which to back up their evil little threats.

    These people are everywhere. I'm a staunchly areligious sort, but they make me think, sometimes, that there actually might be a Satan, and that they are his minions....

    Max

    --
    My god carries a hammer. Your god died nailed to a tree. Any questions?
  60. how ineffective by maxpublic · · Score: 2

    What's really amusing is that most illegal software trading doesn't happen over the web - it's too open and too easy to track back to a specific source. The real lion's share of this activity happens over ftp (often through servers set up on hacked computers, especially clueless cable users who leave their systems wide open) and irc.

    Ratting out web sites will have little effect on warez trading.

    Max

    --
    My god carries a hammer. Your god died nailed to a tree. Any questions?
  61. Re:In the book by nomadic · · Score: 2
    The Bible demands logic and does not demand blind faith.

    Well, most of the followers certainly demand blind faith.

    Best quote on the subject:
    Whenever we read the obscene stories, the voluptuous debaucheries, the cruel and torturous executions, the unrelenting vindictiveness, with which more than half the Bible is filled, it would be more consistent that we called it the word of a demon than the Word of God. It is a history of wickedness that has served to corrupt and brutalize mankind. ~Thomas Paine
  62. Here's yur first warez link !! by AftanGustur · · Score: 2

    Let's all include a page or two somewhere on our sites marked as warez, fill it with linkes marked as latezt offize xp etc.. and have the links point at some real ware

    --
    echo '[q]sa[ln0=aln80~Psnlbx]16isb572CCB9AE9DB03273snlbxq' |dc
  63. Re:In the book by leonbrooks · · Score: 2
    also... it's a good book!

    Intrigue, scandal, romance, monsters, epic wars, planets created, travelogue, song, poetry, wild symbolic prophecy, history, floods, fires, rains of frogs, people raised from the dead, giants, miracles left and right... there's something in it for everyone! (-:
    --
    Got time? Spend some of it coding or testing
  64. Warez on the web? Sweet! by ImaLamer · · Score: 2

    The funny part about it assumes that people get their software from web sites.

    Warez groups [almost] never have their own hosting companies. That being said - hosting companies aren't going to get involved in hosting this stuff for them.

    They might look the other way, but as long as they walk that fine line that is the law there is little anyone can do. Either the groups are dumb and their site is closed fast or they are smart and no one even knows.

    As you can guess warez groups use something way better than the Web. What about P2P et. al.?

    I'm not going to look on the web, I'm getting back on gnutella....

  65. Re:In the book by crucini · · Score: 2
    Doubly hilarious because said mother would also claim that other things are true because they're in The Book.

    A familiar opposition, actually. "Burn the books and read the Book." --Ayatollah Khomeini in The Satanic Verses (from memory).
  66. Genetics discrediting evolution by leonbrooks · · Score: 2
    Just wondering, exactly what parts of a genetics text book would disprove evolution?

    Where shall I start...

    The parts that describe genetic burden?

    The parts that describe the mechanisms for correcting genetic drift?

    The parts that describe processes and structures which literally could not possibly have formed gradually?

    The parts which delve into rates of change and basically support, if anything, punk-eek?

    The parts which attempt to describe `parallel evolution' with a straight face (e.g. large fructivorous bats, octopi and humans all share the same visual processing system (modulo a non-retroverted retina for the octopi), small insectivorous bats have a completely different visual system but share wing structure with the big bats) (another e.g., there are visual systems ranging from light spots though the arrays of sensors in some starfish, compound (multi-spot) insect eyes, other insects with compunded individual eyes, the complex crystal arrays of the trilobite, mantis shrimp (which see in up to 13 different colour ranges including UV, have filters, and can see polarised light), lobster eyes (the design was borrowed for an orbiting X-ray scope), our own eyes (and the non-inverted versions in cats, octopi et al), and no doubt more that I've forgotten or not yet run across, all of which or completely, structurally and neurologically different)?

    The parts describing the many billions of nucleotides which go into our DNA?

    The parts which touch on origin-of-life (and so origin-of-genetics) experiments (which are now less) definite than when Miller and Urey made their tar)?

    The parts investigating mutation `clocks' (they contradict each other)?

    Any one of these is a bit of a ball-breaker for evolution, and this is just one field!
    --
    Got time? Spend some of it coding or testing
  67. Genetics doesn't work like that by leonbrooks · · Score: 2
    I have a different Y chromosome than the people around me. As well, There are more than 3 observed X chromosomes in the world. Should we all be descended from Adam and Eve, we would all, without question have a single Y chromosome, and at most 3 X chromosomes.

    You do put up some off-the-wall proposals, don't you? (-:

    Your `proof' would break evolution just as surely as it broke creation, unless you want to posit a great number of parallel evolutionary steps at each point along the way from molecules to man.

    Turning to a Christian perspective, there's the fall. Even if the race had started with a single, unalterable set of chromosomes, you'd expect to find significant damage in them by now, or to put it another way, significant variation due to damage.

    But aside from all of that, there is natural variation built into sexual reproduction (and in lesser degree to asexual as well). If there wasn't, every child a couple had would be identical. You will agree that in practice they aren't?
    --
    Got time? Spend some of it coding or testing
  68. Model citizen by leonbrooks · · Score: 2
    I will accept darwinian evolution as the best working model.

    I don't know that I'd be prepared to take a stand alongside Lenin, Hitler, Mao and others, all social engineers working from a Darwinist background and using Social Darwinism to carry out their aims.

    But it's a free country. Sort of.
    --
    Got time? Spend some of it coding or testing
  69. Fear is the mind-killer by leonbrooks · · Score: 3
    Don't be stupidly faithful. God said to doubt all people, that includes the person who handed you the bible.

    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?
    --
    Got time? Spend some of it coding or testing
    1. Re:Fear is the mind-killer by arkanes · · Score: 2
      If something wants me to worship it, it better have a damn good reason. The parable of the man on the roof is as good of evidence for the non existence of God, the existence of Buddha, or the existence of Bob as it anything else. In fact, what it more or less teaches is that you should do things for yourself and not rely upon supernatural intervention - essentially that even if God exists, he's not relevant.

      Personally, my viewpoint is that even if the Christian god does exist, I wouldn't worship Him - read the bible. I don't put up with that kind of game-playing crap from people, I won't put up with it from a God.

  70. Re:Warez isn't THAT bad by EnglishTim · · Score: 2

    I agree, I've been pirating software for some time as well. Why should I pay for it, I'm not making money from it

    Yes, but you are using it. If you don't want to pay for it, don't use it. Hardly anybody makes money from playing games, but does that mean that nobody should pay for them?

    Most of the time I just like playing with software to see what it does.

    Well, download the demo then.

  71. Adam by leonbrooks · · Score: 2
    Adam means "mankind". It's symbolic. The first 3 chapters of Genesis is a poem, that rhymes. It's main point is: "I created EVERYTHING. I'll give you a quick ditty on how it started."

    Actually, the root meaning of Adam is `red'. And the book StarLight and Time contains one example of a cosmology which fits Genesis as literal. It seems likely that there are others.
    --
    Got time? Spend some of it coding or testing
  72. Peering at reviews by leonbrooks · · Score: 2
    I have seen no empirical evidence whatsoever, published in an accredited, peer-reviewed scientific journal, which supports any detail of the 'creation of the world' as described in the bible.

    If it seems dark to you, it's because you're so far up yourself that you can't see out. (-:

    Read these:

    http://www.i5ive.com/article.cfm/christianity_scie nce/75915
    http://www.visi.com/~contra_m/cm/reviews/cm06_rev_ creationists.html
    http://mypage.direct.ca/w/writer/gish-response.htm l
    http://www.answersingenesis.org/docs/538.asp
    http://www.aaas.org/spp/dser/RESOURCE/WARMING.HTM
    http://www.rae.org/censor.html

    ...then tell me why you expect such an article to be considered for publication. There are many more examples around if you want them.

    Nevertheless, Robert V Gentry, Willem J Ouweneel and other Creationist authors have had material published in journals like Nuclear Physics, Science, Nature and Journal of Geophysical Research, including the odd snippet of material which might cast doubt on the ruling Darwinist ideology.

    Quote:

    On May 19, 1992 Humphreys submitted his article *"Compton scattering and the cosmic microwave background bumps" to the Scientific Correspondence section of the British journal Nature. The editorial staff knew Humphreys was a creationist and didn't want to publish it (even though the article did not contain any glaring creationist implications). The editorial staff didn't even want to send it through official peer review. Six months later Nature published an article by someone else on the same topic, having the same conclusions. Thus, most creationist researchers realize it is simply a waste of time to send journal editors openly creationist articles. To say that a "slight bias" exists on the part of journal editors would be an understatement.


    There is a layman's version of the article on-line at ICR (ref 5 mentions Nature).

    Any questions so far?
    --
    Got time? Spend some of it coding or testing
    1. Re:Peering at reviews by dvdeug · · Score: 2

      Among many other things:

      Gish says, in your link, that "Arthur claims that the mandate of the modern creationist movement is to introduce the biblical story of creation into public school classrooms by disguising it as science. This is a false accusation that is repeated frequently in science journals and the mass media."

      It's interesting, then, that at least two courts found that the point was to introduce the Bible into schools, and that creationism is not science.
      Yes, evolutionists are getting seriously tired of a belief system held by people who "view this whole battle as one between God and anti-God forces" (Paul Ellwanger, author of the creationism bill enacted in Arkansas), or people from the Institute for Creation Research, which makes all its members swear to the truth of Biblical creation. Maybe if they were consistently dealing with scientific arguments, they would be inclined to listen. But Creationists have almost invariably "met God", and are spouting "divine truth", not scientific evidence.

      McLean v. Arkansas Board of Education. A court of law found that creationism is not science.

    2. Re:Peering at reviews by maxpublic · · Score: 2

      You didn't answer my request. Here it is once again; read slowly if you have trouble parsing English:

      "I have seen no empirical evidence whatsoever, published in an accredited, peer-reviewed scientific journal, which supports any detail of the 'creation of the world' as described in the bible. If you have such an article handy, it'd be nice if you posted the particulars so I could look it up in the scientific journal in question."

      The cites you give are creationist claptrap that would never be considered for any remotely scientific journal. I wanted something concrete and you gave be blithering, dim-witted propaganda.

      Max

      --
      My god carries a hammer. Your god died nailed to a tree. Any questions?
  73. In East Germany, by Quila · · Score: 2

    they found that half of the population was ratting out the other half to the Stasi...

  74. Right... by guttentag · · Score: 2
    Next up, Microsoft introduces new software that installs an "S" button in Windows. Whenever you're feeling really stupid, you press the "S" button and Microsoft charges your credit card for $20.

    The best part? The software only costs $10! That's half the price of a click on the "S" button.

    Why would people want to use this? Just ask Bob:

    "I used to fall prey to homeless people and marketing executives. Then I got Microsoft S Button. After hitting the S Button 20 times the first day, I realized that the smart thing to do would be to not hit the button. Now I save $400 each day I don't use the button! But I know it's there for me when I lapse into stupidity, and it sets me straight again. Thank you Microsoft S Button."

  75. List of molecular biologists supporting creation by leonbrooks · · Score: 2
    Here's a few to get you started:
    • Ian G. Macreadie, PhD Molecular Biology, Monash University, Aus (also genetics, biochemistry, author of over 70 research publications and five patents, also a co-recipient of the 1997 CSIRO Chairman's Medal)
    • Andre Eggen, PhD Animal/Molecular Genetics, Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich (over 60 papers)
    • Kelly Hollowell, JD, PhD Molecular and Cellular Pharmacology, University of Miami (also an attorney, published in the Journal of Neurobiology)
    • Gary Parker, BA in Biology/Chemistry (high hons), Wabash College, Crawfordville (admission to Phi Beta Kappa, masters thesis published in Copeia)
    • Dr Pierre Gunnar Jerlström, PhD Molecular Biology, Griffin University, Aus (Alexander von Humboldt Fellow at Technical University of Braunschweig, Germany)
    • Dr/Prof Leonid Korochkin, MD Genetics/Molecular Biology/Neurobiology (Russia)
    • Dr John Marcus, PhD Biological Chemistry, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
    • Dr Michael Behe, PhD Biochemistry (Prof Biochemistry at LeHigh)
    • Dr Jonathan Wells, PhD Molecular and Cell Biology, UCB
    • Dr Gordon Mills, PhD Biochemistry, University of Michigan

    ...and an interesting one, Dr Hubert Yockey, who believes on grounds such as these that Darwinism did not produce or develop life, but has no idea what did.

    I can also find about another two dozen biochemists and molecular biochemists, but don't have as much detail about their qualifications and careers. You really are asking something akin to references for Jewish scientists in Nazi Germany, but nevertheless...

    One of the other ID sites has this to say about DBB: `It went through twelve printings before being issued in paperback, and has been cited and reviewed internationally in over one hundred publications, and was recently named by National Review and World magazine as one of the one hundred most important books of the 20th century.'

    About Behe: `In addition to publishing over 35 articles in refereed biochemical journals Dr. Behe has also written editorial features in The New York Times, Boston Review, the American Spectator and National Review and has presented and debated his work at various conferences, including at the State University of New York, Stony Brook, the University of Notre Dame, Princeton University, University of Massachusetts at Amherst and Cambridge University. Besides many radio and television interviews, in 1997, he was featured on two episodes of the PBS program Technopolitics.'

    Since you seem to like argument from authority, here are some interesting and related quotes:

    "The evolution of the genetic machinery is the step for which there are no laboratory models; hence one can speculate endlessly, unfettered by inconvenient facts. The complex genetic apparatus in present-day organisms is so universal that one has few clues as to what the apparatus may have looked like in its most primitive form." (Dickerson, Richard E. [Professor of Molecular Biology, University of California, Los Angeles]., "Chemical Evolution and the Origin of Life," Scientific American, Vol. 239, No. 3, September 1978, p.77).


    "Due to this scarcity of financial resources the study of the origins of life has been forced to become a most efficient and cost-effective industry from just a thimble-full of facts the scientists engaged in that study manage to generate a virtually endless supply of theories!" (Scott, Andrew [biochemist and science writer], "The Creation of Life: Past, Future, Alien," Basil Blackwell: Oxford UK, 1986, p.111).


    "More than 30 years of experimentation on the origin of life in the fields of chemical and molecular evolution have led to a better perception of the immensity of the problem of the origin of life on Earth rather than to its solution. At present all discussions on principal theories and experiments in the field either end in stalemate or in a confession of ignorance. New lines of thinking and experimentation must be tried." (Dose, Klaus [Director, Institute for Biochemistry, Gutenberg University, Germany], "The Origin of Life: More Questions Than Answers," Interdisciplinary Science Reviews, Vol. 13, No. 4, 1988, p.348).


    "The first assumption was that non-living things gave rise to living material. This is still just an assumption. It is conceivable that living material might have suddenly appeared on this world in some peculiar manner, say from another planet, but this then raises the question, "Where did life originate on that planet?" We could say that life has always existed, but such an explanation is not a very satisfactory one. Instead, the explanation that nonliving things could have given rise to complex systems having the properties of living things is generally more acceptable to most scientists. There is, however, little evidence in favour of biogenesis and as yet we have no indication that it can be performed. There are many schemes by which biogenesis could have occurred but these are still suggestive schemes and nothing more. They may indicate experiments that can be performed, but they tell us nothing about what actually happened some 1,000 million years ago. It is therefore a matter of faith on the part of the biologist that biogenesis did occur and he can choose whatever method of biogenesis happens to suit him personally; the evidence for what did happen is not available." (Kerkut, Gerald A. [Emeritus Professor of Neuroscience, University of Southampton, UK], "Implications of Evolution," in Kerkut G.A., ed. "International Series of Monographs on Pure and Applied Biology, Division: Zoology," Volume 4, Pergamon Press: New York NY, 1960, p.150).


    "But what if the vast majority of scientists all have faith in the one unverified idea? The modern 'standard' scientific version of the origin of life on earth is one such idea, and we would be wise to check its real merit with great care. Has the cold blade of reason been applied with sufficient vigour in this case? Most scientists want to believe that life could have emerged spontaneously from the primeval waters, because it would confirm their belief in the explicability of Nature - the belief that all could be explained in terms of particles and energy and forces if only we had the time and the necessary intellect. They also want to believe because their arch opponents - religious fundamentalists such as creationists - do not believe in life's spontaneous origin. It is this combative atmosphere which sometimes encourages scientists writing and speaking about the origin of life to become as dogmatic and bigoted as the creationist opponents they so despise." (Scott, Andrew [biochemist and science writer], "The Creation of Life: Past, Future, Alien," Basil Blackwell: Oxford UK, 1986, pp.111-112. Emphasis in original).


    "What makes the origin of life and of the genetic code a disturbing riddle is this: the genetic code is without any biological function unless it is translated; that is, unless it leads to the synthesis of the proteins whose structure is laid down by the code. But, as Monod points out the machinery by which the cell (at least the nonprimitive cell which is the only one we know) translates the code `consists of a least fifty macromolecular components which are themselves coded in DNA' (Monod, 1970; 1971, 143). Thus the code cannot be translated except by using certain products of its translation. This constitutes a really baffling circle: a vicious circle, it seems for any attempt to form a model, or a theory, of the genesis of the genetic code." (Popper, Karl R., [Emeritus Professor of Philosophy, University of London], "Scientific Reduction and the Essential Incompleteness of All Science," in "Studies in the Philosophy of Biology," Vol. 259, 1974, pp.259-284, p.270).


    "Anyone trying to solve this puzzle immediately encounters a paradox. Nowadays nucleic acids are synthesized only with the help of proteins, and proteins are synthesized only if their corresponding nucleotide sequence is present. It is extremely improbable that proteins and nucleic acids, both of which are structurally complex, arose spontaneously in the same place at the same time. Yet it also seems impossible to have one without the other. And so, at first glance, one might have to conclude that life could never, in fact, have originated by chemical means." (Orgel, Leslie E. [biochemist and Resident Fellow, Salk Institute for Biological Studies], "The Origin of Life on the Earth," Scientific American, Vol. 271, No. 4, October 1994, p.54).
    --
    Got time? Spend some of it coding or testing
  76. You don't need to spoof the goddamn things by Greyfox · · Score: 2

    Every day in my HTTP logs I get dozens of computers volunteering to be owned by code-red probing me. Search for cmd.exe in your HTTP logs and you'll find plenty of code-red infected machines you could send your "spoofed" packets from.

    --

    I'm trying to teach myself to set people on fire with my mind... Is it hot in here?

  77. Browser plugin? by ZoneGray · · Score: 2

    Companies that base business plans around browser plug-ins usually end up here. Maybe it stands for "we need Funding."

  78. Non-random mutations by leonbrooks · · Score: 2
    So you admit there are random genetic mutations!

    A lot depends on your view of `random'. If by `random' you mean `many good, many neutral, many bad', then no.

    If OTOH you mean `almost universally destructive' then yes. You can think of it as entropy, or as the effects of the Fall of man, it works out the same either way: consistently downhill, not up.

    that's the basement of the darwinian theory

    Basement? I think you meant `basis', and benign mutations are only one necessary precursor to evolution.

    Another is effective natural selection. Natural selection as found in the wild acts in a strongly conservative manner, which in plain English means that it works to keep things the same, to destroy change. This is the complete opposite of Richard Dawkins' `methinks it is like a weasel' program, which acts with teleology and enormous strength to preserve specific changes.

    Another precursor is that the basic genetic material have enough capacity for variation that it can bridge species barriers, which it evidently does not.

    There also have to be viable lifeforms before biological evolution has anything upon which to operate, which is another big problem.

    There are more. (-:
    --
    Got time? Spend some of it coding or testing
  79. Now You're Getting It! by Greyfox · · Score: 2
    A lot of these software enforcement companies use extortion tactics that bring to mind organized crime strategies. Easy way around it though: Mandate free software company wide.

    Wouldn't it be ironic if, after all these years, the commercial software world destroyed itself with its greed while trying to follow in the footsteps of the RIAA and the MPAA?

    --

    I'm trying to teach myself to set people on fire with my mind... Is it hot in here?

  80. Warez for sale? by darien · · Score: 2

    From the article: 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 have to say, I've seen thousands of warez sites in my time, and almost none of them were actually trying to sell me anything beyond adverts. The vast, vast majority of pirate software is traded for free: the pirates get nothing out of it beyond kudos, and access to yet more warez. I suspect FAST are trying to make the pirates look more evil than they really are.

    And anyway, the vast majority of pirate software isn't traded on the web. Dalnet, KaZaA and Hotline are all a much, much better bet than spending hours going round and round in circles following fake linkes, porn links, topsites etc...

  81. re the "FAST" site, and other reportware by Reziac · · Score: 2

    I notice that EVERY link on the site is purely javascript. One common reason for making all links be js-only (NON-working in browsers with js turned off) is to make sure every click, and the origin of every click, is logged in a particular way.

    Yep, I trust 'em already, as much as I do the 800 lb. gorilla. In fact I think I'll climb right into the cage with that rampaging gorilla, after all I'm sure he won't hurt me...

    BTW, folks... not entirely off topic since this is akin, being reportware: Intuit's TurboTax now forcibly installs IE5.5, like it or not, and it wouldn't uninstall. Next time I went online with that box (Win98), guess where the first ding on my firewall comes from? You guessed it -- an IP owned by Micro$oft. Apparently IE did an outgoing call AROUND ZoneAlarm, and evoked a response, even tho IE was not running... unless you count its hooks into the shell.

    And I never use IE, I'm a pure Netscape type.

    --
    ~REZ~ #43301. Who'd fake being me anyway?
  82. Re:How to make kill free software. by Reziac · · Score: 2

    I can also see it used as a means of harrassing people who offer free software for download -- they'd wind up spending half their time and energy (and probably a fair amount of money) defending themselves, since the natural adjunct of an informer-driven bust system is "guilty until proven innocent".

    Once this trick catches on, it could easily be used (possibly by certain companies already prone to astroturf activities) to harrass free software into insolvency, or at least off the net. Retail sales by existing companies (ie. those who offer retail-packed CDs) probably would be untouched, but it could certainly kill online access for the average person who just wants to download that kernel update.

    You see, the problem with informer-driven systems is that they can just as easily be used to harrass the innocent as to finger the guilty. And a system of fines and rewards for bad or good busts sounds great, until you realise that it won't touch those who abuse the system via the "anonymous reporting" method built into the tool.

    --
    ~REZ~ #43301. Who'd fake being me anyway?
  83. big hairy deal by scrytch · · Score: 2

    1) It's just snake oil, FAST stands for nothing except for the way in which they're making a buck (or euro) by selling this idea to ... investors? I really can't think of a single company that goes out of its way to load its browser down with plug-ins, much less leave license control up to the desktop user, and Joe and Jill user could sincerely not care less.

    2) IE has a million plug-ins, controls, and toolbars out there. This is just another one no one will bother using.

    3) It doesn't take very sophisticated vbscript to query for the existence of a control. Warez sites need merely lock out (or do much worse to) browsers that have e-Denounce installed.

    --
    I've finally had it: until slashdot gets article moderation, I am not coming back.
  84. N is for NARC by SkewlD00d · · Score: 2

    Let's play "Who want's to be a taddler."

    --
    The biggest trick the devil pulled was letting lawyers become politicians so they can write the laws.
  85. I resemble that remark! by jacobb · · Score: 2
    hehe. I like to be thought of as a greedy anarchist. I think it's very favourable.

    Cheers. Point taken.

  86. this is actually a great idea! by jafac · · Score: 2

    We need a button on Mozilla, to report sites that don't use non-compliant html. Then we can sent the html-compliance police out and have these rogue webmasters' attitudes adjusted.

    This kind of technology has TONS of uses.
    Sites that harvest email addresses for spammers.
    Sites with misleading or false advertising.
    Sites with poor UI design.

    god, I love it!

    --

    These are my friends, See how they glisten. See this one shine, how he smiles in the light.
  87. Give em something to do by _ph1ux_ · · Score: 2

    Get this software - and hit f every time you go to any page... or every time you hit the mainpage of slashdot. (talk about a new meaning to the slashdot effect)

  88. Re:In the book by Rick+the+Red · · Score: 2
    I wonder... are we far enough off topic yet? (-:
    Apparantly not. Judging by the dozens if not hundreds of follow-ups to your off-topic post, I hereby request a new feature for Slash:

    If you can give us a button (that I don't care for and didn't ask for) so we label people "friends" or "foes," then please give us a button that lets us hide individual threads, like this one. One click on the parent and the whole thread disappears! Yippee!

    --
    If all this should have a reason, we would be the last to know.
  89. Re:If butcher shops worked like the game industry. by xtremex · · Score: 2

    I had an old couch that I haven't used in years sitting in outside in the backyard. Someone took it..I'm glad..now I odn't have to take it to the dump.

    --
    If you're not a Liberal in your 20's, then you have no heart.If you're still a Liberal in your 30's you have no brain.
  90. You're calling AAAS creationist? by leonbrooks · · Score: 2
    The cites you give are creationist claptrap that would never be considered for any remotely scientific journal.

    The last time I looked, the AAAS was not exactly creationist. Does your statement prove that you're so bigoted that you wouldn't read anything that you might disagree with?
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  91. dork.origins by leonbrooks · · Score: 2
    Sorry, these so called sources are so discredited, it isn't even funny. Just a bunch of raving loony creationists. Go to http://www.talkorigins.org [talkorigins.org] - there is plenty of info refuting these crackpots.


    The depends; does `refuting' mean `saying lots of things I agree with, even if it is talking past the issues, erecting strawmen, arguing from false premises and fudging results' or does it mean `reasoning from the data to a contradiction'? Talk.origins is gunwhale-down with the former, and kind of deprived of the latter. They sometimes can't even tell who said what.

    Then again, who needs Creationists to disprove evolution?
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  92. Vote for God? by leonbrooks · · Score: 2
    In that case, the 53% of the world's population that believes in another god or religion is wrong.

    Concensus reality? The right God is the one with the most adherents?
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  93. Cheap throwaway lines by leonbrooks · · Score: 2
    Again, go to www.talkorigins.org. So far, all of your arguements are false

    When did assertion become proof? Show us that you actually understand something, anything! Address an argument instead of waving it off. Show us your brains, rather than clinging to someone else's opinion!
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  94. Support for your theory by leonbrooks · · Score: 2
    The theory of evolution is one of the best supported scientific theories. An overwhelming number of scientists working in related fields concur.

    Disagree. Popular != well-supported.

    `Well-supported' means that there is much evidence to back it. Evolution has had much opinion, much theory and much modelling grow up around it but essentially zero actual hard evidence in support of it being right.

    As one man, an evolutionist, said, `For over twenty years I had thought that I was working on evolution in some way. One morning I woke up, and something had happened in the night, and it struck me that I had been working on this stuff for twenty years, and there was not one thing I knew about it. That was quite a shock, to learn that one can be so misled for so long.' That was a word for word quote from the paleontologist, Dr Colin Patterson, addressing a persentation at the American Museum of Natural History (people like Niles Eldridge and James Farris) in November 1981.

    What did he do about it? `So for the last few weeks, I've tried putting a simple question to various people and groups of people. The question is this: Can you tell me anything you know about evolution, any one thing, any one thing that you think is true? [...] And the absence of an answer seems to suggest that it is true, evolution does not convey any knowledge, or if so, I haven't yet heard it.'

    One of the big problems with evolution is that it can be bent to fit almost any circumstance, almost any evidence. In other words, it has very little - if any - actual explanatory power.

    There is also a considerable body of evidence which evolutionary theory is completely and utterly unable to explain in any meaningful way, from `spectacular' finds like a wooden-handled steel hammer in `300-450 million year old' rock and the mini-Grand-Canyon at Mt St Helens to very mundane problems with cell mechanisms.

    And most of them are Christian.

    Definitely untrue. A significant minority are Christian, or at least think of themselves as Christian. Not a majority (`most'). Even if there was a majority, what would it prove...?
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  95. Fossicking for fossils by leonbrooks · · Score: 2
    It [evolution] explains the fossel record, bacteria resistance to antibiotics, relationships of species, differences in DNA between species, etc.

    Actually, you've hit on a very useful selection of arguments, from my POV. You might like to try some different ones.

    Fossil record: it completely fails to explain polystrate fossils (in particular those with no detectable surrounding turbulence), out-of-sequence fossils (in particular those with no sign of reworking), paraconformities, and massive (tens of thousands of square km) out-of-sequence blocks of strata with little or no sign of overthrust damage, and countless other less obvious things.

    Bacterial resistance: it completely fails to explain this, as well. Plasmid exchange is a very cunning and complex mechanism for passing around pieces of DNA for use in random-trial immunity development. Both the mechanisms and a useful selection of plasmids must have been available, complete, before this would have any selective advantage. Oops.

    Species relationships and DNA: the DNA and the species they represent create more problems than solutions when viewed through evolution-coloured glasses. Sometimes there is a clear relationship, and sometimes there is not a hint of rhyme or reason in the correlation between DNA and creature. If you're thinking of resting your case on Darwin's finches and variations in beak size or shape, think again.

    Quote, `During a drought on the Galapagos Islands, the average beak size of finches increased, enabling them to eat the larger, drought resistant seeds. By extrapolation, it was claimed that a new species of finch might develop within 200 years. Unfortunately, when the rains came, the beak sizes returned to normal, and the evidence only supports oscillating natural selection with no net evolutionary change.'

    DNA itself should give you pause for thought. We have something like 300 million base-pairs in our own DNA, in a complex and very specific array of arrays of arrays. Accident? Don't bet on it.
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  96. Let's get serious by leonbrooks · · Score: 2
    By the way, if there was a SERIOUS challenge to the theory of evolution, it could make a scientists career.

    Or more likely, break it.

    Stephen J Gould, for one example, found that evolution didn't work for him, so he completely rebuilt the theory of the mechanism for it. Now we have the pleasure of sitting back and reading from both his pen, and the pens of his opponents, why neither strand of evolutionary reasoning can work.

    A chap named Senapathy tried a different tack, and hasn't ben as lucky in locating supporters.

    Note a statement from supporter Mattox: `I realized that he was a scientist and definitely not a creationist, so I ordered the book'. Hmmm. That speaks volumes.
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  97. Scientific theory by leonbrooks · · Score: 2
    Few scientific theories have held up as well.

    You know, there's a frighteningly simple reason for that, and it ought to be framed and displayed in every lab in the world.

    Evolution is not a scientific theory!

    Evolution is a scientific-sounding expression of the religion of Materialism. It's kind of like turning the brightness on your video camera waaay down and then claiming to have video evidence that only white horses win horse-races: until you're prepared to adjust your view to include other colours of horse, you'll be fooling only people who don't watch other videos, and don't go to look at the horse races for themselves.
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    1. Re:Scientific theory by leonbrooks · · Score: 2
      All of science deals with the natural, not the supernatural.

      Support that assertion. And see my post of a few minutes ago.
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  98. Scientific theory of creationism by leonbrooks · · Score: 2
    So, can you tell me what a scientific theory of creationism is? It has to follow all of the usual rules for a scientific theory - explain the data, be falsifiable, and be able to make predictions.

    Sure can! Do you want my ideas, or are you interested in the pronouncements of more qualified people?
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  99. dork.origins, Wistar and theories by leonbrooks · · Score: 2
    trying to point out minor disagreements by scientists in fields related to evolution, and then claiming that it disproves the theory of evolution is dangerous.

    The Wistar conference wasn't a disagreement. The mathematicians there were in general agreement on this point: evolution is mathematically well out of the question.

    The `disagreement' you cite was over whether this pointed to special creation or not, and the transcript clearly shows that essentially all present regarded this as deplorable heresy, unthinkable, excluded from consideration by their prior commitment (ie not by reason alone), presumably to materialism dressed in a white lab coat.

    I know that the good [hah!] folks at the Usenet newsgroup talk.origins have been asking creationists that for many. many years for that, and have never gotten an answer.

    Search the archives: they've had many answers and simply ruled them inadmissable using their own, materialist, non-scientific criteria. And or forgotten them (welcome to cognitive dissonance land). What do you expect?
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  100. Social Darwinism by leonbrooks · · Score: 2
    There is no relation between Darwin's theory of evolution and so called Social Darwinism.

    I kind of suspected you were operating from a different planet. I strongly suggest starting with the actual names, `Darwinian Evolution' and `Social Darwinism' and see if you can draw at least the tiniest smidgeon of commonality from them.

    Quoting one Adolph Hitler Shicklgruber, from the chapter `On Race and Man' in Mein Kampf: `If Nature does not wish that weaker individuals should mate with the stronger, she wishes even less that a superior race should intermingle with an inferior one; because in such a case all her efforts, throughout hundreds of thousands of years, to establish an evolutionary higher stage of being, may thus be rendered futile. [...] In short, the results of miscegenation are always the following: (a) The level of the superior race becomes lowered; (b) physical and mental degeneration sets in, thus leading slowly but steadily towards a progressive drying up of the vital sap. [...] anyone who sincerely wishes that the pacifist idea should prevail in this world ought to do all he is capable of doing to help the Germans conquer the world'

    There you have it: principle, method, implementation. Any questions? Want more examples from other Atheists? Or is your plastic starting to leak?
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  101. Re:Social Darwinism (long) by leonbrooks · · Score: 2
    And, speaking of Hitler:


    "Hence today I believe that I am acting in accordance with the will of the Almighty Creator: by defending myself against the Jew, I am fighting for the work of the Lord."


    A bit of research into background will show you that Adolf had some seriously weird ideas about who `the Lord' was. It's a bit difficult to say from this snippet whether he was at this time using a definition which most closely matched `myself', `some nebulous creative force', `my Lord the Pope' or even something more or less Godlike. As well as being a Roman Catholic in good standing right up to his death, Adolf has also been tagged (with reasonable support) as a worshipper of Wotan. It's probably important for your understanding to point out that `Roman Catholic' and `Christian' are concepts which overlap in places but are most definitely not identity.

    So, here he is using Christianity, instead of Darwins' theory of evolution. I condemn both uses. How about you?

    Firstly, it's not determinate that he's basing his speech on Christianity as such at all.

    If he were speaking from a Roman Catholic perspective, his conclusion could match in one of several ways. The Roman Catholic Church supported Adolf up to the point where it became obvious that he was going to lose, then they shafted him.

    They'd supported Communism in an effort to destroy their ancient Orthodox enemy, and that went completely bung so they next tried supporting Hitler against both. That went almost completely bung too, except in countries like Yugoslavia and Poland (they killed millions of Orthodox in ways that sickened even the SS(!)) but at least they got most of their gold back.

    But I digress. Adolf wanted to model the Reich after the Jesuit organisation, so it wouldn't be hard for him to mix up whatever helped the Reich or Romanism with `the work of the Lord' in his mind.

    Consider also that Adolf's view of `the mighty creator' seems to consistently regard it as having created gradually and by a wasteful and destructive process of natural selection, which process he intended to assist particularly with regard to non-Aryan races.

    BTW, compared with how he treated other peoples, Hitler wasn't actually that hard on the Jews. The six-million figure often quoted is clearly bullshit (population figures can't possibly support it), it was likely of the order of a million. He killed more Czeks than that.

    One reason for His antagonism against the Jews as a race, at least initially, was that they (as Judaism) were ancient enemies of his supporter and model, Romanism.

    Anyway, I digress again, Adolf's practice of Eugenics was based squarely on a rational interpretation of the process of natural selection coupled with the classic bigoted opinion about who the `better' race were - just like Darwin himself. It's kind of ironic that Adolf favoured tall, blonde races but was short and dark-haired himself.

    I'm going to digress again. `Bigot' came from Reformers being torched by Romanists: `will you renounce your neresy?' `no, by God' => byGod => bigot. So originally, a bigot was simply someone stubborn to the point of death.

    In summary of all of the above, I don't believe Adolf to have been misapplying Darwinism. Darwin himself used Darwinism that way, regarding Negroes as biologically inferior and destined one day to fade away, the victims of natural selection. It's an inescapable conclusion of any reasoning which starts with natural selection as a base.

    If Adolf was misusing Christinity as such, then he was simply wrong. The Lord did not call on him to smite anyone.
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  102. What is evidence? by leonbrooks · · Score: 2
    Evolution is a fact. This is physical evidence, and there is an overwhelming amount of it. This includes fossels, DNA, and evolution observed in the wild and in the laboratory.

    So you keep asserting and opining, but assertions and opinions are not evidence.

    Millions of sequencing exercises are not evidence for evolution unless they can provide a reasonable and statistically likely path for evolution (or show all alternatiuves to be even less likely, but that still wouldn't prove evolution).

    Fossils speak loudly of millions of years not existing. Polystrates are a good example of this. Fossils supposedly 65 million years old yet containing intact organic material are another.

    DNA speaks loudly of design and structure impossible to achieve incrementally. Where to the Urey/Miller experiments lead? Nowhere! What is `junk DNA'? Proof of a clumsy God? Says we, who have yet to design an organism that functions at all, leta lone poorly. An Australian company has just assured itself a place in history by `patenting' junk DNA and then showing that it isn't junk - as predicted by many Creationists!

    Evolution has never been witnessed in the wild. Variation within kind (baramin) has. As I mentioned elsewhere, even the beak-size adaptation in Darwin Finches so beloved of the AAAS is cyclic. Peppered moths are a well-established fraud, more variation in kind, and the moths in the photos were glued on to the bark because they don't normally hang out where they can be seen and eaten. And so on.
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  103. Science, faith and the material world by leonbrooks · · Score: 2
    The Wistar conference wasn't a disagreement. The mathematicians there were in general agreement on this point: evolution is mathematically well out of the question.
    ROTFL.

    Really?

    `The central question of the Chicago conferences was whether the mechanisms underlying microevolution can be extrapolated to explain the phenomena of macroevolution.' -- Roger Lewin, Evolutionary Theory Under Fire, in Science, November 21, 1980.

    `At the risk of doing violence to the positions of some of the people at the meeting, the answer can be given as a clear No.' -- Roger Lewin, The Neck of the Giraffe (1982), p. 12.


    Go on, accuse Lewin of being a Creationist, I dare you! (-:

    Note that Lewin is an evolutionist despite knowing that what he believes is mathematically impossible. Is that not a wonderfully strong faith?

    Gary Parker thought so:
    In one graduate class, the professor told us we didn't have to memorize the dates of the geologic systems since they were far too uncertain and conflicting. Then in geophysics we went over all of the assumptions that go into radiometric dating. Afterwards, the professor said something like this, "If a fundamentalist ever got hold of this stuff, he would make havoc out of the radiometric dating system. So, keep the faith." That's what he told us, "keep the faith." If it was a matter of keeping faith, I now had another faith I preferred to keep.

    Now you know that there is faith on both sides of the question. Let's carry on...
    You claim that creationists have had answers to the question "what is the scientific theory of creationism?". But they all fail the simple tests of any scientific theory:
    1. Must explain the data
    2. Must be falsifiable
    3. Must be able to make predictions.

    These are simple criteria; however, their answers all boil down to one thing: Goddoneit!

    Uh, yes? That's why it's called creationism, you see. The theory is that `God done it.' Materialists, having no God, are reduced to saying `accidents done it' (but accidents destroy, they don't structure), `coincidences done it' (ie let's ignore the odds) or `time done it' (but there ain't enough time).
    And that ceases to be science,

    Wrong.
    since science deals with the natural world

    No, science deals with whatever it can test. Science attempts to make predictions even when it doesn't really understand what's going on. Newton could say what apples do when they abandon their tree, even if he couldn't say why, and that was science. Even if God intervened in an experiment essentially at random, a scientist can deal with that in the same way that they deal with other factors which might randomly influence an experiment (deleting outliers, that kind of thing).
    Basically, if something is supernatural, items 1-3 would not necessarly hold.

    Not every time, no. But they hold often enough to be testable.
    By the way, "special creation" is a supernatural event, so it is not in the re[a]lm of science.

    And a `big bang' isn't? Someone was there with a camera? Or is it experimentally repeatable? Pull the other one, it plays `jingle bells'!
    Well, science does not deal with the supernatural

    Says who?

    On one hand you're saying that I must present to you a theory, and on the other you are ruling any possible theory `out of court'. Make up your mind: will your faith in materialism (and confusion of it with science) prevent you from examining any theory rationally (so you must forfeit any proof and be honest about your faith), or will you actually reason through a theory if I present one?
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  104. Explanatory power, hammer, canyons, Patterson by leonbrooks · · Score: 2
    `Well-supported' means that there is much evidence to back it. Evolution has had much opinion, much theory and much modelling grow up around it but essentially zero actual hard evidence in support of it being right.
    Well, despite your claims, there is overwhelming evidence that evolution occurs. And the theory of evolution explains the data. Just like the theory of gravity explains the effects of gravity.
    Odd that you should choose that example (you're good at this), because the `theory of gravity' only matches what gravity does, it can't actually say why it does what it does. It says `gravity does this' and stops before getting to the `because' part. Same goes for theories of magnetism. The theory of evolution, despite its amazing flexibility, does not explain the data. For example, turtles have nice hard shells that fossilise readily, and indeed we have plenty of turtle fossils - but no fossils at all of proto-turtles, half-formed turtles. Nothing markedly different from the turtles that swim past a few kilometers east of me right now. Pulling the `unlucky' gag about the incompleteness of the fossil record won't wash, because - as I said - we have plenty of turtle fossils... and the same goes for many other species.
    One of the big problems with evolution is that it can be bent to fit almost any circumstance, almost any evidence. In other words, it has very little - if any - actual
    explanatory power.
    Well, you are the one trying to use a theory in the field of biology for questions dealing with geology (see below), or Adolph Hitler
    No, I use science to deal with science. You are the one subcategorising everything and wriggling like a worm on the hook instead of giving straight answers. You don't seem to have understood the point about explanatory power. If it explains too much, then it shows that it has really explained nothing. If it is so flexible that it will fit anything, then it is also so weak that it cannot support anything.
    About Pattersons lecture. Everything he wrote before and after that time supports evolution. So I expect that it is an out of context quote, an opening dialog meant to be contraversial to get their audiences attention.
    Suspect all you like, then go read the docs. Patterson was indeed troubled to the depths of his heart (read a lot more context here) by what he could see. His faith was not as string as Lewin's - or, come to think of it, as the other participants in the Wistar series:
    After a particularly telling paper by Marcel Shutzenberger of the University of Paris, the chairman of the gathering, C.H. Waddington, said, "Your argument is simply that life must have come about by special creation!" The stenographer records, "Schutzenberger: No! Voices: No!" Anything but creation; it wasn't even fair (in spite of the evidence!) to bring up the word. --
    Facts of Life , Page 21 (quote from the transcript)

    Well, I don't know what an evolutionist would do with this but I could guess. When I ask them about evolution the only answer I get from them is, "Convergence is everywhere." -- Pattersen again

    No materialist prejudice here, is there?
    Oh yes, Baughs famous hammer. Typical creationist "Evidence". A 19th century miners hammer encased in soluble minerals.
    You say that very simply, as you do with many things, but how was that actually done? The report you link says things like `Well-preserved wood from Mesozoic or Paleozoic formations would not be expected to have such an appearance' - as if the entire situation were expected. As it turns out, wood just sticking out of the ground in France, and wood embedded in Hawkesbury sandstone (ie, neither sample from `modern' times, the Hawkesbury at least double the `age', and see RAE for some other examples) was not mineralised either. In short, good effort but no definite conclusions. I do wish anyone but Baugh had it, he's not a very careful researcher at all - and a few other things.
    And Mt St Helens - you really cannot try to compare "canyons"
    carved through ash to canyons carved in rock.
    Were they indeed carved through hard rock? How do you know? Or is it materialist presumptions again? If Creation theory is correct, the rock the Grand Canyon was carved through was likely to have been not particularly hard at the time.
    Furthermore, evolution isn't supposed to explain these two things. Evolution is a theory in the field of biology, and those events are (other than fraudulent or deceptive) in the field of geology.
    Yes, they are. But biological evolution has certain prerequisites, and these prerequisites can be eliminated by examining geology. Again, you are acting as if reality were partitionable at will to suit your needs. It isn't. It's all interconnected. Which, BTW, is another problem for evolution.
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  105. Turtles: where's the evolution by leonbrooks · · Score: 2
    Scutosaurus and other pareiasaurs [...] Several genera had bony plates in the skin, possibly the first signs of a turtle shell.

    `Possibly' - but turtles fossilise very well. Anything like/b> a turtle would also fossilise very well, and there are lots of turtle fossils. They haven't. Darwinian evolution fails to explain this. Punkeek has a better chance of explaining it, but is still reasoning from silence. Do you support Darwinian Evolution or Punctuated Equilibrium? They are incompatible, so have you chosen one, or are you begging the question?
    Deltavjatia vjatkensis [...] numerous turtle-like skull features
    Oh, yay. I know people with numerous turtle-like skull features. And still no suitable plates.
    Proganochelys [...] fully turtle-like skull, beak, and shell, but with some primitive traits such as rows of little palatal teeth, a still-recognizable clavicle, a simple captorhinid-type jaw musculature, a primitive captorhinid- type ear, a non-retractable neck
    What ho? Suddenly, 210Ma ago, we have a completed turtle! Chelys == turtle, no? Quoth the American Museum of Natural History (go on, accuse them of Creationist bias, I dare you!) `a normal-looking turtle shell'. Hmm. `the fossil record provides no clues about how the shell evolved'. Hmm.

    Teeth? And so...? Archaeopteryx is basically a Hoatzin with teeth, and `modern' bird fossils were found in "older" (stratigraphically lower) strata (and that's another evolutionarily inexplicable situation, with many parallels). Oh... and AMNH says `It has no teeth -- turtles lost their teeth very early in their history'. Who do you trust, t.o or AMNH?

    Jaw musculature in a fossil? Even if it has significance, it's still interpolation and not evidence. Non-retractable neck? How long is its neck? Look at the picture - it doesn't need to be retractable!

    There's another interesting quote there too, `Its limbs are sprawling, as in all turtles, and in contrast to later vertebrates like dinosaurs.' - say what? Turtles essentially haven't changed structurally since before dinosaur times? We're talking, like, at least a 100Ma here, if not 200Ma. Where's the evolution? How can turtles stay `frozen' for over ten times as long as the entire Cambrian explosion, when over fifty different body structures were laid down in under 10Ma? This is not adding up!

    In short, evolution fails to explain it. It is a contradiction in evolutionary terms. Unless you restrict the discussion to a few favoured traits in a few selected fossils, this happens everywhere you look. Put the argument in context, and the evolution evapourates. Wake up and smell the ediacaria! (-:
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  106. Hammer by leonbrooks · · Score: 2
    Hey, you are the one claiming that a 19th century miners hammer is millions of years old. And even some of Baughs supporters believe that it is at the most 700 years old.

    Heads I win, tails you lose: if the hammer is antedeluvian, evolutionary ideas about technology are completely, er, up the creek. If it managed to get a thick stone encrustation in a few hundred years or less (if it's less than 700 years old, how old is it? 200 years?) without rusting, then evolutionary ideas about rock formation are completly up the duff.

    Your call. (-:
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  107. Canyons by leonbrooks · · Score: 2
    You mean by the Noah's worldwide flood, disproven 200 years ago by Christian geologists?

    You keep spouting on about the Christian geologists. Link?

    And no, I mean the worldwide flood showing up more and more in well-known geological features. Harlan Bretz' 50-meter-high sand ripples are but one symptom. Turbidites left and right are another. The Lewis Overthrust (amongst others) has not been explained (yes, link to t.o if you like, I can shred that one as well - and I'm just Joe Random, not a geologist; geologists can go on at some length about the impossibilities in the Lewis overthrust). Polystratic fossils. Widely distributed thin strata. `Dinosaur graveyards' (yah, sure, fifty or so dinosaurs trip over each other and drown at the same spot in a local flash flood, clumsy buggers, pull the other one). Erosion rates (e.g. at Niagara Falls). Rivermouth sedimentation records. Contemporaneous rootless fossil trees at widely disparate levels (e.g. Yellowstone). And so on. They all point to a massive, aqueous catastrophe followed by a short (kiloyears) relatively stable period for accumulation of debris.

    Geology has no time for evolution, so neither do I.
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  108. Patterson by leonbrooks · · Score: 2

    My, isn't it quiet here in this little sub-topic...?

    You did read the details of Patterson's speech, no? Is convergence everywhere, or not?

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