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Fair Use Computer Game
mpawlo writes "As reported by Greplaw, The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) together with Privacyactivism has released an interactive video game designed to
educate players about their privacy and fair use rights. The game is focused on digital rights management technologies, online spyware, and data profiling servers. We have seen similar games in Sweden from the Anti-piracy Bureau and Flash movies from BSA in the US, however striking a different tune. Play Carabella." Cute idea.
"Carabella is a modern girl. She's hip. She's wired."...and she's got huge jugs, so the /. crew should love it! wohoo! Bring on the large pixelated breasts!
Of course, sex sells, so go for it EFF!
If you like the game....donate.
Sent from your iPad.
will they ask you to register the game? Will it install gamespy(ware) to multiplay?
They're using their grammar skills there.
Too bad the 'game' didn't really give me any background info.
"I might have infringed copyrights." What if I did?
Are they coming to get me now?
pray to the vector gods.
They're using their grammar skills there.
Also check out http://action.eff.org/tinseltown/.
This "game" seems all too reminiscent of the kind of "edutainment" that the War on Drugs has been pumping out. If parents want their children to love liberty, then they should teach them about it when the children are old enough to understand. Trying to brainwash them with video games will work until they're 15, at which point they'll run away from home, become pot-addicted prostitutes, and join the Christian Coalition.
Karma: Good (despite my invention of the Karma: sig)
a Q3 or UT mod would of been more popular
:)
just imagine, running around fragging bots called B3D and the other spyware/adware etc... stuff, now that IMHO would be fun
Don't look for music online, unless you're willing to obtain it illegally.
The best place to legally buy music is still a record shop.
Import albums give you more rights than most US releases.
Summing it up, if you want your rights back, stay offline and move abroad.
free the mallocs!
Would anyone actually 'play' this who wasn't interested already to know the entire content of the game?
Content of the Game:
That's about the extent of the game.
Why not just send out a press release?
going to be as good as TuxRacer?
It's impossable.
... Did I mention flash was evil? :)
:)
If you use any of their listed p2p networks you pirate music and loose privacy.
If you subscribe you don't get your mp3 player working.
If you go out and buy the non-copyprotected CD, you loose money, thus points.
That game sucks.
Still, It's good to raise awareness. See if I can head off a few "snowball fight" emails by replying with a url to this page and a "if you forward it to 10 people in the next 20 mins something funny will pop up on your screen. I don't know how" message. That should inform the people in need
Okay, so I'm bored and on lunch break, so I played the game. Seems there's no way to get 100%. Is there? Unless she steals the import CD, of course... but that's not an option. It's just a way to promo their efforts to get people behind their cause... Yet, no one in real life will score "100%" either because there is always going to be a cost, unless you download from a P2P system. Of course, then you get copyright infringement issues. The real option should have been, buy the cheaper CD, then d/l the songs you then own. You've paid for use of the music, so use it. Or, maybe, download a ripper that recognizes and overwrites the copy-protection bit. ;)
Never attribute to Hanlon that which can be adequately attributed to Heinlein.
The reason is to get you to go back and try all the other options so you learn the respective consequences. About the only thing they missed was going to the band's website to see if they had any mp3's available for download.
I didn't get full score...
Does anyone know a cheat for this game?
BTW, I'm also looking for the No-CD patch...
Oh yes, and my dog ate my serial number. Can anyone help me?
Thanks!
(Parody of posts that usually go up on forums as soon as a game is released... Guess it won't be happening here! Trust the EFF to take all those kinds of fun away...)
If you/Carabella download the album from online, you will be jailed. Your family will hate you. And you will never marry Prince Lance from N'Sync.
If you decide to get a job, you can do so in two ways. You can either go to the burger stand and get an injury on the job, or hook yourself on the street, and get a life-threatening illness.
The game's scoring system reflects the real-life trade-offs that face fans looking for music online. Carabella gets points for getting her music, and for cooking swedish meatballs in her spare time. She loses points for dying (doesn't everyone)?
At the end of episode 1, she will meet up with a drunken sounding dinosaur named Jar jar, and pick up a little boy along the way (Yippee!).
In episode 2, this boy grows up to sexually harass her. It is your choice to determine the destiny of Carabella. Carabella gains points for slapping the pervert teenager and calling him a bad actor, while loses points for swooning over cheesy lines.
At the end of episode 2, a little green computerized muppet comes in, and kicks the RIAA's ass. He then uses the force to demand sexual favors from Carabella's weak mind, and fathers a full-sized alien named Greedo.
At the end of the saga, Carabella discovers that Charlton Heston is her father (but no, that's impossible). She retires to an institute on Dagobah, and is thrown into the swamp after a young Jedi fails to keep her suspended it midair.
Damn, I can't wait.
/^[A-Z0-9._%+-]+@[A-Z0-9.-]+\.[A-Z]{2,4}$/i
apparently, in sweden, when pirates don't want to get raided by cops that break through thier windows, they contact aliens to hovor around thier apartment building and throw paper airplanes around to knock the cops off. Sophisticated warez skills there.
I think it's only appropriate that i downloaded the source of that page, and ripped the shockwave game so i can play it later, or maybe pass it around to my friends.
Does someone have a hacked version I can copy?
Shouldn't the video game have some?
Or is my version of Flash fubared.
---
Destiny-land.
The happiest blog on earth.
This is a good thing for those people who are not aware of what is going on out there in the digital world in America. It might just shine some needed light on it. The only problem is that nobody but geeks will probably see this and the crimes of the politicians that are screwing the American people of their Privacy and other Online rights goes unnoticed until something major happens and it's far to late. A crying shame actually.
The Uber
http://www.tulg.org/
http://devurandom.livejournal.com/
shes wired, shes in a choke hold and turning blue, help her get air, aaarrrgh!
I want 2D games back.
EFF really hedged on the issue of using P2P networks... they said by downloading the band's tunes (sold at a normal CD store), you "may" have violated copyright.
Well duh, of course you did. I know there may be 100% legal uses of P2P networks, but the scenario described in the game doesn't come close to any of them. (And thus the game fails to fully illustrate how the current system sucks for someone committed to not breaking the law.) But I guess if it gets kids to read all that legalistic interpretation of what may and may not be legal, it's worth the hedging, eh? Carabella definitely violated copyright in that scenario. Am I missing something?
Still, their 'faq' of sorts was pretty good at addressing a lot of issues in a reasonably short space.
--LP
So, I go to the site.
Play the game
It tells me I should surf anonymously.
I try the privacy.net page to see what I leave behind.
I go to the recommended www.anonymizer.com.
Put in the privicy.net page to check what they really do:
-------------
This Page is available with an Aonymizer subscription
WHY IS THE PAGE UNAVAILABLE
The Anonymizer Free Trial version restricts access to some web sites in order to keep the service working quickly and efficiently, without overloading.
Sites most often restricted include gaming, casino, adult, career, and web email sites. Other sites may be restricted at random as well.
Our Full Version premium service DOES NOT restrict access to any pages, costs less than $5 per month, and has many more features than the free version. Sign up now!
---------------
So, in order to check out what they are trying to sell me, I need to subscribe?
On to the next (rewebber):
---------------
WELCOME TO REWEBBER!
You are a registered user of our regular service? Please press the button
You do not have a valid Rewebber account yet? We are very pleased about your interest and give you the option to test our service for free.
Please register for your test account
---------------
Registering REQUIRES an email account that they will send a testing password to (sure, mail accounts are easy to come by, but it is kind of a bother to just have a look at the results.
NEXT: http://www.multiproxy.org
No Data. This is a site that appears to exist to sell ads to you in the most annoying way they can. It's a freeware thing you load and appears to - damn, another ad floated in and blocked that part of the page.
Next: www.inetprivacy.com
35 bucks. Although it says you can download from a broken link.
---------------
Overall, pretty bad results from the EFF recommended way of surfing without leaving a trail.
Spackler
PS: I ran these from IE (hence the floating ads that I had not seen in a while). Man, this is how people surfed before Mozilla?
that video games arn't protected speech. I am sure you all remember the thread.
She's got blue hair and fallow grey-blue skin...
That's got Krackedout Kandy Kid Raver written all over her. Man I knew the EFF did drugs but even their games?
Oh dear God, I just got a mental picture of RMS gettin' it down to da breakbeats!
My $0.02 will always be worth more than your â0.02, so
...used free software to begin with (free as in speech and money), then software piracy wouldn't exist, right? So who's to blame?
.... if you hack the game. :)
Kobyashi Maru, anyone?
Mod Karma -1: I sed bad wurds. If I cep my mouf shut, I wud be at riyses.
"Xbox Live has military grade security to ensure no cheaters, no hackers, and no viruses."
Military grade...we'll see about that.
Did the RIAA get permission from Activision for the Pitfall scene in their movie?
What the subject says :-)....
Seems to mirror the ??AA stance on online sales. I know it's off-topic, but if these ??AA's would just look ahead then you could get 100% score on this stupid game!
Get your Unix fortune now!
So if I choose Limewire, there is no privacy issues? Audio Galaxy is -25 in score and Kazaa is -40.
The last time I saw Limewire, it was the most spyware infested software I have ever but maybe that has changed?
The end text mentions loss of privacy when using AudioGalaxy and Kazaa, but not Limewire? So what am I missing here. Has Limewire cleaned up their act? Or are their spying just not as bad as the others?
my sig
So, the game links to a site http://www.multiproxy.org/ which seems to me to have ad's for that infernal Bonzi buddy, a spyware program. :)
The site contains a list of open proxies that you can use to anonymize your surfing.
it seems to me that the list is made from a scan and in the end the page reads:
"Disclaimer: this list is provided for information purposes only. Use it on your own risk. Legally you need to ask a permission to use any of the proxy servers in this list. I shall not be responsible for any damages of any kind arising out of use of these servers and the list itself."
So, I know that we could start a discussion about people not securing their proxies have really asked for it. But still I think that these things it does not really give the game a lot of credibility. But maybe that's just me.
my sig
Internet Junkbuster for the uninformed... now in a nice prog called Privoxy over at sourceforge... kills the most, they got one broken filter that's annoying sometimes but besides that I almost don't edit the actions file
Kjella
Live today, because you never know what tomorrow brings
The biggest problem with paying for anonymizers is that as soon as they have your name and address from you paying for it, suddenly you're not anonymous anymore...there goes the whole point.
In SOVIET RUSSIA... erm...NSA AMERICA, the Internet logs onto YOU!
Gee, that seems like a perfectly legitmate usage of time and donation money.
The EEF are hypocritical BIATCHES and I get off stealing from the RIAA/MPAA and overpaid artists who can't manage to hold down real jobs. I feel not one iota of guilt for all the music I rip off. I do PAY for all my software so I guess that makes me a hypocrit as well but welcome to the USofHypocrisy, the land where you do as we say not as we do.
Oh, sorry. I thought you said "shag".
Beauty is in the eye of the beerholder.
I think it will be hard for people to take this game seriously until the EFF's web designers learn to correctly code special characters into their text. As I was going through the game I saw "nbsp;" all over the place! The best example of this was in the online retailer frame (go to it from the index, it's faster). The balloon that pops up when you click on the "privacy" button has a row of eleven "nbsp;"s that look like they're being used to position the "close" button on the right.
Having done a little (very little) Flash development, I'm pretty sure that you don't need to resort to playing that kind of trick to position things. And how hard is it to remember that codes for special characters start with an "&"?
I hope that this game was the result of someone's volunteer effort. I know that the EFF works on a very limited budget, so perhaps hiring high-quality web design talent wasn't a high priority. I just can't help but wonder, though, if the people who approved it were just staring at Carabella's jugs through the entire presentation...
"Space Exploration is not endless circles in low earth orbit." -Buzz Aldrin
Okay, I know the story was about the EFF's cute little game, but after watching that BSA thing, I have something I need to say about them, and [graphics] software in general.
;)
/god/ did I think of that! I mean, come on! When Lightwave was still $2500, you could get an academic copy for $900... Unfortunately, I don't even know anyone who is IN school.
/. history.
First off, */sarcasm* you have no idea how many software packages I've paid for with money I picked up while on a quest, inside my computer, to destroy an evil virus. */sarcasm*
Now, seriously. Why is every useful piece of graphics software like $500 and up? Your average private individual who may want such software, because of an interest in a particular profession, isn't likely to be able to afford it.
For instance, for the budding computer animator. There are only two real choices, Newtek's Lightwave 3D, and Alias|Wavefront's Maya (I don't much like the software personally, but it too is worth a mention because they do TWO things right).
Both companies just drastically lowered the prices on the packages, making them MUCH more accessible (They're still really expensive, but when you think about how much an animator can make WITH it, you can understand).
Why aren't more companies doing that? I mean, only professionals can afford the software (And they WILL buy EVERY version, WHEN it comes out), but to become a professional, you have to know the software, and probably have already done some work with it.
I think more companies should do things like release learning editions of their software (Like A|W), so that people who can't afford the software can atleast gain valuable experience that could help them get somewhere in their chosen profession (Which would in turn mean they could probably afford the software!), the other option is to lower the prices drastically. (which I can't really see any of the other companies doing...)
Now, to handle as many of the obvious replies as I could think of...
Q. You keep talking about experience, why not go to school for it?
A. Uhm, we're talking about not being able to afford software, so you suggest some kind of higher education? And what if the person is say, still in high school?
Q. What about academic versions of software?
A. Oh
Q. Get a job hippie!!
A. Okay, that's not EVEN a question. And, I have one. Also, I am not a hippie.
Q. Well, if you have a job, why aren't you saving up to buy your software?
A. I do, I have, I will probably continue to do so until my demise. Thankfully, I was not speaking for myself (not anymore anyway). I was speaking, once again, in general. Some of the greatest minds of our generation are flipping burgers in some McHell(TM) somewhere (or working some equally crappy job). Do you really see someone in such a job (or two, for that matter) being able to save up for such software (realistically. I don't mean over the course of several millenia)? Oh darn. And that one was the next George Lucas...
In closing:
I'm actually lucky enough to have managed (Through several arcane rituals, human sacrifices, and a connection), to get a job that allows me to afford my software, (even Lightwave! Although it took saving for a couple versions AND the price drop), but most aren't as fortunate (ESPECIALLY aspiring artists!).
If companies such as Adobe (And Newtek still, despite their already incredible price drops.) lowered their prices to something more affordable to the average up-and-coming, their userbase would be that much bigger, because those same people who would otherwise either pirate the software, or simply be screwed, are now part of the userbase!
Of all the things in the world, I think human creativity is one of the most valuable. It would be nice if the companies that supply this generation's paintbrushes felt the same way.
I've never seen anything modded 'insane rantings' before... Let's see if I can make
This ofcourse is all my subjective opinion, and it probably has little-to-no basis in what the rest of you like to call 'reality'.
Well, that's fine.
I don't work with reality.
Friend: "The NIC is misconfigured..." Me: "No prob, I'll just telnet in and fix it." *Silence*
Spoken like a true pot-head. Never mind the actual facts and research. I quote: "Research conducted during the past seven years by psychology professor Robert Stephens suggests that people who use marijuana regularly may be just as addicted as alcohol, cocaine, or heroin abusers."
Pot smokers are the worst at being in denial, arguably even worse than tobacco smokers in convincing themselves "I can quit anytime I want, I just don't want to". Funny how so many of them never quit, and those that try seem to relapse.
Run over people in your porsche, have body parts blow up when you fire off a mini tactical nuke, that dude high on pcp throwing dumpsters at you.
So this anti-piracy game may be fun, so I'll download it off warez.
God spoke to me
The game is called Pacman.
is what a person who had at least one parent who was a smurf has to do with privacy.
Anyone know where I can get the hacked version?
:-)
--Fac Iustum Nec Time-- --Veritas Prevalibit--
You can find someone to research anything you want. I only speak from experience, having smoked heavily one spring, moved to another town and quit quite easily, within weeks the old habit was gone. Have done that several times. Unless you are a 'pothead' you're just spouting the same propaganda nonesense. 'Worse than tobacco smokers' is utter bullcrap.
try { do() || do_not(); } catch (JediException err) { yoda(err); }
You can find someone to research anything you want. I only speak from experience, having smoked heavily one spring, moved to another town and quit quite easily, within weeks the old habit was gone.
Thus illustrating the danger of using your personal "experience" as proof of anything.
Person X drinks alchohol and never gets addicted to it, therefore, there is no such thing as alcohol addiction.
Person Y smokes cigarettes for 10 years, and then easily quits. Therefore, nicotine is not addictive.
Person Z smoked cigarettes all his life, and lived to be 90. Therefore, cigarettes don't cause cancer.
Excuse me if I look to scientific research as proof of something rather than what you "just know". Just because the addictive nature of something varies depending on someone's biology doesn't mean that substance isn't addictive.
I am queer IRL, and even I think that video game is totally gay........
and looks like a big fucking ad for audiogalaxy
Am I the only one who followed the link to see what people can see about you online and was a bit unimpressed?
...and?
I mean, ok, they can tell if I have javascript turned on.
Really, the only even remotely sensitive piece of information is my IP and if I am really worried that I'm doing something that people will actually want to TRACK ME DOWN for by subpoenaing my ISP to see who was on IP x at time y, then I should be worried. But if what I'm worried about is personal info being sold or traded for demographics, ads, etc, this means nothing. All a proxy would do is keep the webmaster of sites I visit from being able to count the number of unique IPs that hit them, which is annoying for them, but does nothing for me.
In other words, the reason that spyware is bad is because it gives away *more* than the basic, useless information that you can get using javascript (oh no, the cops know my screen resolution!). If you avoid spyware in general and are not doing anything that would warrant (literally) your ISP being questioned, WTF is the point of doing everything through an anonymizer as the EFF seems to be advocating? Am I just missing something here?
His research "suggests" that they "may" be as addicted as hard-drug users? Pardon me if I'm not convinced by such a weak statement, only supported by their high relapse rate. Anyone trying to break a habit that they've done for years is likely to relapse, that's why it's called a habit. This does not prove chemical addiction. The worst symptoms I've heard of from pot deprivation are crankiness and vivid dreams.
Is it me or is this just a piss poor brainwashing technique?
The only people who have the intelligence to accurately understand what this game is trying to do are too old for the message to mean anything to them...
I was hoping for some sort of Your Rights Online Shoot-em-up game with some bad ass name...
Rats.
Mike
They should come out with a Canadian version where you could score 100%. Canadians are allowed to make copies of songs for their own use (artists compensated via a mandatory 'levy' on sales of blank media). Go online with gnutella or some p2p thing that doesn't include spyware, grab songs for your own use. Score: 100% Ok, maybe 95%, because of the blank media levy, but still an improvement -- though I suppose it also admits the possiblity of a negative score, if you DON'T copy music and use CDRW. -5% for no music but still paying.
was i the only one that wept for Carabella when i could get her NO music AND i compromised her privacy? damn that bonzai buddy. damn you.
Am I the only one to whom it felt like a bad "After-School Special"?...
Go to a concert, enjoy the artist, buy the album right there. The CDs can be cheaper, they provide instant gratification, they are anonymous with cash (and mostly, they don't accept credit card), and generally more money goes to the artist because of the fewer middle men.
Oh yeah, and you get to go to a concert, which is usually a better experience than just listening to the CD. Unless it's one of these bands/people that didn't start off playing clubs and such, but jumped into a studio....
Live music is where you get the most entertainment, and the artist gets the most money.
--Matthew
NZ's copyright law sucks at the moment.
:(
We can't even copy a CD to tape, to listen in the car. Backup copy? Yeah right!
From here:
But what about making a copy for personal use?
"The law says this is illegal. In some countries it is permitted, but we are not one of them."
Hopefully the discussion paper will result in some good legislation, but somehow I doubt it
Tim.
The flash movie from the BSA makes absolutly no sense... Designers who copy sw usually do it for thier own purposes, and do not replicate it for others. And what the hell does licencing software have to do with fighting a virus? This is pure marketing hype, utter crap, and it bothers me to think that anyone above the age of five is going to go for that little infomercial. And another thing. The BSA is the Boy Scouts of America, dammit.
Thus illustrating the danger of using your personal "experience" as proof of anything....
Excuse me if I look to scientific research
Well, somewhere 'science' involves experience, experimentation, observation and recording of FACTS. I'm sorry but the so called 'research' quoted above obviously predicates canabis use as 'bad bad bad' without question, as the myth has been presented by authorities with various political agendas. Unless you can present some actual HEALTH RESEARCH showing just exactly what the so called ILL EFFECTS of cannibis use are it is still pure sophomoric pseudo-academic fluff set out to prove a forgone conclusion. Smoking tobacco can lead to emphysema because you have to keep puffing away on cancer sticks to keep the nicotine buzz, heavy liquor use can lead to cirrosis of the liver. Puffing 3 bowls of pot in the evening leads to WHAT??? A minor sore throat? An enjoyment of a Brahms symphony and a bowl of ice cream? My counter argument at the moment is what, exactly, is so bad about a cannibis HABIT? Does it turn someone into a stupid lazy unemployed Mexican 'marijuana' user? Also, I don't like MY personal freedoms being limited because there are other's in society who can't use it responsibly. Every year there are over 40,000 people who get killed in automobile accidents, most could have been prevented if they had been driving responsibly (and a great many due to that LEGAL alcohol intoxicant that was also prohibited once, a dismal failure) - should EVERYONE be prevented from driving because a few are irresponsible drivers? Did you know that people once clung to the irrational belief that tomatos were deadly poison and eating one would kill you, just because the authorities kept mindlessly repeating it and so nobody ever tried it? No matter how you slice it, cannibis prohibition arguments always turn out to be a tiresome repetition of the same old myths (their last resort so far is the 'stepping stone' argument, as if cannibis users are somehow going to automatically, robotically start shooting up heroine) with very little scientific research into the actual facts involved. I refer you to silly propaganda like the 1930's "Reefer Madness".
try { do() || do_not(); } catch (JediException err) { yoda(err); }