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Talk To a Convicted Warez Guy
Chris Tresco is one of those evil "software pirates" cybermoms warn you about. He was a sysadmin at MIT, and also a member of "the secretive Internet software trading ring known as 'DrinkOrDie'" who got caught by the DoJ's Operation Buccaneer, got convicted, and was sentenced to 33 months in prison on August 16. Chris has a little time left on the outside before he goes away and has agreed to spend some of it answering your questions, so ask away. (Usual Slashdot interview rules.)
1) Are you guilty?
2) If so, do you feel what you were doing should be illegal?
3) If so, why did you do it anyways?
Lots of things are illegal, a lot of them arent wrong. A lot of them are. Which did you do?
All Troll + "offtopic" mods are meta moderated as "Unfair", because you abused the system.
You had a career all lined up, and probably enough income to pay for everything you wanted.
You were intelligent enough to know it was wrong, so was it worth it?
Good quote, too many chars. Seriously, the slashdot 120 char limit sucks!
If you could change one law, what would you do?
Looking for people to chat about multicopters, coding, music. skype: gtsiros
I occassionly go warez shopping with carracho, should I be worried about a prison term for browsing these servers? Exactly how much software do you need to have to get 33 months in jail?
What motivated you to pirate software? Was it just because you could? Or were you trying to make some sort of philosophical statement regarding commercial software and the like?
Eddy.WriteLinux.Com
There's been a lot of talk about DRM being built into Microsoft's next generation of operating systems. XP currently has the major annoyance (especially from a piracy perspective) of registration...do you think these new efforts will be able to significantly reduce the prevalance of Warez?
Slashdot 's editors are dickheads
The popular "pro-warez" argument is that if software companies made big-ticket products (for example, Photoshop) available for a lower cost, the demand for warez would drop. As someone in the know, do you think that's at all true?
33 months seems like an outrageous sentence. It seems unjust. The old guy who has been in charge of the photocopier at my local library for the last 20 years would be on death row if similar criteria were applied to him.
Do you think that justice in the USA these days is too influenced by corporations?
Doesn't the conviction of the DOD principles on traditional copyright infringement grounds negate the "digital is different" theme of the constant call by the (MP|RI)AA for stronger anti-circumvention measures?
Would stronger anti-circumvention laws or technical protective measure (TPMs) have affect the operations of DOD?
Do you think the DOD's conspicuous visibility (and the ease of online searches), made DOD easier to target that the street-corner DVD, VCD, and VCR vendors?
Is there any way to distribute content online that a copyright holder would not be able to find the that content -- assuming that the content was visible enough to have (in the language of fair use) an "impact on the fair market value of the work"?
Did you get busted for copying from someone else and making available, or by making copies you bought/got from school available?
M@
Krispy Cream is people
When you get out, if you were offered a high-paying job to do so, would you use your knowledge to help protect software from other crackers?
Cantankerous old coot since 1957.
Do you believe that this all out attack on the technically knowledgable by the digital illiterati enforcing the bloated bottomline of many of these companies will lead to an eventual electronic revolution or do you see the united states becoming controlled by copyright owners and corporations? And do you see hackers eventually out numbering the number of people in prison on drug related crimes?
This is my sig. There are many like it but this one is mine.
Why do people copy, or want to copy, proprietary software illegally when they can legally obtain copies of Free and Open Source software more easily (without doing cracks etc.), usually free of cost, and without risking fines or imprisonment? Do you see the status quo ever changing?
Stick Men
Would you agree with the notion that many software companies aren't really losing much to piracy since someone who pirates, say, a copy of Adobe Photoshop would never have purchased it in the first place due to the outrageous cost?
Personally, there is a lot of software out there that I would find useful, though I couldn't afford to (legally) own it. I think that if Adobe charged half of what they do for, say, a current version of Photoshop, they would likely sell MORE legal copies and enjoy larger market penetration and larger profits. What's your take on this?
What was "The Bust" like? Was it like _WarGames_ where they showed up in black vans and confiscated your computers and rifiled through your trash? Or was it more like _Matrix_ where they called you in and presented all sorts of evidence they collected online etc.. ?
M@
Krispy Cream is people
Does anyone know this guy's handle? I couldn't find it in any of the posts or stories. It's great that we know his real name, but the name more likely to be recognized is the nick/handle/alias/etc.
There are rapists that get less than 33 months time for their crimes. How do you feel about that? Are you being used as an example to warn people committing similar crimes?
Why isn't there more Mac warez? I had a hell of time finding Office v.X
Check out AbiWord.
do you think the average warez kiddie will ever get convicted of "warezing" or do you think that it will always be the release groupz?
"Martha Stewart can lick my Scrotum......do i have a scrotum?" -- Sharon Osbourne
What kind of a case did the prosecutor build against you at your trial, and in the court of public opinion via the "news?" And, what do you think of its merits (or lack thereof?) Do you feel that they were unnecessarily harsh or overly light on you? Do you think that they were trying to make an example of you or not?
Did they call you a "threat to modern society" or just a "guy who'd erred from the straight and true?"
What, do you feel, is the moral difference between what you have been convicted of doing and what everyone else here has probably done at one point or another?
On a personal note, 33 months of your life is a horrendous price to pay. Good luck, man.
Cheers,
-- RLJ
Did you encrypt your hard drive? Why or why not?
-Matt
The incredibly large volume of warez DoD was trading must have been staggering. At any point in time did you or anyone else in DoD ever think that the whole ring was getting way out of hand? If so, what ever came from that or those discussions?
Without commenting on your recent conviction, I am curious what you think regarding software evolution. It's clear that the current nature of software 'licensing' is flawed, given the rampant mistrust and disregard for EULAs by the general software-consuming public.
What kind of environment should software exist within? Is the corporate model doomed to fail as protective measures become more and more draconian, alienating nearly all software purchasers except those in the Fortune 100?
It's nice to think that I can have a long career of creating good software for people who need it (since the effort of creating it is not inconsequential). How can the desire to own software without purchasing it (or obtaining it legally under GPL or other open license) exist in conjunction with what is likely the goal of many on this list?
How have your peers at MIT reacted? Digust? Sympathy?
Did the prosecution offer you a "deal" if you would talk and testify against other members of your group?
If so, did you talk in exchange for a lighter sentence? Or did you stay silent and let only yourself take the rap?
Are you scared about going to prison? Do they prepare you in any way before you enter the facility, or do they just throw you in and that's it?
Just typing these questions make me uncomfortable.
https://www.accountkiller.com/removal-requested
What advice (if any) would you give to those currently involved in the 'warez' scene.. whether it be one who downloads and uses cracked/copied software, or even one involved in one of these distribution groups.
Were you stealing bandwidth from MIT to do this? Or were you hacking into other people's boxes to get the bandwidth?
If you were stealing bandwidth, how much bandwidth do you think you stole from MIT? Did someone there have anything to do with the prosecution, either as a witness or as a whistleblower? Did you feel any moral qualms about stealing from a university?
If you mostly got your bandwidth through hacking, what do you imagine were the costs to the companies to repair the damage from the hacks? Did you feel any qualms about abusing other people's property?
Also, if you were hacking into other people's machines to open up Warez sites, what is the closest analogy to a physical property crime you can imagine? I envision going through the "house for sale" flyer to find unoccupied and poorly monitered homes in my neighborhood, using lockpick (or breaking a window) to get inside, and then "remodeling" it a little bit on the inside so that I could throw huge parties for hundreds or thousands of people. Is this an accurate description of the type of hacking being done, or would you compare it to something else?
Slashdot is jumping the shark. I'm just driving the boat.
Once you get out of jail, IPv6 will be the big standard, we'll all be running Linux 2.8 and microsoft may have taken over the world. Will you be to keep up with technology in jail, for example do some studies on a laptop?
.sig: No such file or directory
Some warez seems to involve incredible programming effort, developing custom install tools to e.g. convert MP3'd WAVs back to the originals, deal with movie resampling to save space, etc., not to mention substantial reverse-engineering work to break copy protection schemes. Who does all this? Are they professional programmers with spare time? Bored college students? High school students?
10 PRINT CHR$(205.5+RND(1)); : GOTO 10
How much money would you say that developers lost because of your pirating ring?
How much would you say all of the downloaded software was worth?
The man who trades freedom for security does not deserve nor will he ever receive either. - Benjamin Franklin
How do you feel about going to jail? I know that sounds stupid, so let me clarify.
Do you look at it as a miscarriage of Justice? That the goverment and big buisness are railroading you.
Or was it the price to be paid? Kind of a personal Civil Disobediance, that you knew what could happen, and did it anyway. And if it was a Civil Disobediance issue, do you think it will have a major impact on Piracy, either positive or negative?
"To Do Is To Be" - Socrates, "To Be Is To Do" - Sartre, "Do Be Do Be Do" - Sinatra
What was the first piece of software you pirated?
What was the weirdest piece of software you pirated?
What was the most memorable piece of software you pirated?
1) Why did you do it? Was it for a thrill, for fun, because you knew the software companies were overcharging, or for another reason?
2) I've heard rumours that some large software companies actually leak software out on purpose because they realize the importance of getting their product out to be used and tested in order to spark intrest in it. Do you believe this is true?
Errr ... the people I know who pirate the most work in a software games company. They have all games, often before retail time, and other major pieces software. All copied illegally.
If you plan not to pirate software again would you chose to pay for commercial apps or would you use free software?
Has your opinion changed about free software vs commercial software because of your unfortunate experience?
Do you think strong armed tactics by the BSA and upcoming drm will actually help spread free software?
http://saveie6.com/
Except the personal stuff of course.
Do you still belive that spreading warez is ok and that you were sacrificed, or will you speak against it and never do it again?
I am sure everyone that got caught wish that they never did get caught, the question really is if they wished that they had done something else, or that the police had target someone else instead.
You have been found guilty, but do you feel guilty?
Who do you think is more responsable for the demise of coutless small development companies - the publishers, the warez community, or the development companys themselves? And why?
Thad
Games Developer.
Thad
I am assuming (and hoping) that you are being sent to a "minimum" security facility.
33 months, I'm sure you'll have some free time; do you plan to study anything in particular? (I.e. Programming, hardware, philosophy, art, etc...)
Second question, how is your family taking your (future) incarceration?
Take care... I do hope that you don't have to serve the full 33 months.
Comment removed based on user account deletion
Was it a fair trial?
why or why not?
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
Many of us who have only skimed the surface of "the scene" but have no real connection to it -- this would include the majority of people -- often have have the belief that Courier Groups, et al, are generally one rung up the ladder from clubs in treehouses and that they are little more than bunches of hyperactive teens who want to be part of something.
.nfo files that say who in the group is in charge and who does what -- my question is: are the organizations really that structured and organized as all of this literature would have us believe? Are they more than just clubs run by Middle school students?
Yet, while you were in DoD, you were a Sysadmin and in most respects a professional, skilled, mature, and above all appeared to be a responsible person which lends come creadance to the idea that these groups (or at least the "older ones") are not the inept preteens they may appear to be.
We've all read the
Hilary Rosen's speech was about her love of money and her desire to roll around naked in a pile of money.
What percentage of the Jury owned and used a computer on a daily basis? If it was a small percentage, do you feel you were really given justice by a jury of your peers?
If telephones are outlawed, then only outlaws will have telephones.
Considering DRM, CD key, and other methods of
copy protection. And the piracy which may/may not be a response to these inceasing copy protection measures.
What method of copy protection would you suggest which would provide a balance between ease of use for the user and the need to protect a copywritten work?
Also do you think actions like this continue to re-enforce the idea in the minds of people that open source/ free software is substandard in copmarison to it's retail counterpart?
And finally, while you were doing this did you ever consider that you might be prosecuted for it?
Was it worth doing what you did for the mostly anonymous recognition you recieved?
1) What are the specific crimes you were convicted of that stacked up to 33 months in jail?
2) What other crimes have you been convicted of in the past? (aka Are warez offenders common criminals who commit all sorts of crimes?)
3) Given the sentence you are about to face, do you see yourself getting envolved with warez again in the future?
4) What moved you to help others steal software? Did you receive any benefit for your actions?
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When considering the crime youve been 'convicted' of; my question is simple: Why goto jail at all? If you are presently on the outside, why not skip out of the country altogether?
Ive considered it in the past, going to jail is simply not an option for myself -- Why dont you go down to Mexico and get out of North America?
Plan to keep in contact with your friends in the Warez biz, even if you yourself never re-enter it?
I've been under the impression that the warez "scene" is more about status and human interaction than anything else.
[PowerPoint] is a tool for capitalist presentation
I am a cracker from a fairly well known group, living in the US. We take normal precautions (encrypted email/irc), but there are clear vulnerabilities that cant easily be eliminated (topsite accounts and the possibility of trojaned supplied software, etc.). The dod bust stunned all of us with the lengths of the sentences, which seem out of proproportion to the crime. I find myself asking more and more whether the risk is worth the fun. We are all in it for the commaraderie and the friends (and the access to files); of course none of us are making any money from it. My question is, if you had it to do over again, would you stay out of a group, and of the scene? Were there risks you took that you sholdn't have? What were they? Any advice to someone still in the scene who wants to stay but worries about being caught?
Why is antipiracy.org registered by you? Seems abit ironic ;)
Greg
There\'s no place like ~
How do you feel about the rise of P2P and it's affects on the Warez community? Do you think it makes it safer (safety in numbers?) or do you think that it'll bring down the fist of the law even harder?
Which P2P networks did you prefer, if any?
[PowerPoint] is a tool for capitalist presentation
1)How did you defraud the United States or one of its Agencies?
2)How much did you spend on a lawyer, or did you use a public defender?
I thought Corporations weren't considered part of the US government.
--Greg
Sec. 371. - Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud United States
If two or more persons conspire either to commit any offense against the United States, or to defraud the United States, or any agency thereof in any manner or for any purpose, and one or more of such persons do any act to effect the object of the conspiracy, each shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than five years, or both.
If, however, the offense, the commission of which is the object of the conspiracy, is a misdemeanor only, the punishment for such conspiracy shall not exceed the maximum punishment provided for such misdemeanor
When work feels overwhelming, remember that you're going to die.
MIT has just about everything a student needs, you didn't need all of that stuff. Are you a kleptomaniac? I'm not trying to beat up on you, I'm just curious how you slept at night or what you told yourself to sleep at night. And if you didn't have any problems sleeping at night do you stay awake at night now wondering why your sense of right and wrong didn't or doesn't conincide with the laws of your country?
This is an interesting perspective to hear from,
Were there any claims to your actions that you feel were unfounded (value of software, actions, abandonware/shareware/freeware in the list of programs in question, etc.)
How did they treat you in the arresst and conviction process?
And did you feel the witnesses, prosecution and judge were sufficiently knowledgeable to handle the case?
"Enjoy what you're doing! If it becomes drudgery, you're doing it wrong!" - Jim Butterfield
Nice one. If I can't pirate a game I'm quite happy to rip the security tag off, buy a magazine and stick the game box in the bag before I leave. That's because I recognise that stealing is stealing to a certain extent, and because I have few morals.
Make of that what you will, but I'm honest with myself about it. I've downloaded rips of an awful lot of shitty games and thanked my lucky stars I didn't buy them (thanks to the memories of paying £30+ for appalling NES games back in the day), and I've paid an awful lot of money for games which I consider to be worth my cash, too (Diablo 2 stolen: expansion bought; boxed set bought too, so I have two copies of the expansion - Blizzard deserved the cash).
Almost all the money I have earned, begged or saved since my adolescence has been spent on CDs. Overall the software and music industries are making a hell of a lot of money from me, which isn't an escuse but certainly makes me care less about the insignificant loss of a single CD sale - which may in fact turn out to be two bonus sales if my mates buy it on my recommendation.
But yeah, I still see it as stealing, because it is. I don't care. If they were distributing on a different policy, it wouldn't be stealing, and then I wouldn't be a bad person at all and they wouldn't hate my using their software so much. It's up to them to change, not me.
- Chris
Can someone explain to a non-USian how it is possible to be at liberty one full month after being sentenced to prison time? Are the US prisons so full that convicts have to wait for spaces to open up? Or is this some kind of break for white collar types: "We know your schedule is busy, so why not take advantage of our convenient Slammer-when-it-suits-you Program"
My understanding of this is that you were involved with the illegal distribution of copyrighted works, depriving the potential owners of money for the works (possibly - the reality may be "probably not," but...). You then received 33 months of jail time (or just under 3 years) which seems to me to be rather fair.
Based on the Operation Buccaneer information, you received counts of felony (criminal copyright infringement, probably), and conspiracy (to commit criminal copyright infringement, probably). (Both probablies are guesses based on the document.) This seems to be in line with what one would expect for charges against a ring of people whose sole goal is to steal massive quantities of software and redistribute them to as many people as want them at no charge. (The fact that there was no charge probably reduces the sentence to a degree, but the fact that it required specialized skills and involved a large collective of people acting together to commit criminal copyright infringement probably both outweigh that.)
So... why should I feel sorry for you? You got what you deserved. You stole from people and gave copies to as many people as you could. Based on the MIT press release, you illegal utilized systems you were supposed to be administrating for the purposes of illegally distributing software. As far as I can see, you got exactly what you deserved.
So - prove me wrong. Demonstrate that my understanding is flawed or that I am misunderstanding the crime. Demonstrate that it should not be a crime. Or - accept my view. Explain if you feel sorry for your actions and believe that you did indeed commit the crimes. Or come up with another response that does not fall directly between agree and disagree.
You are in a maze of twisty little relative jumps, all alike.
If you were the judge, what kind of sentence would you have handed down to yourself?
(Lets be reasonable, no 100 hours of "community service" breast exams at the Ford Modeling Agency)
Where does the school board find them and why do they keep sending them to ME?
The only law being broken is copyright violations. Copyright violations are not theft of service.
Once you realize that copyright is artifical chains that the public places on itself for a certain goal, and not a 'right' of authors, then you'll realize that the morals aren't quite so clear cut. Industry's reframing of the copyright debate from "quid pro quo" to "we must have absolute protection" has caused the issue to become twisted and unrecognizable from what the foundations of the US were built on.
Furthermore, the copyright law as it has been implemented is clearly not in line with the generic arguments for it. Copyright has been modified several times over the last century, each time designed solely to protect the industries solely at Congress's bargaining table and to lock out up-and-coming industries, as well as the public. This has caused the US implementation of the law to become quite sick.
Learn your copyright history. I recommend reading Jessica Litman's "Digital Copyright".
Also:
Did you ever think about the money that you were taking away from honest people who work hard and rely on the profits they generate from software sales or did you only think about yourself while committing your crimes?
Warmest regards,
--Jack
Wagner LLC Consulting Co. - Getting it right the first time
I have read (Stephen L. Carter, Integrity), and agree with, the following definition of Integrity:
Acting with integrity consists of
Do you believe you acted with integrity when committing those acts you were convicted of? If so, why? If not, where did you fall short?
[A note to potential critics: Just because someone acts with integrity doesn't mean what they did was right. It simply means that they were intentional and thoughtful enough about their action that discussion of the act and the reasons for it can help to elevate the awareness of others to the issues the action was meant to address. It also means that they were probably acting at least partially without self-interest.]
How can we afford to ever sleep
So sound again
--ebtg
It also effectively deterred me from ever giving money to a SafeDisc-using company.
The only CD drive in my machine at one point was a Yamaha 4x4x16 CDRW. I bought a nice legal copy of Half Life: Opposing Force, had to open the shrink wrap (thus eliminating any chance of simply returning it to the store), install, try a few things to figure out why it wasn't working when it seemed it should, read the readme and found that it was incompatible with my drive. Now, who's gonna give me a refund? The store? Not likely. The publisher? Maybe, if I pay for shipping.
Congratulations, Sierra. You just lost a paying customer.
All sweeping generalizations suck.
How did you get caught, from your point of view ?
Because that involved the FBI and a lot of people worldwide, there should have been some indications that troubles where coming, or did they manage to stay in stealth mode until they hit?
From what us non-insiders know of, a hacker group is somewhat organized with different isolated layers, and very few connections between those layers, but the one needed to make it works. This ends up beeing a kind of CIA-like organisation, more or like.
Of course, the very nature of internet greatly help that, but i'm wondering : from an insider point of view, did this kind of organisation just "emerge", or where you briefed by someone else?
Of course, the lwa-enforcment greatly over-estimated the importance of DrinkOrDie. They need to justify the tax-payer money they are throwing out of the window: see some interesting file.
But overall, how was your oragnisation preceived by its peers cracking groups?[Pruneau
From the movie Blow:
"I went in with a bachelor's of marijuana and came out with a doctorate in cocaine."
I personally believe that (with a few case-by-case exceptions), non-violent offenders should not be thrown in jail as a rule. What is wrong with giving them community service and the like? Thsis warez guy could have spent his time teaching disadvantaged children how to use a computer.
The question should be; do they pose a threat to other people and need to be removed from society? Pirating software (however your feelings on the subject) doesn't do that.
Or it could just be that prison is more about vengence rather than justice.
One of the things about jail is that you have nothing but free time. So what do you plan to do? Study for a new career? Work out constantly? Plan your escape? Learn to speak Sanskrit?
When you get out, you will have had 33 months of basically no real responsibilities. If you find a nice, cushy prison, you can get some real work done. Are you going to use this time to make your life when you get out of jail better?
Also, when you get out, what do you plan to do? Something in the computer field, or do you plan to change your path when you get out? If I were in your place, I think I'd just get fed up with computers and become a florist or something.
Synergy is your friend
Is it illegal to make copies of software? Well, that depends on how much you actually copy. Is is wrong to make copies of software? Well, that's up to your personal ethical code.
Just because you say it is wrong doesn't mean it is. Is it wrong to get an abortion? Is it wrong to smoke pot? A lot of people will give you different opinions on the ethics of those issues, regardless of their legal standing.
Yes there are people who don't do it, agreed, but your declaration that it's simply wrong is a bit self-righteous.
This sig has been temporarily disconnected or is no longer in service
Considering Nate Newton was caught red handed TWICE within a month trying to smuggle nearly 400 POUNDS total of marijuana into the country, and is sentenced to three months LESS than you are?
Netjak.com independent reviews of domestic & import video ga
What's the deal with all the silly competition between warez groups? (Our release is better than their release... That group broke the file limit rule... Their crack is broken... etc... (how the hell do you agree on file limit rules anyway?) It seems very juvinile at times and it looks like ego is a big part of the scene. What's the average age of DOD members anyway?
But... so long and thanks for all the warez.
Or at least mentioned.
How does his crime sentence compare to other crimes that involve copying? I wonder how it would compare to, say, wholesale duplication of $100 bills? Everyone always compares piracy to software theft, when in reality, it's much closer to counterfeiting. Both the copyright system and the monetary system rely on government imposed scarcity. The hard question that some people here on Slashdot need to ask themselves, is can the economy survive if that artificial scarcity is removed.
In my personal opinion, I believe the world would be a much better (and radically different) place if copyright is cut short. In this hectic information age, can anyone imagine a world where copyright only lasted 5 years from publication? I'd love to see a reasoned debate on this issue.
And, for my question to the convicted pirate... What is his personal view on the politics of copyright, and what his views (if any) are of what life would be like under such a system.
Bork!
In a given situation each action you take is right or wrong depending on the context. That is, it is right and wrong within my own personal moral context, and it is also right and wrong within a societal context.
Is it wrong to copy one piece of software for a good friend? Is it wrong to copy it for a hundred friends? Is it wrong to copy for a thousand strangers? Is it wrong to copy for a profit? Each one of these questions can be answered differently even though they all fundamentally address the ethics of copying software.
Don't get me wrong, i'm not going to sit here and suggest that we can have no law in our society because none of us is of sufficient moral stature to judge anybody else. The fact of the matter is that in order for civilization to function, we have to come to common understandings that we can codify. It's a simple matter of majority rule (or perhaps these days, majority of the money rule but I digress). That's why we have a law that says if I copy more than so much software I can be punished for it. I may disagree with that law, but neither the law nor my personal belief has any bearing on some absolute definition of wrong. But that doesn't mean I'll be surprised if I egregiously violate copyright law and get thrown in prison.
This sig has been temporarily disconnected or is no longer in service
The WTO would like to see copyright protection instituted in the legal systems of 3rd-world countries -- precisely the places where warez godz can operate with impunity. Do you think information-age countries should expect a different IP standard from the 3rd-world, for the purpose of innovation and development?
In hindsight, were there things happening in the days or weeks prior to your arrest that should have tipped you off that something was not right?
"dope will get you through times of no money better than money will get you through times of no dope"
Do you find that the more intelligent that a person is, the easier it is for them to rationalize doing what they really want to do, even if it is wrong?
Morality is not absolute. That is evidenced by the fact that no two societies agree on a common set of morals. However, agreed-upon morals make a good basis for laws and government because the people agree about whether the relevant behaviors are moral or not. If too many people disagree with the morality of too many of the laws then you've got a revolution on your hands. This is why there isn't a world government right now. People are different and they can't be held under the same laws.
The closest we've come to that is the empire model of government, where the central government doesn't have much power to pass laws over the individual territories. That's more or less the theory behind the federal/state schism that exists in the USA. It lets people govern themselves -- because they have the best idea of which way their morals steer them and how best to apply laws to support their society.
-David
Do you feel to be the victim of being "scapegoated" as an example of what will be done to us lowly pirates if we do not kneel to the US Gov and companies who have intrests in your conviction?
Do you feel as if you HAVE commited a crime? And if so.. do you believe it to be so heinous as to recieve the sentance you got?
as well do you believe the sentance was too much or to little in respect to your "crimes"?
Whats most important in this discussion is your depth of redistribution... I feel you crossed the line using your company to redistribute. How do you feel about that?
How do you feel the DoJ should treat the masses of "lesser" pirates... As in those who recieve Warez or those who use their own Software and install it on their "friends" computers?
Once again i feel you crossed the line by being a True distributer... akin to a drug dealer (not moraly, but in the supply chain of "illegeal" trades)... you placed yourself at odds with the law and MIT and these various companies by being a "big fish"... do you think that was a mistake?
Did you redistribute to be a rebel?
Or to protest unfair copywright laws?
To return the "warez karma" (as in giving back to those who gave to you)
Or simply because?
My personal attitude is a semi-robin-hood type, in addition i do not feel like its stealing... thats correct no physical object is transferred... which instinctually makes me feel as if these claims should ONLY be civil... I think criminal trials for non-malicous Data theft (theft of Bytes and bits that isnt for the purpose of harming someone directly) should be illegal... its wrong to put someone in prison as such... i believe that those caught with warez should be ticketed, those caught distributing warez should face civil lawsuits... but a criminal act i cannot see in this.
How do you feel?
This venue of discussion is highly important and needs to be resolved... because ultimately id guess most of the US is guilty of software/music theft at some level... if the companies had their way...Should we all go to jail?
3 years for an MP3 collection? (i know thats an exageration, but whats to stop them?)
where do we draw the lines?
--Idiots, Every single one of YOU, A flaming mass of conglomerated morons, hey wait a second, isnt that how RAID works?
Can you tell us about the whole process of getting busted and interrogated? How was the DOJ able to learn about all the members and execute simultaneous busts?
How hard did the DOJ interrogators push to get names of accomplices and if you cooperated, did that reduce your sentencing?
What advice would you give to someone who finds themselves in a similar situation? e.g. ( Hire a good pre-trial lawyer. Flee the country. )
I assume that the DOJ confiscated all your servers and went through the logs and examined all the user accounts and IP addresses. What happened to the "small time users" or did the DOJ not bother to track them down?
Lastly, in hindsight if you had to do it all over again. What would you have done to stay under the radar and not get busted?
How does one plan to go to prison?
How do you plan to adjust to prison life?
"Do I dare disturb the universe?"
Sadly its the sugar-shack pound me in the ass prison. The vast majority of laws agaisn't piracy I think( feel free to correct me if I am wrong)are federal and not state. I do know that some states have some laws as well but if the FBI was involved, its more likely part of a federal investigation. Pirating is a very big crime thanks to corporate sponsored bussiness espianoge laws. The same one's used to apply the DMCA world wide and throw Jon Johnson in the slammer. My guess is the guy at MIT was charged by lots of federal laws as well as a few state ones. This would apply for federal prison. Also minimium security prison is no picnic either. There are alot of punk kids who just turned 19 who love a good fight as well as many violent gang members.
My advice to this guy is to agree to get in a staged fight with someone on your first day there. Many people going in would be happy to do so and I will explain why anyone would want to do this.
What I am about to say may make those reading this uncomfortable but its %100 true.
Bullies and rapists go after the weakest people and assuming its %90 black/hispanic and he is a nerdy slim white guy, would get alot of attention from guys who would love to make him their bitch. This guy needs to look tough so they will find someone else to beat up or rape instead. People with dissabilities get raped practically on a nightly basis in lots of prisons. ITs disgusting and sick but after you are their, you sure as hell do not want to go back.
I hate to think what this guy will go through for a several copies of software that he would not of bought anyway.
http://saveie6.com/
Obviously, a move to prison is going to be a very difficult and probably distrubing cultural change from what you're used to.
Have you taken any steps to help yourself assimilate? Meaning, anything physical (e.g. self defense), thing mental (prepared a reading list) and/or things spiritual (e.g. Chuck Colson's pfm.org) ?
Have you set any goals for what you want to accomplish while you're on the inside? How about goals for when you're released?
healyourchurchwebsite.com - WWJB?