IsoNews Ostensibly Shut Down By The DOJ

US Gov't to Iso News: by mekkab · 2003-02-26 12:50 · Score: 5, Funny

All your base are belong to us!

--
In the future, I would want to not be isolated from my friends in the Space Station.

Re:US Gov't to Iso News: by Old+Uncle+Bill · 2003-02-26 15:49 · Score: 5, Interesting

They must have been terrorists. I'm sure they are in Cuba by now. Houses sold, assets frozen and confiscated. Or they violated the DMCA. Can that land you in Guantanamo these days? Or is violating the DMCA now the same as being a terrorist? It's so confusing, really. I guess I probably should not be writing this. I think they're coming for me now...

In Soviet Russia (no, this is not one of those jokes) they had a name for the person who turned you in. They called them a Stukatch (bad transcription from the Cyrillic, sorry). It was an offtake on the word Stuk, or "knock". If your neighbor did not like you, or disagreed with your "morals" they would turn you in, and soon enough you would get that knock.

--
Yes, I am an agent of Satan, but my duties are largely ceremonial.

In the US by Anonymous Coward · 2003-02-26 12:50 · Score: 5, Funny

you are all criminals.

Re:In the US by Narcissus · 2003-02-26 13:54 · Score: 2, Interesting

And yet in Australia I could buy both and still not be a criminal...
Re:In the US by Anonymous Coward · 2003-02-26 13:58 · Score: 2, Funny

The DOJ didn't shut them down complete. /. finished the job for the mirror site.
Re:In the US by 5foot2 · 2003-02-26 14:52 · Score: 2, Informative

yeah, but show up with an air rifle and your a terrorist.
Re:In the US by jc42 · 2003-02-26 15:46 · Score: 5, Interesting

you are all criminals.

Over the years, I've run across a number of articles explaining why, in most of the country, this is quite literally true. It turns out that in most of the US, it isn't logically possible to follow all the laws simultaneously. There are almost always logical contradictions in the various laws, so that following one law means breaking another.

Some of the examples get downright silly. For example, in one place that I lived, the law students dug out the anti-gambling laws, and verified that, under a literal interpretation, carrying cash was "being in posession of gambling devices". You know the various penny-matching games or serial-number games that can be played with money? They make money itself a gambling device.

OTOH, if you weren't carrying money, that was ipse facto evidence of vagrancy, for which you could be arrested and held in jail.

Then, of course, there are all the laws that you could follow if you knew about them, but you'd never suspect that such stupid laws exist. There are supposedly several states in which the legal speed limit is still 10 or 15 mph, dating from 100 years ago when that was fast enough to scare the horses.

Granted, such laws would probably be overturned, but first you have to be arrested and charged, so that you can defend yourself in court. This gives you an arrest record, which can be used against you.

This isn't entirely frivolous. Almost all urban black males have arrest records by age 18. The reason is that they can be and are routinely arrested on just this sort of violation. They have little or no defense, since they are in fact always in violation of some law, even if they're just standing on the corner watching the world go by. This arrest record is then used to deny them access to education and jobs. So much for decades of "equal opportunity" legislation.

Back to frivolity: I lived in Florida for a few years, and one of the fun laws there turns out to outlaw "nude bathing". The wording does not exclude a bath in the bathtub in your own bathroom. But if you shower nude (with or without a friend), you are apparently legal.

All in all, if you're in the US, you are usually in violation of some law at any time. You are at least a criminal part of the day, no matter what you do or don't do.

(I'd guess that this is also true in much of the rest of the world, but I've only read about it in US terms.)

--
Those who do study history are doomed to stand helplessly by while everyone else repeats it.
Re:In the US by playagame · 2003-02-26 18:09 · Score: 2, Interesting

Slightly offtopic, here in Georgia there is a city called Kennesaw where it is ILLEGAL for any home to not possess some kind of firearm. I'm sure there is some contradiction here I just cannot think of it right now (luckily I got my bong a few weeks ago).
Re:In the US by jasonditz · 2003-02-26 18:58 · Score: 3, Insightful

How about "I just legally acquired X and it won't play in my system because of a region lockout, thereby denying me the use of a legally owned item. "

Too bad, you go to jail now

so make a bong from by SirSlud · 2003-02-26 12:51 · Score: 5, Interesting

- a carrot
- a can of coke
- a 2l pop bottle

Or just eat the weed.

Or smoke it in a joint.

I mean, poor american taxpayers, how much are you paying a year now to try and keep those dangerous stoners from running amok?

--
"Old man yells at systemd"

Re:so make a bong from by fishbowl · 2003-02-26 13:14 · Score: 5, Insightful

>I mean, poor american taxpayers, how much are
>you paying a year now to try and keep those
>dangerous stoners from running amok?

Eleven Billion Dollars.

I've decided that no "legalization" or "decriminialization" effort will ever work.
So I am seeking support for an effort to have Alcohol classified as a Schedule II narcotic, and Tobacco as Schedule I (tobacco has no known medical uses), and placed under DEA authority as Federally controlled substances.

Our society does not tolerate the use of dangerous drugs. Federal enforcement of drug control regulations is a success. Alcohol is a dangerous drug, and the people have consistently shown an inability to use it without causing death and destruction. If you have a medical reason for using alcohol, then you should be able to get a prescription for it. Otherwise, possession and sale should be treated exactly like the other dangerous drugs.

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-fb Everything not expressly forbidden is now mandatory.
Re:so make a bong from by dc2light · 2003-02-26 14:11 · Score: 5, Insightful

I hope that you are joking. Please tell me when, in the history of the United States (or any other nation), has prohibition served it's intended purpose (if it's true intended purpose is to dramatically reduce or elliminate the trade and use of the given subject of prohibition)?
Fiorella H. LaGuardia begs to differ with you:
http://prohibition.history.ohio-state.edu/la guardi .htm

People didn't start sticking needles in their arms until Heroin became illegal in 1914 thanks to The Harrison Narcotic Act. Once it was hard to get, and therefore much more expensive, people who were addicted to heroin needed to make the most of what they could get.

Prohibition only makes a bad situation worse. I don't think that any good comes out of the abuse of 'drugs/alcohol', however I think we should take heed of the lessons of history, instead of continually repeating them (at the expense of billions of dollars, not to mention the untold human suffering).

The addicts and their families aren't the only one's who suffer. The misery generated by the illegal drug traffic business touches all of our lives in some way. That doesn't begin to address the incredible horrors instigated in the countries of origin and trade of the prohibited materials. (Seen Columbia in the headlines lately?)

However noble your intentions might be, you ignore the element of greed (a sad element of human nature) at everyone's peril. If there is a demand for something, someone will find a way to supply it, priced according to the risks involved and the availabilty of the material in question.

I really can't believe anyone would advocate prohibition. You really must be joking. Right?
Re:so make a bong from by Anonymous Coward · 2003-02-26 14:14 · Score: 2, Insightful

As for me, I enjoy a nice cold beer, straight from the tap.

That's so cool. Here we only get water, and it's sort of chlorine-y at that. I'm moving to wherever YOU live.

btw, the poster you replied to was being ironic in order to make a point. You know, about the hypocrisy of stigmatising and prosecuting for marijuana to the point where certain art glass is probably illegal to make or own, while leaving other more harmful drugs alone. Next time read it twice and perhaps we'll be spared your pointless rant.
Re:so make a bong from by fishbowl · 2003-02-26 15:46 · Score: 2, Insightful

"It seems obvious to me that if alcohol were classified as Schedule II, restrictions on all drugs in that category would have to be reduced to avoid riots."

We have a winner! You saw right through my argument and came back from the other side.

I believe if my case could be made more thorougly, with sufficient logos, even the staunchest conservative would see there is
really no future for the current strategy.

So many people are arguing directly for reform, but they run up against the status quo, and an enormous problem of cognitive dissonance -- we spent $8 billion last year basically trying to stop people from smoking marijuana, and, somewhat collaterally managed to stop a relative few from using cocaine and heroin. This year we are spending $11 billion to accomplish the same goal.

It is precisely because we have so much invested in the strategy that the very idea of changing it will be rejected. Rejected so vehemently that even State laws are being ignored by Federal prosecutors. And protected so forcefully that the affected States do not even pretend to stand up for their authority.

A direct argument for reform will only be met with an even stricter interpretation of the current policy!

I propose that if by allowing the Federal government to strengthen the policy to its logical extent, simply by applying consistent reasoning to it, people will finally see that the direction the government has taken does not represent their interests or their will. I believe that will engender enormous changes for the greater good.

Despite what the millions in prison would say, the current government still manages to only oppress and disemfranchise a small fringe element. But if the erosion of rights represented in issues such as the "drug war" were applied to other areas that affected less of a minority, less of a fringe, the process of reform will gain the momentum it needs.

I believe it takes a minimum of 12 years for such changes to truly come about under the American system. Unfortunately, the American people lose interest in anything that does not render instant gratification.

--
-fb Everything not expressly forbidden is now mandatory.
Re:so make a bong from by Ryan+Amos · 2003-02-26 16:23 · Score: 5, Interesting

And because of all this money we spend on fighting drug trafficking, the drug cartels make even more. Why are we losing the war on drugs? We're being outspent. The Feds spend about $17 billion a year on this war.. the cartels spend somewhere around $30 billion. Also, people seem to think that as Americans, we're smarter than everyone else out there. The cartels have some fucking SMART guys working for them; American trained chemists, guys churning out counterfeit bills so good the Secret Service can barely tell the difference, even rumors of drugs being smuggled by submarine. Not to mention the rumors of CIA involvement in drug traffcking, which I really wouldn't doubt, given the backass nature of the CIA in the past.

The US govt needs to learn the war on drugs is NOT one it can win unless it is prepared to enter into another Vietnam type conflict (albeit against a much better funded enemy.) All to enforce some racist laws enacted at the turn of the century (example: opium was outlawed because of anti-Chinese sentiments. White people didn't use the stuff.)

But all this is regardless of my objections to these type of raids. It is irrelevant that these pipes/bongs/whatever are often used to smoke marijuana. They CAN (and, at least in name, are intended to) be used to smoke tobacco and other legal substances. That in itself should be reason enough for the average American to start to fear. Because books that do not agree with this regime bring rise to terrorism, they should be banned. Because terrorists are muslim, the religion of islam should be banned.

I'll say this now, and probably have black helicopters landing on my roof in an hour: John Ashcroft needs to go away. I don't care how, but he's leading this country down a path towards certain self-destruction. Unless things head in a different direction soon, I'll find myself holding up my end of the bargain on the Socratian social contract and heading somewhere else. A ray of hope: In the year 2030 Hispanics are estimated to be 50% of the US' population. Perhaps then the religious right (aka the religious white) will be wrenched from power. Unless we revoke the Hispanics' voting rights.

DOJ doesn't own it by iCEBaLM · 2003-02-26 12:52 · Score: 5, Informative

Registrant:
The iSO News (ISONEWS-DOM)
Jacobus van 't Hoffstraat 69
Nijmegen, MR 6533
NL

Domain Name: ISONEWS.COM

Re:DOJ doesn't own it by delta407 · 2003-02-26 12:59 · Score: 4, Informative

WHOIS data aside, I now get a "...is now the property of the United States government" page. But guess what?

<meta name="AUTHOR" content="USDOJ"> <meta name="GENERATOR" content="Mozilla/4.79 [en]C-CCK-MCD DOJ3jx7bf (Windows NT 5.0; U) [Netscape]">

The DOJ uses Mozilla! :-)
Re:DOJ doesn't own it by KnightStalker · 2003-02-26 13:01 · Score: 4, Funny

Nope... that's Netscape 4 :-)

Or :-( ... take your pick.

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* And remember, it's spelled N-e-t-s-c-a-p-e, but it's pronounced "Mozilla."
Re:DOJ doesn't own it by molo · 2003-02-26 13:17 · Score: 4, Informative

But it points to an IP in the DOJ's block:
> host www.isonews.com www.isonews.com has address 149.101.1.91 > whois 149.101.1.91 OrgName: US Dept of Justice OrgID: UDJ [...]

Also, in case you don't believe it, the press release is reproduced on the usdoj.gov webpage:

http://www.usdoj.gov/opa/pr/2003/February/03_crm_1 18.htm

So its for real. Add another notch to the DMCA's belt.

-molo

--
Using your sig line to advertise for friends is lame.

More Links... by syr · 2003-02-26 12:53 · Score: 4, Informative

Story 1
Post article
TheRegister story

Quote:

---
Two Justice Department attorneys said Internet users would eventually be steered to the government's address as name servers across the Internet are updated over the next several hours.

"There is going to be some lag time between the domain-name switch-over," one attorney said. "But the domain name isonews.com now belongs to the federal government."

---

Enjoy...

GameTab

Re:More Links... by Pharmboy · 2003-02-26 14:32 · Score: 4, Interesting

Conservatives fucking take care of business.

Please dont confuse conservatives with republicans. As a conservative, my concern is the strict interpretation of the constitution. what Ashcroft is doing is not, by any standard, a scrict interpretation of the constitution.

REAL conservative believe that you should be able to do anything you want as long as it doesnt adversely affect others.

Republicanism is not the same as conservatism. No matter what the media tells you.

--
Tequila: It's not just for breakfast anymore!
Re:More Links... by TKinias · 2003-02-26 14:57 · Score: 2, Insightful

scripsit bnenning:

Right, that would be why Democrats opposed the Patriot Act, DMCA, export restrictions, and Clipper chip. Come on. Republicans aren't great on civil liberties, but Democrats have been just as bad or worse in recent years.

There's a (perhaps subtle, but nonetheless real) difference between cowardice in the face of evil and the active propagation of evil.

--
In principio creauit Linus Linucem.
Re:More Links... by Pharmboy · 2003-02-26 15:09 · Score: 4, Informative

I thought that was Libertarianism?

Libertarians are a political party. Like Republicans. Conservatism is a political philosophy.

Libratarians are conservative in many ways, but not in others. They are very isolationist, for instance, where the Conservative philosophy doesn't demand this. Many of us see the Conservative view as meaning a small but powerful central govt. whose only role is to do the things that 1) we cant do for ourselves, like national defense and highways, and 2) things that the states can't do, make treaties, international relations. I see conservatism as not isolationist, but more selective in who we "do business with".

ie: we do business with China, even tho they are terrible with human rights, its the only method to introduce rights to their people. We don't do business with Saudi Arabia because there is no hope of introducing human rights without going to war, so we go to war or dont do business. If you can't make a positive difference, you isolate yourself from that country. Not in anger, just as a choice. Thats my interpretation. One of the basic concepts of conservatism is "equality of opportunity", national or international. I could go on (and I am writing an article that does) but I won't here ;)

While I have plenty of respect for Libratarians (they are more bound to a philosophy than the other parties) they have been labeled as the party that simply wants pot legalized. While this is a worthwhile goal (read my definition: anything that doesnt affect other adversely is ok) it is one tiny effect of conservatism. Conservatism would also demand strong penalties for driving while stoned or drunk, because it affects others.

--
Tequila: It's not just for breakfast anymore!

Link to more info by Captain+Beefheart · 2003-02-26 12:54 · Score: 4, Informative

More info HERE This links to the ISOnews forum Will prolly be Slashdotted soon.

You are all anti-american terrorist sympathizers by cmdr_shithead · 2003-02-26 12:54 · Score: 4, Funny

In these grave times of war, all freedom thinking Americans should stand behind our President. These America-hating criticisms only help Bin Laden and his Communist and Democrat and Woman allies. I hope John Ashcroft shuts down Slash-dot and imprisons the lot of you in cuba!

Just like with Kevin Mitnick.. by PovRayMan · 2003-02-26 12:54 · Score: 4, Insightful

They're going to make an example out of David Rocci.

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Check out my blackbox styles

Alternative NFO site ... by slagdogg · 2003-02-26 12:56 · Score: 4, Informative

Their 'competitor', NFOrce is seemingly still alive and kicking. I suppose the difference is in their strategy for collecting funds. As a note, both removed serial numbers from all posted NFO files.

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(Score:-1, Wrong)

Re:Alternative NFO site ... by ramzak2k · 2003-02-26 13:10 · Score: 4, Funny

Dear Mr.Slagdog with an extra g,

The information you provided is very informative.
Nforce shall feel our force soon.

Thank you for being a good citizen,
DOJ

--

Siggy Say, Siggy Do

Link Directly To ISONews.com IP by jwbrown77 · 2003-02-26 12:56 · Score: 5, Interesting

You can access the site and it's forums (that have information on the takeover) here:

ISONews

--

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How can you have any pudding if you don't eat your meat?

Law of the land by $beirdo · 2003-02-26 12:57 · Score: 5, Insightful

Let's change this law. I think I DO own my hardware, no matter how many lobbyists some corp, or the entertainment industry has.

Re:Law of the land by MSZ · 2003-02-26 13:06 · Score: 4, Funny

I think I DO own my hardware

So, you have publicly admitted to thinking? Specifically, non-approved thinking? Probably also not registered.

Expect our jackbooted thugs now. They should arrive shortly and take care of the problem.

--
The moon is not fully subjugated. I demand a second assault wave preceded by a massive nuclear bombardment.

Department of Infinite Justice? by rolux · 2003-02-26 12:57 · Score: 5, Interesting

From the DoJ-defaced website:

The Department of Justice and federal law enforcement will continue to investigate and prosecute individuals and groups that violate the federal criminal copyright laws at home and abroad.

Eh... abroad? Isn't that the Department of Infinite Justice?

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My next comment will be ready soon, but moderators can beat the rush and mod it up early.

Re:Department of Infinite Justice? by Tackhead · 2003-02-26 13:11 · Score: 4, Funny

> Eh... abroad? Isn't that the Department of Infinite Justice?
Naw, that's the Department of Great Justice. You know, the guys who don't just redirect web sites. They redirect ZIG!
Re:Department of Infinite Justice? by gl4ss · 2003-02-26 13:15 · Score: 4, Insightful

well i think that could explain pretty well why some people don't like usa and say they don't like them because they bully around the rest of the world.

--
world was created 5 seconds before this post as it is.
Re:Department of Infinite Justice? by Anonymous Coward · 2003-02-26 16:31 · Score: 2, Informative

why some people don't like usa and say they don't like them because they bully around the rest of the world.

Including Ramsey Clark, former US Attorney General:

Neighborhood Bully, an interview with Ramsey Clark by Derrick Jensen for The Sun magazine.

BTW, I don't normally post as AC, but in this case I am afraid of the US government. I'm currently applying for my Green Card, and don't want to have to live apart from my wife becuase I'm "undesirable.

I lived with IRA terrorism in the UK for thirty-odd years, and I'm not scared of terrorism, but Ashcroft scares the shit out of me...

Mirrors by joebp · 2003-02-26 12:58 · Score: 2, Interesting

This kind of thing should not be tolerated. Isn't this against his constitutional rights?

I would have thought his website would have been protected speech.

Eitherway, there needs to be a huge network of foreign isonews mirrors set up.

Seems weird by Jezza · 2003-02-26 12:58 · Score: 5, Insightful

I thought you guys (people living in the USA) could buy radar detectors to scan for speed traps, but some guy sells mod-chips for Xbox and he's done for it?! (I'm not familiar with this aspect of US law)

Seems to me that this is quite unfair - in what way does the mod chip help pirates? I thought it:

A) Allowed Linux to boot and run

or

B) Allowed to machine to play games from another region.

I see no piracy on either count here. Have I got this wrong? (Help me out - I don't own an Xbox so I'm a little lost)

Re:Seems weird by Student_Tech · 2003-02-26 13:34 · Score: 2, Informative

Not sure on the Xbox or PS2 but on the PS1 some sectors were marked with what appeared as errors on something that the burner generated and the rest of the computer wasn't invovled in. (From quick skims appears the PS2 has something similar, and the Xbox has that reverse DVD format or something, hardware copy protection)

The main thing they are dealing with is that is allows the consoles to boot copied discs and out of region discs (like region encoding with DVD players).

I also know that I have seen modchips (at least for PS1) that don't let you play copies but would let you play out-of-region disks (region free DVD player like).
Re:Seems weird by Billly+Gates · 2003-02-26 13:52 · Score: 4, Insightful

Its called the DMCA

Region encoding is copyright protection and a mod chip is a copyright circumvention device which the dmca outlaws.

Fair use be dammed. You do not even have to violate a copyright to be tried for the dmca. Only bypassing the access method. So anything has patent like and other god like powers that are illegal to bypass.

So if I practice fair use and rip a dvd onto my hard drive and do not distribute it I get busted even though fair use laws say I can do this. I'm not busted for ripping the dvd just bypassing the copyright to the dvd.

DMCA is an attempt to lock out competition, bypass the 1992 home recording act, as well as make copyrights eternal to applease Hollywood and other big campaign contributers.

So because something can be used for a crime its all illegal.

Microsoft loves the dmca as it protects itself from competition and creates a monopoly on the xbox platform on who gets to sign games and other software.

--
http://saveie6.com/
Re:Seems weird by nekura · 2003-02-26 14:36 · Score: 2, Interesting

On the Xbox, each disc has a signature which the Xbox must verify before it'll allow it to boot. If you look back in last week's archives, the Xbox Linux team had written a letter to Microsoft asking them to sign Xbox Linux so it could boot without a modchip.

--

"Programming is like sex - one mistake and you'll have to support it for the rest of your life."
Re:Seems weird by Michael+Hunt · 2003-02-26 14:42 · Score: 2, Informative

Sorry, but this is plain wrong.

writable media does NOT have any flags which are accessible via standard read calls (ie on anything other than a burner) which indicates whether it's a burned copy or not. The PMA/ATIP area on a CD-R does have information regarding the kind of dye used on the disc, etc, but this is only accessible via CD-R(w) specific commands which you can't rely (as a copy protection manufacturer) on drives supporting.

Admittedly, DVD[+-]R(w) media DOES have no provision for burning to the keyspace, but I would doubt that that's accessible from userland either.

The way that PS(2) copy protection worked was to fudge the data in one of the subchannels which burners (to this day) can't burn to for some obscure reason. The problem with this scheme is that subchannel data is designed for things such as non-block-accurate positioning (think red book audio, accurate to within 75 sectors,) CD+text, etc, and was never designed to be reliably readable. The data in subchannels isn't reliably addressable or error corrected, which lead to a lot of borked PS discs which would (funnily enough) still play with a modchip....

Peace,

MH

--
You're doing it wrong.
Re:Seems weird by Jezza · 2003-02-26 14:42 · Score: 2, Interesting

Ohh - not that's not true! I've seen games consoles modded so they can play Japanese games - not even to save money, just because the games were released in Japan first.

I think you're too ready to shallow the hype - M$ seem to be forgetting fair use, and that the customer has bought the Xbox - if they want to mess with it, well I think they have the right. Sure if they rip off games then MS have a perfect right to stop that, but to say I can't mess with a machine I bought is not on. And there are legitimate reasons for modding an Xbox.
Re:Seems weird by Gleef · 2003-02-26 15:57 · Score: 2, Insightful

AxelTorvalds wrote:

Not true. The spirit of the law is to prevent people from wholesale committing that crime. It's worded sloppily and there are holes but you know what they are trying to do. I don't know of anyone who has been busted for ripping a DVD
Don't interpret that as "they won't use the law against people who just rip a DVD", interpret that as "it's much harder to find someone who is just using the tools, so we bust the distrubutors, it's easier.

just selling tools to do it,
Or distributing the tools for free. Or linking to a site that distributes tools as a part of an online article if you are a "bad" journalist (eg. 2600), as opposed to a "good" journalist (eg. NYT) doing the same thing.

and really not even that, they were busted for distributing copyrighted materials.
No, nether Skylarov nor Elcomsoft nor 2600 were distributing unauthorized copies of copyrighted material when busted.

Seriously, how many xbox modchips were used for putting linux on xbox? How many do you think were used for piracy?
I have no idea, I don't think anyone does. The legal climate makes it very difficult to find such figures. I do know that a considerable number were used by the X-Box Linux developers.

How about PS2 modchips, what is the legitmate use for them?
To run GameShark2, so you can explore your legally purchased games in ways other than the original game manufacturer intended. Porting one of the BSDs or an actual Free distribution of Linux (as opposed to Sony's distribution) to the machine. Developing games or other software for the PS/2 without going through the expensive licensing process and purchasing the expensive development version of the console.

I don't know a single person that has moded a PS2 or Xbox for some reason other than piracy.
Personally, I don't know a single person that has modded a PS2 or XBox, period. The only people I know of who have modded their consoles are the people working on the various Linux port projects.

Both your experience and mine are unbalanced and anecdotal, neither represents accurate figures. Again, accurate figures of such things are impossible to come by.

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Open mind, insert foot.

Mod chips legal in Australia by eggplantpasta · 2003-02-26 12:58 · Score: 2, Interesting

Sony took some people selling mod chips to court and lost.

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"Don't forget the prunes." L. Francis Herreshoff

Similair to DEA takeover of domainnames. by MavEtJu · 2003-02-26 12:59 · Score: 2, Interesting

When I read the article first I was reminded on this one I saw yesterday: DRUG ENFORCEMENT TAKES CONTROL OF DOMAIN NAMES, THREATENS PRIVACY.

Seems that the war on [drugs, terrorism, general stupidity etc] has moved on to a level higher.

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bash$ :(){ :|:&};:

Mod chips by blincoln · 2003-02-26 12:59 · Score: 4, Interesting

As much as I dislike the console pirating scene, this is a really bad turn of events.

I have my PS2 chipped, and I'm going to do the same to my XBox. Not so I can pirate games, but so I can play imports, access savegame files on the hard drive, and so on. If I *can't* add that capability to a console with a mod chip, I'm much less likely to buy them in the first place.

--
"...always new atoms but always doing the same dance, remembering what the dance was yesterday." -Richard Feynman

The Bong Show... by Anonvmous+Coward · 2003-02-26 12:59 · Score: 5, Insightful

"Cannabis News released this article about how the DEA is seeking to redirect indicted businesses that sell glass bongs and pipes to the DEA's website."

At first, I thought this was sarcastic. Doesn't sound like it is. Is it illegal to have a bong? Can they really do that?

This comment really bothered me:

"In effect, the defunct Web sites become electronic flypaper for those looking for illegal drug paraphernalia, reporters covering the story, and people who have trouble spelling in Google."

There's absolutely no way that they know anybody's intentions when they go to a site like that. The internet is a source of INFORMATION. At some point, information's going to be accessed. It's not like you can call me a pirate just for visiting a site about piracy. Heck, you can't even call me a pirate if I download an ISO. How do they know I'm not replacing a scratched disk?

Blah blah blah I know, it's all been said before by lots of people. The difference for me today is that I now understand why privacy nuts are so fanatical about it. Out of context, data can be used in horrible ways.

Re:The Bong Show... by kfg · 2003-02-26 14:50 · Score: 5, Informative

*Possesion* of a pipe *assumed* to be for smoking an illegal substance is a federal offense.

Ain't it grand?

One of my tobacconists also sells glass pipes. It's no accident that they sell tobacco. It removes the question of assumption.

According to the DoJ *rolling papers* are also now considered "drug paraphenalia" and a federal offense to possess, which will surprise the hell out of a lot of "roll your own" tobacco smokers I know.

KFG
Re:The Bong Show... by kfg · 2003-02-26 16:33 · Score: 2, Informative

The use of the pacifier predates the existence of extasy.

By decades. In fact, it predates the internet, on which you will not yet find the sum total of human knowledge.

The use of the pacifier by those who take extasy does not constitute drug parapenalia. Nor does it's use have anything to do with it's being an upper per se. People who take dexedrin for example don't use a pacifier.

The use of a pacifier or other suckable items as a method of delivery for LSD does constitute drug paraphenalia. People were doing this before you were born, and if you are as young as you appear perhaps before your mom was born.

Jewelry itself can be made out of pure illegal suckable drugs, but that's another subject.

KFG

ISONEWS is 'shut down' by MisterFancypants · 2003-02-26 13:02 · Score: 4, Informative

The issue with ISONEWS.com is that it was really 8 different servers spread throughout the country. The DOJ did arrest the site owner for selling 'mod chips', not for the site itself.

Since shutting down 8 servers at once (some of them being out of the US) is hard, the DOJ took control of the DNS for the isonews.com domain and pointed it to their own site, which is what many people get when they go to http://www.isonews.com now.

Some people still get redirected to the existing servers, but this will happen less and less as the DNS changes propagate out to leaf nodes.

Truth by Darkwatcher · 2003-02-26 13:03 · Score: 5, Interesting

Ok here is the official word straight from one of the ISOnews staff

"Yes its true. The DOJ has taken control of the isonews.com DNS which now points to 149.101.1.91

If you link directly to http://66.201.243.170 you can still reach the site. This is a good interim solution as the official DNS may be gone for good.

If you can still reach isonews.com from the old dns its only because your ISP has not updated its cache. Take note of the ip now if you still want to be able to reach isonews
Http://66.201.243.170

Hop into efnet #isonews for updates as they arrive. We'll try to keep things running here until the situation becomes clearer.

in the meantime , i wanna make some things clear.

1.theres about 8 isonews servers.
2.they are currently not being touched by anyone except isonews staff.
3.theres no need to back anything up.

In the meantime theres little need to specualte as we will keep you updated , in the meantime just use the forum as normal and pass the ip on to any friends who use the site till we sort this out."

Simple, actually by The+Bungi · 2003-02-26 13:08 · Score: 2, Insightful

You run a warez site, you'll get screwed. I can't see how that's surprising - other than the fact they're actually prosecuting it now, and that it's obviously very high-profile with the redirection and whatnot.

Modchips are illegal. Yes, illegal. No matter how much we want to bitch and moan about how "I bought the boxen, I want to run Plan9 on it, wahhH!!!". The reasons companies do this goes much farther than that.

Now, reverse-engineering a console and using it in the comfort of your own basement - that's another thing. But selling them? Well, expect to pay the consecuences.

Now, people who for some reason need a modchip can be pissed off, and that's OK. So don't buy the console, right? Buy a PC and do whatever you want with it. Vote with your money. If Sony (PS2) or Microsoft (XBox) won't let you be 1337 with their consoles, don't buy them. period.

Sorry, but that's how the real world works. It has nothing to do with privacy or human rights or global warming or the habitat of the monitor lizard.

Re:Simple, actually by zapf · 2003-02-26 13:32 · Score: 5, Insightful

Vote with your money.

I never voted on the DMCA. Why can't I vote with my votes?

The DMCA is a good example of representative democracy at its worst: the public should be voting on things like this, not a group of old, white, men who are told by their party to vote a certain way. That isn't democracy, that's two parties vying for campaign dollars from special interests.
Re:Simple, actually by Wraithlyn · 2003-02-26 13:35 · Score: 2, Insightful

"You run a warez site, you'll get screwed."

Do you mean it should be illegal to have any web site concerning (NOT distributing) warez?

Yeah, MOD chips are against the DMCA, but other than that, ISONews wasn't doing anything wrong. They even removed serial numbers from the NFO files. They were just a news site.

If Slashdot (or CNN for that matter) runs a story about how there are pirated copies of Two Towers on the net, they are doing the exact same thing. ISONews was just specialized.

--
"Mind, as manifested by the capacity to make choices, is to some extent present in every electron." -Freeman Dyson
Re:Simple, actually by timster · 2003-02-26 15:13 · Score: 2, Insightful

You're trying to oversimplify the issue by using a stark word like "illegal". But the *truth* is that it isn't illegal, because the "laws" they violate are in violation of the Constitution. An unconstitutional law never holds force in the first place. The Supreme Court hasn't ruled on this yet, but even if they claim that these laws are valid, they are still wrong -- anyone can read the Constitution and decide for themselves. Even if people are put in jail and stay there, the actions of the government are still unconstitutional and therefore illegal in the philosophical absolute truth sense, if that makes them feel any better anyway. And even if the Supreme Court makes an incorrect ruling, it's still possible (though rare) for it to be corrected by the court at a later date. So don't get on your horse saying these things are "illegal" because Ashcroft says so -- I wouldn't believe what Ashcroft said if he told me water was wet, and neither should anyone else.

--
I have seen the future, and it is inconvenient.

Rant: John Ashcroft causes mental defficiencies. by Jahf · 2003-02-26 13:10 · Score: 3, Interesting

It's sad. John Ashcroft is the first person I've ever had spawn the words "Fascist Fuck" spontaneously in my head when seeing his image on sites like this. Normally I am a pretty level-headed guy. I think if you measured my autonomic responses, I would register more of a reaction to Ashcroft for than Saddam.

Between things like this and the Patriot Act parts I and the soon to be released part II, this administration has been the most un-American in office since the anti-communist folks in the 50's.

I fully believe that unless the modchip affects someone -elses- hardware, modifying hardware I own should be legal, especially if my use is to do something like run Linux ... if I then do something illegal like piracy or service theft with the modchip, punish that action, not the ownership of the modchip ... it should be no more illegal than having IP connectivity (which also enables software piracy if you want to take it to one possible logical conclusion).

And before some idiot tries to subpoena my IP address to come search my house, my PS2 is not modified and I long ago (4-5 years) killed my software piracy habit in favor of free software. Just because I'm abiding by the law doesn't mean I agree with the way our current government tries to enforce the law and pass new (unconstitional in some cases) ones.

--
It is more productive to voice thoughtful opinions (reply) than to judge (moderate) others.

Next Up, DoJ Arrests Red Green by tepp · 2003-02-26 13:12 · Score: 2, Funny

So if modchipping your own xbox is illegal....

Does that mean Red Green is going to get arrested for "modding" that dryer into a bread maker?

Or what about the time he "modded" the ducts from his basement into a pontoon boat.... ;)

--
Tepp

the real isonews.com: by gl4ss · 2003-02-26 13:13 · Score: 4, Informative

http://66.201.243.170/

the real isonews.com with working forums

--
world was created 5 seconds before this post as it is.

Re:the real isonews.com: by jdreed1024 · 2003-02-26 14:22 · Score: 4, Funny

http://66.201.243.170/
You must have haxx0red the Internet in order to get that IP address. You have circumvented the U.S. Dept of Justice's webpage claiming that ISONEWS is now their property. You have allowed thousands to access the former iSONEWS site, and thus helped many hundreds of software pirates. Please stand by for prosecution under the DMCA. Have a nice day.

--
There is no sig, there is only Zuul.

Making Money Off Of The Scene by Anonymous Coward · 2003-02-26 13:14 · Score: 4, Interesting

krazy8 got busted because he tried to do something that the elite of the scene rightfully frown upon: making money off of the scene. At one point iSONEWS (formerly orm.nu, after it's founder) was basically run and hosted by DEVIANCE (a game release group) and offered analysis of group's releases each month. However, when orm began to step back from the site and krazy8 took over it more, it became more commercialized and the real scene members backed away from it. There were popup ads, special deals with businesses, and worst of all... increased traffic. The elite of the scene stopped visiting and posting on isonews and it degenerated into a place for newbies to flame each other and talk about how elite they were.

krazy8 got busted because he tried to make the site more popular and profit off of it. Instead of catering to the elite of the scene, taking security precautions, and keeping the site 100% legal he appealed to the lowest common demonenator and payed the price. Sites like checkpoint cater to the elite of the scene, deny access to the public, and take security precautions.

The lesson? Don't try to make money off of piracy and don't try to expose the scene to the public.

Just Like Al Capone by MBCook · 2003-02-26 13:22 · Score: 3, Insightful

I don't know about the rest of you, but I get the idea that this is alot like busting Al Capone on tax evasion. They can't make a case on the REAL charge (pirating) so they use something else to make sure the site gets closed. They're just getting the site closed.

That said, I agree that modchips aren't (or at least shouldn't be) illegal.

--
Comment forecast: Bits of genius surrounded by a sea of mediocrity.

Not Hoax by OctaneZ · 2003-02-26 13:22 · Score: 4, Informative

You can read more info about the plea bargain and case at: http://www.cybercrime.gov/rocciPlea.htm
-OctaneZ

Ugh by Demidog · 2003-02-26 13:22 · Score: 2, Interesting

This whole thing just bothers me. How is it that aftermarket chip mods for cars is OK but chip mods for XBoxes or other types of computers isn't?

Seems to me that this is a matter of offering features that somebody else refuses to offer. Ford isn't going to put a chip that offers you more performance due to government meddling in auto manufacturing. But obviously the public demands these features and somebody is bridging the gap. How is this harming anyone? Isn't it actually expanding the market?

What do you expect from Ashcroft though? It wouldn't surprise me if this fellow is indicted on charges of "terrorism."

Re:This looks very fake by Phork · 2003-02-26 13:22 · Score: 3, Insightful

ok, it might look fakes, but the authorative server for isonews.com is now listed as ns22.usdoj.gov, and that server has an A record for www.isonews.com which points to 149.101.1.91, which is in a USDOJ netblock, so it seems to be pretty real.

--
-- free as in swatantryam - not soujanyam.

bleh by 2MuchC0ffeeMan · 2003-02-26 13:24 · Score: 4, Interesting

some of you may know me from there.

all i can confirm that, krazy8 has not been seen in a long, long time... and that he was busted FOR selling modchips.

the details of his plea bargain are not out, and nobody is speaking about anything.

i would suspect anyone not speaking openly about it, to be part of the plea bargain.

--
Runnin' On Empty .... I'm Still Alive

Re:Arrested for Selling Mod-Chips? by JBark · 2003-02-26 13:25 · Score: 2, Informative

Selling modchips is legal here in the US also. Selling modchips with copyrighted code (i.e. BIOSes) is not.

modchips? by j1mmy · 2003-02-26 13:27 · Score: 2, Informative

I used to be a regular on isonews back in 98-99. krazy8 was making bucketloads of cash off banner ads. The trick was that you never actually saw them -- the ads were in invisible frames that automatically refreshed every so often. It's sad that he's had to resort to making money by selling actual product.

Scary, well sinister-looking, anyway by Sgs-Cruz · 2003-02-26 13:27 · Score: 2, Insightful

Even though redirecting the site to the DOJ is no more sinister than just the normal taking down of the offending site, it just looks so... sinister.

Kind of like, you can't fight us. This belongs to us now. Don't even try to oppose us... Of course, that's the point of doing it, isn't it :S ...

--

Karma: pi (Mostly due to circular reasoning in posts).

Note To Government: by Snagle · 2003-02-26 13:31 · Score: 3, Insightful

People will always mod their systems. People want to play import games that they would otherwise not be able to play. People want to watch divx movies on their Xboxes. and BELIEVE IT OR NOT, some of us do want to legitimately back up the games we purchased. PS2 discs do scratch easily, little brothers arent always careful with that shiny new $50 piece of plastic. Oh, by the way, shutting down websites will not stop piracy.

Excuse me... by djkitsch · 2003-02-26 13:32 · Score: 2, Insightful

Doesn't this seem like the biggest waste of DOJ time? There are people out there guilty of *actual crimes* like murder, assault, carjacking etc, and they seem to be just as happy to track down and stop the sale of bloody XBox mod-chips, which to be frank probably has very little effect on Microsoft's sales figures, as they are finding the real baddies.

Let's face it, if anything, Microsoft will be making more money out of modchips than anything else - it's not like they've got an original brand Microsoft mod-chip for sale, is it? What damn difference does it make to them if I'm also choosing to run Linux as well as Tony Hawk 4?

Plus, how many more Slashdotters are likely to buy an XBox on the grounds of mod-chip, and thus Linux, support? Quite a few, I'd guess.

--
sig:- (wit >= sarcasm)

The Big Picture by Planck0 · 2003-02-26 13:56 · Score: 4, Insightful

I'd like to take a step back from the specifics of who was selling mod chips for which game system and look at the big picture of what's happening here.

Microsoft doesn't want mod-chips to be sold for probably one basic reason: they lose money on the sale of the X-Box unit itself. If someone uses a mod-chip to use the box to run, for example, Linux, then they get a very cheap PC and Microsoft doesn't make any money back on game sales. If someone uses the mod chip to play pirated/burned games, then, again, they lose money on pirated game sales. This is *why* they don't want people using mod-chips. I'm not saying it's right or wrong, I'm just giving their motivation.

If all anyone ever did with mod chips was to run linux, then I doubt Microsoft/DoJ would really care; the small number of people that do this wouldn't make it worth their time to track them down.

However, probably the majority of people using mod chips are also playing pirated games, and this is worth Microsoft/DoJ trying to stop. Everyone knows that it's really not possible to do this. Someone overseas can sell the mod chips and there's not much that Microsoft/DoJ can do about it.

In the long run, I think most games are going to move to more a subscription-based architechture (like Everquest or something similar) where you pay a small fee (or nothing at all) to get the game itself, but you have to pay to actually play it by connecting to a company's servers. I think this is actually a good model because it would encourage companies to constantly provide new content (new quests in role-playing games, new race tracks in racing games, new landscape flight games, etc.). It would also save consumers from paying $70 for the latest uber-game only to play it for 10 hours and put it aside, never to be touched again. If you got bored with a game, you could just cancel your subscription.

This is actually a trend caused by software/music/movie piracy in general. When all music becomes trivial to copy for free, then the producers of music will have to charge for services (i.e. rock concerts). Movie producers will have to provide movie theatres with large screens and great sound systems (they already do this). Game producers will have to provide a live and changing gamescape.

Re:I'm not living in US by jsse · 2003-02-26 14:00 · Score: 3, Informative

The case of Lik Sang are covered below. Sorry for the wrong link given above.

Microsoft Shuts Down Lik Sang
More on Microsoft vs. Lik Sang
Lik-Sang Back Online, Minus Modchips
Lik-Sang Back Online
Lik-Sang To Take On The Big 3?
The Lik-Sang Saga Continues

Ridiculous by southpolesammy · 2003-02-26 14:01 · Score: 3, Interesting

This is getting way out of hand. Pretty soon, I won't be able to make modifications to my PC or my car, not because it would void the warranty (don't care), but because I'M NOT FREAKING ALLOWED TO IN THE FIRST PLACE!

Of course, by this logic, all of NASCAR should be banned and taken over by the DOJ. Perhaps we can get a few of those judges to try driving those cars too. Sounds like Darwinism in action to me....

--
Rule #1 -- Politics always trumps technology.

pled guilty by bwt · 2003-02-26 14:02 · Score: 4, Interesting

Why on earth did this guy plead guilty? It seems to me he is accused of a non-crime, at least the way the web-site reads. He should appeal and the EFF should help him.

This is extremely revolting that the selling of mod chips would be viewed in and of itself as illegal. All you people out there who think the DMCA covers this are very confused. The DMCA violation occurs when you strip a client game program of its authentication key (and this is copyright infringement anyway). All this guy did was sell parts that turned the game console into a general purpose computer. This is NO different than selling general purpose computer parts.

Re:pled guilty by Maul · 2003-02-26 14:18 · Score: 4, Interesting

My guess as to why he plead guilty:

The Department of Gestapo... err Justice goons threatened to hold him without a bail hearing or a trial for a long time (much like the government did to Kevin Mitnick), and told him it'd be a lot easier in the long run to plead guilty rather than fight.

--
"You spoony bard!" -Tellah
Re:pled guilty by Scarblac · 2003-02-26 20:36 · Score: 2, Informative

My guess as to why he plead guilty: The Department of Gestapo... err Justice goons threatened to hold him without a bail hearing or a trial for a long time (much like the government did to Kevin Mitnick), and told him it'd be a lot easier in the long run to plead guilty rather than fight.

This is one of the reasons why it'll soon be illegal for Dutch courts to extradite people to the US. There is so much pressure on accepting a plea bargain that basically nobody gets a fair trial anymore.

The other reason is that agreements for extraditions of Dutch citizens to the US always state that they will be allowed to sit out their jail time in a Dutch prison - but this never actually happened in the last ten years.

--
I believe posters are recognized by their sig. So I made one.

Watch out... by Zrane · 2003-02-26 14:18 · Score: 2, Funny

They're going to hijack Sony, Toshiba and all the other manufacturers out there that make CD-RWs and DVD-R/RWs for creating hardware that is used to pirate software!

Does anyone.... by MeatMan · 2003-02-26 14:31 · Score: 2, Funny

remember the old Saturday Night Live sketches based on the "Mattress Police"? They went around arresting people for removing the mattress tags from their mattresses that said..."Do Not Remove This Tag Under Penalty Of Law"... It seems to me as the years go by, the U.S. Government Law Enforcement agencies are being empowered and assuming the rolls of "Mattress Police" more and more. Where once we sought out to destroy, with great vigor, communism and dictatorial governments, we are slowly becoming what we once so heartily endeavored to destroy and set "the people" free from... *sigh*

--

"It is essential that justice be done

LEGAL MODCHIPPING by Anonymous Coward · 2003-02-26 14:31 · Score: 3, Informative

In Australia mod chipping is legal. The Federal Court held last year that the owner of a Sony Playstation can buy a mod chip from a supplier to permit him play region locked games,etc. The decision in essence starts that if you own a machine (Xbox, Playstation whatever) and buy software for it from overseas that have been crippled by region locking or the like you can fiddle with your machine to get your property (eg games) working. By implication this extends to all similar modding. The case was supported by the A.C.C.C, which enforces the Australian equivalent of the Clayton and Sherman Acts (ie US anti-trust laws)and Federal Government. The ACCC has commenced and supported similar litigation in the past.Region free DVDs are the norm here, maybe because we are lumped into a region with Latin America and we see a trickle of "legit" DVDs from the US.

Microsoft's reaction was to threaten to withdraw Xboxes from the Australian market. Xboxes aren't sold in Australia's largest electrical chain stores because M$ won't sell Xboxes to them unless they dropped Playstation and M$ was told to get lost.

Legality/Illegality. by Anonymous Coward · 2003-02-26 14:37 · Score: 2, Interesting

Are mod chips illegal? Should they be? Let's look at the facts.

Fact #1: Mod chips have to be utilized for modern console game theft to exist. Theft of games is illegal. Without modchips, burnt copies of games are set up the bomb.

Fact #2: Mod chips circumvent regional protections, allowing users to buy and play games from foreign markets - games which are often not sold in their home markets. AFAIK, there is no law saying the idiocy of regional encoding must exist. Nor is there a law preventing people from circumventing it.

Fact #3: Mod chips allow people to utilize their hardware in legal ways. Such as, running Linux on an X-Box.

Fact #4: Hitting someone in the head with a hammer, repeatedly, may cause death. At the least, such an act most certainly qualifies as battery. Without hammers, the act of bludgeoning someone to death with a hammer is set up the bomb.

Fact #5: Hammers can be used to drive nails into pieces of wood that are various lengths and shapes. This is totally legal.

Fact #6: You can buy a hammer in any Home Despot.

Thus, the High Court of Sanity finds that mod chips, provided that they do not contain proprietary code of which the chip maker is not owner of, are legal.

(Sadly, the High Court of Sanity's jurisdiction only extends in a foot-long radius about me.)

Industry vs easy to arrest 22 yo by gad_zuki! · 2003-02-26 14:38 · Score: 3, Insightful

Why are mod chips even illegal? They give equipment owners the ability to play whatever the hell they want on their machines. Go after the "pirates" not the guys who sell you the means to control your device. The game industry, along with the content industry, expect you to buy the equipment and the games/music but consider backing up the software or music to be a crime and thanks to the DMCA it is.

Sure, the mod chips can be used to play games that aren't officially released yet (overseas releases) just like multi-region DVD players and they let you play a copied game if you choose. They have legitimate uses and hell this is my equipment I'll do as I please with it. It blows my mind that this 22 year old will be in debt for the rest of his days to pay off his legal fees on his deal AND the fine he's going to get AND serve time in prison (probably) because hardware manufacturers don't want you touching the inside of their magic black boxes.

On top of it all, they're seizing domain names (who game then that right?) to point to their absurd pro-industry propaganda. Lets sum up their message.

1. Piracy is copying/selling stuff you dont own.

2. Mod chips let you do anything you want with your machine.

These things have nothing in common but an easy to arrest 22 year old.

host and dig oddity by sbwoodside · 2003-02-26 14:41 · Score: 2, Interesting

I still get the site from lynx when I use www.isonews.com and I get this info from host and dig. But I don't get the site when I use the DNS number given below. Odd. The error from lynx is at the bottom.

% host www.isonews.com www.isonews.com is a nickname for isonews.com isonews.com has address 66.201.243.172 % dig www.isonews.com ; <<>> DiG 8.3 <<>> www.isonews.com ;; res options: init recurs defnam dnsrch ;; got answer: ;; ->>HEADER<<- opcode: QUERY, status: NOERROR, id: 2 ;; flags: qr rd ra; QUERY: 1, ANSWER: 2, AUTHORITY: 2, ADDITIONAL: 2 ;; QUERY SECTION: ;; www.isonews.com, type = A, class = IN ;; ANSWER SECTION: www.isonews.com. 7h15m29s IN CNAME isonews.com. isonews.com. 7h15m29s IN A 66.201.243.172 ;; AUTHORITY SECTION: isonews.com. 1d23h20m47s IN NS NS1.isonews.com. isonews.com. 1d23h20m47s IN NS NS2.isonews.com. ;; ADDITIONAL SECTION: NS1.isonews.com. 1d23h20m47s IN A 149.101.1.3 NS2.isonews.com. 1d23h20m47s IN A 149.101.1.6 ;; Total query time: 44 msec ;; FROM: Simons-TiBook.local. to SERVER: default -- 207.236.176.28 ;; WHEN: Wed Feb 26 21:31:56 2003 ;; MSG SIZE sent: 33 rcvd: 131 % lynx 66.201.243.172 Looking up 66.201.243.172 first Looking up 66.201.243.172 Making HTTP connection to 66.201.243.172 Sending HTTP request. HTTP request sent; waiting for response. Alert!: HTTP/1.0 503 Service Unavailable Retrying as HTTP0 request. Looking up 66.201.243.172 Making HTTP connection to 66.201.243.172 Sending HTTP request. HTTP request sent; waiting for response. Alert!: HTTP/1.0 503 Service Unavailable Data transfer complete lynx: Start file could not be found or is not text/html or text/plain Exiting...

--
home page

Re:"EFF??" Oh, Please...! by squared99 · 2003-02-26 14:50 · Score: 5, Informative

Are you for real? pull you head out of the sand. I love these naysayers that try to pull something down without even offering any alternatives, examples or evidence to support their opinion, other than 'oh please...'.

The EFF has been one of the most high profile and active organizations out there. See the list of cases below, easily available from their website and newsletter, though I'm sure you are aware of these since you've been following them since the early 90's.

Recent cases
Active cases

At worst, at the very worst, they have made an extremely large number of people aware of these issues, which in turn has led to many more people getting involved. And even if they dont have the same clout(meaning cash to burn) as the tobacco lobbyists or hollywood, your suggestion is to stop supporting them now so they never do? sh'yeah.

P.S. their address is in San Francisco, they left DC sometime ago.

I am realizing the Net cannot be private again by almound · 2003-02-26 15:03 · Score: 4, Insightful

The honeymoon is over, people. Unfortunately, I am coming to the realization that the battle is lost already. I now understand that I will never again enjoy privacy on the Net. Mega-corporations have got there first, and the piecemeal approach of fire walls, anonymizers, proxy server kludges, and spam eliminators is just not going to protect me.

I foresee that I have to plan for the fact that I will not be able to use the Internet ever again unrestrictedly, and have been preparing for a complete break of private Internet use for about a year now. Shortly, I will be discontinuing my cable modem service forever, and will only use the Internet in a public forum such as at work, in a college, or in a Cybercafe, wherein I will obey every single law applicable (and will refrain from doing ANYTHING that may potentially break some law). However paranoid that may make me, it is worth it. We haven't even seen the beginning of how savage the witch hunts are about to become.

Yes, this is a boycot. Boycotting the Internet in this fashion may sound extreme, but then again I think the Patriot Act is a bit extreme ... particularly the enhancement that the Justice Department is planning to shortly introduce to the Patriot Act.

http://www.public-i.org/dtaweb/home.asp

Look for the icon the reads, "Patriot Act II"

One way to fight such rabid facism is to disconnect from the system. (This works because the Internet is a closed system. Without Internet users, there will be no commercial use for the Interent and no inherent need for vigorous policing of it.) I believe alternative networks will spring up out of the void so created, and, if those information avenues appears safe, I will surely take advantage of them. In the meantime, I plan to concentrate on fully utilizing the plentiful software already available which computing has afforded me.

I was a fairly well-paid computer professional from 1994 through 2000. But a sickness overtook the computer industry. It is a sickness imposed by forces which during the same time period tried to impose similar types of maladies on the health care and legal professions. Unfortunately, the computer industry (being in its infancy) was more susceptible than the others. Without strong professional organization and fraught by endemic sabotage by mega-corporations from within, the computer industry was doomed to succumb.

Currently, I am enrolled in a mathematics course of study which will degree me in Statistics, and am changing my profession out of the computer technology field altogether. For those still brave enough to tough it out under the current conditions:

May God have mercy on your souls.

The Modchips... by NetJunkie · 2003-02-26 15:07 · Score: 3, Interesting

It looks like the modchips were illegal because they contain a BIOS. Most chips are shipped without a BIOS, but the Enigmahs are pre-flashed.

A modchip without a bios isn't a usable device.

Land of the Free? by Cbs228 · 2003-02-26 15:10 · Score: 2, Insightful

Free? Do you call this "free?" People imprisoned for exercising their rights specifically guaranteed to them-- rights designed to protect people from persecution by those in power.

Have we become so corrupt, so blinded, and so degraded by the pursuit of avarice that we must punish our fellow Man for innovation? For creativity? Or for simply posting information? Do we value an increased profit margin more than the lives of countless individuals? Just how far are we willing to go to protect our exclusive, absolute, and non-expiring right to "intellectual property?"

This blatant abuse of power does not affect the Mod-Chip community. Nor does it affect Slashdotters. It does affect the free world, and the meaning of freedom as we know it.

"With the first link, the chain is forged. The first speech censured, the first thought forbidden, the first freedom denied-- chains us all, irrevocably" (Captain Picard, The Drumhead).

We have lost control of our internet. It was once a free community, one of the freest to be found. It was subject to no outside control, no censorship. Now look at us. We can't even keep the DNS system we designed from the control of tyrants, nor can we evade the constant digital surveillance we are each under.

--
At our school, we don't earn a degree when we graduate—we earn pi/180 radians

Shutdown Radio Shack!! by TheCeltic · 2003-02-26 15:20 · Score: 3, Insightful

Next it will be radio shack... without them, most home electronic enthusiasts,phone phreakers,ham radio junkies and hardware tweakers would have trouble getting the tools they want.

While at it, they should shutdown any store that sells blank cd's, video tapes or casettes since they can also be used for illegal purposes. I'm just glad they leave the head shops,online gambling and online porn places alone since they are so moral and legal....

Once again, we have closed down a business because it offered a product that COULD be used for illegal purposes. Napster had similiar problems (how was it illegal for a company to allow users to share music? they simply offered a means to share music. music that was open to share or not could be posted on napster..even songs written by "home artists" - the USERS were the ones breaking the law. Does that mean that if someone uses a Bicycle to flee from a crime that all bike shops should be shut down?)

This is truly a sad sad sad day for America! Hopefully over time we will grow up and realize that the world is changing.

--
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= - The Celtic - =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Uh... by autopr0n · 2003-02-26 15:43 · Score: 3, Funny

Oh yeah, and a lot of "Old Money" republican families were so much trailer trash until they made their millions running alcohol during prohibition. Funny how you never hear about that...

You mean, like the Kennedys?

--
autopr0n is like, down and stuff.

Terrible arguments! by Loundry · 2003-02-26 15:52 · Score: 4, Insightful

I've decided that no "legalization" or "decriminialization" effort will ever work.

Why not? Because the people don't want it, or because the Imperial Federal Government won't allow it?

Our society does not tolerate the use of dangerous drugs.

False! Alcohol use and abuse is tolerated. Furthermore, marijuana is not a dangerous drug.

Federal enforcement of drug control regulations is a success.

False! The government can't keep drugs out of prisons. What makes you think they do a good job keeping it out of the hands of non-inamtes?

Alcohol is a dangerous drug, and the people have consistently shown an inability to use it without causing death and destruction.

True for some people. I'll point out here that "the people" have consistently shown a stellar ability to use marijuana with no ill side effects.

If you have a medical reason for using alcohol, then you should be able to get a prescription for it. Otherwise, possession and sale should be treated exactly like the other dangerous drugs.

The purpose of this is to persecute people who use alcohol and tobacco, for there is no evidence that anything outside of education is any more than marginally effective at getting people to not use some drugs.

--
I don't make the rules. I just make fun of them.

In other news by jesser · 2003-02-26 16:15 · Score: 2, Funny

Slashdot uses the word "ostensibly" in a headline.

--
The shareholder is always right.

It's not a fake. by Artifex · 2003-02-26 16:18 · Score: 5, Informative

The press release is right here.

They probably just made an A record change to the DNS.
This buys them time to go seize the server physically, or copy all the user records off if it's a virtual colo.

If leaving the IP alone for a while prompts some clueless users to continue to log in or attempt to order more stuff, it's a smart move.

--
Get off my launchpad!

Re:It's not a fake. by Anonymous Coward · 2003-02-26 21:06 · Score: 4, Informative

You don't order stuff there anymore. The modchips were sold last summer and it was a bit of a fiasco IIRC. They got plenty of orders but only managed to get a few hundred of them out before that particular venture collapsed. Quite a few of those whose orders hadn't been filled yet didn't get their money back either so if the DOJ bust krazy8, it should be fraud or something.

(Allegdely)

Also, this only has to do with one of the isonews staff who sold these chips through the website that was already there. The 'krazy8 set up a website to sell illegal mod chips' statements are (as usual) a bit off the mark.

Yes, the news on isonews is about copyright infringement related activities, but you only get info about which groups released which title and so on, and discussion about the so called scene. You get no cracks, no serials, no software nothing that lets you actually 'pirate' the games. Giving out or asking for such info on the forums is not allowed. Go there and ask 'where can I download sim city 4?!?!?' and see how long you last, for example. Isonews is harmless and (apart from krazy8's little scheme ;)) hardly illegal (though I suppose in the new Bush/Ashcroft America, talking about illegal activites will get you thrown in jail as well)

Re:What are you smoking? by jcast · 2003-02-26 18:28 · Score: 2, Informative

Your DNS is stale or you're going to directly to the ip address. When the DNS updates, you'll get the DOJ site.

--
There are reasons why democracy does not work nearly as well as capitalism.
-- David D. Friedman

Re:Rant: John Ashcroft causes mental defficiencies by superyooser · 2003-02-26 18:28 · Score: 2, Interesting

Fascism? :-D He he, it really does make me laugh out loud trying to imagine Mussolini or Hitler sending gamers to the gulags for hacking game consoles. I've heard lots of horrific stories from Iraqi refugees about torture with electric drills and acid, but not even Saddam Hussein has outlawed modchips! What a tyrant Ashcroft is! But seriously...

It's just video games! Get a grip!

You can legallly play any game on the planet if you pay for the games and the systems they were made to be played on. It won't kill you to shell out a few more bucks. Video games are NOT a necessity! We're not talking about important issues like access to public water reservoirs or voting booths. Believe or not, billions of people today have lived their whole lives without playing video games, and are no worse off for it.

IMHO, this is utterly trivial. But since many of you think it's a critical, life-or-death, the-sky-is-falling, Constitutional abrogation, I will continue...

We are a nation of laws, not chaos. Just because Joe Citizen doesn't like a law doesn't mean he gets to be self-appointed dictator. The law does not bow to prima donnas, post-modernists, or cry babies. Although you yourself can't make or repeal laws, you do get to choose the people who do that. The laws were created by representatives that the people have voted into office. That's the way a democracy (or, "representative republic," for the nitpickers) works.

With over 280 million American citizens, there will always be major disagreement over the merit of particular legislation. Notwithstanding, you must obey the laws or freely accept the punishment for breaking them, even if they aren't written like YOU would want them to be. You may practice civil disobedience, but in doing so, you still must face the consequences until the other people in your movement have been effective in lobbying for the amendment or repeal of the contested laws.

Oh come on by The+Tyro · 2003-02-26 19:59 · Score: 4, Insightful

I can't believe you just made a racial thing out of that...

Take a look at those arrest records on those urban black males you state are frivolously arrested. I'm going to go out on a limb here, and say that there'd be a variety of different crimes, including a few violent felonies, not just BS speeding tickets based on 100-year-old laws.

Now, I'm not implying that crime is genetic in black males or any of that National Alliance racist crap... it has a lot to do with being young urban males, making poor choices (as we all tend to do when young and stupid), and being surrounded by criminal subcultures, which young people tend to emulate. For instance, the "Gansta" style of dress... that whole thing simply escapes me. Why would anyone emulate a bunch of thugs, who largely prey on their own people? Boggles the mind...

OK... sorry, end of tangent. What I was trying to say is that people often get arrest records BECAUSE they commit crimes, not because "the man" is keeping them down.

I can see your point if we are simply talking about public nuisance-type crimes... but an armed robbery rap usually requires active participation.

--
Even if a man chops off your hand with a sword, you still have two nice, sharp bones to stick in his eyes.

Re:Oh come on by I_redwolf · 2003-02-26 20:51 · Score: 5, Informative

I live in Brooklyn, NYC; I'm a black male. I was arrested outside the front of my house.. ON my steps for no reason. The reason on paper says "disorderly conduct". You watch too much TV.. Those males, who emulate a bunch of thugs, who largely prey on their own people are already in jail for entirely different reasons. I bet you also didn't know that out of every 8 black males you see during the day; 1 is in jail. While I was in central bookings in Downtown Brooklyn about 100% of the people in the cells were black so I asked what the hell is everyone in here for. "Jay walking", "Had no id on me", "Told a cop to fucking stop following me", "Didn't have my license".. Most of the things ran off were ticket offenses. One guy was caught racing his car down by Hunts Point and ended all the way in Brooklyn? Wtf is that? (I'd also like to point out that discon; disorderly conduct is a ticket offense). Surely some of these guys had to be lying but as I waited in the court room; they weren't.

I'd also like to point out that up until that point I never had a problem with the "law". Infact until my honorable discharge on Dec 5th 2002 I was an intel analyst for a Military Police Battalion and knew a truck load of police officers. The difference I realize is that I used to live in Suburbia.. Moving to Brooklyn changed the ideologies. Says alot about white people huh?

That incident, however, hasn't gone without challenge and the officers of the 79th precint who did this are being raked over the coals. The difference here is that my parents have money and my dad is in a position where he can make calls. Alot of the other black males out there don't have that. The contempt passes just the cops to their skin colors and this is why you sit there at your keyboard and make such assumptions about the social character of a black male in an urban area? You know nothing about it until you see it or experience it. So please, keep your ideas to yourself.
Re:Oh come on by ch-chuck · 2003-02-27 00:30 · Score: 4, Interesting

So please, keep your ideas to yourself.

[don't be afraid to say what you want

I look at the two lines above, one right after the other, shake head, blink eyes and conclude: it's just, utterly bizarre.

--
try { do() || do_not(); } catch (JediException err) { yoda(err); }
Re:Oh come on by qoncept · 2003-02-27 01:29 · Score: 3, Insightful

Says alot about white people huh?
Yes, all white people. I was reading your post hoping to gain some insite, but then I realized you're as racist as Jesse Jackson.
That aside... A common theme in jail is that, regardless of one's race, they are in for some bullshit reason. And it tends to happen over and over again, not just to random people. Perhaps you should remember when asking people what they are "in for" that they are in a place where dishonest people go and you're asking them something it's not in their best interest to be honest about.

--
Whale
Re:Oh come on by Blue+Stone · 2003-02-27 02:28 · Score: 2, Insightful

You don't have to be black to be picked on by the police..... but it helps.

You frequently just have to be young, and male.
Here in the UK, I was picked up one night by the police. I was a little drunk and a little depressed. I walked down the local industrial estate (open to the public, public thouroughfare and all that) and saw a car coming.
I thought it was security and I didn't want to be hassled, I just wanted to find somewhere to sit, alone, and sigh. So I hid under the truck standing beside me, and waited until the car had passed.
Next thing I know, three pairs of police boots surround me and one of them says, "Are you tampering with that vehicle, Sir?"

I come out, and then am bundled into their police van, intimidated with threats of violence for the duration of the journey unless I tell them who I am (in the mood I'm in they can go fsck themselves) and I remain silent.
They take me to the police station an d order me out of the van, wherupon I say I'm leaving unless they arrest me. And while this PIG is manhandling me into the police station, and I repeat my demand that he either arrest me, or let me go, he says, "Right, you're fucking under arrest."

In the police station I'm told to empty my pockets, they take an ID card from me and phone my father, who, dipshit that he is, on the way home, tells me not to make a fuss about it. Dipshit that I am, I listen to him and don't do anything about the false imprisonment, physical and verbal assault, threats and intimidation and false arrest.

That's in the UK in a nice middle-class area of a small country town, and I'm a nice middle-class-looking white male.
Being young and male is enough to get treated like shit by the pigs.

--
Corporation, n. An ingenious device for obtaining individual profit without individual responsibility. - Ambrose Bierce
Re:Oh come on by kableh · 2003-02-27 02:43 · Score: 2, Interesting

The racial "thing" is completely justified. Look at mandatory minimum sentences for crack cocaine versus regular cocaine. It is a vicious cycle, and there is no one thing to blame, but blatently racist drug laws perpetuate this cycle.
Re:Oh come on by (trb001) · 2003-02-27 03:54 · Score: 3, Interesting

And isn't it possible that you, like so many white people, don't have a freaking clue about what it's like living in that world?

Great cop-out. No matter whether we're white, black, asian, etc, we all live in the same world, with the same laws. Black people get picked up more, you're right, but black people commit more crimes. Him pointing to the fact that the people were waiting in jail with him were there for bullshit reasons doesn't dispute the fact that 1 in 4 black males are in jail (for more than a night) on a serious charge.

I've been called a racist before, it doesn't bother me and I'll admit it. I also wouldn't think to turn my back if a fellow human needed help (money, a lift, overwhelmed in a fight, etc). I'm just not going to close my eyes and pretend that minotirites are SO unfairly treated because of their race. If anything, minorities in general ARE treated fairly because of their race.

--trb
Re:Oh come on by BasharTeg · 2003-02-27 08:39 · Score: 2, Insightful

I was reading your point with as open mind as possible until you dropped this statement:

"Says alot about white people huh?"

Fuck you. "White" people as a whole are composed of people of hundreds of races with thousands of different backgrounds. If you want to say there's some kind of genetic or racial based racist behavior in "white people" then I guess it follows that it is in our nature to enslave you and stick your ass in a cotton field. If this is the appropriate scenario in your mind, please report to the cotton fields immediately. I will be along shortly to beat and otherwise oppress you.

I would also note that many affluent black people don't give a shit about african-american mistreatment in the ghettos. Says a lot about black people huh?

The moral of this stupid little story is: racism against "white people" is still racism. Don't heap the crimes of whomever you feel your "white oppressors" are on the rest of us, because honestly, we don't want to hear you cry about it.

the government redirected domains by gh0ul · 2003-02-26 20:17 · Score: 2, Funny

Will our tax dollars pay to renew the domains which have been taken over by the government?

I surely didn't vote for that.. OH WAIT! I have no rights! I'm just another tax payer..

More of the picture. by PotatoHead · 2003-02-26 20:25 · Score: 5, Insightful

I agree with your analysis about the motivations behind this move. I also mostly agree on the subscription model for games. I am still mulling over the movie and music thing mostly because I believe that subscriptions lessen the incentive to produce quality content instead of just new content, but that is another discussion.

The problem I have with the whole thing is simple.

I don't like being treated like a 5 year old kid. It is totally ok to know how to pick locks, copy media and modify hardware. What one does with that information has consequences of course, but the sharing of this type of knowledge is not the source of the problems.

As a kid, I was shown how locks worked and was given some old locks to open for a challenge. The intent at the time was to keep an eager brain busy and learn some basic mechanical skills at the same time, plus it was fun!

Later I took apart almost everything I have ever owned. Why? To understand how it worked and to learn how it could work better for me. The good karma I have earned from this is hard not to notice. Opening locked cars, fixing broken electronics, building creative solutions to solve problems all have earned me many favors in return. Who have I harmed exactly? Maybe a few local locksmiths have lost some revenue along with the electronics shops, but the people I helped sure found something to do with their money. Maybe they purchased a coupla more movies and music titles. heh heh...

The technology I sell and service today benefits those who produce it. Maybe a few schools lost some revenue because I actually bothered to pick up a book and learn something without having someone hold my hand. Isn't this what we are supposed to be doing anyway? Helping ourselves as much as possible?

80 percent of what I know today comes from this sort of learning. Those that mentored me early on were also teaching right from wrong. It also happens to be how I continue to make my living.

Today, my very nature is being slowly criminalized for no good reason and I resent it! This is wrong no matter what the motivation and everyone here knows it. It is also not good for society in general. Don't you want to see what the upcoming talent will create in their garage when you get old. Wouldn't it be nice to say, "Wow! Nobody saw that coming!" The way things are now, you can plot your future on the corporate roadmaps.

What we don't know is what to do about it (yet).

IsoNews is a source of a lot of hard to find information that can be put to as many good uses as bad. There are many other sites that provide the same forum. Will Asscroft shut them all down? Why?

I can understand the legal reason why some mod chips are illegal along with distributing pirated media, but I cannot understand the action against this site in general because it does not address the problem.

The problem is behaviour, not knowing how or why one would bother to use or construct modchips or copy media. These things are legal and ethical no matter what anyone says. If you cannot learn how, who does that really benefit?

The problem, as I see it, is the combination of education and maturity being modeled by many technically inclined people today. I can't say I blame them. It sucks to know you are being wronged.

Understanding this is a part of the big picture that also needs to be considered if we are ever to come to any sort of humane solutions.

Back to when I was young for a moment. Hacking things was encouraged! You could go to the supermarket and get magazines that actually documented this process in some detail. Teachers encouraged the activity as well. I remember a group of us changing one of the instructional disks to tell jokes. We learned a lot and harmed nobody because THE SCHOOL COULD EASILY MAKE BACKUPS! Know what the teacher did? He had us pick something we wanted to do and helped us do it. Guess what? WE LEARNED A LOT MORE!

Having an opinion was valued and encouraged. Many a teacher challenged me as to why I believed something instead of just telling me it was not politically correct. Some of these same teachers had the freedom to nurture and channel this into good constructive growth.

I might add that the schools had more flexibility in how they dealt with problem kids and a lot fewer lawyers. Maybe this was not as bad as we make it out to be today.

I had considerable freedom in school provided that I towed the line on the basics; namely, maturity, ethics and citizenship.

Today, things are very different. We are encouraged to know what to buy to solve our problems. I know that is a very general statement, but look around. You will see it in just about everything. In my state (oregon) education is being standardized and achievment is valued over creativity. Schools are sharply limited in what they can do to correct and control kids. They also exert far more subtle control than they used to because of this.

At the same time, that standardized education does not include strong citizenship and ethics material probably because of the additional lawyers on staff today combined with their strain on the budget and the stiff education requirements leave little room. Of course the lawyers will say this material just might offend somebody as well. (Too f-ing bad I say.) Could the state find a generation of task oriented citizens easier to control as well? Hmmm...

A lot of the technical education I see my kids getting is focused on performing tasks within the technology. Big mistake because understanding the ideas behind the tech is where the better tech comes from.

Kids today have less freedom and higher demands all at the same time while teachers have less room to do what they should be doing; namely, building society one kid at a time.

The level of control our society is experiencing is at an all time high. Is it any wonder that people are acting out?

Consider our precious Xbox. (Other products have similar problems, I just want to use the Xbox as an example.) The money god says make as much as you can. That means keeping people paying which means control and limited device function designed to facillitate payment. Instead of paying a ton of lawyers, who consume a fair chunk of the profit themselves, why not actually understand what people want to do and encourage it?

They could try marketing the Xbox Plus pack. Bundle it with a free game and code book! Sell the imports at a premium to those that want them. Funny, the 'Imports' are actually made here in Microsofts case so they just get to make more money.

Go ahead and run Linux, but pay 50.00 first and remember that you still can play all the online games with no worries.

Seems to me lots of kids would enjoy a home computer that could also play hot games. Why not let them do it? You just might find your next game developer that way.

Dump some of those legal dollars into some marketing designed to distinguish and reward the right kinds of creativity from blatent self-serving piracy.

Use the law to bust those doing real damage.

Sure the hardcore crowd will see all of that for what it is and will continue to go against the business model, but lots of people will just buy the thing because it does what they want. Price it right and mix in a couple of nice features and you can make money off the whole thing and look reasonably cool at the same time.

The rest of them will be numbered too small to worry about. Besides, you can spend what you want and the hardcore crowd will still do what they want. You just make less that way.

As it stands now, the stigma of the Xbox is so great for me, I will never ever own one and I make sure and tell others why. Wonder how much annuity revenue that will end up costing?

The core of the problem here is control. Here in the land of the free, we are increasingly under the thumb of large corporations driven by shareholder demand to make money every single quarter or cease to exist. Our free market has taught us the fewer options people have, the easier it is to make money. This same market makes it hard for companies to actually try new things. Invest in a new business model, but lose money for a quarter or two? Watch your stock become worthless. Better to not even try it, it is cheaper to pay the lawyers to beat away your potential competition while limiting your customers options in ways that maximize revenue.

Is this really American? Is this sort of power what our founders intended? Will these actions and others like them really benefit society, or will they benefit governments and corporations who seek control?

I for one see this for what it is. A lame attempt to drive information underground because it does not align well with some business model and that sucks and is wrong.

For anyone that actually gets to the bottom of this comment, take note this year and next of who does what and why. Remember that when it comes time to buy something, or vote. Be sure and tell them why and tell them often.

It matters.

--
Blogging because I can...

Re:Mah... still overrated.... by bluephone · 2003-02-26 20:52 · Score: 2, Funny

In Soviet Russia, bad jokes post YOU!

--
jX [ Make everything as simple as possible, but no simpler. - Einstein ]

Re:Mah... still overrated.... by mcrbids · 2003-02-26 21:10 · Score: 2, Insightful

The all your base thing ceased to be funny on its own about 2 years ago...

Yeah, that's why a new need has arisen at slashdot...

-1 cliche

--
I have no problem with your religion until you decide it's reason to deprive others of the truth.

probably already covered but... by ohzero · 2003-02-26 21:16 · Score: 2, Insightful

but I couldn't disagree more with Chris' statement. You -do- own your own hardware and you can paint it blue and throw it against the wall if that's your gig. As a matter of fact, you could probably make your own mod chip, install it, run it, and call the DoJ to tell them that you did. The guy who got arrested was the one making a profit off of selling the chips, not a chip user. As a matter of fact, I have a chip that I made in between typing this and slamming my console against the wall, so... if the DoJ asks slashdot for my user info, please feel free to give it to them, because I don't intend on selling it.

--
-- http://www.criticalassets.com

Re:and we all know by numark · 2003-02-26 21:43 · Score: 4, Funny

You know we'll be seeing commercials now saying "Use mod chips and your daughter will become pregnant and your son will run over a kid on a trike." It's the logical next step, right?

--
Want Slashdot headlines on your site? Try SlashHead

Mod Chips are *NOT* illegal. by Anubis333 · 2003-02-26 21:49 · Score: 5, Informative

Many people like to mod their consoles, allowing them to make "fair use" copies of games they have purchased, in case their children destroy or scratch the disk, or allow them to play import games from other countries (that they purchase online) that are unplayable in their own country. Many people also make their own games for consoles or handhelds, especially the Game Boy Advance, which has hundreds of cool demos and games, free, for people who have moded, or "flashable" cartridges. Last Christmas, siting the DMCA, Microsoft, Nintendo, and Sony filed against Lik-Sang.com (my favorite game hardware site) for selling such mod chips, because they could also be used to play downloaded copies of games, which would be an illegal use under the DMCA. One of the largest issues at hand with the mod chip craze, is that most consoles are now sold at a loss, and the companies have locked themselves into a dangerous game where they primarily make money off of game sales, and these mega corporations only want you to be playing (and buying) their games, not freely downloadable games online, or booting LINUX.

A console that plays MP3s or DIVX over a network (or off its 100gb drive) as an entertainment center, or runs LINUX, is USELESS monetarily to Microsoft. This, like everything in the world, is about money.

The edited BIOS of the mod chip is the illegal thing under the DMCA. Almost all mod chip sites do *NOT SELL CHIPS WITH A BIOS*, you must download the bios from someone online. This is perfectly LEGAL (buying the mod with no BIOS), though it is illegal (under the DMCA) to download that BIOS. If he's being prosecuted and plead guilty, it was because he was selling mods preflashed with a bios. There are hundreds of MOD chip sites online, and they aren't being taken over by the DMCA.

CE

Re:Mod Chips are *NOT* illegal. -like razorblades. by Havokmon · 2003-02-27 02:16 · Score: 2, Interesting

One of the largest issues at hand with the mod chip craze, is that most consoles are now sold at a loss, and the companies have locked themselves into a dangerous game where they primarily make money off of game sales, and these mega corporations only want you to be playing (and buying) their games, not freely downloadable games online, or booting LINUX.

I wonder what would happen if I created a razor blade that fit the Mach 3 razor, was equivalent to the Mach 3 blades, and sold it for half the price of the Mach 3 blades...

What happened to 'generic' stuff? You never see plain old black and white "CEREAL" boxes anymore..

--
"I can't give you a brain, so I'll give you a diploma" - The Great Oz (blatently stolen sig)

Re:Mah... still overrated.... by Mignon · 2003-02-27 03:12 · Score: 2, Insightful

It seems "internet time" causes stuff to get played out faster than ever, but it doesn't seem to speed up the rate at which stuff gets a second life as nostalgia.

So it'll still take about 20 years or so before "All your base" is hip again.

Re:This WHOLE THING is a FAKE! by fliplap · 2003-02-27 05:50 · Score: 2, Insightful

Just another justification for -1 (Wrong)

Slashdot Mirror

IsoNews Ostensibly Shut Down By The DOJ

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