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Phatbot Trojan Suspect Linked To Half-Life 2 Code Theft?
Thanks to Gamers With Jobs for its story claiming possible links between the theft of the Half-Life 2 code and the Phatbot trojan writer, following the arrest of the alleged Phatbot creator in Germany last week, as the site claims, regarding "Axel G., 21 years old and known under the nick 'Ago'", that "German IT news mag Heise.de did some investigation [German-language link] and according to their research Axel G. probably also was heavily involved in the Half-Life 2 code theft that happened more than 7 months ago", pointing particularly to an IRC log, available on a Half-Life 2 leak page since late last year, which has Ago allegedly saying "[Download speed] suxx, especially from valve to germany... i coded myself my own sourcesafe client to get it at full speed... i only used a simple null-session to a pc in valves net, that wasnt directly controlled by valve."
Let me guess, he also blew up the World Trade Center?
May we never see th
Don't see no rush...
Did he actually steal the code? Or did he duplicate it in an authorized fashion, leaving all original copies intact? If it is the former, this is unusual. If it is the latter, there is no way that theft occured (it's just unwanted duplication).
Incredible. Even CVS works better than that particular piece of MS garbage.
LOAD "SIG",8,1
<Unknown__> hostmask of Ago on the 11th of october: frb9-d9bb4a51.pool.mediaWays.net
<Unknown__> earlier this week
<Unknown__> in a private channel....
<Unknown__> the person having access to the beta, sources and other released stuff
You know, it sounds as if they could have dug this up from IRC server logs. Now, obviously it's quite *possible* to log all channels on an IRC server (it still boggles the mind that IRC clients don't have encryption support as standard), but I wasn't actually aware that this was being actively done -- and it would have to be in order to snag this from a minor, private channel well in advance of anyone knowing who the responsible parties might be.
That's a bit Orwellian.
I've never actually looked up whether AOL's privacy policy says anything that would keep them from logging all ICQs/AIM messages, but that could be quite a valuable storehouse of information as well. The only mainstream IM protocol that I know of where clients support end-to-end encryption as standard is Jabber.
May we never see th
Hey you jerk! I was going to say the exact same thing! You stole my idea!
i only used a simple null-session to a pc in valves net, that wasnt directly controlled by valve
then I got caught by the german police, and here I am in this prison.
Crap guys, gotta go, they need me again in the shower-room.
*Ago changes nick to Ago|sodomy
Workstation - $2,200
Cable Modem - $45/month
Mountain Dew - $16/case
Radeon 9800 to actually run stolen HL2 build -$450
PhatBot Damages - Approx. $1,000,000 to $2,000,000 worldwide
Fame as a 1337 H/\>0R on IRC - Worthless, but cool
Getting nabbed for Grand Larceny, Wire Fraud, various other computer crimes - $400/hr for a good attorney
Extradition to the US - Free
Spending the next 2-5 years in Federal Pound-in-the-Ass prison - Priceless
Having Gabe Newell and Doug Lombardi pound on you with baseball bats - Also, Priceless
Have fun in jail, Ago. You think the Iraqi prisons were bad? Have fun in Marion, Illinois
"Life's funny sometimes." "And sometimes it isn't." --Cat's Cradle
No, theft/stealing requires taking. If you leave something sitting there after you make your copy, you have not taken it.
"He was not authorized to copy the source code"
So he did something unauthorized. Here's a clue: not every single crime or unauthorized activity is theft.
"That would let them build the same product, even though it is clearly IP for the original owners."
"IP" is a misleading term that has caused much confusion. IP has nothing to do with actual property. IP as such cannot be stolen.
In this digital age, must "theft" always have to mean the unauthorized procurement of physical material from another's possession? (Actually, no, since meanings of words can and do change over time. While a legal definition of theft may, or rather must, be more strict, dict.org kindly gives me "the act of taking something from someone unlawfully," which, unless you're about to start bickering about the word "take," does accurately describe this situation.) By claiming that it was not "theft," are you attempting to lessen the seriousness of the person's act? If he had taken from Valve a harddrive containing the source code, he would have indeed stolen the harddrive, but, according to you, would still not have stolen the source code, even though the harddrive (the physical item alone)'s importance to Valve would be a lot less than the harddrive's actual contents. "it's just unwanted duplication"? Give me a break.
Hmm, well if Axel G. was involved with this I'm sure he was just working undercover for the Detroit police. Someone should tell the Germans to call Capt. Andrew Bogomil of Beverly Hills. I'm sure he can clear everything up.
Since it was not theft at all, the problem is those who are mis-using the word "theft", such as the RIAA, to make something seem worse than it is.
"he would have indeed stolen the harddrive, but, according to you, would still not have stolen the source code"
Of course in this case the source code is stolen, because it was on the hard drive which was taken. They programs are stolen because, well, they are stolen. It is not like when someone makes a copy of the programs and leaves the actual programs still sitting there.
""the act of taking something from someone unlawfully," which, unless you're about to start bickering about the word "take," does accurately describe this situation.)"
Bickering? You are the one using it in a totally inapplicable fashion. If something is still there when the action is through, that action certainly did not involve taking.
"it's just unwanted duplication"? Give me a break."
Yes. It is just unwanted duplication. Get over it. Stop using inapplicable words. It's not theft, just like it isn't rape, murder, or arson.
The emphasis is mine. The bold parts never occur in any way with file duplication. You are not only outright wrong: you are not even close.
Read somewhere in the parent items that acknowledges the obvious fact that there are a wide variety of illegal actions/ crimes/ violations/etc which are not "theft". Here's one: Murder. Ever hear of it?
What the fuck does murder have to do with the poster's hypothetical situation?
.5^2==.25
1!=.5
Justice is the sheep getting arrested while an impartial judge declares the vote void.
So a headline that doesn't lie "isn't going to cut it"? You tell 'em, Jayson!
This hacker apparently compiled a hybrid of the two source codes, calling it Phat Life 2.
SourceSafe is bad. Here is some detailed info on bugs in SourceSafe:
. ht ml
http://www.michaelbolton.net/testing/VSSDefects