Slashdot Mirror
Windows Source Code Seller Arrested
prostoalex writes "New York Times says William O. Genovese Jr., 27, of Meriden, Conn. has been arrested by the Feds for selling source code for Windows NT and Windows 2000 operating systems. It's not perfectly clear whether Genovese was selling the portion of the code that was leaked earlier this year or if he had access to other portions of Windows source code. The timing, though, coincides, as the code leaked in February, the same month NYT claims the entrepreneur obtained the source code."
It's not perfectly clear whether Genovese was selling the portion of the code that was leaked earlier this year
It's not perfectly clear whether Genovese was selling [the code] at all. Innocent until proven guilty, despite what our current administration would have you believe.
Do you like German cars?
Too bad he didn't have the right compiler, all he got were thousands of thousands of code errors when trying to compile it.
...is that the guy sold the source code printed on soft white double-ply. (unscented.)
If there's one thing worse than someone stealing source code and spreading it over the internet, its someone who didn't do the hard work of obtaining it that tries to profit from the actions of others. While I don't condone the original source theft, I hold far greater contempt for those that try and cash in on it.
I heard that people are now leaking the linux code all over the place ;)
Wow, virtually my neighboor. Nothing interesting happens around here. I wonder where he was working and If I can have his job? haha.
(yes, I'm looking for IT work in Connecticut)
Don't Tread on Me
He tried to use Paypal to sell it, or he sold it for only $20?? Apparently, he doesn't place a high value on MS's source code...
Commercially driven hackers?
Business rivals? (alleged code copying)
Open Source community? (alleged code stealing)
... now lets hope that in the next step we extend the arrest to sellers of Windows binary code.
I find it disgusting that /. (and other news sites) publish the arrested person's full name. This person is not yet proven guilty, and still has a right for privacy and personal integrity - when a British newspaper published the names of convicted child molesters, lynch mobs formed to try to hunt down and kill those people. This should never happen, as it is totally against the concept of a modern constitutional state.
A monkey is doing the real work for me.
All Mr. Genovese needed to do was state on the website that the fee was for the bandwidth/donation. Blatantly asking for money for something that is pirated is never a good idea. Especially with a large conglomerate like Microsoft.
that just by possessing source code and attempting to sell it, Mr. Genovese is labeled a hacker, in the first line of the article no less. It's a shame that hackers are the continual blacksheep of the tech world...
Now if we can just get the person or persons responsible for wasting so much of my productive time with their crappy code....
10 LET BILL=10
20 LET STEVE=9
30 IF BILL>STEVE PRINT "HA HA STEVE IM COOL, LOVE BILL"
40 GOTO 10
I want to delete my account but Slashdot doesn't allow it.
It's SO easy to get the code legitimately from Microsoft. All you have to do is form a huge country and threaten to convert over to Linux from Windows for security concerns. Ballmer will probably fly out himself with a copy of any source code you desire.
Now isn't that easier than committing a felony?!
If someone says he and his monkey have nothing to hide, they almost certainly do.
His online profile lists William P. Genovese's profession as "hacking bum" and "getting arrested" among his likes.
That is just what federal authorities did Tuesday, charging Genovese with unlawfully distributing a trade secret, a violation of the Economic Espionage Act, in connection with the alleged sale of a source code for Microsoft Windows NT 4.0 and the Windows 2000 operating systems.
According to the U.S. Attorney's Office for New York, Genovese, 27, of 1001 Old Colony Road, Apt. 7-3, Meriden, used his Web site, illmob.org, to sell the source code, which Microsoft learned in February was misappropriated and unlawfully released and distributed over the Internet.
The source code is considered the company's "crown jewels." Unauthorized access to the code can leave the operating systems open to exploitation by computer hackers.
"Microsoft has not authorized the release of this code and any use of it is illegal. As we have said since February, Microsoft will take all appropriate legal actions to protect our intellectual property," a spokesman for the software giant said. "It's illegal for third parties to post, make available to others, or download this code in question and we take such activity very seriously. Microsoft's source code is copyrighted, and it is an infringement to make an unauthorized copy of that code. Moreover, the source code is a trade secret of Microsoft."
The same day Microsoft learned that a significant portion of the code had been released, Genovese posted a message on his Web site announcing that he had a copy of the code and was offering it for sale, according to the complaint.
An investigator hired by Microsoft downloaded a copy of the code in February after submitting a $20 electronic payment to Genovese. In July, an undercover FBI agent also downloaded the code from Genovese after making an electronic payment, the complaint said.
Federal authorities arrested Genovese before 6 a.m. Tuesday. A spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office declined to say where Genovese was arrested. Genovese faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and a fine of $250,000, or twice the gross gain or loss resulting from the offense. Genovese could not be reached for comment Wednesday. The investigation into the release of the code is ongoing, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.
Genovese was convicted in March 2003 of eavesdropping and was sentenced to two years probation. That charge stemmed from his gaining unauthorized access to computers in Connecticut in 2000. According to the complaint, Genovese had infected victims' computers with a virus that allowed him to remotely access them, recording their activities, taking control of the machines and sending instant messages to the victims, telling them what he was doing.
were the comments:
// Did stuff here when drunk,
// seems to work, don't change!
// Obfusticate code and use really
// old librarys, this should annoy
// some Wine devs muhahaha
// Struck a deal with Symantec to
// leave this vunerability in, don't
// change!
*sigh* I wish they could convict my mother-in-law of this.
I pulled a jack move to cop this sig
Since when FBI arrests people for copyright infringement or trade secrets violation, both of which are civil offences, not even criminal and certainly not a federal crime?
Interesting stuff ... shopping at Ikea the day before his arrest, oblivious to the impending doom.
Alison
"It is a miracle that curiosity survives formal education." - Albert Einstein
Inside sources indicate there will be a fraud charge added: he was representing that this was the code of an operating system.
OK, make up your mind, which is it, a trade secret or a copyright? Because copyrighted works are intended to, eventually, become public domain, one cannot copyright a trade secret. Or, at least, that's more or less how it's written in the U.S. Constitution.
...for distributing Microsoft Source Code.
That is one of the biggest causes of viruses and technical failures around. He is just spreading it!
You can see where this is going.
Recapping:
If you thought it was difficult doing a thorough Theo code audit for security was a formidable task, even given the open source code, then imagine the difficulty of looking through all of the source and wondering if any of it infringes on anyone's claimed "Intellectual Property". There aren't any options to diff and grep to complete such a task, AFAICT. The other half of the comparison remains under lock and key, except to those with rights to the IP.
Linus' policy of requiring signed patch contributions to the Linux source looks more and more like a good and proper defensive measure. I'd feel better if other high profile FOSS projects had systems of signing patches and an examinable web of trust between the major contributors. Go ahead and accept patches, but let each contributor sign them.
The whole issue of IP indemnification reeks of a deliberate strategy to slow the growth of free and open source deployments by sowing doubt into the minds of decision makers considering use of FOSS for their business but must consider risk in their decision (and a limited amount of time and information on which to base a decision).
Transparency should make FOSS less IP infringing quickly compared to closed source, where IP infringements can be compiled away from easy recognition by the IP owners.
"Provided by the management for your protection."
...someone was arrested for selling shit! ...oh..wait..
27 years old, connecticut.
ok...
http://illmob.org/staff.html
that means it's "illwill", self-described "hacking bum". let's see what he claims to have written:
http://illmob.org/releases.html
quite a lot of malicious software he's written there... seems like selling stolen source code fits right in with his ethical standards and moral code.
You can copyright a trade secret. You can't patent a trade secret, because patenting something necessarily means it is published, and therefore no longer secret.