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BitTorrent Servers Under DDoS Attacks

jZnat writes "CNet News.com reports that popular BitTorrent tracker hosts such as Suprnova and LokiTorrent underwent DDoS attacks on Wednesday (I'll bet you noticed). The culprits are primarily unknown, but these sites were flooded beyond control from the attack. This appears to be striking an interest in revising the BT protocol and Suprnova's interest in making their own protocol."

352 comments

  1. Come on by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    We all know it's the MPAA and RIAA.

    1. Re:Come on by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      more than that might be *MS* interested in a new sfware to control the p2p illegal market too ;)

    2. Re:Come on by takeya · · Score: 1

      Probably...

      because none of the anime trackers I use went down.

    3. Re:Come on by femto · · Score: 4, Interesting
      You may jest, but read some of the reports coming out of the current Kazza case in Australia.

      For example:

      The Federal Court heard yesterday that the major record labels are also engaged in a program of actively disrupting the file-sharing network by bombarding it with billions of decoys and spoofs that pose as song files.

      On the bright side, the article also contains the following quote from the judge:

      The judge said it was important that any legal remedy did not trespass on freedom of communication. "You are entitled to protect copyright. You are not entitled to control the internet," he said.
    4. Re:Come on by agent · · Score: 1

      I could hardly move yester day!

      type, type, type...

    5. Re:Come on by theendlessnow · · Score: 1
      No, it wasn't the MPAA and RIAA.

      I think everyone was simply trying to get Hillary Duff's latest single.

    6. Re:Come on by Lord_Dweomer · · Score: 1
      In all seriousness, people here are dismissing these entities because it is illegal to do this. What people aren't taking into consideration is that this is a group of Hollywood bigwigs. Its not like they are totally adverse to having one of their "people" contact someone in lets say...Russia, and provide anonymous funding for them to carry this out.

      Remember guys, just because the laws are in place to prevent this stuff, doesn't mean people won't just ignore the laws, especially when they have a lot of money on the line like the top execs at these labels.

      --
      Buy Steampunk Clothing Online!
    7. Re:Come on by Tsiangkun · · Score: 1

      major record labels are also engaged in a program of . . .bombarding it with billions of decoys and spoofs that pose as song files.

      Seems like the same tactics they used to make the radio useless to record decent music. Pretty soon they will be extending the bombardment of large venues with decoys of real bands to inlude smaller local pubs to prevent people from hearing real music at a live show.

      RIAA checklist
      1) Radio full of decoy bands , check
      2) P2P clogged with decoy s of real bands, check
      3) Ticketmaster clogged with decoys of real bands, check

      I for one welcome our new decoy band overlords.

    8. Re:Come on by Mystic8277 · · Score: 1

      It's not very nice when a site is getting DDoS'ed and then you /. them as well?! Shame on you sir, shame on you....

  2. Stinks of RIAA by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    RIAA adopting Lycos's tactics?

    1. Re:Stinks of RIAA by gl4ss · · Score: 2, Funny

      or lycos selling it's services, or mpaa/riaa spamming on behalf of suprnova to get them attacked?

      talk about a can of worms, that lycos screensaver...

      --
      world was created 5 seconds before this post as it is.
    2. Re:Stinks of RIAA by arr28 · · Score: 1
      RIAA adopting Lycos's tactics?
      <Cynic>
      Or perhaps this is Suprnova trying to make its Decentralised Bittorrent seem vital.
      </Cynic>
    3. Re:Stinks of RIAA by m50d · · Score: 1

      I wonder if it was a put-up job by the Spammer's Alliance to show us all that DDoSing is really a bad thing.

      --
      I am trolling
    4. Re:Stinks of RIAA by TheScorpion420 · · Score: 0

      It defineatly does stink of RIAA or MPAA, i don't think even they are above this.

      --
      If you pay your taxes you support terrorism!
    5. Re:Stinks of RIAA by psyco484 · · Score: 1
      And even though these are being modded funny, it seems this is a disturbing possibility for Lycos to make some extra money. I would be shocked if they are involved, but the fact that they've now got a large number of machines ready to DDoS the hell out of anyone they choose is a bit scary...I'd go make a tinfoil hat right now if I had the tinfoil.

      It's pretty clear the RIAA|MPAA are behind the attacks, but it's pretty clear no one is going to be held accountable for anything because they've got too much money. The only way the RIAA|MPAA is going to be stopped is if this is made into a real issue with the government. Write your representatives, tell them this is something you care about and something you will base future votes on. They are organized, they are taking steps to get what they want at the expense of the rest of us, why aren't we organized even close to the same level and why aren't we taking steps to protect ourselves?

    6. Re:Stinks of RIAA by WaR.KiN · · Score: 1

      It must be the new Britney Spears screensaver!!!

    7. Re:Stinks of RIAA by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      selling it's services

      "its".

  3. To add insult to injury... by Infinityis · · Score: 5, Funny

    As if that weren't enough, now they'll most certainly feel some variant of the Slashdot effect as people try to check it out. Way to go!

    1. Re:To add insult to injury... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Wait, now I'm confused. I thought bittorrents *were themselves* DDoSs...at least against the backbones...

    2. Re:To add insult to injury... by MC+Negro · · Score: 4, Funny

      As if that weren't enough, now they'll most certainly feel some variant of the Slashdot effect

      No linky in the blerb. Most of slashdot has adopted the custom of simply middle-clicking a link to a new tab and then avoiding all forms of digesting information from that opened link (it's what's fashionable now). I seriously doubt the average Slashdot reader will take the time to resort to the arcane practice of TYPING URLs simply to simulate the view of smoldering server ashes. They'll wait until IBM releases the their next voice-to-text software program ("UNCLE SPEAK & SPELL, ENTERPRISE EDITION") for that.

      Although I was hoping for a link in the blerb. Maybe that would induct "Best Gang-Raping of a Server" into the awards section.
      --
      "You and your third dimension."
    3. Re:To add insult to injury... by mrbuttboy · · Score: 3, Funny

      ....typing URLs .....like,by hand? what,everybody doesn't highling-right click-open in new tab?.....wow.....

      I love firefox.

      --
      What do you say to the man that has nothing? Cast it away!!
    4. Re:To add insult to injury... by Fishstick · · Score: 1

      There's a url in the summary?

      I think what he meant was people typing www.lokitorrent.com and www.suprnova.org into their browser because not only are there no links in the summary, there are no urls. ;-p

      *I know what you're saying though - being able to highlight and open as a url or even just do a google search is just too convenient and I can't imagine living life on this earth without it.

      --

      There is much cruelty in the universe, John.
      Yeah, we seem to have the tour map.

    5. Re:To add insult to injury... by lav-chan · · Score: 3, Funny

      You know, uh, Internet Explorer has a very similar feature. And i'm pretty sure it's had it for, like, almost the last decade.

      INTERNET EXPLORER FOR PRESIDENT

    6. Re:To add insult to injury... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      INTERNET EXPLORER FOR PRESIDENT

      I'm sure even it would be better for world stability than W...

    7. Re:To add insult to injury... by Sandor+at+the+Zoo · · Score: 1
      what,everybody doesn't highling-right click-open in new tab?

      No, some of us just control-click on a link. That opens the link in a new tab without having to navigate a context menu.

      It's cool that Firefox does this, but I can't believe it doesn't open links from other applications in a new tab. Overwriting your current page is just wrong. The Firefox guys need to use Safari a little bit more to see how things should be done. :-)

    8. Re:To add insult to injury... by jafomatic · · Score: 1

      There is a firefox setting (or an extension) for this. Something about one-window or one-true-window? I don't recall what the extension's name is, but I promise it used to work.

      --
      ::jafomatic
    9. Re:To add insult to injury... by yasth · · Score: 1

      Actually you can just drag text over to a blank area and it will do a Google I'm feeling lucky on it (or more properly it will parse it just like you typed it in) . So highlight "lokitorrent" drag to blank tab bar area, and wait.

      --
      I'd do something interesting, but my server can't handle a slashdotting.
    10. Re:To add insult to injury... by stg · · Score: 1

      There was an extension much earlier than that, but since 1.0RC1 there is an option to open on a new window, a new tab on the latest window or the current tab.

    11. Re:To add insult to injury... by pebs · · Score: 2, Interesting

      No, some of us just control-click on a link. That opens the link in a new tab without having to navigate a context menu.

      Control-click? That is so 2001. Most of us middle click to open a new tab.

      --
      #!/
    12. Re:To add insult to injury... by St.+Arbirix · · Score: 1
      I type when I'm working. There's no reason I should have to type anything when I'm not. Besides, it improves my FPS accuracy.

      This message brought to you by KDE and the KCharSelect applet.
      --
      Direct away from face when opening.
    13. Re:To add insult to injury... by segoy · · Score: 1

      This is what you're looking for:

      add to your user.js file. // Reveal more tab/window options:
      user_pref("browser.tabs.showSingleWindow ModePrefs" , true);

    14. Re:To add insult to injury... by sharkey · · Score: 1
      I seriously doubt the average Slashdot reader will take the time to resort to the arcane practice of TYPING URLs

      Speaking only for myself here: I'm not using Internet Explorer, so I don't HAVE to type URLs by hand.

      --

      --
      "Outlook not so good." That magic 8-ball knows everything! I'll ask about Exchange Server next.
    15. Re:To add insult to injury... by Bob+Uhl · · Score: 2, Informative
      Some of us just use the middle button as God intended...

      Firefox now has a setting to open links from other apps in a new tab. That's the great thing about free software: useful features do get added in a timely fashion--and if they don't you can add them yourself.

    16. Re:To add insult to injury... by Fishstick · · Score: 1

      I didn't know that, thanks!!

      --

      There is much cruelty in the universe, John.
      Yeah, we seem to have the tour map.

    17. Re:To add insult to injury... by mrbuttboy · · Score: 1

      For the record, what I was talking about was highlighting TEXT,not links. There in an extension that lets you use generic text instead of a line. Basiclly lets you treat anything you higlight like a link. So for example www.slashdot.org is just text but I can highlgiht and then open in a new tab. Basically it rocks,esp when people DONT make a link on purpose.

      --
      What do you say to the man that has nothing? Cast it away!!
    18. Re:To add insult to injury... by Matrix2110 · · Score: 1


      "I love firefox."

      Well gee, so do I.

      I am amused by the "middle button crowd" I simply right click the link and say open in a new tab.

      I guess I am missing something very arcane here.

  4. Sure it wasn't just folks flocking for RoTK EE? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Funny

    :-P

  5. I can see it now... by Infinityis · · Score: 5, Funny

    Future Slashdot headline: Lycos apologizes for wrongly targeted DDoS attacks

    1. Re:I can see it now... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

      Only somebody on slashdolt would think it's okay to DoS spammers but not sites trafficing in copyrighted material illegally.

    2. Re:I can see it now... by tsm_sf · · Score: 0, Troll

      Your point being what... The average /.er hates jerks and hates fascists? yeah, that's probably accurate.

      And since this is /. may I point out that you misspelled trafficking? You should probably stick to picketing abortion clinics, brownshirt.

      --
      Literalism isn't a form of humor, it's you being irritating.
    3. Re:I can see it now... by bbuR_bbuB · · Score: 1

      Torrents are not 'copywrighted material', as far as content rights holders are concerned. It's no different than me writing down what I thought the script of the movie was. IHBT.

    4. Re:I can see it now... by damiam · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Suprnova traffics in torrent files, not copyrighted material. Of the content represented by those torrents, pretty much all of it is legal in some parts of the world.

      --
      It's hard to be religious when certain people are never incinerated by bolts of lightning.
    5. Re:I can see it now... by cpt+kangarooski · · Score: 1

      Well, first, if you wrote down what you thought the script of a movie was, and you had access to the original in some form (e.g. by having watched the movie) and there was some of the original in yours, then that would be infringing.

      As for the torrents, they're not the copyrighted works themselves, but running a tracker is still probably contributory and vicarious infringement depending on the details of precisely how the tracker is being run, etc.

      I mean, Napster didn't really do anything more than run a tracker that let users get together. And look what happened to them. Why do you think it can't happen to torrent sites?

      --
      -- This and all my posts are in the public domain. I am a lawyer. I am not your lawyer, and this is not legal advice.
    6. Re:I can see it now... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      My question is, why is it bad even if the RIAA/MPAA *are* the ones behind it? Apparently, breaking copyright law is okay, but those organizations handing it back in your faces by DDOSing the networks is bad and inethical. Why is one act accepted while the other is evil?

      And meanwhile, stealing GPL code is bad! GPL is based on copyright. This is hilarious.

    7. Re:I can see it now... by bbuR_bbuB · · Score: 1

      Have you ever actually looked at suprnova? It's merely a webserver that hosts .torrent files. The TRACKERS are NON-AFFILIATED sites that tell you where to look for a computer that is interested in that .torrent file. Why can't it happen to torrent sites? Because they're different.

    8. Re:I can see it now... by cpt+kangarooski · · Score: 1

      That doesn't matter.

      Contributory infringement:
      You infringe by hosting torrents if the hosting contributes to the direct infringement of another (i.e by helping them up/download, even at a remove), and you have knowledge of the direct infringement.

      Vicarious infringement:
      You infringe by hosting torrents if you have the right and ability to prevent the direct infringement of another (i.e. you can remove torrents) and you receive some financial benefit by the hosting (e.g. attracting people who see ads, or pay for access, etc.).

      It doesn't matter if you're affiliated with other people who are involved.

      --
      -- This and all my posts are in the public domain. I am a lawyer. I am not your lawyer, and this is not legal advice.
    9. Re:I can see it now... by AK+Marc · · Score: 1

      So, by my saying that there is a place on the web called suprnova.org, I've just contributed to the infringement of copyright? Should I be prosecuted for spreading information that someone might use illegally?

      Why don't we just ban free speech, because there is little said that can't be used inappropriately/illegally.

    10. Re:I can see it now... by bbuR_bbuB · · Score: 1

      Says who? Please point me to the law/statute that says exactly this -- no MPAA/RIAA "interpretations". Otherwise, you are full of shit.

    11. Re:I can see it now... by cpt+kangarooski · · Score: 1

      Says the courts. Congress hasn't bothered to actually codify the doctrines, but they do appear to have endorsed them in various legislation.

      FYI, this isn't unusual: The fair use doctrine was created by the courts back in 1841 and wasn't codified until the 1976 Act. The first sale doctrine was created in what, 1908, and was codified in the 1909 Act the next year. The work for hire doctrine appeared in US courts in the 19th century and also wasn't codified until 1909.

      Anyway, read the decision here, where the relevant bit begins "Accordingly, we next address whether Napster is secondarily liable for the direct infringement under two doctrines of copyright law: contributory copyright infringement and vicarious copyright infringement."

      It seemed a bit long to quote.

      Of course, you could've just googled for contributory and vicarious copyright infringement and found plenty about this.

      These are rather old doctrines and AFAIK no one has really challenged the basic idea, and certainly not successfully. The only fights tend to be whether there was a necessary direct infringement (for neither contributory nor vicarious infringement can exist where there is no underlying direct infringement) and whether the requirements for these indirect forms of infringement have been met.

      For example, Sony won the famous Betamax case both by arguing that there were fewer direct infringements than had been claimed, and that they didn't have the level of knowledge required by the contributory infringement doctrine. OTOH they didn't say that the very idea of contributory infringement was a lot of crap, probably because that would not be a successful argument.

      --
      -- This and all my posts are in the public domain. I am a lawyer. I am not your lawyer, and this is not legal advice.
    12. Re:I can see it now... by cpt+kangarooski · · Score: 2, Interesting

      So, by my saying that there is a place on the web called suprnova.org, I've just contributed to the infringement of copyright? Should I be prosecuted for spreading information that someone might use illegally?

      Maybe.

      If that was a material contribution, there was a direct infringement, and you had actual or constructive knowledge of such infringement, then yes.

      My favorite case on this -- because it's clearly written and tends to shock people; I don't actually like the holding -- is Intellectual Reserve v. Utah Lighthouse Ministry.

      Basically website A posted a link to website B, knowing that website B had posted copyrighted documents in an infringing manner. Because people reading website A were encouraged to go to website B, and because reading the documents at website B would constitute an infringing reproduction of those documents, and because website A's owners knew of the infringement -- they were felt to be substantially likely to themselves be infringers.

      N.b., you're more likely to be sued civilly than prosecuted criminally.

      Of course, the bare statement that suprnova exists really wouldn't be sufficient. But saying something like 'You can download movies from suprnova' might. In the end, there are no magic words. Courts'll look at the character of what you said, your audience, etc. If you're a model citizen (e.g. a New York Times with an article about piracy since its' a newsworthy thing) then you'll probably avoid liability. If you appear disreputable (e.g. a 2600 posting links to suprnova and talking about how people ought to pirate movies and stick it to the man du jour) then you'll have a harder time. This is because in the latter case -- aside from not getting much sympathy because you seem like a bad guy -- there probably is a higher chance of material contribution.

      For suprnova themselves -- they'd be toast. You can't possibly say that hosting torrent files is not a material contribution. They'd have to argue the knowledge angle as far as contributory liability goes. I think it would be hard.

      This is why they're not in the US, IIRC. They wouldn't have a chance here.

      --
      -- This and all my posts are in the public domain. I am a lawyer. I am not your lawyer, and this is not legal advice.
    13. Re:I can see it now... by bbuR_bbuB · · Score: 1

      Thanks for that very long post, I'm sure you put a lot of work into it. Only problem is that you ignored the main idea of my post.

      You're correct, IF the .torrent file actually has protected information in it. IT DOES NOT. Let's go over this again. A .torrent file is NOT a copy of the content in question. It doesn't even tell you where to find the content. There is no way to tell that that .torrent is related to a copy of Halo 2 or a "Who's the Boss" episode. All a .torrent file does is tell you a server to connect to that keeps track of other people who also have that .torrent file as well as some file checksum data. No protected content, no pointers to copywritten data.

    14. Re:I can see it now... by cpt+kangarooski · · Score: 1

      Thanks for that very long post, I'm sure you put a lot of work into it.

      Clearly you haven't seen my very long posts. That was nothing. Took a few minutes, tops.

      You're correct, IF the .torrent file actually has protected information in it.

      No, that would be a direct infringement.

      To contribute to the direct infringement of another, one need only materially help someone else infringe, or encourage someone else to infringe.

      Sony, for example, made VCRs and had manuals and ads describing what it was able to do. This was a material contribution. No one at all argues about that. They provided a significant part of the means by which infringement could take place. Sony escaped liability by way of not having enough knowledge to be liable.

      There have been cases where the landlords that rent space to direct infringers been found liable since it's hard to distribute works without a stable place to do it from (distribution is a form of direct infringement) and the landlord knew of the infringement and didn't stop contributing to it by allowing the tenants to remain.

      And ALL the landlord did was collect rent money.

      This is how broadly this sort of thing can be applied. I'm sure you can see how vicarious infringement theories can be applied to a lot of people as well.

      You can get hit with an infringement suit even if you never touched the actual copyrighted work in question. Just so long as you have the right kind of connection to someone that did.

      You don't have to like it, but I think you'd be very stupid if you didn't try to find out precisely what the law actually is. At least so that you know when you are and are not breaking it so that you can make those decisions carefully. Putting your hands in your ears and closing your eyes and claiming that it's not true when it is doesn't help.

      --
      -- This and all my posts are in the public domain. I am a lawyer. I am not your lawyer, and this is not legal advice.
  6. Re:That's fine by Spellbinder · · Score: 2, Interesting

    it is more like shooting a guy because he wears a gun on the street
    because we know most guns are used to kill peoples
    self justice is wrong .. no matter what
    think about the federal police agents burned in mexico while protecting the school from drug dealers

    --


    stop supporting microsoft with pirating their software!!!!!
  7. suprnova.com and .net by dncsky1530 · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I would like to know whether suprnova.com and suprnova.net were hit by the DDoS attacks. They try and maky money of the popularity of suprnova.org and there are a number of people that actually get suckered into paying those sites.

    1. Re:suprnova.com and .net by Infinityis · · Score: 2, Funny

      Oh, good idea, I shou^H^H^H^H^H^H whoever is the culprit should have done that. You're absolutely right.

    2. Re:suprnova.com and .net by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I wasn't tracking anything off suprnova.org yesterday, but I had no problem reaching the webserver(s). Also, I was seeding multiple files on loki yesterday (~20-12 hours ago). No problems at all.

    3. Re:suprnova.com and .net by usernotfound · · Score: 3, Funny

      my suitemate saw me using suprnova.org, and promply went to his room, and signed up for suprnova.com.

      if only he had asked me what i was doing...but i got a good laugh out of it.

      --
      You call it excessive, I call it ambitious.
    4. Re:suprnova.com and .net by Rufus211 · · Score: 2, Interesting

      it's all about the original suprnova.tk (which no longer works...)

    5. Re:suprnova.com and .net by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      i just found myself about to do that. i was taken aback when i saw the *cough* subscription ! i just tried the alternate url, and it said that right on the face - .net and .com of the suprnova version stink!

    6. Re:suprnova.com and .net by guttergod · · Score: 2, Insightful

      It is more likely that the attacks originates from the fake suprnovas. If the main sources for torrents go down, they might sucker yet more users to pay for their service.

      --

      Apple built a platform for their ideas, Google built one for everyone's.

    7. Re:suprnova.com and .net by Neoncow · · Score: 1

      Isn't that like biting hte hand that feeds them? I mean, we've only heard of the fake suprnovas because the real one exists.

    8. Re:suprnova.com and .net by Swampy0007 · · Score: 0

      They copy the list of torrents on their sites from suprnova.org. If suprnova.org goes down, then most of the trackers for the torrents will remain up, but they won't have quite the same resources that they do now for populating the list of torrents on their own pages (compare the number of xbox game results on torrentreactor.net to those upon suprnova.org).

  8. Re:That's fine by Umbral+Blot · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Indeed this is a striking comparison to the previous story about spam sites suffering drom a DDoS attack. I for one had quite different reactions to them. Perhaps this shows that I am a hypocrite. However there is another component. Spammers target individuals, infact the maority of individuals. Corperations however are not people, despite how they may be treated by the law, and I think that Bittorrent is by far less damaging to corperations than spam is to the productivity of people (not to mention their happyness). SO perhaps I do have some justification for my differnt reactions to these articles.

  9. So it's time to... by WARM3CH · · Score: 4, Interesting

    So it's time to switch to a serverless network under an open-source project? You mean something like Kademlia in the eMule?

    1. Re:So it's time to... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      or Gnutella, with a shitload of open source clients.

      or Gnutella2, with Shareaza and Gnucleus and a few others.

      or Freenet... or OpenFT...

    2. Re:So it's time to... by Swifti · · Score: 1

      ...Or eDonkey's Overnet... Not everything centers around eMule you insensitive clod. :)

    3. Re:So it's time to... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      Or eDonkey's Overnet
      yeah, but is it open-source?!
    4. Re:So it's time to... by mrogers · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Gnutella is pretty easy to DoS, just launch as many queries as your connection can sustain, all with max TTL. Gnutella2 might be even easier because you can focus on superpeers. Not that they're bad filesharing systems, but whoever is DoSing BitTorrent could probably DoS Gnutella just as easily.

    5. Re:So it's time to... by ajs · · Score: 1

      There's an open source network called Gnutella, developed using open standards, and with many open source implementations.

      Originally it was only a point-to-point download service negotiated by a peer-to-peer query-flooding system. Times have changed.

      Today's Gnutella (go check out gtk-gnutella or any of the other fine clients for details) is more like a fully decentrallized BT. There are still some flaws in the protocol with respect to poisoning, but it's certainly at the point now where I can use it to fetch operating systems, television (I've used it to catch up on shows that my TiVo has missed several times now, shame on me for show-loyalty ;-) and lots of great digitial photography (yes, you can find some amazing art that actually involves no skin-tones).

    6. Re:So it's time to... by JFitzsimmons · · Score: 1

      They aren't DDoSing BitTorrent. They're DDoSing the http server that hosts the tiny torrent files, and probably also the trackers (which are also just http servers).

      --
      Beware he who would deny you access to information, for in his heart he dreams himself your master. -Anonymous
  10. Re:That's fine by TheSurfer · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Please speak for yourself. The fact that you're living in a country with strict file copying/distribution laws doesn't mean this is the same in the rest of the world. At least here in the most countries of Europe there's nothing wrong with distributing copies of music, video and software.

  11. bad guys by l3v1 · · Score: 3, Informative

    Whoever was responsible, it surely isn't one of the many-many, oh yes, and many other :) people, who use bittorent regularly to fetch stuff. That is, we all have some hunch who might be the bad guy: a). those who oppose all forms of sharing (won't name them, you know those bad, bad, bad guys in associations :) needn't have been themselves personally, but you know this alright b). somebody who just has something against suprnova or the others.

    --
    I am putting myself to the fullest possible use, which is all I can think that any conscious entity can ever hope to do.
    1. Re:bad guys by Lurks · · Score: 0, Flamebait
      Don't you people get tired of spinning this record?

      That all these nasty corporations that want you to stop stealing their content are satanic morons and don't get how fundamentally cool and right peer to peer stuff is?

      There must come a time when you will stop deluding yourselves on this mass scale. Your stealing stuff and these companies are not evil trying to stop you, you're the ones that are evil.

    2. Re:bad guys by l3v1 · · Score: 1

      There must come a time when you will stop deluding yourselves on this mass scale. Your stealing stuff and these companies are not evil trying to stop you, you're the ones that are evil.

      I don't think I'm the delusional here. I never stated pirating is good. Never would. But that doesn't justify the actions (generally, not specifically) of the beloved associations, which have been anything but ethical or agreeable.

      What I'm tired of sometimtes are narrow people like yourself, sir, who see the sharing (be that torrent or else) as being bad and sharers as being or doing evil - which they are not (again, generically, not specifically).

      --
      I am putting myself to the fullest possible use, which is all I can think that any conscious entity can ever hope to do.
    3. Re:bad guys by Lurks · · Score: 0, Offtopic
      What I'm tired of sometimtes are narrow people like yourself, sir, who see the sharing (be that torrent or else) as being bad and sharers as being or doing evil
      I don't know why you think you're in a position to second guess what my views are. In any case, in this instance you're absolutely wrong.
    4. Re:bad guys by natrius · · Score: 1

      Or someone who wanted to take down sites that are highly visible in the geek community? It did get on slashdot, after all.

    5. Re:bad guys by shashark · · Score: 2, Informative
    6. Re:bad guys by rzei · · Score: 1

      As pointed out in many scene nfo's, many groups dislike their warez being let out in public networks.

      I wouldn't be surprised if many groups had connections to "bad guys" who have lots and lots of zombies :).

    7. Re:bad guys by TheScorpion420 · · Score: 0

      On the whole most P2P applications have/had a legitimate legal use, and were only subject to illegal actions, by the actions of the users of them. I think bit torrent is an awesome idea, fundamentally, but its the warez monkeys that have made it look like and evil conspiracy to the lawyers. Not to say that I've never used it for that purpose, but I find it a more usefull tool for downloading legal things rather than downloading illegal things.

      --
      If you pay your taxes you support terrorism!
    8. Re:bad guys by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I want you to get up right now. I want you to get up out of your chair, I want you to go to the window, open it, stick your head out and shout at the top of your lungs, "COPYING IS NOT STEALING! AND I'M NOT GOING TO TAKE IT ANYMORE!"

    9. Re:bad guys by Qzukk · · Score: 4, Insightful

      The sad thing is that it probably wasn't the MPAA or the RIAA. I've seen this over and over on several IRC networks (dalnet especially). Some idiot gets banned from their favorite channel, and instead of taking it like a man or going home and crying themselves to sleep, they get pissed off and start DDoSing the entire network. Since they got kicked, they have to ruin the fun for everyone.

      I'm sure that in the end it will be something along these lines: someone in the forum started flaming, words were exchanged, feelings were hurt, and some pimply-faced 14 year old decided to get even.

      --
      If I have been able to see further than others, it is because I bought a pair of binoculars.
    10. Re:bad guys by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Don't you get tired of pointing the finger at everyone from atop your little pedestal all the time?

      You've got a very short-sighted view of things if you adopt the "stealing is wrong, no matter who from. Content industries follow the 'law' so they are in the moral right, always" attitude.

      Open your eyes, learn to think for yourself, and flush the corporate program from your brain.

    11. Re:bad guys by djdavetrouble · · Score: 1

      Yeah, they are just doing the online equivalent of a good old fashioned ghetto 'shoot up the door'.
      "what ? we can't come in to the club?"
      (goes to trunk of car, squeezes 6 off into the front door)
      pop pop pop pop pop pop
      screeeeeeeeeeeetch
      What, you haven't ever been to one of those clubs?

      --
      music lover since 1969
    12. Re:bad guys by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

      > instead of taking it like a man

      Wrong. The problem usually isn't the person banned. It's the idiots doing the banning that work so hard to piss-off as many people as they can. Just post something some op doesn't like to a channel, and you'll see just how childish those people almost always are. Rather than stating in an adult manner something like "in the past we've had problems with X due to Y, therefore we no longer allow X on this channel," you usually see immature idiots spouting random insults.

      As an example, I used to be an fserver on #bookwarez on Nullus. I gave-up when the ops went from people that cared about spreading knowledge to people that care only about how many people they can make mad. For example, ask a question about why some idiot put content in a proprietary .doc format or in a proprietary .chm file that only one reader for on OS can read, and you'll probably get banned. Ask why looking for books in #bookwarez is now verboten (it's allowed in #bw), and you'll probably be banned. It's ridiculous.

      I've been on IRC for just over 15 years (all the way from using a mainframe terminal Penn State while working on my PhD to a UNIX terminal client to using mIRC before I gave-up on IRC due to the idiot ops), and I keep seeing people over and over again with op status that seem to make it their goal in life to wring every bit of sadistic pleasure out of their small power. It's those small minded people that have kept IRC from becoming mainstream. No one likes to go somewhere that is ruled by punks screaming "Respect My Authority!"

      > some pimply-faced 14 year old

      No. It's usually the 14 year-old with no life that is intentionally making people mad and kicking or banning them. They're the ones that have enough free time to make friends with the other punks in control of the channel so they can get op status. They're the ones that make other made enough to strike back.

      PS: I'm not talking about all of IRC. I'm just talking about the 99.9% that makes the other 0.1% look bad.

    13. Re:bad guys by jc42 · · Score: 1

      I don't think I'm the delusional here. I never stated pirating is good. Never would. But that doesn't justify the actions ...

      Well, I dunno about others, but I've only used BT for two things, neither of which even remotely qualifies as "pirating".

      One is that I've downloaded Fedora Core ISOs. Now, unless you believe SCO and Microsoft, this is totally legal. (And their charges haven't been decided in court yet, so for the duration, FC downloads should be presumed legal.)

      My other usage is more curious: I've downloaded a lot of ComedyChannel.com's Daily Show video clips - from political blogs, who sometimes put them up as BTs. You might argue that this is some sort of piracy. But they are available free (and without registration) from ComedyChannel.com, so I'm not taking any money away from the CC folks. My reasons for getting the clips from the blogs is simple: The ComedyChannel.com web site is notoriously fscked up, and their clips simply don't work in most browsers. They did on my Powerbook until I upgraded my Real Player and Windows Media Player; after the upgrades, the CC videos didn't work very well. This apparently wasn't intentional on CC's part; their web people are simply incompetent. This has been documented in detail by any number of people. There have been a number of quotes from the CC people implying that they're honored to have their videos mirrored by the bloggers. (And someday, they promise, they'll get their web site right. ;-)

      Also, I sometimes get the CC videos from blogs because that's where I find them. But this is mostly because ComedyChannel.com doesn't work in any of my browsers any more. If it did, I'd go to them first. And if they were smart, they'd set up BT for their newest clips, to lighten the load on their servers. But it's pretty obvious that, funny as they are, they aren't very smart when it comes to their web site. (Maybe I should send them my resume. If you're a web developer, maybe you should send them a resume. ;-)

      Anyhow, we seem to have yet another case where someone somewhere is using a P2P package to pirate stuff, so people decide that all P2P users are pirates and thieves, and DoS them. There couldn't be any legit uses of these tools, right?

      Actually, unlike some others here, I do suspect that MS might be involved in this. Their growing campaign against linux is pretty well documented here and other places. They have shown themselves to not be above shady practices (such as laundering money through SCO, or setting up web servers to look for opera and delivering defective CSSs to make it look bad). It wouldn't be a surprise if they were behind an attack on BT, because it's the major tool for distributing new linux releases now.

      But until we get evidence, we really shouldn't be accusing specific people. Hypothesizing about likely possibilities, sure, but we should admit that we actually know. We oughta track down the people who are doing it, and publicise their names.

      --
      Those who do study history are doomed to stand helplessly by while everyone else repeats it.
  12. Own protocol? by tod_miller · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Suprnova's interest in making their own protocol.

    I am all up for new protocols, but there is a reason why we do not have:

    http, httmyp, tthpp, hhtp, mshttp [I wouldnt doubt], SCOhttp, HPhttp

    Don't fragment the issues, work on a common protocol, if we can uncouple protocol and application (which has happened in all major networks I think) then good.

    Go for it supe..r..pr..nva...! but make it open.

    I kinda knew bit torrents would be attacked, can't they just publish the ip's that are attacking them, and get us to click on them a bit?

    teardrop attack?

    --
    #hostfile 0.0.0.0 primidi.com 0.0.0.0 www.primidi.com 0.0.0.0 radio.weblogs.com
    1. Re:Own protocol? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      can't they just publish the ip's that are attacking them, and get us to click on them a bit?

      The IP addresses that are attacking them most likely belong to some unsuspecting victims hijacked systems.
  13. I agree by poohsuntzu · · Score: 2, Insightful

    We have one opinion about taking down spammers, but we have a seperate opinion about services that we may be using.

    I think that's perfectly fine. For some reason, people want us to have a single unified opinion about a broad range of subjects that are different from one another. Each answer and opinion needs to be circumstantial and based on each instance rather than sweeping generalizations, otherwise we end up in a situation similar to:

    (Note: This isn't a political statement, nor am I trying to show my opinion, it's just the example that seemed to fit the most right now)

    Man: So are you for or against abortion?

    Woman: AGAINST! It's wrong, it's taking life, and is the same as murder! Any instance of it is WRONG! Put it up for adoption, or take some responcibility!

    Man: So you are saying that if the young woman was raped so badly, that she should have the child from the instance regardless of the future psychological damage it would have on her? And even if having the child would, if the circumstance brought it up, kill her?

    Woman: Well.. um

    --
    "We're breaking out the ramen noodles. . . "
    "Really? Is it someone's birthday?"
    1. Re:I agree by SenseiLeNoir · · Score: 0, Offtopic

      I still believe abortion is wrong... it's still taking of a human life, that was created knowing the consequenses. It can be seen as murder.

      as for the rape aspect, the descion has to be left with the victim. But resposibility lies with the purportrator, not the victim.

      --
      Have a nice day!
    2. Re:I agree by clambake · · Score: 0, Offtopic


      Man: So are you for or against abortion?

      Woman: AGAINST! It's wrong, it's taking life, and is the same as murder! Any instance of it is WRONG! Put it up for adoption, or take some responcibility!

      Man: So you are saying that if the young woman was raped so badly, that she should have the child from the instance regardless of the future psychological damage it would have on her? And even if having the child would, if the circumstance brought it up, kill her?

      Woman: Well.. um


      That one doesn't work so well, I've tried it before... Try this one for most entertainment value:

      Man: So are you for or against abortion?

      Woman: AGAINST! It's wrong, it's taking life, and is the same as murder! Any instance of it is WRONG! Put it up for adoption, or take some responcibility!

      Man: So you are saying that if you could have the baby surgically implanted in your womb to carry it to term for the next nine months, you would do so to prevcent the abortion from taking place?

      Woman: Well.. um

    3. Re:I agree by miu · · Score: 2, Insightful
      Thus ends todays object lesson on why argument by analogy is a bad idea.

      Rape, abortion, adoption? Do you even listen when you talk? Those issues are 1000 times more difficult and important than spam and you degrade those issues (and those facing them) by using them in an inane analogy about punishing spammers.

      You are not comparing apples and oranges here, you are comparing 'the history of 16th century textile production advances' with 'the scent of red wine'.

      --

      [Set Cain on fire and steal his lute.]
    4. Re:I agree by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'm not following this. Murder is always wrong, DDOS is always wrong. Maybe the alternative has negative consequences too, but two wrongs don't make a right. I'd rather not give up my moral precipice for temporary gain.

    5. Re:I agree by poohsuntzu · · Score: 1

      I'm afraid your chance to troll has failed, while the rest of /. has understood how the example applies completely.

      This ends a lesson on why argument by wit is a bad idea.

      --
      "We're breaking out the ramen noodles. . . "
      "Really? Is it someone's birthday?"
    6. Re:I agree by miu · · Score: 1

      You can make an analogy involving any two subjects "work" and create a case for how it applies, that does not make it a good or fit analogy. Any analogy that involves political or ethical hot buttons is a thinly veiled appeal to emotion, because people ignore the mapping or correspondence - they see only the issues that get them worked up.

      --

      [Set Cain on fire and steal his lute.]
    7. Re:I agree by poohsuntzu · · Score: 1

      Interesting, from my example only two posts actually stayed on the example topic, the rest discussed the parent topic itself and the origonal subject I brought up - having two opinions is fine. The one that tried to improve upon how my example was worded, and thus not an issue that got them worked up, was modded off topic. The same for the one that actually got worked up, which was also modded as being off topic.

      So, if only one out of all the replies to this actually got "worked up" over the example, how on earth can you see the example as not having gotten the point across?

      Did you even read the thread?

      --
      "We're breaking out the ramen noodles. . . "
      "Really? Is it someone's birthday?"
    8. Re:I agree by miu · · Score: 1
      Did you even read the thread?

      I did and the followups were more about murder and abortion than lycos and their spam solution. Only one follow up thread stayed on topic, although that thread itself did contain two or three on-topic posts.

      --

      [Set Cain on fire and steal his lute.]
    9. Re:I agree by poohsuntzu · · Score: 1

      So yet again, only -one- focused on the murder and abortion, -one- focused on grammar, and the entire rest of the comments to my thread were on topic. That's great.

      You get a gold star for the day.

      --
      "We're breaking out the ramen noodles. . . "
      "Really? Is it someone's birthday?"
  14. Dammit! by halcyon1234 · · Score: 5, Funny

    I knew I shouldn't have installed that new screensaver from the MPAA.

    1. Re:Dammit! by spamchang · · Score: 1

      you mean the one that says piracy is illegal and scans your hard drive for material? me too!

  15. maybe.. it was the MPAA.....? by VersatilePrimate · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    Nah .. thats un-fucking-believable

  16. Who's to say by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

    That some Hollywood company didn't just wait for the Lycos thing to set a precedent? What's good for the goose is good for the gander in their book.

  17. Darn Lycos... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ...and their anti-spam screensaver.

    Told you it would get out of hand.

  18. I hope they do make their own protocol by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I've used bittorrent a fair bit for downloading and upload large files which either I own the copyright to, or the person distributing them does.

    It's very good indeed when you want to distribute something from a slowish adsl line to maybe 30 or 40 people.

    I was somewhat dismayed when I first found out anout these bittorrent file sharing sites because they are leading to bittorrent being considered a tool for "illegal" file sharing when it's clearly a very useful general tool too.

    Of course I'm not happy thay they be DDOSed but it would be nice if they did invent their own protocol and leave bittorrent to those who don;t want to use it for possibly "illegal" activities.

    1. Re:I hope they do make their own protocol by tasinet · · Score: 1

      ya right, and you don't watch porn either.

  19. Re:That's fine by Dot.Com.CEO · · Score: 0, Flamebait
    You are ignorant. The only countries where copyright infrigement is not considered a crime are third world countries, cut off from the rest of the world. Distributing software (programs, videos or music) for which you don't have a licence is a criminal offense in the EU and all aspiring EU members - basically the only country where a grey line exists is Albania.

    Stop spreading misinformation and / or educate yourself.

    --
    Mother is the best bet and don't let Satan draw you too fast.
  20. A perfect example by centipetalforce · · Score: 5, Insightful

    This is a perfect example of why it's not quite right to take the law into your own hands against someone who you **feel** is wrong.
    I have had my site targeted before, and I run a completely legit, whitehat site. Just because someone thinks they're better off financially without a competitor does not mean he's justified to try to take me down.

  21. Re:That's fine by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Bullshit!

    All european countries i know prohibit distribution of copyrighted materials. Most countries do allow to make copies for personal use only. And only for sofware it further restricted.

    In essence you are allowed to download music and video content for personal use.

  22. The culprit by Vulcann · · Score: 2, Funny
    Lets see now....

    I would be interested in doing a DDoS attack like this...
    1. If I was a rival service trying to kill these guys.
    2. If I were MPAA and wanted to kill these buggers off Blaster style.
    3. If I were some dumb script kiddie trying to make a statement because of want of attention.

    Point 1 doesnt make sense because it would make more sense for my service to figure out a way to plug into the rival network and siphon off they're shares. It would get me more notice and wont get me noticed as a nasty SOB.

    Point 2 is unlikely because though these agencies are a mean litigating bunch, they are unlikely to condone something like this. More so that *if* they were discovered, they would be in a LOT of trouble (read : law suits galore!)

    Point 3 seems more likely. Some guys just can't get enough attention. Downing the SCO site has been done already and people seem to be running out of ripe juicy targets that'll get them noticed.
    1. Re:The culprit by Jim_Callahan · · Score: 1

      4) Someone was bored.

      --
      ...it's really a sad day for America when we require a goddamn ACT OF CONGRESS to make our DVD players work properly. ~
    2. Re:The culprit by AndroidCat · · Score: 1

      5) Somehow their own IP address got into the BitTorrent system as having the last piece of the XXXDEBBIEDOESDDOSXXX video.

      --
      One line blog. I hear that they're called Twitters now.
    3. Re:The culprit by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      I would be interested in doing a DDoS attack like this...

      2. If I were MPAA and wanted to kill these buggers off Blaster style.

      Point 2 is unlikely because though these agencies are a mean litigating bunch, they are unlikely to condone something like this. More so that *if* they were discovered, they would be in a LOT of trouble (read : law suits galore!)

      So I suppose the bill that was put forth last year to allow the MPAA/RIAA to hack into P2P clients to disrupt the service had nothing to do with the media lobiests?

  23. Small-timers get it too by captaineo · · Score: 5, Informative

    I ran a very small BitTorrent tracker for distributing our videos. (2 torrents, very few clients)

    A few weeks ago we started receiving a massive attack, mostly from client addresses in Asia.

    The attack wasn't a DDoS per se - they were just "hijacking" my tracker by using it for their own torrents. But the volume of traffic (>100 requests/sec) had the effect of a DoS attack.

    I was surprised that the standard BitTorrent server does not have some way to prevent unwanted torrents from appearing on your tracker. I was also surprised that my "small-time" tracker (only named by via 1 web page) attracted such a hijacking.

    I will not run a tracker without the ability to deny usage to unwanted torrents. Although I'm uncertain about running any tracker at all now, since the hijack basically killed our internet connection.

    At the very least, do not run a BitTorrent tracker on a critical DNS name like your primary web site. The attacking clients in my case were all performing DNS lookups. (I could tell they were attacking a DNS name, not an IP address, by changing my DNS entries). Luckily I had used a separate DNS entry for the tracker, so I just pointed it to 127.0.0.1 to stop the attack. But if I had used my primary web server's address, I'd be in real trouble.

    1. Re:Small-timers get it too by Pathwalker · · Score: 5, Informative

      I was surprised that the standard BitTorrent server does not have some way to prevent unwanted torrents from appearing on your tracker.

      Of course BitTorrent has a way to restrict the torrents a tracker will serve.

      You set --allowed_dir and point it at a directory containing the torrents you want to allow.

      I know it's been supported since 3.4.1a at the latest.

    2. Re:Small-timers get it too by m00nun1t · · Score: 5, Funny

      I had a look at 127.0.0.1 to see what "videos" you are talking about. There's some really kinky videos there - pervert.

    3. Re:Small-timers get it too by Nogami_Saeko · · Score: 3, Informative

      It's a good point about using an alternate address for your tracker - or even using an alternate static IP for that box if you have one available.

      Most (all?) torrent servers offer an option to reject unauthorized external torrents though. I personally use Azureus, which is a great bittorrent client, as well as a server. There's an option in there to reject serving torrents that aren't authorized by the admin.

      N.

      --
      "Nothing strengthens authority so much as silence." - Charles de Gaulle
  24. Re:That's fine by TheSurfer · · Score: 1

    I don't know where you got that information from, but it's plain wrong. I admin I do not know the facts of all EU countries, but in the nortern countries (Sweden/Finland and Holland) you are allowed to make 'personal-use' copies /and/ distribute it as long as it's non-commercial.

  25. How much is left? by halcyon1234 · · Score: 1, Funny
    Hrm, okay...

    %35 of all traffic is Bittorrent

    Now there's enough traffic out there to DDoS it. Networks are usually "congested" at 60%. 60% of 35 is 21. That means another 21% if "all traffic" is being used up.

    ~56% of the Internet is being used both for and against Bittorrent.

    So we only have 4% of the Internet left before it, too, becomes congested?

    I wonder how much of that 4% /. gets allocated? Although, if there are no websites left to /., will getting /.'d even matter anymore?

    1. Re:How much is left? by FluffyPanda · · Score: 2, Informative

      A slight flaw in your thinking. You assume that the internet is currently running at capacity, and that there will not be an increase in that capacity.

      Both assumptions are wrong. 35% of current internet traffic may be bittorrent, but that doesn't mean that 35% of the internet's capacity is.

    2. Re:How much is left? by halcyon1234 · · Score: 1

      Wow. I got a 5 score and a 0 score in the same article. Maybe it's just the newb in me, but I'm kinda impressed.

    3. Re:How much is left? by glaswegian · · Score: 1

      The DDoS was directed at the trackers, not the entire Bittorrent network. To overwhelm the trackers would take much less Internet bandwidth.

    4. Re:How much is left? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Were you born an idiot or did you study for it?

  26. Supernova is up by gordgekko · · Score: 1, Redundant

    Supernova is up as of a few minutes ago but I can't get to Lokitorrent.

    --
    You want to know who isn't running Firefox 2.x? They spell it "definately" and "rediculous".
  27. Loki's dead right now... by Vertigo01 · · Score: 3, Interesting

    As of right now (0047 : 03/12/2004 GMT-8) Loki Torrent seems to be dead... Slashdot effect? or another DDos ? (or is there a difference?)

  28. ouch.. by sinner0423 · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I'm not sure who is going to give sn.org/lt.com any sympathy over this, they are just glorified warez sites, after all.

    Although this DoS does highlight the largest problem with BitTorrent - it still relies on a central(tracker) server to operate.

    I believe it's that specific "function" of BT that got me one of those nifty letters in the mail. I can't see any kind of a workable solution to this problem, everything that has to do with file trading has an entry point somewhere along the line.

  29. Europe : Against illegal sharing/copying by MMaestro · · Score: 1

    MOST countries in Europe consider the unauthorized distribution of music, video and software to be illegal. The only reason you don't hear about it is because the RIAA, the MPAA and major PC video game developers/producers in the U.S. are on the forefront of this argument. No one wants to hear about how the Swedish version of the RIAA suddenly started illegal sharers because thats OLD NEWS compared to the U.S.'s RIAA whos been suing people for over a year now. If a European country was to suddenly announce 'Illegal sharing of movies of the internet is now a 6 month minimum jail sentence per song' Slashdot would be all over that.

    1. Re:Europe : Against illegal sharing/copying by incal · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Still there is difference between considering illegality of so-called piracy and actively pursuing so-called pirates. In many larger cities of Poland and Germany, you can easily find a computer stockmarkets, usually run on weekends. An example would be my city, Wroclaw(Breslau), where Technical University - a goverment funded institution, runs such stockmarket. There you can get everything - from brand new DVD movies, cheap as 2$/piece, to cheap (3-5$) software packages like 3dsmax or Adobe CS.

      I know personally such places in Warsaw, Berlin, Leipzig and Dresden.

      So, announcements are one thing. Realpolitik is just another. Our countries have interest in allowing for nearly-free software/multimedia distribution, and this lies in the roots of educational policy. Simple lies told to BSA/RIAA are just - lies.

  30. Re:That's fine by PDA_Boy · · Score: 3, Informative

    At least here in the most countries of Europe there's nothing wrong with distributing copies of music, video and software.

    If you are in a country with membership of the EU, you might be interested* in reading Directive 2001/29 EC on the harmonisation of certain aspects of copyright and related rights in the information society. This has most definitely had an impact on the copyright regime in the UK, although, even before this, unauthorised distribution of copyrighted files was not permitted.

    And, on the topic of wondering whether there is "nothing wrong" with distibuting, perhaps some thoughts about the moral rights of authors? Not protected as much in mainland Europe as in the UK (mainland seems to prefer protection of economic rights), but important nonetheless.

    *Disclaimer. You might not be interested in reading this at all, but it is of sufficient length to help prevent you posting misleading statements on /. for a while.

  31. Can someone please explain to me by fsterman · · Score: 1

    Why we need another one? I mean besides the web links (which emule provides for)the reason Bittorrent has become so popular is for it's centralized nature. Not 30 thousand random files we search though, but picked files, somewhat filtered though for quality. I can't see how this is going to replicate that experiance and be decentralized. What is significantly different?

    --
    Is there anything better than clicking through Microsoft ads on Slashdot?
    1. Re:Can someone please explain to me by mrogers · · Score: 1
      It's not centralization that prevents you from having to search through 30,000 random files, it's the ability to link to a particular file in a verifiable way. Merkle hash trees can achieve the same thing in any filesharing network. In a hash tree the file is broken up into equal-sized chunks. The chunks form the bottom layer of the tree. Each chunk is hashed, and the concatenated hashes form the next layer of the tree. Repeat until there's only one hash, and that's your filename. You can request branches of the tree in parallel from different peers, and every chunk can be verified as soon as it's downloaded.

      BitTorrent trackers just give you a way of finding peers who are downloading the same file - they are *not* necessary for data verification. A P2P search network like CRL would allow you to find peers that are interested in the same (verifiable) filename in a completely decentralized way. You could then use BitTorrent's parallel, incentive-based download mechanism to retrieve the file.

  32. Lycos on a rampage by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Lycos has set a precedent that DDoS attacks are ok. Expect more of these if punishment isn't quick and sever for Lycos.

  33. is it just me, or is there an echo? by yorkpaddy · · Score: 1

    First two flickr stories very close to each other. Now two Bit Torrent stories very close together. Ricola (Ricola) Ricola (Ricola)

    --
    "brxref .k.p ,.by xprt. gbe.p.oycmaycbi yd. cby.nci.bj. ru yd. am.pcjab lgxlcj" don'
  34. Sam McGruff by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Perhaps some Slashdotters who grew up in the US in the 80's remember Sam McGruff. I think that the SPA/RIAA/MPA should adopt his services, "Take a byte out of Bittorrent!"

  35. Huh? by WIAKywbfatw · · Score: 4, Funny

    I don't know what the hell your statistics prove,or even if they're right, but I do know that, wherever he or she is, your high school mathematics teacher would be proud of you.

    Have you given serious thought to a career in marketing or PR? With that kind of commitment to mumbo jumbo and ridiculous statistics you'd be a natural.

    --

    "Accept that some days you are the pigeon, and some days you are the statue." - David Brent, Wernham Hogg
    1. Re:Huh? by Lord_Dweomer · · Score: 1

      Please, as someone in the marketing/PR industry, I ask you on behalf of my colleagues to not associate him with us. Perhaps a job on Wallstreet would be more suitable for his "special talents".

      --
      Buy Steampunk Clothing Online!
    2. Re:Huh? by slargpdx · · Score: 1

      I was thinking more like the finance guy at a car dealership...

  36. Suprnova is down anyway by Zorilla · · Score: 1

    How is this different from how Suprnova.org has behaved lately? For the past ten days or so, they have been down more than they have been up. Either DDoS attacks have started long before Wednesday as reported, or they really are as incompetent as I thought they are when it comes to administering a web server.

    (Disclaimer: I suck at Apache)

    --

    It would be cool if it didn't suck.
    1. Re:Suprnova is down anyway by toddestan · · Score: 1

      I was under the impression suprnova.org gets bounced around between hosting companies a lot because no one wants to host them for very long because of legal and/or bandwidth issues. But I might be wrong.

  37. Wait a minute by FluffyPanda · · Score: 1

    Didn't we just have a big discussion about how lycos was wrong to be using DDoS attacks against spammers?

    I think the general /. concensus is that DDoS attacks are always bad for the internet.

    1. Re:Wait a minute by poohsuntzu · · Score: 1

      Well, no. There was a thread discussion, but not a big one. There are still a large group of us who still think the Lycos attack was a good step, and we are free to have that opinion.

      The internet isn't a courtroom, nor a single national jurisdiction. How can we rely upon either to solve problems in a world not founded nor oriented around neither. The internet is the Wild Wild West, and will remain that way. And like the Wild Wild West, you can have sheriff's all you want... but in the end.. a man's got to do what a man's got to do to take down someone who threatens their community.

      Of course, that too, is just my opinion.

      --
      "We're breaking out the ramen noodles. . . "
      "Really? Is it someone's birthday?"
    2. Re:Wait a minute by FluffyPanda · · Score: 3, Insightful

      The problem is that the community doesn't have the same say over the actions of DDoSers that a wild west town's citizens would have over their sheriff.

      If a small group decided that slashdot was politically unsettling (and they'd have quite a lot to go on) and decided to take it down for a few days I expect that most of us would be annoyed.

      DDoSing the pirates and spammers of the web is just one more way to fill the net with junk, and it's usually a small group (or single lycos) who decide to take the action without approval.

      For once I prefer Microsoft's approach of taking the spammers to court. At least that might have some positive results.

    3. Re:Wait a minute by neitzsche · · Score: 2, Funny
      If a small group decided that slashdot was politically unsettling (and they'd have quite a lot to go on) and decided to take it down for a few days I expect that most of us would be annoyed.
      But damn my boss would be happy!

      --
      "God is dead." - Frederik Nietzsche
    4. Re:Wait a minute by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      As if those who replied (and which you read), who are a VERY low % of the /. community, somehow reflect the global opinion of the /. community (as if there is 1 opinion).

  38. Flaw in your logic by Raul654 · · Score: 3, Funny

    You have a fatal flaw in your logic. You are assuming that people will read the article.

    --


    To make laws that man cannot, and will not obey, serves to bring all law into contempt.
    --E.C. Stanton
    1. Re:Flaw in your logic by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'm a firm believer that slashdotters just randomly click on the article hyperlinks without reading the article, in the hopes of finding porn.

    2. Re:Flaw in your logic by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Interesting. How does the Slashdot effect work if nobody reads the articles? There must be a large body of readers that click the link and read at least part of the article, who then come back to Slashdot and discover that the first hundred posts have already been made, and there's little chance of posting anything else without getting modded down to "-1 Redundant" anymore, especially if you spend the extra time reading the comments.

    3. Re:Flaw in your logic by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Does it have pics?

  39. New protocols are not an answer by gnuASM · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I find it interesting that the focus with regards to DDoS attacks that I have read about is not on proper security and precautions, but rather the client/server applications being attacked. Because your Apache server is DDoS'd, does that mean you distribute your website through ftp? Of course not, you take further security precautions and strengthen your protection against DDoS attacks. Why then should there be a need to "create a new protocol" to "protect" from attacks?

    Protocols in and of themselves do not inherently have protection from these kinds of attacks. That is not the purpose of a protocol. The purpose of a protocol is to establish an agreed method of communications between two or more identified systems in a connection. This is where the problem persists: identification.

    DDoS is not successful because it overrides the buffers or socket space for connections to a server. It is successful because these sockets are kept open longer than they should be.

    What a server needs is not a "secure" protocol, because any protocol (method of communication) can be compromised so long as the attacker can make the protocol believe that an identified, valid entitiy has made a connection and intends to communicate.

    Instead, system administrators need to strengthen the rules in their firewalling and subsystem (kernel) to improve the latency of the socket states so that the system will not fail when attacked. I believe GNU/Linux has many tools available as well as kernel modules already available in order to accomplish much of this already.

    Rather than wasting time in creating YAP (Yet Another Protocol), the time and effort may be better utilized creating the system and firewalling tools needed to combat DDoS at its root.

    This brings it even further to the point of not necessarily even having to reconfigure and install and reconfigure again the varied tools needed for server-side protection, but even look as close as the router itself and the built-in firewalls there.

    I believe even Cisco has given some hardware advice for DDoS here.

    We don't necessarily need to be creating so much as we should be perfecting and improving.

    1. Re:New protocols are not an answer by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The new protocol has nothing (or little) to do with DoS attacks. Think about it even a tiny bit, and you'll see why they don't want a centralized server.

    2. Re:New protocols are not an answer by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      DDoS attacks work because they combine the power of many clients to attack one or a few servers. New protocols can reduce the threat by distributing the server function over many systems, so that the DDoS bandwidth can no longer take out the whole system by flooding just a few machines off the net. Ultimately distributing the server function simply means increasing the server power by several orders of magnitude. That positive effect is combined with a decentral structure which makes it harder to see the entire system at once, so the system degrades but can't be shut off completely. When identification is not an option, making structural changes is the only option. Networks like Freenet have shown that different protocols can achieve these goals without asserting everyone's good will.

  40. Re:That's fine by NonSequor · · Score: 2, Insightful

    DDOS attacks do not target individuals regardless of how pleasant it is to think so. If you're sending a server enough traffic to be a nuisance, that traffic will be a nuisance elsewhere as well.

    Saying that it's okay to DDOS spammers is especially obnoxious given that the most important argument against spam isn't that it's annoying but rather that it is a waste of bandwidth that other people are paying for.

    --
    My only political goal is to see to it that no political party achieves its goals.
  41. Maybe a government... by dannytaggart · · Score: 1

    ... that is testing out the stability of the BitTorrent network. Perhaps one which has something to gain by disrupting internet traffic in general, and BitTorrent seems to make up about a third of it by recent estimates.

    --
    PimpMyMazda.com - Crazy mods to a 2002 Mazda Protege DX.
    1. Re:Maybe a government... by SirTalon42 · · Score: 1

      Suprnova.org didn't host any trackers, they just had links to a massive amount of .torrent files to connect to different trackers.

      What happened would of only been a test of their connection, not BitTorrent.

  42. A Little correction.... by blue_monki · · Score: 5, Informative

    Suprnova isn't a tracker :) If you want to put something up on it you have to find your own tracker first!

    --
    www.monkeys-in-bras.com - _the_ place for the decerning monkey viewer.
    1. Re:A Little correction.... by advocate_one · · Score: 1

      Yes but... if you can't find the .torrent file in the first place, then the fact that the tracker isn't affected isn't of any use to you... I've noticed several torrent agglomerator search sites dissapear under strange circumstances... one last week was the subject of a domain hijack... others have gone down under heavy load, so I suspect they've been DDOS'ed as well

      --
      Donald 'Duck' Dunn: We had a band powerful enough to turn goat piss into gasoline.
  43. Re:Bittorrent is on its way out by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Yeh, because that worked for Napster!

  44. Re:That's fine by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    moral rights preserve the "artistic integrity" of a work. You could have "moral rights" in the complete absence of copyright. Copyight controls distribution of a work.

    It's a common myth that one needs copyright to defend against plagiarism - this is completely false. If I give a verbatim copy of a work and say "this was authored by $WHOEVER_DID" I haven't plagiarised.

    Also, Europeans are sophisticated enough to understand that illegal and wrong aren't the same thing. Most europeans I know see nothing WRONG with copying information. They are aware it is "illegal", but that doesn't really influence european behaviour much, particularly not when you know the laws in question were ghostwritten by american corporations.

  45. Oh great by LesDawson · · Score: 1

    Great, that's all we need .. now for the "bittorrent is dying" trolls !

    1. Re:Oh great by Fishstick · · Score: 1

      that was really funny that the post appearing immediately below yours is a "Netcraft confirms it!" troll

      http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=131560&cid=109 84213

      --

      There is much cruelty in the universe, John.
      Yeah, we seem to have the tour map.

    2. Re:Oh great by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That troll is so outdated...

      In Korea, only old people use bittorrent.

  46. country grammer by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    man you write like a high-schooler. please tell me you're a high-schooler. . .

    1. Re:country grammer by VocabularyNazi · · Score: 0

      and you spell 'grammar' like a kindergartener....please tell you're a kindergartener,,,,

      --
      I will not be using Plan 9 in the creation of weapons of mass destruction to be used by nations other than the US.
    2. Re:country grammer by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You write like an idiot, please tell me you're an idiot.

  47. Re:That's fine by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    actually, in most countries, copyright infringement is only a civil offence, not criminal. So no, it's not a "crime".

  48. Shonkey provider alert by @madeus · · Score: 1

    The culprits are primarily unknown, but these sites were flooded beyond control from the attack.

    'flooded beyond control' indeed - 'beyond control of the group monkeys pretending to be network administrators' might be a more accurate summary.

    My advice is to get a better provider, one with Arbor's Peakflow or similar home grown solution in place, for example.

  49. You think it was DDoS, but... by jim_v2000 · · Score: 1

    The parent mentioned that a lot of hits were coming from Asia...

    Only one thing could cause this much traffic...China lifted the ban on pron.

    --
    Don't take life so seriously. No one makes it out alive.
    1. Re:You think it was DDoS, but... by JThundley · · Score: 1

      I'm getting a bunch of ssh brute force attacks from asia too, check your logs everyone.

    2. Re:You think it was DDoS, but... by hacker · · Score: 2, Interesting
      "I'm getting a bunch of ssh brute force attacks from asia too, check your logs everyone."

      I too, was getting these about 2 months ago, a few hundred per-hour, until I decided to lock sshd down to known IPs that I regularly ssh from:

      sshhosts="10.0.1.0/24 12.34.56.78 your.host.here";
      for host in $sshhosts; do
      iptables -A INPUT -j ACCEPT -p tcp -s $host --dport 22
      done
      iptables -A INPUT -j DROP -p tcp --dport 22

      Problem solved. I'm going to be moving this to portknocking soon, so that'll open it back up a bit for my partners and clients to ssh in from, while they're on the road.

    3. Re:You think it was DDoS, but... by AndroidCat · · Score: 1

      Either that or China now has a Slashdot of their own.

      --
      One line blog. I hear that they're called Twitters now.
  50. Wait a minute by sosume · · Score: 1

    You are making a classic error here.

    "%35 of all traffic is Bittorrent"

    versus

    "Networks are usually "congested" at 60%."

    But your error is this: how much percent of the available capacity does 100% internet traffic account for? Your calculation isn't quite valid..

  51. Re:That's fine by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    again with the confusion of "illegal" and "wrong". In most european countries, there is nothing _wrong_ with copying. You won't be branded a "copyright infringer" and ostracised (sp?) by the community like you would if they found out you were a thief or child molester. But it is illegal - only because corporate special interests hold sway over the probably-irredeemably corrupt EU.

  52. Do you need a static IP to serve bittorrent? by MichaelCrawford · · Score: 2, Interesting
    I'd like eventually to serve uncompressed WAV files of my piano compositions so people can burn quality CDs. Can I do this off my linux box over my cable modem?

    I don't have the first clue how to get started. Thank you for enlightening me despite my not having already found the answer via google.

    --
    Request your free CD of my piano music.
    1. Re:Do you need a static IP to serve bittorrent? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

      Hi Michael,
      Im hoping you read this ;).

      You don't need a static IP, just get a DNS address from DynDNS.org for your tracker..or use a public tracker [http://thebeehive.info/?p=tlist&o=score&w=desc&of f=0
      is suprnovas list, i havent had much luck as of yet]
      to host your torrent files and seed them.. If your files are popular, running a tracker AND seeding might be too much for your modem.

      If you need any more help you can find my contact info @ lfi.net

      - Mike

    2. Re:Do you need a static IP to serve bittorrent? by Lehk228 · · Score: 2, Informative

      do everyone a favor and post .flac files instead, smaller size for the same quality

      --
      Snowden and Manning are heroes.
    3. Re:Do you need a static IP to serve bittorrent? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Ugh, .wav's are totally unnecessary; look into FLAC or shorten(.shn) for lossless compression.

    4. Re:Do you need a static IP to serve bittorrent? by tuffy · · Score: 2, Informative
      do everyone a favor and post .flac files instead, smaller size for the same quality

      Smaller size, same quality, you can tag them with labels (song name, composer, performer) and the files are checksummed to protect against corruption (though that's less of an issue when distributing over BitTorrent, which has its own checksum protection).

      --

      Ita erat quando hic adveni.

    5. Re:Do you need a static IP to serve bittorrent? by k3v0 · · Score: 2, Informative

      Use a DynDns account and azureus. It facilitates the making of the torrent file and has a nice web based tracker. You'll also need the Java JRE to run Azureus, btw.

  53. Netcraft confirms it: by JThundley · · Score: 4, Funny

    It is official; Netcraft confirms: Bittorrent is dying.

    One more crippling bombshell hit the already beleaguered Bittorrent community when IDC confirmed that Bittorrent market share has dropped yet again, now down to less than a fraction of 1 percent of all P2P services. Coming on the heels of a recent Netcraft survey which plainly states that Bittorrent has lost more market share, this news serves to reinforce what we've known all along. Bittorrent is collapsing in complete disarray, as fittingly exemplified by failing dead last [samag.com] in the recent Sys Admin comprehensive networking test.

    You don't need to be a Kreskin [amdest.com] to predict Bittorrent's future. The hand writing is on the wall: Bittorrent faces a bleak future. In fact there won't be any future at all for Bittorrent because Bittorrent is dying. Things are looking very bad for Bittorrent. As many of us are already aware, Bittorrent continues to lose market share. Red ink flows like a river of blood.

    Azureus is the most endangered of them all, having lost 93% of its core developers. The sudden and unpleasant departures of long time Azureus developers Bob Wentz and J.D. Stone only serve to underscore the point more clearly. There can no longer be any doubt: Azureus is dying.

    Let's keep to the facts and look at the numbers.

    BitTornado leader TheShad0w that there are 7000 users of BitTornado. How many users of burst! are there? Let's see. The number of BitTornado versus burst! posts on Usenet is roughly in ratio of 5 to 1. Therefore there are about 7000/5 = 1400 BitTornado users. Bittorrent posts on Usenet are about half of the volume of BitTornado posts. Therefore there are about 700 users of BSD/OS. A recent article put FreeBSD at about 80 percent of the *BSD market. Therefore there are (7000+1400+700)*4 = 36400 FreeBSD users. This is consistent with the number of FreeBSD Usenet posts.

    Due to the troubles of Walnut Creek, abysmal sales and so on, FreeBSD went out of business and was taken over by BSDI who sell another troubled OS. Now BSDI is also dead, its corpse turned over to yet another charnel house.

    All major surveys show that *BSD has steadily declined in market share. *BSD is very sick and its long term survival prospects are very dim. If *BSD is to survive at all it will be among OS dilettante dbblers. *BSD continues to decay. Nothing short of a miracle could save it at this point in time. For all practical purposes, *BSD is dead.

    Fact: *BSD is dying

    Jesus Christ this trolling shit is hard to do. I know I left the other half with BSD :(

    1. Re:Netcraft confirms it: by hrm · · Score: 5, Funny

      You can tell slashdot culture is going down the drain when even the trolls can't be bothered to send in a properly updated post.

      Not just you, but the old people in Korea and Soviet Russia are absent as well. And who's imagining beowulf clusters of bittorrent sites these days, even if it's in Japan?

      The ./ posts confirm it: trolling is dying!

    2. Re:Netcraft confirms it: by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      In other news netcast announces trolling is dying.

    3. Re:Netcraft confirms it: by kryptkpr · · Score: 1

      Oh c'mon..if you're gonna make fun of my client (burst!) not having any market share, you may as well do it correctly ;)

      --
      DJ kRYPT's Free MP3s!
    4. Re:Netcraft confirms it: by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      In Soviet Russia, supernovas DDoS you!

    5. Re:Netcraft confirms it: by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The trolls confirm it. Slashdot is dying!

  54. Why do you keep mentioning SUPRnova damn it by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    STOP MENTIONING SUPRNOVA .. you're ruining it for everyone who actually knows what the hell it is... please stop!!!

    1. Re:Why do you keep mentioning SUPRnova damn it by johannesg · · Score: 5, Funny
      Just to clarify, the site he is talking about is this one. What he is trying to say is this: if the bad guys ever find out about it, they might try to do something stupid and most likely illegal such as performing a DDOS. And we really don't want it to go down, since it is a most excellent source for TV shows, movies, games, and music.

      I guess the first rule of www.suprnova.org is: don't talk about www.suprnova.org.

    2. Re:Why do you keep mentioning SUPRnova damn it by Blakey+Rat · · Score: 0, Flamebait

      Oh no! You poor scriptkiddies! Why, with no Suprnova you might actually have to fucking PAY for the content you consume.

      Please don't shut down what amounts to an organized crime ring! Waah!

    3. Re:Why do you keep mentioning SUPRnova damn it by Abcd1234 · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Well, given I can't yet buy season one of Stargate: Atlantis, I see no way to catch up on the show other than to download the episodes. If, however, there is an official way for me to acquire those episodes (preferably in HDTV resolution), I'd love to hear about it.

    4. Re:Why do you keep mentioning SUPRnova damn it by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      n00b. Suprnova is for idiots. It is more of a slow motion riot than an organized crime ring. all us skript kiddies have accounts on topsites distros and dumps, now _that_ is an organized crime ring. b3wm.

    5. Re:Why do you keep mentioning SUPRnova damn it by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Hah. You honestly don't think the RIAA and MPAA don't know about Suprnova? Sheesh. Idiot.

      They probably knew about that site before you did.

    6. Re:Why do you keep mentioning SUPRnova damn it by jo42 · · Score: 1

      Please DO keep mentioning suprnova. That will keep attention off of the real sites...

    7. Re:Why do you keep mentioning SUPRnova damn it by Lord_Dweomer · · Score: 1
      You're right AC. I vote to change all suprnova.org links to suprnova.org (check the header). If people think they have to pay for it, they won't go for it, and the media will go chase them down instead of the real one.

      I think a Google Bombing is in order.

      --
      Buy Steampunk Clothing Online!
    8. Re:Why do you keep mentioning SUPRnova damn it by Deraj+DeZine · · Score: 1

      I see no easy way for me to win the lottery so I think I should be allowed to print money as well. I'm not sure if that was a good counterexample, but I think it gets the general point across.

      If you want to legally acquire those TV shows then tape then (even on to a computer with a TV tuner or TiVo). You don't have any right to own copies of TV shows just because you saw them once or anything like that.

      Preemptive response: Just because you don't think it will financially impact any of the copyright holders doesn't make it legal or morally sound.

      --
      True story.
    9. Re:Why do you keep mentioning SUPRnova damn it by Abcd1234 · · Score: 0

      I see no easy way for me to win the lottery so I think I should be allowed to print money as well. I'm not sure if that was a good counterexample, but I think it gets the general point across.

      And that point was what, exactly? I seem to have missed it.

      If you want to legally acquire those TV shows then tape then (even on to a computer with a TV tuner or TiVo).

      I'd love to, if they hadn't *already aired*. Cripes, what part of "catch up" don't you understand?

      You don't have any right to own copies of TV shows just because you saw them once or anything like that.

      Whoa whoa, wait a second. I'm allowed to record those episodes to a tape, or even using a TV tuner or TiVO (which has commercial skip, thus eliminating the advertising revenue), and keep them, and that's okay. But if I download them, that's not okay? Even if the episodes had all the commercials still spliced in? How's that cognitive dissonance going for ya?

      Just because you don't think it will financially impact any of the copyright holders doesn't make it legal or morally sound.

      Actually, it does impact them. If I can catch up on the show, I'll start watching it on the network again, in which case they can advertise to me again. Result: one more viewer, meaning potentially more revenue. IOW, my piracy is, in fact, *helping them*.

      Incidentally, I would never argue that generally pirating TV doesn't affect the copyright holders, as that's total bunk. It does, as it affects advertising revenue, which feeds ultimately back to the producers of the content.

    10. Re:Why do you keep mentioning SUPRnova damn it by RedWizzard · · Score: 1
      If you want to legally acquire those TV shows then tape then (even on to a computer with a TV tuner or TiVo). You don't have any right to own copies of TV shows just because you saw them once or anything like that.

      Preemptive response: Just because you don't think it will financially impact any of the copyright holders doesn't make it legal or morally sound.

      I don't see a lot difference (morally) between recording a show and acquiring (for free) someone else's recording of that show. Want to explain it to me?

      Copyright infringement is illegal. But so is parking in the wrong place. It's not a black and white issue.

  55. It's not a DDOS attack by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It's just still being /.ed from the other article.

  56. Re:That's fine by Dot.Com.CEO · · Score: 4, Insightful

    The key word in my message is "distributing". I doubt that distributing an album to 300 people through bittorrent falls under non-commercial personal use copies

    --
    Mother is the best bet and don't let Satan draw you too fast.
  57. Next-gen P2P? by Alwin+Henseler · · Score: 5, Informative
    So it's time to switch to a serverless network under an open-source project?

    A network with no central servers or even 'supernodes' reduces the effect of DoS-attacks, and leaves no single person or company to attack with a lawsuit. But that alone isn't enough. Other problems remain, like the privacy issue. Many P2P networks reveal IP addresses of nodes on 'the other end'. Thus, after retrieval of a file, you know from what IP address(es) the file came from. That leaves the network vulnerable for attacks or legal steps against individual users.

    To prevent this, it must be impossible to find out who/where a retrieved file (or search query) actually came from (IP, geographical location or otherwise).

    Besides the well known Freenet, there's another promising one called ANts. From what I can tell, it works by passing data between nodes, without passing info on the endpoints where data is coming from/going to. Each node passes data on, but doesn't know if the next node will keep it, or in turn pass it on to yet another node in a path. IP addresses are replaced with a virtual 'network ID' (regularly discarded), and combined with encryption, a single node can't tell what it's passing on, where it came from, or where it's going. IP addresses are only known for a few neighbours it contacts directly. For an analogy, think anonymous remailers. The project page also mentions something similar called MUTE. I guess you could call projects like this 3rd generation P2P networks. Looking forward to it! (and please add if you know more like these)

    1. Re:Next-gen P2P? by excaliber19 · · Score: 1
      Heh, lets all start using Freenet...

      But wait...its anonymous. No more karma whoring for you kids. Oh, and no more /. effect, it takes about an hour to load one page anyhow, so the increased traffic won't even be noticed!

    2. Re:Next-gen P2P? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      MUTE seems to work but is quite slow. The idea is that links to peers are encrypted, and there are several connections for each host, and each host forwards query and data packets between its peers.

      Thus, each host has plausible deniability of being the ultimate source or ultimate destination of any packet.

      The MUTE text mode interface is pretty kludgy.

    3. Re:Next-gen P2P? by mrogers · · Score: 5, Informative

      There's also GNUnet, which is similar to Freenet but with files broken up into equal-sized chunks to allow parallel downloads. All these systems are fine for avoiding an adversary like the RIAA that has limited powers and only wants to collect a few IP addresses for lawsuits, but they shouldn't be considered anonymous or censorship-resistant in any strong sense. Freenet, MUTE and JetiAnts can be DOSed pretty easily and GNUnet's anonymity can be undermined. I'm researching censorship-resistant communication for my PhD so I've got a literature review and bibliography online if you're interested.

    4. Re:Next-gen P2P? by ZorbaTHut · · Score: 1

      One that I've been thinking of for a while is Kademlia-over-Tor. It seems like a natural matchup, and if you packaged the Tor client with SecureMule (or whatever you'd call it) it would only be maybe six times slower than normal. :)

      Another nice advantage: suddenly firewalls don't matter, since every computer is connecting outwards to servers.

      On the other hand, a nice stopgap solution is to just force eMule to route through Tor right now. You end up with a LowID but it works. Especially if you don't demand blazing speed.

      --
      Breaking Into the Industry - A development log about starting a game studio.
    5. Re:Next-gen P2P? by Glen+Ponda · · Score: 1

      I guess you could call projects like this 3rd generation P2P networks. Looking forward to it!

      And so are the paedos - the one reason I would never run a node.

    6. Re:Next-gen P2P? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Funny?

      Now I'm confused - was someone trying to nullify the karma bonus, or were they actually stupid enough to find this amusing instead of interesting?

    7. Re:Next-gen P2P? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      I dunno, there seem to have been a lot of random "funny" moderations recently - maybe it's a new troll tactic? Do funny mods bypass meta-moderation or something?

    8. Re:Next-gen P2P? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Folks got a strange sense of humor around here - I don't have a clue why that was modded "Funny" so many times. Informative, absolutely (dude, an actual literature review and bibliography - that's gold!). Funny? Um...

    9. Re: Next-gen P2P? by Alwin+Henseler · · Score: 1
      And so are the paedos - the one reason I would never run a node.

      1. Every technology has its downside(s)
      2. Guaranteeing certain freedoms *always* goes hand in hand with a certain level of crime. The only way to avoid that, is to get rid of those freedoms. I'm sure you could get crime rates pretty low by setting up a police state, and monitoring every single person 24/7, with a central government deciding what people should do each day. But do you want to live like that? I sure as hell don't.

      For the rest it's just compromises, finding a proper balance between pro's & cons. P2P networks happen to be quite useful, and sometimes there are good reasons for sharing information, even if illegal. Think Chinese government censorship, sharing TV show episodes, whistleblowers who bring abuses of power out into the open, etc. etc. I don't like paedos either, but "illegal" isn't automatically the same as "wrong".

    10. Re:Next-gen P2P? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Excellent work, I've not read it all yet but it seems you've identified the potential flaws of many if not all of the systems you describe. Hopefully at some point you'll be able to either recommend a secure and efficient system or you'll draft a spec for one.

      If that's your plan I'll keep checking your site for updates, and possibly help implement whatever you propose.

    11. Re:Next-gen P2P? by mrogers · · Score: 1

      Thanks, help would be great - hope you read replies to your anonymous posts. I'm definitely planning on implementing something but I haven't put much online because the design's in flux at the moment. I'm hoping to build a general-purpose anonymous datagram network, but because of the need to exchange public keys with someone before you can communicate, it will probably be best suited to IM and file sharing between friends.

  58. Glitch in the Matrix by Jim_Callahan · · Score: 1

    "Woah, deja vu."

    --
    ...it's really a sad day for America when we require a goddamn ACT OF CONGRESS to make our DVD players work properly. ~
  59. uh? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Funny

    doesnt anybody else find it a bit curious as to why C|Net News is reporting a story about a known piracy site? why the hell would joe blow give a shit about this? are the C|Net staffers admitting to being BT-warez-whor3z?

    in any regard, this is hardly news for nerds or stuff that matters.

    1. Re:uh? by damacus · · Score: 1

      Because Joe Blow pirates software too.

  60. German campaign by Slashamatic · · Score: 1

    There is a fairly high-key campaign going on in Germany run by the distributors. Of course, the joke is that most people are getting English language versions which are on limited distribution if at all. I have even seen posters up in the IT department of a large German bank!

  61. This happened not even a week ago to eMule's IRC by bl4nk · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Almost a week ago, eMule's default IRC network (LiquidIRC) was DDoS'ed and Floodbot'ed. LiquidIRC has been taken down for an unknown amount of time due to the attacks..

    Related?

  62. the other ones by Zentac · · Score: 1

    I think the most logical explanation would be 1) competitor, but one offering the same service, how many people went to the .com and .net counterparts when .org wasn't reachable? and we know that those guys do have proffit in mind, and have no ethical problem with attacking .org

    1. Re:the other ones by Rakshasa+Taisab · · Score: 1

      The most logical explanation would be 1) suprnova.org DDos'ing themselves. They want some marketing for their new protocol, right?

      --
      - These characters were randomly selected.
  63. So you'd think... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    So you'd think that with 5,000 people beta-testing the new client, at least one of them would've leaked a copy... :-/

  64. This could be more widespread than these two sites by Nightbrood · · Score: 3, Interesting

    While these two sites may be the biggest sites that we know of under DDoS attacks to me it seems to be more widespread. I am a moderator of a small Mazda enthusiast forum and we underwent a variety of DDoS attacks pretty much all night from varying addresses. I have no clue why someone would want to DDoS a small non-profit forum (we have our own server) but seems to me like Suprnova.org and the other BitTorrent sites are just collateral in a much larger game.

    Luckily for us, we have a very good admin and he was updating the firewall rules pretty much left and right. Site never went down but at least we weren't posted on the front page of Slashdot either... then things would have been a bit different.

  65. Parent is a troll by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

    google "Parallel RSync". This guy is spouting nonsense. I'd call him a karma whore, but he posed AC.

  66. Re:That's fine by flubbergust · · Score: 1

    As far as I know and I am not a lawyer, you are not allowed in Sweden to distribute anything of that you do not own. Its illigal to share movies, music, software. They will start suing people up here too. However, you are allowed to share the stuff with your family. I guess that's what you are thinking about. It just for the imidiate family not for your "cousins-cousins-uncles-sister-grandma-nephew".

  67. Re:That's fine by blackicye · · Score: 1

    There is a slight difference in the 2 cases you're comparing. Even entirely glossing over the fact of your blantant trolling with a statement such as: "After all most bit-torrents are illegal and we all know that Dos attacks on people who break the law is fine."

    In the case of spamming, millions of email accounts are sent enormous volumes of unsolicited trash, daily by both "legitimate" as well as outright fraudulent purveyors of crap.

    They are spamming with the intent to profit. In the case of bittorrent not only is their content only provided when you intentionally seek it out, but there is no profit, or scamming involved.

    You must be one of "those" who thinks that companies actually lose a sale when their "copyrights" are infringed.

  68. 1year and 1 week by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0


    you didn't read the date of that event
    18.12.2003

    1. Re:1year and 1 week by deimtee · · Score: 1

      you didn't read the date of that event
      18.12.2003

      So this is Christmas?

      --
      I'm guessing that wasn't on their radar screen...
    2. Re:1year and 1 week by bl4nk · · Score: 1

      lol.. oops..

  69. Re:That's fine by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    We shoot people for carrying guns in Britain, it works fine. Except if you have a table leg, then you're in for it.

  70. Lossless by idolcrash · · Score: 1

    Not too big a loss when you consider that they are torrent-stealing sites anyways.

  71. Re:This could be more widespread than these two si by StupidKatz · · Score: 1

    If this attack you describe was a "DDoS", then having someone update firewall rules would have no effect (unless this 'firewall' was several steps up the chain on a big, fat pipe).

    OTOH, if some ratbag is sucking up all your CPU by spamming searches on all forums or something, tune your stuff or disable the offending venue.

  72. Fracturing is inevitable... by Kjella · · Score: 4, Interesting

    ...there's just too many variables that are directly opposing.

    Central vs decentral
    Peers vs supernodes vs superservers vs tracker
    Anonymity vs speed
    Integrity vs fuzzy search
    Search by content vs by index vs by hash vs...
    Routing vs direct links
    Indexing vs index poisoning
    Trust vs anonymity
    Leeching vs control

    It is impossible to create a network that can achieve all of them at once.

    Http is by comparison a trivial protocol. It involves only the connection between two hosts. Creating a virtual network of P2P clients is more like reimplementing the whole of layers 3 (IP), 4 (TCP), 5 (sessions) in the OSI model.

    Kjella

    --
    Live today, because you never know what tomorrow brings
    1. Re:Fracturing is inevitable... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      It is impossible to create a network that can achieve all of them at once.

      All P2P networks operate on top of IP so it's not impossible - the internet is the network you're talking about. ;-)

  73. explain me ? by johnny+rendier · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    Can anyone explain the torrent principle ? I still dont know what it means.. I tried to look it up but didnt really find a real explenation. xcept that its a small programm that locates the closest program you are lookin for and downloads it ? am i right ... ? why do they attack torrent servers ? greetz Rendier

    1. Re:explain me ? by TheScorpion420 · · Score: 0

      It is a centralized P2P file sharing protocol, whereas you download a torrent file, and it contains information about the file and more importantly the address of a tracker. All of the other people that have downloaded the complete file all connect to the tracker, these are known as seeders. The tracker tells your BT client who has the file you are requesting and what their address is. And besides you didn't try the obvious?

      --
      If you pay your taxes you support terrorism!
    2. Re:explain me ? by ultranova · · Score: 5, Informative

      Can anyone explain the torrent principle ?

      Suppose server X hosts a really popular large file of, say, 100MB in size. Suppose that server only has 1MB/sec upstream bandwith. Suppose users A and B both want the file. The server needs to send the file twice, once for A and once for B. Obviously, this takes twice as long as sending the file just once. And if there's two more people, C and D, also downloading the file, it needs to be sent four times and takes four times as long as sending it only once. In other words, the more people are downloading the file, the slower each download gets.

      The torrent principle tries to solve this problem. The idea is that A and B start downloading different parts of the large file. For example, A could start downloading the first half and B the second half. Once A has downloaded some of the file, he starts sending it to B, and B does the same. Suppose, for the sake of simplicity, that both A and B have the same bandwith as the server, and that everyone has the same up- and downstream bandwith.

      Now, A is getting the file from server X at 1/2 MB per second. A is also downloading the file from B at 1/2 MB per second, and thus is getting a combined speed of 1 MB/sec. The same goes for B.

      This is the torrent principle: use the upstream bandwith of downloaders to help ease the load on server.

      Now, A and B need to learn about each other's existence in order to cooperate in this way. In BitTorrent, this is done via a tracker. You download a small torrent file, which contains the address of the tracker, the names and sizes of the files in this torrent, and checksums for each part of the file (to prevent people from sending fake parts). Someone generated this torrent file from file(s) he had on his computer, uploaded it to a torrent tracker, and then launched BitTorrent. BitTorrent checks the files against the checksums, notices that there is no pieces missing, and thus doesn't try to download any - just upload (making it a so-called "seed"). It then connects to a tracker and lets it know that "I'm here". When someone else uses this torrent file, their BitTorrent client connects to the tracker, asks for addresses of peers, and starts downloading pieces from them (and uploading pieces to them - there is a simple "tit for tat" method that ensures that you serve best the nodes which upload to you, thus ensuring that everyone will indeed participate). Once a node gets all the file pieces and has thus finished the download, it becomes a "seed" and keeps on uploading untill the user terminates it.

      So, the trackers are absolutely vital for BitTorrent; without them, the clients can not learn about each other, and thus can't connect to each other and up- and download.

      --

      Forget magic. Any technology distinguishable from divine power is insufficiently advanced.

    3. Re:explain me ? by AKnightCowboy · · Score: 4, Insightful
      Suppose, for the sake of simplicity, that both A and B have the same bandwith as the server, and that everyone has the same up- and downstream bandwith.

      Of course, we all know that's never true which is the problem with other P2P software. ADSL and cable modems unfairly favor downloading (consuming) content rather than uploading (serving). This is just another example of the corporate world trying to control the dissemination of information. There's no good technical reason they couldn't run a symmetrical DSL signal over your voice line like they do ADSL, they just don't want to. It's the same reason many of these ISPs still require you to login via PPPoE and get a dynamic IP for your "always on, high speed dedicated connection". They're stuck in a 1995 mentality of dialup users consuming content rather than sharing information. Dynamic IPs on cable and DSL really bug me. You can get one plan with dynamic IP and PPPoE from SBC for $29/month, but add in a static IP and suddenly you're looking at $75/month. WTF? You need to account for that customer using an IP address whether you assign it dynamically or whether it is static... why the rape on static prices?

    4. Re:explain me ? by cdrudge · · Score: 3, Interesting

      The corporate world isn't trying to control the dissemination of information. They are protecting their profits. It's not necessary for them to have symetric lines for most DSL customers as their downloading habits are very much skewed towards the download bandwidth. It's also cheaper for them to provide aDSL service then it is to provide sDSL. Upload bandwidth I beleive is more expensive, bit for bit, then the download. There is also distance limitations on the speeds available. sDSL may work well at relative slow speeds, but once you get to faster speeds, the upload speeds greatly reduce. Verizon offers download speeds between 768kbit@18,000 feet and and 7.1mbit@9,000 feet. There is no way that they can provide 7.1mbit upload speeds@9,000 feet.

      Dynamic IP addresses are used for several reasons. The first is that it discourages customers from running servers. It doesn't eliminate it, but it makes it more of an inconvienence.

      Those that truly need static addresses typically are willing to pay a premium for it. Business customers for instance. They can't afford to have e-mail not delivered or their website unavailable during that short period when an IP address may be updated. In this case, it is about the $$$. Most ISPs will renew a lease so in effect your dynamic address is typically static, but it's not guaranteed though.

      Dynamic addresses are also cheaper for the ISP. In many cases the addresses aren't actually owned by the ISP but instead "leased" to them. The ISP ends up paying for each one of them. If they give everyone static, they need to have 1 or more addresses per customer. If they hand them out on a as-needed basis, they can save money as not everyone needs one at all times. At most they would need the same number of addresses as what they would need with static. At the least, they would need 1 per active customer. As leases expire the addresses can be reused, reducing the total number of addresses needed over the long term.

      PPPoE is used because it can simplify the back end support and accounting process for the ISP as they can use essentially the same system for both dialup and DSL customers. If everyone is essentially treated as a PPP customer, regardless of the actual connection method, the same authenticaion servers can be used, the same tracking/billing servers, etc. ISPs didn't have to get another set of conectivity to migrate dialup users over to DSL.

    5. Re:explain me ? by secretsquirel · · Score: 0

      ISP could raise UL speeds, but they ain't gonna do nothing that fuckin dumb. That would be like Intel re-naming the 3ghz p4 to the pentium 2400+. It would still cost them money in servertime/bandwidth and joe consumer couldn't care less how fast his upload is set too as long as he see's his 5MB downstream. Ask 99% of America to pay 25 cents a month more to double thier upload speed and they'd laugh at you. Try explaining to them how it will actually raise down speeds too, but thiers only if everyone else does it, and if your on cable it could lower your "Maximum" download speed a little bit, but they still should get it, and they will stare at you for a minute, maybe blink a few times, then say "so I can't download as fast, and it costs 25 cents?" then laugh at you.

    6. Re:explain me ? by Hatta · · Score: 2, Funny

      The corporate world isn't trying to control the dissemination of information. They are protecting their profits.

      Same thing.

      It's not necessary for them to have symetric lines for most DSL customers as their downloading habits are very much skewed towards the download bandwidth. It's also cheaper for them to provide aDSL service then it is to provide sDSL. Upload bandwidth I beleive is more expensive, bit for bit, then the download.

      How about cable? There's no technical reason for asymmetric cable connections, yet they all want an arm and a leg and your first born son to get anything. Maybe upload bandwith costs them more, but I can't believe it's at all proportionate. There has to be some motivation for them so harshly discouraging uploads.

      Dynamic IP addresses are used for several reasons. The first is that it discourages customers from running servers. It doesn't eliminate it, but it makes it more of an inconvienence.

      So then, they are trying to control the dissemination of information. Big of you to admit it.

      Those that truly need static addresses typically are willing to pay a premium for it. Business customers for instance.

      See that's the thing, they only want the wealthy or incorporated to have real internet access. By keeping the proles on dialup and addicted to tv, they maintain their control over the media, and thus the minds of the populace. This is one of the reasons the internet has not had the transforming effect on society we all expected bacy in 1993.

      --
      Give me Classic Slashdot or give me death!
    7. Re:explain me ? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Suppose, for the sake of simplicity, that both A and B have the same bandwith

      Exactly WHAT part of this did you NOT understand?

    8. Re:explain me ? by gbjbaanb · · Score: 2, Interesting

      If 'the man' wanted to control dissemination of information you'd think he'd try to limit downloads, not uploads.

      I think you've bought into the conspiracy that just doesn;t exist. All these ISPs don;t care what you do, they only care that you pay them and don;t cause them any (costly) support calls.

      Adding a static IP is something they *can* charge you extra for and people will pay it. So they do.

      In the UK, my ISP gives a free static IP if you ask for it, so I have one. I think they have different cost models than the states, ie. no-one thought to charge loads for a static IP, and now no-one can do it because customers would migrate to the other ISPs. (oh also we use PPoA in the UK for our ADSL).

      And lastly, you still can act as a server, you need DDNS service to register with - try DNSPark for 1 free entry

    9. Re:explain me ? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Cable bandwidth is inherently asymmetric - forward traffic is sent as a broadcast, with each cable modem picking out it's own packet. No collisions, as the only transmitter is the head end. The reverse channel has to share the back channel with all the other modems - either using carrier-sense, or polled access, or just blindly squirting out data and resending it if it didn't make it. All three have been used.

      It shouldn't be any more difficult to send the same bandwidth in the reverse direction over a dedicated phone line than it is to send it in the forward direction.

    10. Re:explain me ? by PhYrE2k2 · · Score: 1
      Upload bandwidth I beleive is more expensive, bit for bit, then the download


      Back up here. You've been TOLD upload bandwidth is more expensive due to the cable and DSL providers of the world. A T1 is the same up and down, ethernet is the same up and down, T3, OC-anything- all same upstream as downstream. Dialup is the same up and down (until recently when they introduced better compression and modems on the ISP end to get 56kbps- but lets ignore that one).

      Good, expensive bandwidth is always symetric. It was the genius idea of the technology and content providers to say that people download more than they upload, so provide less upload bandwidth to conserve the spectrum.

      Keep in mind though, this was all decided before P2P was a big thing. This makes perfect sense in a world of downloading web pages, news groups, mail, the occasional online game, and some groupware apps. But they do need to come to the 21st century.

      -M
      --

      when you see the word 'Linux', drink!
    11. Re:explain me ? by CcntMnky · · Score: 2, Interesting

      You need to account for that customer using an IP address whether you assign it dynamically or whether it is static...

      No you don't. An ISP never has as many IP's in their pool at they have customers. They only have to keep as many as they will ever have connected at one time. With cable and DSL that's a higher percentage than it used to be with dial-up, but it's excess cost to keep an IP for each customer.

      Think of Gmail: no way does Google have a gig of storage for each account. They know about how much each person is really using, then just keep ahead of the total usage.

      I do the same thing with account quotas in my lab. If everyone used the full amount, we'd be use 7 times what we have, but we're currently at less than half capacity!

    12. Re:explain me ? by raju1kabir · · Score: 1
      Good, expensive bandwidth is always symetric. It was the genius idea of the technology and content providers to say that people download more than they upload, so provide less upload bandwidth to conserve the spectrum.

      Think it through a little more. That piece of wire that can carry traffic at the same speed in both directions is subject to the same forces of supply and demand as every other commodity out there.

      Content providers are willing to pay more for "upstream" capacity than consumer broadband ISPs on the same backbone or at the same peering exchange are.

      Each bit that the content provider pushes along the wire is helping to fund the infrastructure that carries that bit to the broadband ISP's edge router. But if the broadband ISP starts pushing bits back up, that means more infrastructure that the content providers aren't going to pay for, so it means the ISPs will pick up a larger share of the tab.

      That means they have to raise rates, and that means people stick with dialup.

      --
      "Patriotism is your conviction that this country is superior to all other countries because you were born in it." -- GBS
    13. Re:explain me ? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

      > There's no technical reason for asymmetric cable connections

      Read the spec sheets on the cable equipment, and you'll see they are all asymmetric! The amps, the cable modems, and the head-end equipment are. It's a simple fact that the cable companies should and do care more about download bandwidth (TV channels) since that's their core business.

      Also, you're forgetting that for the past 5 decades the vast majority of cable plant installed was one-way. On our system we have nice large, expensive amps that amplify the signal from the head unit with smaller, cheaper ones that were added later to bypass the one-way amps to send the signal back from the cable modems. Bandwidth-wise, there's about 500x the bandwidth to the customer as there is coming back from the customer. Maybe one day in the future amps that have the same capabilities in both directions will be prevalent, but it's not today.

      Here's another way to think about it. When you buy one box to support hundreds of customers versus one box per customer, which one is going to be higher quality? It isn't going to be the cable modems you pass-out like candy. When you have millions invested in equipment to provide TV channels, are you going to replace it all just to provide more upload bandwidth? No. Also, the customers mainly care about download speeds therefore the provider does too.

      > Maybe upload bandwith costs them more

      It does because the people with content to share (think of that as a company web site) typically have more money than people that are simply downloading. It has to do with supply and demand. For example, we charge our web customers enough so we can make a profit, but like most people, we lose money on each cable customer because we charge market-price. Someone has to pay for the bandwidth and equipment, and the cost companies pay subsidizes the price end-users pay. It's not a great model, but after @Home offered connections at a huge loss, people are conditioned to think that's a fair price. After you price telco lines, you realize it isn't. Our T3 to Sprint costs us $65,000 per month in bandwidth and telco charges and taxes(huge since it crosses a state-line). Think of how many $30/month cable customers you have to have in order by pay for that. The money to pay the loss-leader cable and DSL connections has to come from somewhere.

    14. Re:explain me ? by Too+Many+Secrets · · Score: 0
      See that's the thing, they only want the wealthy or incorporated to have real internet access. By keeping the proles on dialup and addicted to tv, they maintain their control over the media, and thus the minds of the populace. This is one of the reasons the internet has not had the transforming effect on society we all expected bacy in 1993.

      Thank you for posting the single most retarded statement in the history of slashdot. Where's Oog when you need him?

    15. Re:explain me ? by d34thm0nk3y · · Score: 1

      meh, there is a finite number of bits that you can fit through your pipe. If you increase upstream you will need to decrease downstream. And then the proles you are trying to protect will start calling up Comcast to complain that their internet takes a long time to load pages.

    16. Re:explain me ? by IncohereD · · Score: 1

      No you don't. An ISP never has as many IP's in their pool at they have customers. They only have to keep as many as they will ever have connected at one time. With cable and DSL that's a higher percentage than it used to be with dial-up, but it's excess cost to keep an IP for each customer.

      My cable modem doesn't even have a power switch. Even if all our computers are off, it's on. I find it hard to believe this isn't damn near 100%.

      I think it's more an issue where if a lot of more earlier subscribers are leaving than new are signing up they'd get 'holes' in their assigned IP space, so they'd have to buy a bigger block than they needed.

    17. Re:explain me ? by myov · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Dynamic IP addresses are used for several reasons. The first is that it discourages customers from running servers. It doesn't eliminate it, but it makes it more of an inconvienence.


      My dynamic IP changes once a year. It has nothing to do with running a server (dyndns anyone?) - if they wanted to do that, they would be blocking inbound ports. If anyone remembers @home, you could actually configure your machine for static once you received your IP (which was necessary due to the stability of fetching a DHCP address from the other side of the continent).

      The reason for DHCP? As the cable companies reconfigure networks (splitting/combining areas), it's sometimes necessary to change IP blocks (keep in mind, their network is heavily tied to location). Is it easier to change a DHCP server and release/renew, or notify hundreds of customers that their IP is changing? For the same reason, I often run my networks entirely on closed DHCP (using the MAC to IP mapping)

      PPPOE has more to do with the fact that various companies resell or piggyback from the phone company, instead of sticking their own infrastructure in each CO. Static requires more work to setup and maintain (routing the line to a different DSLAM/network/etc)

      --
      I use Macs to up my productivity, so up yours Microsoft!
    18. Re:explain me ? by Hatta · · Score: 1

      Thank you for posting the single most retarded statement in the history of slashdot. Where's Oog when you need him?

      Sweet. Do I get a prize? A plaque at least?

      --
      Give me Classic Slashdot or give me death!
    19. Re:explain me ? by nzkbuk · · Score: 1

      Most places that provide DSL also provide hosting services.
      Most hosting places have large volumes of data being uploaded with small volumes being downloaded.

      Combine hosting and DSL and you use most of your available bandwidth (both uploading and downloading).

    20. Re:explain me ? by rocca · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Insightful 4??! You're so wrong on practically everything you've said I don't know where to begin. First, ADSL is "Asymmetrical" (that's the "A" part) -- they steal frequency from the upload channel to increase the download speed as that is what most consumers want. Most of the time a user has to get their speed profile dropped is because they are too tight on the upload capacity to maintain sync. As for symmetrical, SDSL speed is about 1Mbps around 8000 feet and can stretch to about 20,000 feet at 128Kbps. ADSL can do up to 8Mbps to over a mile, and 3 or 4Mbps towards 3 miles. Which do you think has more consumer interest? As for PPPoE, it's for management, it's a hell of a lot more work to cut off service at the DSLAM than it is at the central authentication servers, plus it makes accounting possible as well as sharing infrastructure giving you the choice of ISP's in several areas. As for the static IP it's not the IP you're paying for, it's a tax in terms of demand on both the system and support. DSL is priced artificially low at a price point where customers will buy, but on the assumption of personal use, not providing the rest of the world with access. Network circuits, bandwidth, equipment, support and administrative costs does not work out to less than $10/Mbps. If you want a dedicated line you can pay the same rates the ISP does, otherwise expect to share fairly and pay a fraction of the real cost.

    21. Re:explain me ? by rocca · · Score: 1

      No you don't. An ISP never has as many IP's in their pool at they have customers

      That was true in dialup but not highspeed as most people leave their modems on 24/7 even when their computer is off. Right now 91% of our users are online, however only about 10% are actually using the Internet.

    22. Re:explain me ? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Hey, I'm the guy who pays $65/mo for SBC static DSL . I need it for my business, which I operate out of my house. Yeah, they're raping me, but it's still cheaper than dynamic + colo hosting, so the pricing is perfectly rational.

    23. Re:explain me ? by MegaHyster · · Score: 1
      if they wanted to do that, they would be blocking inbound ports

      Funny that you should mention that. Some cable companies do just that.

      --
      All good things...
    24. Re:explain me ? by Snaller · · Score: 1


      there is a simple "tit for tat" method that ensures that you serve best the nodes which upload to you, thus ensuring that everyone will indeed participate


      And also ensuring that the many of us with a high download and slow upload get a piss poor download rate if tryng to use Bittorrent.

      Blizzards Wow trial took about 30 hours where it would have taken me about 2 hours from a "normal" website.

      (No need to tell me about the politics etc of torrents, i know - but thats why i don't like bittorent)

      --
      If Google really cared they would fix Android Chrome to reflow text, instead of discriminating
  74. Re:This could be more widespread than these two si by Nightbrood · · Score: 1

    I believe it was a SYN flood but like I said I'm just a moderator at the site. I never had the desire to learn about being a sys admin so therefore I may be incorrect about the details of such an attack.

  75. A DDoS is not the only reason by Kjella · · Score: 4, Insightful

    The best answer to a distributed attack is a distributed network. If no node in the network is essential to its operation, such an attack isn't possible.

    suprnova.org probably doesn't want to be the world's supplier of content, even without the DDoS part. I find your reasoning completely backwards. Why should your Apache server be the only server?

    If you had a dozen mirrors hosted around the world, it'd be much harder to take down. With web pages, you can do that. With trackers, you can not. Not yet. Because the protocol doesn't support it.

    Kjella

    --
    Live today, because you never know what tomorrow brings
    1. Re:A DDoS is not the only reason by gnuASM · · Score: 1

      I use torrents on a regular basis, and my understanding of it is that the tracker is an individual server of the content holder/provider. Now, I don't use Super Nova, but I do use other "clearinghouses" (I believe that would be the best way to describe them). You simply download (or run) a tracker's .torrent file from the web site, and the "clearinghouse" no longer has any dealing in the "transaction".

      Now, I am assuming that Super Nova is a "clearinghouse", otherwise, they would have to have their own tracker pointing to the content on another individual/company's machine, unless they have the content themselves, which I highly doubt. Now, with regards to the true tracker/server, most distributors will only allow the use of the tracker to clients that are utilizing a proper direct connection to the said tracker, verified as "authorized" and set up properly so that the tracker cannot be "hijacked", etc.

      No matter how you look at it, the content HAS to be centralized in some way. There has to be some form of packet verification and direction. Imagine having 40 seeds sending the EXACT same packet at once because there is no controlling influence to direct the seeds to send unique packets.

      Again, I don't use their "service", but I do highly doubt that they have revised every .torrent they have come across to place on their site to utilize on their OWN trackers. Correct me if I am wrong, but sites like Super Nova are simply "clearinghouses" or holders for OTHER PEOPLES trackers, and the success of a torrent transaction is not dependant on the site the .torrent file is obtained or run from (ie. Super Nova), but on the integrity of the tracker server itself (which there are literally thousands if not millions of them out there.)

      So it still eludes me as to why they feel a new "protocol" is needed. It appears to me that this "need" has been spurred, not by the failure of torrent tracker servers to complete transactions, but because a central .torrent database has failed to provide content....again, security, not protocol.

    2. Re:A DDoS is not the only reason by kryptkpr · · Score: 1

      "With trackers, you can not. Not yet. Because the protocol doesn't support it."

      You're wrong on four counts:

      1) Yes, you CAN do this with trackers.
      2) Right now
      3) Because the protocol (unofficially) supports it
      4) Some groups (such as BTEfnet) are doing this now, without relying on the above spec.

      They're using the exact same technique used by http servers, DNS load balancing. A tracker is just a special case of an http server.

      --
      DJ kRYPT's Free MP3s!
    3. Re:A DDoS is not the only reason by runswithd6s · · Score: 1
      suprnova.org probably doesn't want to be the world's supplier of content, even without the DDoS part. I find your reasoning completely backwards. Why should your Apache server be the only server?
      What?! Don't you think supernova is making money with advertising on their site? They're known as one of the most popular Torrent sites. Do you really think they want to give up that popularity and ad revenue?
      --
      assert(expired(knowledge)); /* core dump */
  76. Wrong tool for the job by farnz · · Score: 1
    The problem you identify is a design feature of BitTorrent; it's intended to allow free downloads such as Mandrake to exploit the available upstream bandwidth of a large number of clients, so that more people can download things like the latest release.

    In order to reduce the likelyhood of it being used for warez, it was specifically designed with a central authority, and no privacy features. This hasn't stopped it being used for copyright infringement, but does make it easier to use BitTorrent for things that would otherwise be an overloaded http download.

  77. first the spammers by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    and no one spoke out.
    then it was bittorrent, and no one spoke up.
    then its your own connection...

  78. Re: Exeem by BobSutan · · Score: 1

    They're already working on it.

    http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=04/12/02/2016 24 4&tid=95

    --
    "On a scale from 1 to 10, people are stupid"
  79. Re:That's fine by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    In The Netherlands / Holland it is allowed (for non commercial and personal puphoses) to retrieve files from the internet even if these files are offered illegally.

    It also is allowed to link and deep link to files. In Belgium that right been called to question recently.

    It is however still illegal to offer files for download (even for personal use). It's still unclear weather these include partial files. It's likely that this will change in the future since the legal system can't cope with that many copyright related lawsuits.
    It's likely to see some sort of monthly fee, for your internet connection (like there is with the cd-r(w)'s now) in the future.

  80. Or Dijjer by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    What about Dijjer? Decentralised, easier to use than falling off a log, and very fast. Also, legal - since it falls under the Systems Caching exemption of the DMCA.

  81. Re:This could be more widespread than these two si by Harker · · Score: 1

    You should be ashamed of yourself. Bittorrent downloading of Mazda's is just wrong.

    Serves you right.

    --
    When VCR's are outlawed, only outlaws will have VCR's.
  82. Still down? by mogrify · · Score: 1

    lokitorrent is still down as of Friday morning... ouch.

    --
    perl -e 'foreach(values %SIG){$_="IGNORE";}while(){}'
  83. Re:That's fine by clambake · · Score: 4, Insightful

    The key word in my message is "distributing". I doubt that distributing an album to 300 people through bittorrent falls under non-commercial personal use copies

    And I'm sure the people distributing those copies don't believe that 70 years after the death of the artists counts as the "limited time" granted in the constitution... go figure.

  84. Cunning spammers? by alex_tibbles · · Score: 1

    Perhaps the spam sites that are being DDOSed by Lycos include these sites, either because the DB of spam sites is wrong, or the spammers have re-directed (perhaps at DNS level) the traffic....

  85. Re:That's fine by Dot.Com.CEO · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Last time I checked suprnova.org, I didn't see many 70-year old warez, but then again I don't know what sites you frequent...

    --
    Mother is the best bet and don't let Satan draw you too fast.
  86. Re:Bittorrent is on its way out by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    i heard that dynamic OCQ multi bcast with threaded F transitioning was the new thing, well that coupled with forward looking node interchangers linked to functional KTR peers making peer managment more efficient (at least 10^-6)

  87. Re:That's fine by clambake · · Score: 1

    Last time I checked suprnova.org, I didn't see many 70-year old warez, but then again I don't know what sites you frequent...
    --
    Mother is the best bet and don't let Satan draw you too fast.


    Defending copyright holders in the body and then quoting cryptic discordian secrets in the .sig. French-canadian bean soup to you too.

  88. Not justified? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Yes I am!

  89. Re:That's fine by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    She's being ironic you dick.

  90. Some possibilities to check out by MickLinux · · Score: 4, Insightful

    You know, I have 5 moderator points, and I just couldn't find a single good post to mod up, here. So I'll say what I think needs saying.

    How do you know that the Lycos spam-DDoS screen saver *isn't* what is taking out bittorrent?

    I can think of a number of possibilities, any of which might be worth investigation.

    (1) - As was mentioned elsewhere, it *could* be that lycos is leasing its services out to the RIAA.

    (2) - It could be that the spammers are using Bittorrent servers

    (3) - It could be that the spammers have hijacked the bittorrent servers (as I understand, a lot of bittorrent hijacking has come from China. Perhaps not coincidentally, a lot of spammers use servers in China to host their activities.)

    (4) - It could be that the spammers have somehow masked their servers' real identities to look like bittorrent servers.

    There are a few possibilities that might be worth checking out. Anyhow, I'll hold onto my 5 points, I guess. Shoot, I might just deposit them in the bank and wait till inflation takes em out.

    Slashdot just ain't what it used to be (as you can tell by looking at my low slashdot ID number).

    --
    Correct Horse Battery Staple: 72 bits of entropy. Enter "Correct H" into google. When it generates the phrase, that's
    1. Re:Some possibilities to check out by jimand · · Score: 4, Funny

      I must be a long-time member. I don't think I've ever been able to respond to a "low slashdot ID" comment with "that's not low, you nube".

    2. Re:Some possibilities to check out by maelstrom · · Score: 1, Funny

      stfu n00b

      --
      The more you know, the less you understand.
    3. Re:Some possibilities to check out by someguy · · Score: 1

      Good points, but I'm going to save my mod points due to the boo hooing about being an elite oldschool slashdot user. Waaah, Waah, I have such a low user number that I'm superior to everybody else.

      I'm sure we will find out that some well meaning individual at Lycos added torrent tracking sites to their DoS list because, hey, if spamming is bad, then pirating is worse, right?

      --
      A planet where apes evolved from men? Long live the apes.
    4. Re:Some possibilities to check out by InadequateCamel · · Score: 1

      I consider myself to be a relatively new user (under 2 years). Look at my ID. Then look at yours. Notice the similarity?

    5. Re:Some possibilities to check out by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      (3) - It could be that the spammers have hijacked the bittorrent servers (as I understand, a lot of bittorrent hijacking has come from China. Perhaps not coincidentally, a lot of spammers use servers in China to host their activities.)


      Solution: Blackhole China.
    6. Re:Some possibilities to check out by Legion303 · · Score: 2, Funny

      "Slashdot just ain't what it used to be (as you can tell by looking at my low slashdot ID number)."

      In my day, we had to walk uphill in the snow for 5 miles to drop our posts in the Slashdot suggestion box.

      Both ways.

    7. Re:Some possibilities to check out by Matrix2110 · · Score: 1

      "I must be a long-time member. I don't think I've ever been able to respond to a "low slashdot ID" comment with "that's not low, you nube"."

      I just lucked out on my number because I listened to a friend at the right time. I screwed up the spelling when I first applied for an account.

      I would trade it all (Karma, low #, ect.) to redo that typo.

      Hey if your number is in the single digits or the astonishing seven digit members I have being seeing lately, All are welcome to Slashdot. Be civil and you will do well.

      My $.02

    8. Re:Some possibilities to check out by RedWizzard · · Score: 1
      In my day, we had to walk uphill in the snow for 5 miles to drop our posts in the Slashdot suggestion box.

      Both ways.

      You forgot "barefoot".
    9. Re:Some possibilities to check out by Legion303 · · Score: 1

      And we LIKED it!

    10. Re:Some possibilities to check out by Khaotix · · Score: 1

      Here I am wondering why I took so long to register. I could have made sub-100k.

    11. Re:Some possibilities to check out by MickLinux · · Score: 1

      Good points, but I'm going to save my mod points due to the boo hooing about being an elite oldschool slashdot user. Waaah, Waah, I have such a low user number that I'm superior to everybody else.

      That was a joke. I'm over half a million. You, on the other hand, are only at 24k.

      --
      Correct Horse Battery Staple: 72 bits of entropy. Enter "Correct H" into google. When it generates the phrase, that's
    12. Re:Some possibilities to check out by someguy · · Score: 1

      That was a joke. I'm over half a million. You, on the other hand, are only at 24k.

      Yeah, I was hoping for some irony there.

      I feel so old.

      Where am I? What was this threat about again?

      Damn kids.

      --
      A planet where apes evolved from men? Long live the apes.
  91. Re:That's fine by Dot.Com.CEO · · Score: 1

    You obviously don't understand Erisian teachings if you think conforming to slashdot groupthink is compatible with Lord Omar's Epistle to the Paranoids.

    --
    Mother is the best bet and don't let Satan draw you too fast.
  92. Re:That's fine by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Ya, it is good for people who hurt me. I love downloading warez and movies, I hate spam. Get over it. I am sick of these people trying to make an example of something thusly: "Well you like A, but don't like A when it applies to you." Well the world is full of fucking double standards, and I have lots of them. I will repeat. GET OVER IT. Let me make some bullet points... - I like downloading - I hate spam - I like bittorrent - I hate people that DDOS bittorrent There.

  93. Semi OT: Casey & Andy by Nitromaroder · · Score: 1
  94. Re:That's fine by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    How old fashioned... you mean people should come first? People should be considered more important than abstract legislative persons (corporations)?

    Lunacy!!!

  95. Re:This could be more widespread than these two si by myz24 · · Score: 1

    Is there a TSB related to this SYN flooding? I think my Mazda 6 is suffering from that ;-).

    But seriously, what site do you moderate for?

  96. RIAA as a suspect - Seriously! by Staplerh · · Score: 1

    While many other posters have jokingly suggested that the RIAA is culpable, and have been modded' funny', the knee jerk reaction to laugh is troublesome. I would not put it above the RIAA to carry out this sort of activity.

    For example, when downloading from the Kazaa network (I still use it occasionally), the majority of 'popular' music postings up there are put up there by the RIAA and consist of nothing but static/hissing or the music intersperesed with horrid screeching noises.

    This would be a legitimate tactic for the RIAA to employ, would it not, given that the RIAA could simply claim to be attacking an illegal company? Or am I simply wrapped up in conspiracy theories?

    --
    "There's no success like failure, and failure's no success at all."
    - Bob Dylan
    1. Re:RIAA as a suspect - Seriously! by LocalH · · Score: 1

      Their only legal form of attack is through the legal system. "Guerrilla" techniques such as this (should the **AA be responsible, of course), are illegal and someone should call them out on it. Regardless of what they think you're doing, they can't take the law into their own hands (after all, isn't that what they're pissed off that copyright infringers are doing?)

      --
      FC Closer
  97. Dilemma by Scorchio · · Score: 1

    I use suprnova essentially for time-shifting tv shows. For example, as I was away for thanksgiving, I missed Enterprise last Friday, and the Saturday repeat, so I downloaded it on Sunday, watched it and deleted it.

    So, um, am I breaking any laws here, or what?

    1. Re:Dilemma by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      So, um, am I breaking any laws here, or what?

      Most probably yes. But does it matter?
    2. Re:Dilemma by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Redistributing copyrighted material is against the law. If you used bit torrent to download copyrighted material then _yes_ you broke the law. That's simply how bit torrent works. While you are downloading (and hence uploading) or seeding (uploading only) you are breaking the law.

      Strangely if I tape a show and give it to you that is also copyright infringment.

      But if I tape a show myself and watch it later that's just time shifting and allowed under fair use.

      Now the act of watching something that you could have taped yourself without the commericals.... I don't think anyone has a problem with that. It's pretty much like having a tivo (something that isn't a crime yet.)

  98. Next-gen P2P?-Priorities. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Tsk, tsk. All this brainpower dedicated to the violation of a social contract, and we still don't have global peace, or a cure for all the illnesses of the world. Nice to see as a species we have our priorities straight.

    1. Re:Next-gen P2P?-Priorities. by algorith · · Score: 1

      I personally believe a P2P file sharing network that provides encrypted and unattributable content is crucial to dissidents in authoritarian countries. As such, it is important for those of us NOT YET under such a government to do as much research in this area as possible (while we still can).

      Taking only a narrow view of how such a network might be used to circumvent copyright is either uninformed, or indirectly supportive of such regimes.

      On the down side, said government will most likely go after ALL individuals even running the software...

  99. Who cares? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    As long as empornium is okay. :)

  100. wrapping trackers into clients is a bad, bad idea by sbma44 · · Score: 1

    Following up on the previous story about suprnova's new client... for sites like theirs I can understand the impulse -- move the trackers off the site (and its seeders) to decrease liability.

    But one of the best things about bittorrent is that it's port agnostic. The torrent file can specify the tracker on whatever port, so it's tough for industry to IP-scan for torrents. If you create a client with automatic trackers, that won't be the case, and BT traffic will be easily tracked and blocked.

    bad idea!

  101. Bullshit alert by TFGeditor · · Score: 2, Insightful

    "because we know most guns are used to kill peoples"

    In Iraq, Israel's West Bank, Congo, eta la, probably. In the U.S., Canada, and most of the Western World, not even close.

    Unless something has changed in the past few months, open-holster carry is legal in several U.S. states (e.g. Arizona), and concealed carry is legal in many others.

    If "most guns [were] used to kill peoples" (sic), the U.S. would differ littlke from a Third World country embroiled in civil war.

    Guns are not evil, period.

    --
    Ignorance is curable, stupid is forever.
    1. Re:Bullshit alert by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      > would differ littlke from a Third World country embroiled in civil war.

      The US does differ little from a Third World country. The murder rate in my native Congo is much less than where I live now. I live in Atlanta, GA, USA, and just as there are many more guns around here versus my home, there are many more murders. After all, how many non-gun owners murder someone? Not many. How many murderers use guns? In Atlanta, it's over 90%. It doesn't take a genius to see that guns are the cause of the vast majority of violence in the US. Going door to door to take those tools of death from the violent rednecks would make the US a much safer place. After all, how well can you concentrate on work when you're worried about some hick coming into the building again with a gun?

    2. Re:Bullshit alert by TFGeditor · · Score: 1

      "It doesn't take a genius to see that guns are the cause of the vast majority of violence in the US."

      It doesn't take a genius to see that penises cause the vast majority of rapes and unwanted teen pregnancies. Going door-to-door to take these tools of violence from the sick perverts would make the U.S. a much safer place.

      With modern tchnology, mankind does not need penises for procreation. Penises are a stale carryover from our violent, procreative past. To preserve humanity, we must ban penises.

      --
      Ignorance is curable, stupid is forever.
  102. Re:That's fine by SenorChuck · · Score: 1

    How many cars have you bought without test driving first?

    Why shouldn't we have software libraries, a la public libraries containing books and sometimes music and movies?

    An unfortunate reality with most available commercial software is that you have to install the software (read: the software copies itself to your computer) in order to use it. So, is this a legal grey area? Is it ok for the software to copy itself where it is not ok for you to copy the software *for* yourself?

    --
    A wise person makes his own decisions, a weak one obeys public opinion. -- Chinese proverb
  103. The key word is COMMERCIAL by TFGeditor · · Score: 1

    "The key word in my message is "distributing". I doubt that distributing an album to 300 people through bittorrent falls under non-commercial personal use copies"

    "Commercial" derives from "commerce," i.e. "for profit." Unless you charge money, barter, or otherwise profit from what you distrtibute, it is not commercial.

    Look at it this way: two people with identical skills perform a given task. One does it as a hobby, the other a a vocation. The one who gets paid id a "professional." The hobbyist is an "amature."

    Curious, no?

    --
    Ignorance is curable, stupid is forever.
  104. DDOS them!!!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Time to start a Distributed Denial of Service on them, like having a week during which nobody will buy any record or DVD from them. Active boycott is a very effective way to make them know that we care about the war they are starting.

    1. Re:DDOS them!!!! by HiThere · · Score: 1

      It's too late for me to start boycotting them...I'm in my 8th year now.

      --

      I think we've pushed this "anyone can grow up to be president" thing too far.
  105. OT: ADSL/static IPs by Technonotice_Dom · · Score: 1

    In the UK, my ISP gives a free static IP if you ask for it, so I have one.

    Assuming you're on ADSL, who do you use? Thanks :)

  106. adding the slashdot effect to a crippled net by infonography · · Score: 1

    Heisenberg would be proud.

    --
    Sorry about the writing. Robot fingers, you know? Cliff Steele in DOOM PATROL #23
  107. Re:That's fine by Badfysh · · Score: 3, Funny

    When carrying table legs always remember: 1. NEVER pretend it's a sawn off shotgun. 2. NEVER tell somebody in a pub you are going to kill them with a shotgun. 3. When confronted by armed police, PUT YOUR TABLE LEG DOWN. This is a good time to stop pretending you have a shotgun, or Darwinism may occur.

    --

    I was conned by an old man in a cloak. It turns out those *were* the droids I was looking for.

  108. This is actually... by globalar · · Score: 1

    ... a real problem (for infringers at least). BT is for many people centralized around a handfull of sites - even if they have mirrors. This means that it is both easier to troll for IP's and easier to choke the P2P networks. Enemies of P2P have a few huge eggbaskets to rock.

  109. Re:That's fine by diamondsw · · Score: 1

    But all countries operating under the Berne Convention do.

    --
    I don't know what kind of crack I was on, but I suspect it was decaf.
  110. Re:OT: ADSL/static IPs by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Zen give up to 8 static IPs for free with their home and business ADSL packages.

    From experience with them at both work and home they're amazingly helpful and competent, they also host our webspace and DNS.

  111. Happens all the time by Andy+Dodd · · Score: 1

    The tracker for EFNet's #tvtorrents (now at www.tvtorrents.net) seems to move every 3-4 months due to someone DDoSing the tracker.

    tvtorrents.com basically died as a result of frequent DDoSing. It's still up, but only a fraction of the people that used it still do because there was a point in time where the site would be down for 1-2 weeks at a time. Too bad, tvtorrents.com's ratio enforcement resulted in really nice download rates, typically 4-5 times faster than #tvtorrents' tracker, and FAR better than Suprnova (I've only encountered ONE torrent on Suprnova so far that actually worked.)

    --
    retrorocket.o not found, launch anyway?
    1. Re:Happens all the time by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      > I've only encountered ONE torrent on Suprnova so far that actually worked.

      I've had about the same experience. I've got about 100 torrent files in my dir where I keep the ones from suprnova.org, and I can only remember one of them working. I'm not knocking suprnova that much since BT is so horrible and it's not usually going to work, but suprnova is even more horrible than your average BT experience.

  112. Re:This could be more widespread than these two si by Nightbrood · · Score: 1

    I moderate over at clubatenza.com under the name PhatalOne.

  113. It may *NOT* have been DDoS'd by GuyverDH · · Score: 1

    Did anyone think about the impact that the new World of Warcraft may have had on these networks? The patch distribution is all done via Torrent effect. I am uncertain where the tracker server is located for WoW though.

    --
    Who is general failure, and why is he reading my hard drive?
    1. Re:It may *NOT* have been DDoS'd by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If it is just one server, why would it have affected more than one popular torrent service?

    2. Re:It may *NOT* have been DDoS'd by merdaccia · · Score: 1

      Umm, that makes no sense. For starters, Blizzard has their own protocol, it's not even normal BitTorrent (that's why Brian Cohen is working for them). Secondly, they have dedicated tracker(s), as they wouldn't allow arbitrary people to be in control of their patch distribution. Lastly, even if neither is the case, what would getting patches have to do with knocking trackers offline? Even thousands of people getting patches at roughly the same time wouldn't have this effect. They were attacked, no ifs ands or buts.

      --

      *blinking cursor*

  114. That's strange... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    In Korea, only old people die.

  115. The list of suspects by WebCowboy · · Score: 4, Insightful

    ...is longer than that. It could be an intriguing investigation...kind of like "who shot JR".

    RIAA if I'm not mistaken lobbied (unsucdessfully thank goodness) to have legislation put in place to permit them to hack into suspect computers at their discretion if I recall, and MPAA is just another pea in that IP-hoarding pod.

    Other suspects? There are too many to mention, but boradly speaking they might fall into one of several categories besides the above:

    * Large closed source software vendors or someone connected to them (Microsoft, etc). They would be trying to shut down a big source of piracy. I doubt it is Microsoft, they are not that dumb. In any case suprnova et al are not the right target...that is shooting the messenger, not the perpetrators who make use of their resources.

    * One of the above-mentioned perpetrators (copyright violators who up/download cracked software and movies). I've noticed that a sizeable minority of heavy BT users out there are immature and petty (probably teenagers sequestered in their basements). If they are knocked off suprnova or similar sites or are slagged in a community forum they get all out of joint and retaliate. The stupid turds brought it on themselves and such retaliation is not warranted.

    * Some of the seedier on-line proprietors, such as those who run revenue generating sites imitating the free suprnova.org, because if the free sites go away it might steer more revenue to them. I wouldn't put it past them

    * Commercial porno sites. P2P networks are full of porn (you don't even have to search on an obvious sexual keyword sometimes) and it is pretty much all ripped off of some pay site. Most (not all, but most) on-line porn businesses are run by people lacking morals and intelligence (witness the whining by one porno purveyor about Google caching thumbnail images and deep-linking into his site with regard to the latter). SO it is very likely a porn-vendor arranged the dDOS attacks.

    Part of me hopes it really was RIAA or MPAA...they are cartels that are unhealthy for the industry and it would be cool if there was finally a reason to shut them down. However, I think it's one of the latter 3 groups I mentioned.

    1. Re:The list of suspects by Breakfast+Pants · · Score: 4, Insightful

      You mention all these people as if there has to be a motive other than "its a popular site." It was most likely a 13 year old.

      --

      --

      WHO ATE MY BREAKFAST PANTS?
    2. Re:The list of suspects by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's the same botnet that did the attacks on the torrentse.cx site; so yes, it's the MPAA (by way of a few script kiddies).

    3. Re:The list of suspects by bluephone · · Score: 1

      Actually, porn purveyors are much less likely to crackdown on small time copyright infringement. Why? Free advertising. Why do you think they put logos and URLs on images? Back in the old days of BBSs, they realized that the small time informal distribution network of customers supplying what equates to "samples" of their product got them a LARGER revenue stream. Websites know these rules, and let small time "piracy" go, they only go after sites that are charging for "stolen" content, or sites that are copying massive amounts of content.

      --
      jX [ Make everything as simple as possible, but no simpler. - Einstein ]
    4. Re:The list of suspects by ZephyrXero · · Score: 0

      If the music industry would realize this, they would only benefit. P2P file sharing is the new radio. We try before we buy...

      --
      "A truly wise man realizes he knows nothing."
  116. MPAA, RIAA, SuprNova or KazaA? by BestNicksRTaken · · Score: 1

    It's gotta be either the MPAA / RIAA.

    It could be SuprNova trying to make a point that they need to be decentralised!

    Or the KazaA guys trying to make more people download KazaA3+Skype.

    --
    #include <sig.h>
  117. I can see it now...Universal permission. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "Suprnova traffics in torrent files, not copyrighted material. Of the content represented by those torrents, pretty much all of it is legal in some parts of the world."

    So's the cutting off of hands for some offenses.

  118. Real reason lokitorrent is down... by jenkles · · Score: 1

    It did recieve an attack a few days ago but it is down today for server maintanence. They Posted on the site on the Dec. 1 that it would be down for a day or two.

  119. Re:OT: ADSL/static IPs by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    There are lots of ISPs in the UK that offer static ips by default. Mostly just one ip address, but a few will give you more if you ask.

    Here are a few off the top of my head : zen, demon, silvermead, plusnet, andrews & arnold, and possibly bulldogdsl.

    It costs them more to juggle their ip addresses around every day, so the smaller companies dont bother.

  120. OT: sshd by JThundley · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I was thinking about that, but then I'd be locked out if at a friend's place or if an IP changed. I was thinking about doing knockd, except I have a regular hardware router, I don't want to foward the closed ports to my box. But just for you, here's my compromise :)

    tail -F current | bash ~/bin/sshdblocker2.sh

    #!/bin/bash
    #This script will go through the sshd log and DROP all the script kiddies/ wormed zombies out there attacking my precious server.
    #written by JT Hundley

    #This function will block the bastards. It will make sure that they are only blocked once.
    dropem()
    {
    #Extract the offending IP address from the line:
    ip=$(echo $line | cut -d " " -f 12)
    #if that ip is already specified in the iptables rules, then do nothing.
    if iptables -L -n | grep "$ip" &>/dev/null; then
    echo Duplicate
    else
    #otherwise, drop it like a sack o' shit!
    iptables -A INPUT -s $ip -j DROP
    fi
    }

    #Here's the real shit:
    while read line; do
    #Check for bad stuff:
    if echo $line | grep -i 'Illegal user test' ; then dropem
    fi
    done

  121. Re:That's fine by geekboy642 · · Score: 0

    She? You must be newer here than me!

    --
    Just another "DOJ fascist authoritarian totalitarian bootlicker" -- Zeio
  122. Problem Solved by paretooptimum · · Score: 1

    12/01 - Planned site outage on Dec 2nd 2004 (by lowkee)
    LokiTorrent, MuffTorrent and their respective forums will be closed on Dec 2nd while we make some major site code changes that cannot be performed with the sites online.

    The trackers for both sites WILL remain online during this time, so get you torrent downloads in today if you think you want something tomorrow. The site will not be down the ENTIRE day, but I'm trying to play it safe :)

    - The LokiTorrent Staff

  123. Re:That's fine by DashEvil · · Score: 1

    His argument is stupid anyway. Example exploiting the stupidity of his logic:

    You like when criminals are imprisioned, but would you like it if you were imprisioned?

    --
    -If God wanted people to be better than me, he would have made them that way.
  124. Re:OT: ADSL/static IPs by gbjbaanb · · Score: 1

    I'm on PlusNet. they've done me well, and 2 colleagues (except once, when lightning blew his router up and he tried phoning them for a free replacement.. obviously he didn't get one)

    Its also cheap and uncapped if you go for the slightly more expensive option (I do about 800Mb a day which isn't like some people do, but no hint of a complaint from the ISP). (You want the 'premier' package for £21.99, and buy your own router from ebuyer for example, the one you can buy off them is a bit expensive and cheap and has only 1 ethernet port)

    Getting the static IP was simply a matter of clicking the button on the account page once signed up.

    Here you go for them, let me know so I can refer you for the 50p :)

  125. Re:bad guys that suck by saskboy · · Score: 1

    "I'm sure that in the end it will be something along these lines: someone in the forum started flaming, words were exchanged, feelings were hurt, and some pimply-faced 14 year old decided to get even."

    If so, then all we need to do is call the stupid, ugly bastard bad names, and make fun of his mother/pig, and he'll start flaming us here after doing a vanity-google-search and discovers a week from now that we were talking trash about him.

    --
    Saskboy's blog is good. 9 out of 10 dentists agree.
  126. Re:OT: ADSL/static IPs by Technonotice_Dom · · Score: 1

    Ah yes, I used them at my last job. Only trouble I had was the Binatone (yeuch) routers they supplied with the connection. Horrible, horrible things. We set up 3 connections with them, and they'd all be intermittent - particularly UDP (with DNS) would have huge problems. We eventually found a firmware upgrade for it, and they worked fine after that. PlusNet (aka Force9) had no ideas on the problem.

    Even still, I think I'll be going with them... and they're not charging the setup fee when you switch providers at the moment. E-mail me the referrer code at dominic (a t) computerkb (d o t) co (d o t) uk and when I eventually get around to it, I'll do that! :) I'll probably go for the 1MB conn...

  127. Re:That's fine by olman · · Score: 1

    If you are in a country with membership of the EU, you might be interested* in reading Directive 2001/29 EC on the harmonisation of certain aspects of copyright and related rights in the information society. This has most definitely had an impact on the copyright regime in the UK, although, even before this, unauthorised distribution of copyrighted files was not permitted.

    You speak as if the directive was universally written to law in every member country. It isn't. And probably won't ever be as it is with clauses such as making console modchips flat-out illegal and such.

    Maybe we'll someday have such directives, but only after we've had a decent civil war about it and start calling it a Federation..

  128. Nostalgic by mattr · · Score: 2, Interesting
    Well, I have a story from 1995 in Japan when I started one of the first couple of ISPs in Japan. One guy who didn't understand the net came into our tiny humming office and said he wanted us to build a "missile" that he could use to shoot at other people (well I guess computers) through the net. I gave up talking to him and showed him the door. Is Tenet asking for manufacturers to voluntarily provide the keys and a blind eye to give the government the ability to do this sort of thing? Say to shut down a spam zombie computer or to get the street address of any node on the net? Well.. aside from that anecdote I think this calls for the following analysis.

    In the following excerpt by the past head of the CIA,

    line 1 is either (a) silly, (b) evil, or (c) intelligent depending on your point of view. Silly because it sounds like sticking your finger in a hole in a dike; evil because it could mean anything draconian; intelligent in case it happens to be only talking about companies running critical infrastructure, who would maybe have to take rigorous security audits or not be allowed to have those facilities online. (c) makes sense but is the lowest probability, since the talk was made intentionally very vague and without press.

    Line 2 similarly is (a) silly or (b) evil if talking about anybody not running sensitive infrastructure, and (c) intelligent if talking about the critical facilities. Line 3 sounds like he wants software companies to be more careful about security. Sounds like a good thing but then again what the CIA calls security is smoke and mirrors for ulterior motives, control, and punitive damage (until recently only outside U.S. borders), whereas most other people would call building strong personal firewalls and encryption security because it keeps the individual owner safe. No stomach for multiple choice here. Perhaps he has an occupational disease which prevents him from saying anything clearly and putting himself on the line? No chance of rehabilitation for this guy. Even if he was I guess the successor of the President's father or something like that. Maybe he should take up skydiving?

    My analysis is that this is a retired professional scary guy trying to be relevant but incapable of doing anything but sounding silly or scary to anyone with a brain. People without brains generally think he's smart, etc. Which is too bad because if he could learn to speak more clearly he would be more effective and might have something useful to say about dealing with cyber-security threats (though I'd rather hear from the NSA's linux team about it than from a failed spymaster). This is why businesspeople in the real world never listen to government types. They can never say anything useful about anything directly, it is always vague scariness about vapor policies with a hint of powerplay behind it. BORING 90s SHIT!

    Access to networks like the World Wide Web might need to be limited to those who can show they take security seriously, he said.

    Mr. Tenet called for industry to lead the way by "establishing and enforcing" security standards.

    Products need to be delivered to government and private-sector customers "with a new level of security and risk management already built in."

  129. Re:That's fine by clambake · · Score: 1

    You obviously don't understand Erisian teachings if you think conforming to slashdot groupthink is compatible with Lord Omar's Epistle to the Paranoids.

    *Understand* Erisian teachings? My friend, if I even had an *inkling* what the true meaning of Erisian teachings were I wouldn't be remotely qualified in my position of High Priest of Eris.

  130. Re: about cable bandwidth by CoderJoe · · Score: 1

    How about cable? There's no technical reason for asymmetric cable connections, yet they all want an arm and a leg and your first born son to get anything. Maybe upload bandwith costs them more, but I can't believe it's at all proportionate. There has to be some motivation for them so harshly discouraging uploads.

    But there are technical reasons. Cablemodems use 256QAM (Quarature Amplitude Modulation) to modulate the data on the cable line. For both upstream and downstream, there are multiple channels, but there are many more downstream channels than upstream. All of the downstream channels are in the 700MHz band. The upstream channels are all around 20MHz, because it takes less power to send a signal the same distance at 20MHz than 700MHz. Due to being such a low frequency, the wavelength is larger, and you can't encode as many QAM symbols per second as you can with a shorter wavelength that you would have at 700MHz. My cablemodem is currently using cablemodem upstream channel 6, which is at 23.750MHz and has a QAM symbol rate of 2.56 million symbols per second. That means that it would theoretically be able to achieve 18Mbit/s on the upstream. My downstream is on 741.0MHz, which has a max symbol rate of 5.360537Msym/s, which means a theoretical throughput of 38.811Mbit/s. But that is without sharing with other modems on the same frequencies.

  131. Re:That's fine by Thing+1 · · Score: 1
    I doubt that distributing an album to 300 people through bittorrent falls under non-commercial personal use copies
    Would 299 copies fall under that? 2? 150? Where do you draw the line?
    --
    I feel fantastic, and I'm still alive.