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Pirate Banned From Using Linux
dsinc writes "A guy who uploaded the latest Star Wars movie got arrested, pleaded guilty to 'conspiracy to commit copyright infringement' and 'criminal copyright infringement' and got jail and home confinement. As part of his home confinement, he agreed to install some tracking software on his computer. The problem is He's an Ubuntu Linux user and the gov't doesn't have any tracking software for Linux. So he's been told that he must use Windows for the term of his confinement. Looks like a case of cruel and unusual punishment to me"
And have Linux boxes behind it?
You could've hired me.
Take it in context...
They probably offered him a deal to spend home time versus all jail time if he agreed to certain terms. They are not FORCING him to use windows, they are saying that if he wants the easy path of punishment, he has to abide by certain rules.
Also the requirement would only be for if he uses a computer at all. He's perfectly welcome to simply not use one at all.
All in all, he got off easy and just has to fullow the very simple rules in order to get the easy version of punishment.
Why? Because he's a convict still serving his sentence (that's why he's under home confinement). If he doesn't like the terms of home confinement, he can always go back in the slammer and have even more restricted access.
I read comments on here about video cameras in the UK and why don't we stick up for our rights. Here is a case of someone being sent to to jail for pirating a movie. This is not an offence worthy of jail time at tax payers' expense. When are you guys going to say enough of this bullshit?
In this world nothing is certain but death, taxes and flawed car analogies.
People have made this comment on every single thread on this topic everywhere (Slashdot is the third site I've seen this story on), and it's still wrong and (frankly) nonsensical.
The requirement is that they run software that can monitor his computer activities. The complication is that the software is Windows-only so it won't run on his Linux system. Your suggestion accomplishes neither party's goal: It wouldn't let them monitor his computer activity, and it wouldn't let him run Linux as the OS on his machine (he'd have to run Windows, and then screw around, and then maybe run some Linux apps in a VM while still paying for a Windows license and dealing with Windows crap).
-- The act of censorship is always worse than whatever is being censored. Always.
See, if I was the judge, I'd say he wasn't allowed to use a computer, period, for the duration of whatever sentence is being carried out.
Sure, but he's done the jail time, and he's not complaining about the probation term at all.
Just because someone has committed a crime does not mean that the government gets to impose arbitrary terms on them without an explicit court ruling. It especially doesn't mean that the government should be mandating specific non-optimal technical choices that interfere the livelyhood of an expert in a technical field.
Mandating Windows to a computer expert so they can be tracked for piracy is like mandating a Chrysler mini-van to a farmer because he beat his wife. Sure, you can carry produce to market in a mini-van, but making the farmer buy a new Chrysler mini-van to replace his perfectly functional Toyota pickup truck is absurd.
-- The act of censorship is always worse than whatever is being censored. Always.
By `indirect' I mean things like not being able to get a good job, being shunned/tormented/killed by people merely because you're a registered sex offender, etc.
By `direct' I mean going to jail, paying fines, probation, even having to register as a sex offender.
Yeah, damn dirty rapist murdering prick...oh wait...he uploaded the new Star Wars. Well, I guess this is the joy of treating copyright infringement as a criminal offense. Unless of course the infringement wasn't the offense, and that subjecting that many people to the latest Star Wars is considered a crime against humanity.
The only change I can believe in is what I find in my couch cushions.
The man committed a crime for which there are punishments. It's called THE LAW. In doing so he essentially forked over some of his rights to the government, things like the ability to and do whatever he wants. The government in this case was kind enough to say "Normally this is a jailable offence, however we don't think you really need to go to the pen. Instead we're going to confine you to your house and monitor you computer to ensure that you're not pirating stuff from home. Since we don't have anything compatible with your OS, you'll have to switch to Windows."
It's no different than them saying "We'll let you out of jail early on certain conditions, such as not committing a crim for the next 3 years."
On a personal note, I was hoping that the story was about a real pirate...that would've been infinitely more interesting. =)
"Life's short and hard, like a body building elf." -- The Bloodhound Gang
Yes, take it in context, he pirated a bunch of movies - clearly not something that should be jailtime. At most maybe a steep fine, but jailtime is to keep the freakazoids out of society until we can get them (hopefully) rehabilitated to work properly in said society - it shouldn't really be looked at as punishment.
Frankly, I don't believe punishing a wrong works all that well -- you have to psychologically change the person to prevent them from doing it again. Of course, my opinion is my own, largely untrained, based upon a relatively quick judgement =P
in girum imus nocte et consumimur igni
Which whatever. There's many things said person might do. All of them will leave traces. All of them are likely to be poorly received by by whoever is going to assess compliance. Any sign of fiddling is probably going to be deemed as wilful violation of conditions and maybe result in a Mitnick style prohibition. The goal is not to prevent the behaviour.
"Everything is adjustable, provided you have the right tools"
Or a VPN,
if the Government cant run applications on Linux Whats the chance of them recognizing a VPN?
~Dan
An SQL query goes to a bar, walks up to a table and asks, "Mind if I join you?"