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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"
He could always use VMWare.
This is clearly a Ninja plot.
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.
One presumes that he has been required to surrender his hardware (all of it) to the authorities for the installation of the tracking software which phones home to indicate what he's doing (at whatever level of granularity it tracks such things).
He could probably get away with VMWare or the like running Linux under Windows, but that would just run the risk of landing him in jail.
His best bet is Cygwin, the suite of open source tools for Windows that includes everything you need to essentially subvert a Windows desktop and make it think it's a Unix-like OS. It's not 100% perfect, but it's a far cry better than pure Windows. I regularly use a Windows laptop with X running under it, ssh to my office with X-forwarding and several gnome-terminals running on my work desktop.
Other than that, the only native Windows apps I use are Firefox and Thunderbird, so it's often hard to tell what OS it actually is.
Sounds like the latest "Catch a Hacker" episode of Dateline NBC. Ace investigative reporter Michelle Madigan uncovers a new operating system used by hackers, pirates and cybercriminals to go on an internet crime spree. What is Ubuntu and why is the government helpless to stop it?
"Linux: The only operating system the NSA doesn't 0wn."
--
Toro
Or are they going to buy a legit copy for him?
Maybe he can run the tracking software under WINE?
Or he could have offered them to port the tracking tool to Linux. :-)
The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
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.
They can really punish him by making him run windows ME.
"They can really punish him by making him run windows ME."
Um, They can really punish him by making him * try* to run windows ME.
deleting the extra space after periods so i can stay relevant, yeah.
NT phone home...
Science advances one funeral at a time- Max Planck
Careful now... Windows gateways, virtual machines, ... ? This is voodoo for an average gov't worker. It's technologies that can be used for terrorist activities too!
Beware: In C++, your friends can see your privates!
Or the feds could just release the source code. I presume they bought it as part of the contract, or else they are reckless fools.
There are places where the networks are not touching,and there are places where they are-Boeing's Lori Gunter
He should just violate copyright and post the software to The Pirate Bay and let people have a crack at it (pun intended).
"Then again I've worked for several newspapers as a writer, copy editor, and layout editor and I've had my sense of humor beat out of me."
There, fixed it for ya.
There are only 6,863,795,529 types of people in the world.
No, because [Continue][Cancel]unlike Windows[Continue][Cancel] Me, Windows [Cancel][Allow]Vista actually [Continue][Cancel]works.
The Christian Right is Neither (Christian nor right). See: Matthew 23, Matthew 25, Ezekiel 16:48-50