'I Was a Hacker for the MPAA'

Wired has up an article with a man named Robert Anderson, who was recruited by the MPAA in 2005 to inform on people in the BitTorrent community. In a tell-all interview with the site, Anderson explains how the powerful media organization encouraged him to obtain the information they were looking for: "According to Anderson, the MPAA told him: 'We would need somebody like you. We would give you a nice paying job, a house, a car, anything you needed.... if you save Hollywood for us you can become rich and powerful.' In 2005, the MPAA paid Anderson $15,000 for inside information about TorrentSpy -- information at the heart of a copyright-infringement lawsuit brought by the MPAA against TorrentSpy of Los Angeles. The material is also the subject of a wiretapping countersuit against the MPAA brought by TorrentSpy's founder, Justin Bunnell, who alleges the information was obtained illegally."

Comments

obligatory

[Anonymous Coward]

Mister Anderson...

Re:obligatory

[mfh]

No, Neo would never work for the robots.

Re:obligatory

[im just cannonfodder]

This maybe a silly question but isn't hacking illegal in the usa as part of GW,Bush's anti terror laws? If this is the case shouldn't the mpaa members all now be under investigation by the cia/fbi?

Re:obligatory

[peterpi]

You're pissing into the wind.

Re:obligatory

[morgan_greywolf]

Yes. 1030. Fraud and related activity in connection with computers states that:

[Anyone who] ...knowingly and with intent to defraud, accesses a protected computer without authorization, or exceeds authorized access, and by means of such conduct furthers the intended fraud and obtains anything of value, unless the object of the fraud and the thing obtained consists only of the use of the computer and the value of such use is not more than $5,000 in any 1-year period; The term "protected computer" is defined as:

(B) which is used in interstate or foreign commerce or communication, including a computer located outside the United States that is used in a manner that affects interstate or foreign commerce or communication of the United States; (i) the offense was committed for purposes of commercial advantage or private financial gain;

(ii) the offense was committed in furtherance of any criminal or tortious act in violation of the Constitution or laws of the United States or of any State Hello, Mr. Federal Prosecutor? Where are you?

Re:obligatory

[jackharrer]

patriot does not apply to true american companies(tm) and bush's cronies(r), especially if it prevents them from making money and/or protecting the True American Dream(tm)

Fixed it for you!

Re:obligatory

[ResidntGeek]

I want you to read this following line very carefully:

SHUT UP.

You're fighting a battle which was stupid even before it was lost, 10 years ago. To the general population, when Joey Pimpleface finds some code on the internet that lets him sniff out some doofus's password, that is hacking. That makes it the case, whether you like it or not. You're never, ever going to realign the definition of the term, not even if you did more than post on slashdot about it (which you won't). Do what you do with every other word in the damn language, and use it the same way everyone else does. Suddenly, magically, you'll find you can communicate with other lifeforms! Imagine that!

By the way,

Who would have thought that some day we would actually be respected, to the point that the jocks and cheerleaders would actually try to pass themselves off as us?

You're so naive I almost hate to burst your bubble on that one, but no. Leaving aside your high-school perception of the world, the thing that set nerds and geeks apart is lack of social skills. I can assure you "jocks and cheerleaders", as you so eloquently put it, do not try to imitate an inability to socialize. Geeks and nerds are respected once they learn how to socialize, to become like the "jocks and cheerleaders" in that sense.

Re:obligatory

[MadJo]

Geez, lay off the caffeine next time.

"Hacking" or "to hack" has many different meanings already. (The term was not invented by those 'hackers', and will not be the sole property of said hackers.
Google and Xerox don't like it when their name is used as a verb, but it still happens. If you don't believe me, then google it.)

Merriam Webster defines "hack" as follows:

Main Entry:

Pronunciation:
        \hak\
Function:
        verb
Etymology:
        Middle English hakken, from Old English -haccian; akin to Old High German hacchn to hack, Old English hc hook
Date:
        13th century

transitive verb
1 a: to cut or sever with repeated irregular or unskillful blows
b: to cut or shape by or as if by crude or ruthless strokes
c: annoy, vex --often used with off
2: to clear or make by or as if by cutting away vegetation
3 a: to manage successfully
b: tolerate

intransitive verb
1 a: to make chopping strokes or blows ; also : to make cuts as if by chopping
b: to play inexpert golf
2: to cough in a short dry manner
3: loaf --usually used with around
4 a: to write computer programs for enjoyment
b: to gain access to a computer illegally

Yes, the term is being muddied by the media, but language is always in flux, meanings change. New words appear. Perhaps it's time to give the 'white hat' hackers a new term? Or start using the term 'white hat' more.

Re:obligatory

[Actually, I do RTFA]

You're never, ever going to realign the definition of the term, not even if you did more than post on slashdot about it (which you won't). Do what you do with every other word in the damn language, and use it the same way everyone else does.

Yes and no. Within the slashdot community, the word hacker has a different meaning. It is stupid to expect that meaning to apply outside slashdot, but inside one expects the word "hacker" not to get thrown around so much. Much like using "weight" at a physicists convention means something different (and more accurate) than in the locker room at your gym.

Re:obligatory

[Hatta]

That makes it the case, whether you like it or not. You're never, ever going to realign the definition of the term, not even if you did more than post on slashdot about it (which you won't). Do what you do with every other word in the damn language, and use it the same way everyone else does. Suddenly, magically, you'll find you can communicate with other lifeforms! Imagine that!

So I take it you call your monitor your "computer", your tower your "CPU", and the whole thing your "hard drive"? That's what the general population does, so you should too.

Re:obligatory

[DanielJosphXhan]

Definitions and the meaning of words are, at least if you accept that definition of the meaning of a word.

Re:obligatory

[Independent Voter]

Actually, multiple personality disorder is a form of schizophrenia. So, people who say that those with multiple personality disorder have schizophrenia, they're not wrong, just inexact.

I started hacking and cracking in 1983, way before it was "cool". At the time, according to me and my friends who were much better hackers and crackers than I was (including one Pentagon computer hacker who eventually got caught), cracking is a subform of hacking.

Language evolves and meanings change. Happens every year with lots of words. During the transition, it creates confusion, but then the new meaning takes over and settles in and communication continues. take "hacking", for example. It used to just mean "beating something with a sharp object"...

Re:obligatory

[modecx]

More like pissing into the exhaust of a GE90 turbofan engine.

Re:obligatory

[cayenne8]

"To the general population, someone with multiple personalities has schizophrenia. "

"Roses are Red,

Violets are Blue,

I'm schizophrenic,

And so am I..."

Wow. Dark Side ahoy!

[meringuoid]

...if you save Hollywood for us you can become rich and powerful.

"...and we will rule the Galaxy together!"

"Noooooooooooo!"

I'm glad that I no longer consume mass media.

[Anonymous Coward]

After reading about crap like this, I'm happy that I no longer consume the shit spewed forth by the mass media. Just over two years ago I sold my TV and DVD player, gave away the DVDs and CDs I had to relatives and friends. Since then I haven't watched TV, watched a movie (on disc or in the theater), listened to mainstream music, or otherwise involved myself with their product.

Instead of buying mainstream CDs, I go listen to local bands play at a variety of pubs and other venues, and buy directly from them if I like what I hear. The local theater productions are often far better than the latest Bruce Willis shitflick out of Hollywood. Instead of watching TV, I go biking, rockclimbing, and I also play recreational badminton.

So I'm glad to say that my funding of this sort of bullshit has been minimal, if at all. I urge more people to take a path similar to the one that I've chosen. You'll be far better off, both in terms of the entertainment you do experience, the money you save, and the fact that you're not funding the mainstream media in any way.

Re:I'm glad that I no longer consume mass media.

[DanielJosphXhan]

Wow. But do you use your x-ray vision and power of flight for the good of humanity?

Re:I'm glad that I no longer consume mass media.

[Choad Namath]

I also play recreational badminton.

So was it this line, or your overwhelming smugness that caused you to comment anonymously?

More like a cracker with no brains

[WindBourne]

If they would give him anything, and he only got 15K?????? What an idiot.

Re:More like a cracker with no brains

[PopeRatzo]

I think you guys are on to something. They offer him riches and power and 15k is what he settles for.

Selling your soul is one thing, but selling it cheap is unconscionable.

Remember, though, when it comes to the buying and selling of souls: You get what you pay for.

Re:More like a cracker with no brains

[Hijacked Public]

I read that as they promised him anything.

He probably asked for $10 million and they probably agreed. After deduxcting various ancilliary expenses, office rental, studio time, roadies, electrical power factor multiplier, candy bars, in office Jolt delivery, the deposit on his office key, and various other miscellaneous Usual & Customary Fees, and taxes, his check was about $15k.

Re:More like a cracker with no brains

[Midnight Thunder]

If they would give him anything, and he only got 15K?????? What an idiot.

Maybe he signed the same contract most as most RIAA artists (there doesn't seem to be much between RIAA and MPAA).

Hm

[Kaitnieks]

If this is really true, it must mean that MPAA seriously believe they can close illegal interweb media distribution channels. Either they underestimate scale of the problem or overestimate their own power and influence, in any case they live in a dream world.

Re:Hm

[Artifakt]

It sounds fantastic, but I almost believe this story. Paying someone just $15,000 and thinking it would both make a major dent in their problems and get the kind of service they would need is all of a piece with 'living in a dream world'. The pattern fits - the MPAA has shown in other actions that they would think it's smart to spend lots on politicians, but hire somebody technical with the promise a good job and a pay off in chump change. Look at the small companies they have picked to implement various DRM schemes, and how easily those schemes have failed.
      In unrelated news, NASA has hired New Jersey laundrymat owner Marco Delgrepio to create a permanent lunar colony. For now, they're only offering him $15,000, but if he just beats some invading space aliens by uploading a virus from his apple powerbook, he'll get a car. It's a really nice car.

"Didn't know"? Right.

[MoonFog]

The MPAA does not dispute it paid Anderson for the sensitive information, but insists that it had no idea that Anderson stole the data. "The MPAA obtains information from third parties only if it believes the evidence has been collected legally," says MPAA spokeswoman Elizabeth Kaltman.

Essentially, the MPAA said "we will give you anything if you rat these people out and obtain evidence for us", yet "didn't know" he was doing it illegally? Please, just shows how desperate they can be and what kind of morale these people have.

Re:"Didn't know"? Right.

[gsslay]

Is there not something deliciously ironic about one set of criminals complaining about the illegal, immoral activities of another?

Actually, the situation is just a bit too cloying for my tastes.

Re:"Didn't know"? Right.

[MoonFog]

Surprising? Not really, expected more like it, but this is an organisation that constantly calls entire P2P networks into question because there MIGHT be illegitimate content on them. They even slam the protocol itself, claiming it is illegal, and are caught red handed doing illegal deeds themselves. Schadenfreude more than surprise I'd say.

Re:"Didn't know"? Right.

[CmdrGravy]

To be fair if I instructed my minions to:

"Get this project finished to everyones satisfaction and I don't care how you do it"

I'd be a bit surprised if they came back to me the next day and said

"Hey boss, that project thing. It's all fixed up real nice now. Real nice"

And it turned out they'd done it by killing all the people who were waiting for it.

I think most rational people when told to use whatever means necessary take it for granted this means whatever means available within the law. Particulary if you've signed a contract specifically saying that.

This Anderson bloke is basically an idiot, the MPAA paid him peanuts, probably knew full well he was going to break the law to get them the information they wanted but let him go ahead with it anyway having insulated themselves as much as possible from any actions he sees fit to take upon himself.

Re:"Didn't know"? Right.

[jfuredy]

In Germany we have a word for that: "Catch the thief, he has my knife in his back!"

Wow! German must be an amazing language if that can be translated into a single word!!

Mr. Anderson

[Anonymous Coward]

Tell me, Mr. Anderson, what good is a 100mbps connection when you are unable to share?

Re:MPAA losing money

[Fred_A]

MPAA Lose: Total: (5257 + 11556)* $19.99dlls = $336,091.87dlls
MPAA Lose: Total: (5182 + 7394) * 19.99dlls = $251,394.24dlls/qhote>
Who would have thought dynamic libraries were so popular on p2p networks. I wonder what people do with them.

Re:MPAA losing money

[deftcoder]

You're forgetting that the overwhelming majority of people pirating those films would NOT pay to see them.

So, let's say about $100 USD per film and call it even.

Re:Oh Please

[BlueStrat]

"If you save Hollywood for us you can become rich and powerful"? Does anyone really think the MPAA's lawyers are dumb enough to give a quote like that?

Apparently, you've never had any dealings with talent scouts or record label A&R reps. They routinely promise the world to their prospects, but end up bending them over with no lube. This is entertainment industry SOP.

Cheers!

Strat

Promises, promises

[smchris]

We would give you a nice paying job, a house, a car, anything you needed.... if you save Hollywood for us you can become rich and powerful.' In 2005, the MPAA paid Anderson $15,000

Where does Anderson live, Lesotho?

Was a dark and stormy night

[packetmon]

"If I can only perl -pi -e 's:torrent:torrentspy4daMPAA:g' torrentSourceCode.c I can become a martyr with my story" said Mr. Anderson as he duped numerous websites into believing his story.

Re:When hypocrites attack...

[Opportunist]

So if I resort to illegal practices to protect an outdated business model that's no longer viable it's all right and fine? So those hackney drivers should've been allowed to slice car tires and blow up trains? Workers of a Detroit car plant should pool their last cents and rent a sub to sink those carrier ships from Japan?

Interesting point of view.

You no longer consume mass media?

[Chas]

Yet you're on the Internet?

Riiight!

Re:You no longer consume mass media?

[gardyloo]

Here's a good article [pcmag.com] about it by /.'s favorite John Dvorak. Well, that statement right there is about equivalent to a divide-by-zero. I'll pass.

What an effing crock!

[Fuzzypig]

Biggest pile of Elephant wank I have ever seen! "If you hack TorrentSpy", "you can have anything you wish for", so here's a measly $15k! If he was tasked with saving a multi-billion dollar industry on his own, surely they could have a a quick whip-round at the MPAA directors meetings and probably raise 10x that in small change!!! Hacing TorrentSpy??!! WTF!? Hardly rocket science is it, its a publicly open web-server pushing out glorified text files telling you where file sharers are sharing copyrihted material! A few pokes about on WhoIs, the odd phone call here and there, leaving the IP collector on a few weeks on a few very popular torrents, work out the ISPs of those sharers and Bob's your Auntie's Live-In Lover, bish-bosh-zoom $500k please!

I'm sorry, but this smacks of FUD from the MPAA/RIAA bullshit, brain-storm meeting! How can we scare off casual "pirates"? I know, says bow-tied twat number 1, lets make up shit about professional hackers gathering your details and bringing down the fabric of society, or at least one of the 75 popular torrent sites.

Re:MPAA losing money

[dave420]

And if those people aren't actually going to buy the movie:

I.Now.Pronounce.You.Chuck.And.Larry[2007]DvDrip[Eng]-aXXo SE 5257 LE 11556
MPAA Lose: Total: (5257 + 11556)* $0 = $0

Pirates.Of.The.Caribbean-At.World's.End[2007]DvDrip[Eng]-aXXo 10-17 19:11 Decargar 900.29 MiB 5182 7394
MPAA Lose: Total: (5182 + 7394) * $0 = $0

Or, if the people who download it will buy it on DVD or go to see it at the cinema, then there is no correlation between those who download and lost revenue. None at all.

Re:When hypocrites attack...

[Dunbal]

So an association of businesses used legal methods to protect their legal and legitimate income stream.

      Mr. Coward, please tell me why I can't:

a) watch a DVD that I purchased legally on my television via the TV-Out port on my video card, using my computer's DVD drive to read this legal DVD? Macrovision prevents that. There are ways around it, but they are illegal due to the DMCA.

b) watch a DVD that I purchased legally in linux, because apparently Hollywood hasn't bothered to write an official DVD-decoder for that operating system, yet they maintain that if anyone else does it, it's a DMCA violation?

The article misspoke . . .

[Nebuul]

It's pretty clearly obvious that they did not give him $15,000. What they ACTUALLY did was give him a free song download *valued at $15,000*

Jesus, please read the article before writing summaries!

Let me read your emails then

[emj]

It's easy to say that, but the right to privacy applies to criminals too. Perhaps we would have an easier time getting criminals caught if we wiretapped everybody, then they will have the same right as everyone else, and can't complain.

The reason you want criminals to get away, is because you don't want to be treated the same way. These rules apply whether you are an angry spouse, big company or the police.

Re:MPAA losing money

[saltydog56]

What a crock of shit. If the tired old "I would not have bought it anyways ..." tripe is the best logic you can come up with it is clear that you must have lost a bet with God and as a result, had to submit to a lobotomy. Clear and simple, you are pinching a service which you have not paid for.

Just because the jackasses in the entertainment industry are a bunch of slime maggots does not mean that you have the right to use whatever means you can find to circumvent their business model - the bottom line is that the movies and music you are stealing is their property, created at their expense, not yours. So of course they have the right to control the distribution of the fruits of their labors. No matter how screwed up they are.

If you were caught picking the lock on the back door of a concert hall in order to get into a concert for free would you expect the coppers to send you on your way after you explained that you really did not want to see the band anyways because their music sucks?

If you were caught jumping the door on a city bus to get a free ride would the judge turn you loose after you explained that there was no loss of profits because there were empty seats anyways? I think not.

How is this any different than taking your handi-cam into your local strip club and filming the goings on for your next "skanks gone wild" movie on the basis that the wench was going to be on the pole anyways?

All you are doing is making a lame attempt at justifying your lack of respect for the rights of others.

Quotes from his diary...

[jpellino]

Anderson: Okay, here's the plan. We get the data and then hold the RIAA ransom for... 15 HUNDRED dollars!
Number Two: [clears throat] Sir, strictly speaking, fifteen hundred dollars will not go very far these days. My butler alone makes over fifteen hundred dollars a week.
Anderson: Really? Okay then... we hold the RIAA ransom for 15... THOUSAND dollars!

Re:MPAA losing money

[Technician]

How many of those downloads are the same as a lost sale? I doubt the quality is the same as the retail DVD and could fetch the same price. Was it a lost sale, or a lost rental? At full retail price, would the lack of a download make a retail purchase? The prices given are as always, shown as the MAX possible loss for the most impact. Many people who would never pay full retail would buy if the price was reasonable. I for one don't spend over $15 on DVD's. Most of the time, I spend under $10. Calling DVD's at twice that price a lost sale at $19.99 because it can be downloaded is a pipe dream. It's a lost sale because it is $19.99.

MAFIAA hacker?

[jollyreaper]

Ho boy, he's not going to have a good time when he makes it to the big house. If there's one thing hardened cons can't stand, it's a snitch. And if there's a subset of snitches they really can't stand, it's people who mess up file sharing for everyone else. This one guy had posted a bunch of torrents that were supposed to be really good movies but were instead just mislabeled copies of Britney Spear's Crossroads... that poor bastard got shivved in the shower.

Wait, what's that? He's not going to jail? *throws down hat, stomps on it* What the hell is this country coming to?

internet != mass media

[weighn]

Re:You no longer consume mass media?
Yet you're on the Internet?

Riiight! Mass media is a term used to denote a section of the media specifically envisioned and designed to reach a very large audience such as the population of a nation state.
Mainstream is, generally, the common current of thought of the majority.

So, if AC just reads /. as opposed to, say, Digg he/she does not consume mass media. Objection overruled.

If he had hacked Microsoft

[speaker of the truth]

If this person had hacked Microsoft and posted the Windows source code online you would all be heralding him as a true freedom fighter. However because he hacked someone you like you say what he did was wrong.

I guess the motto here at slashdot is "you must respect people's rights, unless we don't like them."

Re:If he had hacked Microsoft

[Enrique1218]

If this person had hacked Microsoft and posted the Windows source code online you would all be heralding him as a true freedom fighter. However because he hacked someone you like you say what he did was wrong.

Not really. There is nothing valuable in the Windows Source Code./P>

I can see how they recruited him

[Jesus_666]

They sat him in front of a notebook where he got a blowjob while someone put a gun against his head and John Travolta counted down from sixty until he caved in to the pressure and used ls /usr/bin to crack the 128-bit encryption securing TorrentSpy's login form.

Hollywood uses that method a lot.

a rat is a rat anywhere in the world...

[goga_russian]

a rat is a rat anywhere in the world... and we all know what happens to rats. america promotes the culture of 'telling on someone', ratting on your friends to save ur ass, or make money. please dont admire a rat.

what bullshit

[cliffski]

"We would give you a nice paying job, a house, a car, anything you needed.... if you save Hollywood for us you can become rich and powerful"

outside of hollywood movies, nobody talks like this. this is all the ramblings of some deranged kid.

Re:When hypocrites attack...

[Technician]

Nah, I just rip them and remove the macrovision.

DVD's don't have Macrovision. They have a Macrovision flag. A legal player adds Macrovision to the player output. Rippers never bothered with the flag and don't have a Macrovision license to use the encoder.

If you paid extra for a ripper that "Removes Macrovision" you got ripped off. You would have to pay extra for a ripper that adds Macrovision.

You've never seen German, have you?

[Sycraft-fu]

They have a word for everything. The language likes compound words like no other. One of these situations of "Hmmm, we don't have a word for that, well let's just jam together some existing words that describe it and call it a new word." For example: Suppose we need a form to calculate the additional costs on a transaction. That would be a Zusatzkostenberechnungsschein. If one could transliterate that to English it would be something along the lines of Additionalcostcalculationform.

So sure, they probably have a word for "Catch the thief, he has my knife in his back!" as well :D.