MPAA Forced To Take Down University Toolkit
bobbocanfly writes "Ubuntu developer Matthew Garrett has succeeded in getting the MPAA to remove their 'University Toolkit' after claims it violated the GNU GPL. After several unsuccessful attempts to contact the MPAA directly, Garrett eventually emailed the group's ISP and the violating software was taken down."
Linking to a LiveJournal post that reads:
MPAA don't fuck with my shit.
(And yes, I did attempt to contact them by email and phone before resorting to the more obnoxious behaviour of contacting the ISP. No reply to my email, and the series of friendly receptionists I got bounced between had no idea who would be responsible but promised me someone would call back. No joy there, either.)
Awesome.
This is news?! What is up with that! Every body knows that the RIAA is a completely honest and upright organization. They practice what they preach. They obey everyone else's takedown notice, be it gpl or dmca, whatever, just like they expect you to obey their takedown notices. I can't wait to see the day that all these trolls on slashdot finally go the way of the dinosaur and the true intellectuals out there call the RIAA what it is! It is an honest, upright, artist first organization! IF YOU CAN'T HANDLE THAT GET OFF SLASHDOT!!
;)
I got a catholic block.
Next they'll contract a russian ISP and put the torrent up on one of their trackers...
Explanation.
As TFS & TFA have little info, here's some background:
The MPA(A) released a Xubuntu derived livecd with a bunch of F/OSS tools to assist universities in monitoring their networks. *rolls*eyes*. More info about the software in this Washington Post article.
Unfortuntately the CD as shipped contained no source & no written offer for the source, so was in violation of the GPL (and hence, the MPAA are in violation of various software author's copyright).
After several attempts to reach contact the MPAA, the ubuntu developer sent a takedown notice to the hosting ISP.
I hope he now presses for copyright violation - as he so elequoently says: MPAA don't fuck with my shit.
There are shills on slashdot. Apparently, I'm one of them.
but at the same time rather worrysome what a simple email to the ISP can do, even if it's for a good cause. Why not sue them and make things bullet-proof and at the same time strengthen the GPL in court, rather than sorting things out vigilantism-style? A pile of court-issued takedowns might be a more impressive repellant against future violations of the GPL (or any other such license) than a pile of social-engineering-issued takedowns. Don't associate "social engineering" with the negative connotation of spam/phising/etc. as I used it; instead, read it in its original meaning: someone requested a blocking of content from an ISP, essentially (TFA is void of details) only with convincing arguments but no hard proof that the GPL was indeed violated.
The grass is always greener on the other side of the light cone.
for copyright infringement as well.
Now that would be poetic justice.
The society for a thought-free internet welcomes you.
DMCA takedown notice is exactly the legal action you are supposed to take in these situations. It is not "social engineering". He has every legal right to do it.
The cake is a pie
Even if you don't change a line of code, you still have to distribute (or offer to distribute) source if you're distributing the binaries.
Patrick Doyle
I mod down every jackass who puts his moderation policy in his sig. Oh, wait a sec....
Now THAT is the (accurate) headline I want to read!
They say the first thing to go is your penis. Well, it's either that or your brain. I forget which...
"The MPAA/RIAA has distributed 1500 copies of my work. I offer that software at $50,000 per copy. They owe me 75 million dollars in damages!"
That's basically what they big media is trying to do to the consumers, isn't it?
"No, no, no. Don't tug on that. You never know what it might be attached to."
they still distributed in violation of the license and therefor copyright law! You can't make stuff up this funny, the MPAA in violation of copyright, LOL. The FSF can still go after them if they want to.
Apocalypse Cancelled, Sorry, No Ticket Refunds
Instead of saying they "violated the GPL", let's keep this simple. They violated copyright law. By their own definition, they're "pirates". They stole. Etc.
Do you have ESP?
You do not have to distribute "changes in the form of a diff", or "distribute your code changes" in particular.
You must distribute (or offer to) the complete source code corresponding to the binaries you distribute. The whole purpose of the GPL is that someone getting a binary can get the full source for the binary.
Boffoonery - downloadable Comedy Benefit for Bletchley Park
Even if all they did was change a few strings or customize an interface, they have to distribute the changed components in source form along with the binaries.
"Ladies and gentlemen, my killbot features Lotus Notes and a machine gun. It is the finest available."
If you are, in fact, a lawyer, I'll happily defer, but in my layman's opinion I don't think that's the correct conclusion.
If you violate one of the GPL terms, your license to use the software is terminated. Fine. However, as long as the software is still being offered to anyone under the GPL, you can just go, conform to every part of the GPL, and use it again. You can think of it as one license being terminated, but then going and getting a new one; the GPL is an "infinite stack" of licenses: all you need to do to get a new one is to play by the rules.
There's nothing in the GPL that says 'if you violate this once, you're out for good,' although I'm not sure that would be an entirely terrible idea. But that license-termination clause doesn't necessarily imply that.
"Ladies and gentlemen, my killbot features Lotus Notes and a machine gun. It is the finest available."
Well, it depends on what they changed. If they added code to phone home a lot with lots of personal information....that would be interesting from more than a purely academic point of view (IMO).
Max.
You wouldn't steal a purse! You wouldn't steal a car! GPL software distribution without following the license - IT'S STEALING!!!
lemonade was a popular drink and it still is
None of what this AC says is true. It doesn't matter if the MPAA never changed any code, the fact remains that they were distributing the code, changed or not. Now, if you want to distribute GPLed code, either you comply with the license and provide source code, or you find yourself just as guilty of copyright infringement as these people torrenting movies that they are so quick to prosecute. What happened was the latter. As for suing them for copyright violation, the fact that no one lost any money is also immaterial. There is such a thing as statutory damages, which would be at minimum US$750 for each copyrighted work thus violated, and could be as high as US$30,000. They would thus theoretically be on the hook for statutory damages for every GPLed package in the Xubuntu distribution, just like Ms. Jammie Thomas. There are hundreds of GPLed packages in Xubuntu... You do the math.
Qu'on me donne six lignes écrites de la main du plus honnête homme, j'y trouverai de quoi le faire pendre.
quote ">Seriously?
No, this is all just a joke. Really.
>I don't nor does the Slashdotters posting here except the rabid, fanatical F/OSS fanboys.
How can you assert that? Did you do a survey?
>This is not a victory.
Then tell us what it is.
>Silly kids, go trim your neck beards and worship Stallman some more.
How do you know "kids" are responsible for this? What backs up your suggestion that if they are kids that they are silly? How old do you think Matthew Garrett is? Go google it.
Maybe you should take a chill pill and leave this topic alone if you aren't interested in it. You are making baseless assertions just to try and stir shit.
You come across as a dumb ass.
I read this post and immediately pictured Ewoks dancing in the forest as the Death Star burned above them. Sure, you know it's not over, but what a nice blow against the Dark Side.
Read the article.. it's XuuuuuBuuuuuTTTuuuuuuuuu !!
"The University Toolkit is essentially an operating system (xubuntu) that you can boot up from a CD-ROM. The package bundles some powerful, open-source network monitoring tools, including "Snort," which captures detailed information about all traffic flowing across a network; as well as "ntop," a tool used to take data feeds from tools like Snort and display the data in more user-friendly graphics and charts. "
http://blog.washingtonpost.com/securityfix/2007/11/mpaa_university_toolkit_opens_1.html
The truth shall set you free!
You wouldn't steal a handbag!
You wouldn't steal a car!
You wouldn't steal a baby!
You wouldn't shoot a policeman
and then steal his helmet.
You wouldn't go to the toilet in his helmet!
And then send it to the policeman's grieving widow.
And then steal it again!
Hello little man. I will destroy you!
You know, I am SOOO sick of those adverts. I mean, how do they KNOW that I wouldn't steal a purse ? Maybe I'm only in this dark movie theatre to steal some purses, then go outside and steal any cars that they keys in the purses open.
This is slander! Or libel! Or something!
[citation needed] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MTbX1aMajow