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P2P Scammers' Lawyers Attack Open Source Team
An anonymous reader writes "Late last year a company affiliated with the French RIAA hijacked the Shareaza.com domain name from the original, open source project's owner. They are passing off their own for-pay software, which violates the GPL, as the real thing. Now, having stolen the Shareaza project's identity, the scammers are threatening legal action to shut down the real open source team."
*Insert new Shareaza.com overlord comment here*
In Soviet France, P2P scams YOU! Oh... wait....
though I didn't find it very interesting..
...from a while back in which some hardware counterfeiters in china got to the point where they where actually paying a firm for R&D for new products.
First they work to strengthen copyright laws to the point that they make capital murder seem less a crime, THEN they help a group which targets a GPL piece of software, and as we all know, the GPL utilizes the full strength of Copyright for it's own power... They are about to reap what they have sown.
Karma Whoring for Fun and Profit.
The French Recording Industry Association of America i know i know "it's just the equivalent"
"SMOKING
Smoking overall is bad for you. It gives you bad breath and may kill you sooner than you'd expect." - the licence agreement
All I can say is: WTF?
While the company may violate the GPL, their legal note says they want some threads removed from the forum that contain instructions on how to conduct an DoS attack against them. That may or may not be illegal where you live, but in no case does it gather sympathy from me.
If they're violating the GPL then sue them for that, but don't complain if they come at you for something that's likely illegal where ever you live.
sharezaa team should sue for GPL violation & copyright infringment.
ShareazaV4, is totally fake. It violates the open-source license, GPL (Version 2) in many ways. Also, it isn't free nor open source. It requires a subscription and installs a suspicious toolbar. You can read what happened from this reference list: http://tinyurl.com/2cx7ff
.
Please, update your Shareaza version to Shareaza 2.3.1.0, and change the site from Shareaza.com to the new official site at Sourceforge: http://shareaza.sourceforge.net/
The short version of why this is happening from the article:
A company trying to pass itself off as vendors of the open-source file-sharing software Shareaza, has set the legal dogs on the real Shareaza forum. Discordia Ltd, who earlier turned Bearshare and iMesh into pay services, demanded action after a member of the real Shareaza forum suggested a DOS attack on the site.
This is due to this suggestion by real shareaza forum user :
Make it so the real shareaza program queries their site [shareaza.com] every couple of seconds. As an individual user this won't take much personal bandwidth. But all shareaza users worldwide put together should be enough to kill their server and they won't really be able to do much since it will be coming from so many different IPs.
The letter by the shyster hired by the thief/impersonator of the shareaza domain and project:
This law firm represents Discordia, Ltd., the operator of the website Shareaza.com and owner of the rights in the Shareaza branded software distributed from that domain. Please be advised, that your forum contains a string of posts under the title: "suggestion to kill Shareaza.com." Under the string, the poster, RedSquirrel offers directions for users of Shareaza software to implement a DoS that would have the effect of destroying or seriously impairing our client's application and network. The poster OldDeath also offers a manner to illegally attack our client's business.
Despite whatever complaints your forum's users may have with our client's proper and legal business activities, the type of activity promoted on your forum is illegal. Therefore, we request that you immediately remove this string of posts and any future strings of this nature. My client respects your users' rights to express their points of view. However, the line is crossed when users begin to promote the destruction of a legitimate business (evidently based on out some misguided belief that artists and others who create music should not be fairly compensated for their efforts) via illegal or other predatory means.
If the above cited illegal activity on your site does not immediately cease and desist, our client will take all necessary action to vigorously and relentlessly protect its rights. To be clear, if this action is not immediately taken and, as result, our client's business is harmed, we will not only pursue, locate and hold fully responsible each and every one of those who have implemented this, or any similar DoS, but also those responsible for maintaining your site and the forums.
Please confirm that the requested action is being taken immediately.
Jeffrey A. Kimmel
Meister Seelig & Fein, LLP
140 E. 45th St., 19th Fl.
New York, NY 10017
(212) 655-3578
I suppose the law is in their hands in terms of a DDoS attack, so it would be more correct to sue the impersonator/thief for t
You can't handle the truth.
It would appear as if the DOS attack announced in the official sharezaa forum will happen after all. Slashdoters, visit and reload http://www.shareaza.com/ as many times as you can.
You'll get Slashdot in trouble. Indeed, by your link you effectively trigger a Dos against the shite, by means of Slashdot effect!
Aw, someone stole the Shareaza name and used it for their own proprietary crap. I seem to remember something like this from a few years back, except the term is question was Gnutella and an incompatible protocol stealing its name and calling itself "Gnutella 2." Karma can be a bitch sometimes.
Make cheese not war 8:)
Late last year a company affiliated with the French RIAA hijacked the Shareaza.com domain name from the original
The French "Recording Industry Association of America? WTF?
Kdawson, please have some more coffee before you "edit" the next story, ok?
mcgrew's razor: Never attribute to stupidity that which can be explained by greedy self-interest
People saying this is fair game since P2P software can be used for piracy are completely failing at understanding the issues here. P2P software can be used for legal file sharing - we do it all the time with Linux distributions. I used to use Shareaza's bittorrent client for exactly that while in Windows. Not all use of Shareaza is illegal, but violating the GPL is ALWAYS illegal if that's what happened. Passing your product off as someone else's product, filling it with spyware, and stealing their domain is also surely illegal.
Guess what the second "A" stands for?
For those who don't know that the word doesn't just duplicate what's done in the USA, check out the Société Civile des Producteurs de Phonogrammes en France (http://www.sppf.com/).
NEC - yes thats right the major international corp. - found a entire fake NEC outfit working in China, complete with factories, hundreds of employees, using the same logo, letterheads and even staff ID badges. They found out when kit started coming back for repair that they had not even made. its still one of my favorite China fake goods stories, because you just could not make it up.
Think I'm joking? I assure you I am not, here are some references...
http://www.eetindia.co.in/ART_8800416910_1800007_NT_5c0424e2.HTM
http://www.eetimes.com/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=187200176
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/01/technology/01pirate.html
http://www.smh.com.au/news/biztech/slick-pirates-seize-entire-brand/2006/05/29/1148754904830.html
The hardest thing is sometimes to persuade people that what they are doing in actually wrong in the first place, I guess this is the case with Shareaza.
Just declare war on them.
The problem with socialism is that they always run out of other people's money. - Margaret Thatcher
Andy
This drama is soooo much better than software found on store shelves in glossy boxes.
A quick google for "Discordia Limited" turned up jzip.com - "Based on 7-Zip technology by Igor Pavlov" is the strap line for the site (its a Winzip-style compression tool). Is this another occurrence of their appropriation of open source products?
http://www.meisterseelig.com/ (webshite of the law firm involved) runs on ASPX. I wonder how long it will take until it will be decorated by a shiny red moon...
I downloaded the exe from shareaza.com and unpacked it (strings showed it was a wise installer, google wise unpack)
strings shareaza.exe gave loads and loads of function names error messages etc.
Downloaded the source from real shareaza (from sourceforge) ran grep against those names and everyone tried matched.
I need to try and do a proper comparasion, but IMHO the exe is created from the a branch of the open source 'true' version
I'm pretty sure the event in question is Gnutella2, a completely incompatible (with the original Gnutella) protocol developed by the Shareaza team. Shareaza, the people that "hijacked" the Gnutella name, got their name hijacked.
"I think an etch-a-sketch with an ethernet port would beat IE7 in web standards compliance."
IANAL, but, I'm also wondering about validity of the copyright claims of Discordia Ltd. At the bottom of the pages, it says either:
© 1999-2008 Discordia Ltd. All rights reserved.or
© 1999-2008 Shareaza All rights reserved.Apart from violating the GPL and infringing on trademarks/copyrights, they also make false/invalid (copyright) claims by stating copyright as of 1999. Isn't there a law against this as well?
It only takes one man to change the Wisdom of the Crowd to Tyranny of the Masses.
At least firefox correctly flagged it. I have it running off of the downloaded list not the connection to google. (Ubuntu 7.10 - Firefox 2.0.0.12)
Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from a yo-yo.-Enoch Root
What GPL code are they using? Are they actually using some identifiable GPL code in their distributed software without complying with the GPL licensing requirements? Are they using the original SHAREAZA team's actual software (modified to do the nasty things)? All I see in the article are issues regarding an allegation of a stolen domain and an allegation of a plot to perform a distributed denial of service attack. If they did in fact make any use of GPL software without complying with the GPL licensing (such as making the source code available to anyone they distribute the software to), then by all means pursue legal remedies for that. Otherwise, the standing issues are the stolen domain and DDoS plot.
now we need to go OSS in diesel cars
Theres some more good stuff:
Discordia shall exclusively own all now known or hereafter existing rights to the Submissions of every kind and nature throughout the universe, including known and unknown galaxies, and shall be entitled to unrestricted use of the Submissions for any purpose whatsoever, commercial or otherwise, without compensation to the provider of the Submissions.
Didn't satan take over microsoft.com in a similar fashion some years back?
FTA:
"It's no surprise that emotions run high when people are ripped off..."
It's not getting "ripped off," it's SHARING!
And I got the pop-up "expected web forgery". Those guys....
So if I break into your house, steal all your stuff, then sue you for the house, I'm legally protected? Neat!
Although TFA mentions the French equivalent of the RIAA, I'm puzzled at which it could be. Is it the IFPI, or the only group with legal jurisdiction in France, the SNEP? I can't find any other reference to France or French companies.
The original shareaza.com site resolves to an IP address (207.232.22.55) in New York, but listed with a fake front company with an Israeli ISP. The ISPs netvision.net.il and elron.net are known pink-contract, i.e. spammer friendly, hosting companies, they've been known to set up netblocks for spammers and run them until they are in every blacklist, then migrate in another netblock for the spammers. Most of the dodgy hosting is done in the U.S. and Russia. elron.net has been associated with the Russian Business Network, but a quick google doesn't turn up any easy links to back that up.
Someone posted above about shareazasecurity.be (195.47.247.137), but that goes to a server hosted in Denmark.
Although there is some mis-direction by throwing international company names into the mix (a classic scammer tactic), this appears to be mostly a U.S. based operation.
the AC
Hemos is like...sci-fi fans;he thinks technology is cool, but he hasn't bothered to understand the science it's based on
Is there a French branch of the EFF who could help take these slimeballs to court?
Jumpstart the tartan drive.
As many observant /.ers have pointed out, it is not the French RIAA, since the last 'A' is America, and last time I looked France is in Europe (despite some beliefs). The French equivalent of the RIAA is the SCPP (Société Civile des Producteurs Phonographiques).
Jumpstart the tartan drive.
Then file a DMCA takedown notice with their ISP. That ought to shut them up pretty quick, and is in a way an even more effective DOS attack.
O'Discordia!
http://img337.imageshack.us/my.php?image=screenshotofficialhomeoap3.png
:)
Firefox alerted me this
DNS1=NETVISION.NET.IL
this is all in a hebrew-looking language and unreadable by me
DNS2=ELRON.NET
nowhere did I find in the list of companies they own for IT software does it list Shareaza
Many might already have noticed that Firefox flags this as a possible hijacked site and it sure looks like a strange partnership is behind this. IMO.
raw whois data: $ whois shareazaweb.com
Whois Server Version 2.0
Domain names in the
with many different competing registrars. Go to http://www.internic.net/
for detailed information.
Domain Name: SHAREAZAWEB.COM
Registrar: GODADDY.COM, INC.
Whois Server: whois.godaddy.com
Referral URL: http://registrar.godaddy.com/
Name Server: DNS.NETVISION.NET.IL
Name Server: NYPOP.ELRON.NET
Status: clientDeleteProhibited
Status: clientRenewProhibited
Status: clientTransferProhibited
Status: clientUpdateProhibited
Updated Date: 28-nov-2007
Creation Date: 22-nov-2007
Expiration Date: 22-nov-2008
>>> Last update of whois database: Tue, 26 Feb 2008 15:28:26 UTC
"Anyone who stands out in the middle of a road looks like roadkill to me." --Linus
I heard the theory that it's a DNS problem: The real host has changed IP and nobody could update the DNS entries to point to the new IP, probably because Nilson is the only person that could do that and he can't be contacted. Somehow, someone on the old IP found out that he can take advantage of this and did so (or sold the idea to someone). I don't know if this is true though. Surely, it's quite suspicious that nobody has been able to ever contact Nilson in this whole time.
The summary makes no clear indication of what or why they wanted to shut down. The actual target appears to be the FORUMS due to a specific comment suggesting that the open source project include code to make a small request to shareaza.com, effectively attempting to DDoS it in a forum post apparently titled "suggestions to kill Shareaza.com"
...and if you do, don't go publicly announcing it!
I have no sympathy for the people who took the domain, but do NOT take matters into your own hands like that!
Pancakes. Oh I blew it.
http://www.shareazasecurity.be/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=34
This forum thread seems to have the only public notice from the developers (from December) and links to PDF's of the original French lawsuit.
For those curious, Netvision is a popular Israeli ISP.
No I think the 'turnaboutisfairplay' tag is a result of them being DDoS'ed because authentic Shareaza installations constantly probe for updates once a day, but if it does not receive a valid response it reprobes again in like a minute or something. With millions of Shareaza installations out there its probably hitting them pretty hard.
On the other hand... It seems like this might become a useful 'protection' tactic for P2P and other open source projects which probe for updates to use. That way if anyone hijacks your DNS they'll be DDoS'ed by legitimate users.
09F911029D74E35BD84156C5635688C0
+2 Troll is Slashdot's way of saying groupthink is confused
Filing Date January 10, 2008
Owner (APPLICANT) Discordia Ltd. LIMITED COMPANY (LTD.) CYPRUS Kimonos, 40 P.C. 3095 Limasool CYPRUS
Attorney of Record JEFFREY A. KIMMEL
here's the link to uspto's trademark search: http://tess2.uspto.gov/bin/gate.exe?f=login&p_lang=english&p_d=trmk, can't link to the results page, just do a search for discordia in all fields.
IANAL, but I do believe there is some level of prior art to trademarks, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trademark:
The law considers a trademark to be a form of property. Proprietary rights in relation to a trademark may be established through actual use in the marketplace, or through registration of the mark with the trademarks office (or "trademarks registry") of a particular jurisdiction, e.g., the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Couldn't the shareaza project claim use in the marketplace well before Jan 10. 2008?Web filter at work says:
ACCESS DENIED!
Internet access to the requested website
has been denied.
URL: http://www.shareaza.com/
CAT: PR2PR
If you feel this website is blocked incorrectly,
you can submit a request for review.
mmmmkay?
you had me at #!
http://p2p-freebie.com/
These guys are after Limewire too it seems.
From the original TorrentFreak announcement:
A source close to this case has told TorrentFreak that Jonathan Nilson, the owner of the Shareaza.com domain has been contacted and he has confirmed that he has sold the domain to the scammers. It looks like the domain is lost forever[...]
While later stories are not clear on this, as Jonathan is still listed as the contact, he could initiate a transfer. So what we have is not so much a domain hijacking as a shady deal to alter the end point of the site.
Almost by definition, peer-to-peer programs avoid domains belonging to RIAA-type corporations, that just makes sense, their content will be false, or poor quality, or not there, or they'll back-track the user to find out who to sue. No one would use a peer-to-peer client to attack such a domain. Well, I suppose it would work if everyone did it at once, but that just seems unlikely. Presumably, their servers are robust enough for all their paying customers, right?
Phone: (212) 655-3578 Fax: (646) 539-3678 jak@msf-law.com
They are French. Just threaten invade their country and they will quickly roll over an surrender. Works even better if send the threat from a German email address.
Supporting World Peace Through Nuclear Pacification
They have a support page, and so I "submitted" a bug. Hopefully that wastes some human time instead of just a few CPU cycles.
http://www.shareazasecurity.be/forum/viewtopic.php?f=46&t=828
but parsing the result.strings file with a script
#!/bin/bash
resulted in 250 results in match.list which is low as result.strings has 12012 lineswhile read line
do
grep -R -o -b "$line" Shareaza_2.3.1.0_source/ && echo $line >>match.list
echo -n "."
done
comments elsewhere indicate the program is imesh reskined.