Slashdot Mirror
Tech Specs Leaked For French Spyware
An anonymous reader writes "With the 'three strikes' law now in effect in France, the organization tasked with implementing it, Hadopi, has been working on technology specs for making the process work — and those specs have now leaked. It appears to involve client-side monitoring and controlling software, that would try to watch what you were doing online, and even warn you before you used any P2P protocol (must make Skype phone calls fun). It's hard to believe people will accept this kind of thing being installed on their computers, so I can't wait to see how Hadopi moves forward with it. It also appears to violate EU rules on privacy."
The government pinky-promised that they won't use this for anything other than enforcing this law. And you have their *word* on that.
SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
What are they going to do? Fucking outlaw Mac OS X, Linux and all the other non-Microsoft operating systems?
Funny fact: in french it's called système d'exploitation. Maybe that's why they want such software. To exploit you and your computer.
They came first for the Windows-users, and I didn't speak up because I didn't use Windows...
Can't wait to see the French Gov. forcing me to install this kind of software on my computer. ...
VPN is still safe for now I guess
They will have to enforce this law on any computer entering the country, I can see lines forming at the customs where a Gov official will install something on tourists computers.
The French government has better things to do than trying to regulate the internet...
Hadopi will fail because it is already obsolete, what a fucking good way to waste tax payers money...
The act of using peer to peer software isn't illegal. Downloading content with peer to peer software isn't illegal. Downloading copyrighted content with *ANY* software will infringe someones copyright. Driving cars should be as illegal as using p2p software, since both can be abused! Cars are still on the road though. Pedestrians are killed and cars are still on the road. P2P is used to distribute software (some of it legal, some of it illegal), lets quit throwing out the baby with the bathwater.
Looking over the spec I can't honestly think that the French are dumb enough to think something like this could work, the scope is to broad, and software solutions are silly easy to bypass.
The whole suggestion of enforcing this client-side is so idiotic that I'm inclined to believe that there will be ISP-side enforcement and that in fact the client is only there to warn the user.
Nullius in verba
Oh, nice! Can I have the Linux version?
No, Linux is now illegal because it can't be monitored by this software.
Which one do you prefer? qt-hadopi, gtk-hadopi, ... or just that plain old fashioned nvidia/ati binary blob driver for your graphics adapter?
cpghost at Cordula's Web.
You know we around /. like to joke about things like encryption and the year of the linux desktop, but the more intrusive governments get, the more I see the internet as a whole routing around this damage and increasing both the use of *nix based systems and encryption. Imagine facebook levels of popularity but with encryption, privacy, and control as primary factors of computing for the masses. Because, in the end, its either that or we might as well just start walking around naked because we have "nothing to hide".
"It's ok, I'm completely secure as long as my iron is off"
> So much for liberté... we still have egalité and fraternité (until further notice)
Unless you are Roma.
Warning: this article may contain humor, sarcasm, parody, and perhaps even irony. Read at your own risk.
If encryption approached "Facebook levels of popularity" it would be far too late for most governments to outlaw it.
Warning: this article may contain humor, sarcasm, parody, and perhaps even irony. Read at your own risk.