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DHS Wants Mozilla To Disable Mafiaafire Plugin, Mozilla Resists
Davis Freeberg writes "The Department of Homeland Security is hard at work again, protecting the industry from websites that the big studios don't want you to see. This time they're targeting the Mafiaafire plugin by asking Mozilla to disable the addon at the root level. Instead of blindly complying with the government's request, Mozilla has decided to ask some tough questions instead. Unsurprisingly, when faced with legitimate concerns about the legality of their domain seizure program, the DHS has decided to clam up."
It's good to see that Mozilla is holding strong to their core values. DHS needs more people willing to question what they do. Blind compliance to government demands is anti-American and it saddens me to see so many people simply fall in line.
Once you go hand-in-hand with the beast there's no going back.
This will drive a record number of people to install the plug in...
Thanks DHS, we appreciate the endorsement and confirmation of its efficacy!!!
Of all places, why would the DHS think that Mozilla would cooperate with their domain seizure program?
Palm trees and 8
for what its worth..
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/mafiaafire-redirector/
Streisand effect. Before today, I never heard of the Mafiaafire plugin... but I'm going to look into it right now.
probably download it, even if I don't use it whatever it may be.
that somebody started questioning the heavy handed tactics of big media companies
There are some trust issues with the redirect lists but other than that it is nice
I'm glad to see that DHS has lots of free time on their hands, now that OBL is dead.
But if they aren't going to spend time on homeland security, we should disband the monster.
Probably should anyway...
Sheesh, evil *and* a jerk. -- Jade
Yeah if they can fix that up I will install it, now that I have heard about it... not that I even think I am likely to run into a banned domain.
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
Comment removed based on user account deletion
Thanks for the Streisand effect DHS
Good call. Whatever you want to call the system of government, one thing it *isn't* supposed to be is an autocracy. Remember, they're working for you, on your dime.
Do not mock my vision of impractical footwear
Even though this doesn't look like it's going to trial, you might want to consider saying "thank you" by donating.
Those who fail to understand communication protocols, are doomed to repeat them over port 80.
This story is one of the main reasons why. Instead of doing the job the government was created to do (protect individual rights from thieves, murderers, etc), the politicians/bureaucrats are the ones doing the infringing on those rights.
"If it were possible to have no government, we would do so. It is only to protect our rights that we resort to any government at all." - Thomas Jefferson.
My AC stalker: " I personally agree with your posts most of the time, but that won't keep me from modding you troll"
Name one person.
I dare you.
Remember, they're working for you, on your dime.
HAHAHAHAHAHAAA! Funniest thing I've heard all day. Will anyone who thinks our government is working for us speak up?
[crickets]
Thought so...
I tried to search for it...
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/search/?q=mafiaafire&cat=all&x=25&y=23
...and got nothing. If it wasn't for a link posted in the thread I wouldn't have found it. Maybe it's just me. Dunno.
A search for addons called MAFIAAFIRE is yielding no results.
My first Journal Entry ever, in 8 years! http://slashdot.org/journal/365947/aphelion-scifi-fantasy-horror-poetry-webzine
Who within the Dept. Initiated the request, and what prompted them?
Would someone inform me of what changes to make regarding stopping the plugin from redirecting traffic every 15 pages? Or even provide a link to a version of the plugin that doesn't do that?
http://mafiaafire.com/wall-of-text.php#s
A link to the extension from the article:
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/mafiaafire-redirector/
If mafiaafire is removed, I'm sure that mafiaafire2 will soon be added to the plugin lists. Then thisisnotmafiafire, etc, etc, etc.
They put some DHS code into mafiaafire right before they did this, to subvert subversive people.
As copyright owner of this comment, I authorize everyone to defeat any technological measure which limits access to it.
Now that Osama bin Fucktard is gone, it is time to take this police state back.
"There ought to be limits to freedom." -George W. Bush
Unsurprisingly, when faced with legitimate concerns about the legality of their domain seizure program, the DHS has decided to clam up."
This just means that they are in process of preparing the papers to get Mozilla.org, and related domains seized.
Shouldn't this kind of thing be done with either a local DNS or just some entries in /etc/hosts?
A browser plugin restricts it to just the browser, and has certain trust issues.
Seems like plain text is the way to go and much simpler.
I normally don't post offhand comments but I just feel really compelled to say how good I feel about the donations I've made to Mozilla. I felt good about them before, but this just makes it that much better!
Why is the Department of Homeland Security involved in copyright enforcement at all? It's not a national security issue. I can see parts of the Justice Department being involved, and certainly the FCC and the department of commerce. But Homeland Security? Aren't they supposed to defend the country from physical attacks by enemies? Forgive me if this has been asked and answered.
"If it's real, then it gets more interesting the closer you examine it. If it's not real, just the opposite is true." -
So, Mozilla can't win can they. IF they stick it to the Man, then it is because they coincidentally don't like this particular Man. If they bow down to the Man, then it is as expected. I wonder how you go through life with such a jaded and cynical outlook. Mozilla has done the right thing, morally and legalistically. They deserve to be praised.
I downloaded the plugin and used it. Shit was cash.
I'm still trying to figure out what US ICE (Immigration & Customs Enforcement) even has to do with piracy, porn, or the internet at all. I've come to the conclusion that someone over there thinks the acronym actually stands for Internet Censorship Enforcement. I find it hard to believe that metallica mp3s and bootleg hollywood hogwash has anything to do with the security of my homeland.
If had not been for this I would never have heard of this.
There's now a fork called FireICE so DHS now has an additional extension to suppress.
Way to go, Mozilla, for standing up to these tyrants! I might just write Mozilla an email, congratulating them for it.
As for the take-down notice itself...having never heard of the add-on before, I've just installed it. Good job, DHS guys! (Who says they don't promote freedom?)
Rights are like muscles, if you fail to exercise them, they become weak.
The differences between FireICE and MafiaaFire are explained here https://addons.mozilla.org/da/firefox/addon/fireice/
What they're kind-of doing here is to set up an alternative to DNS. You enter a domain name, and rather than directing you towards what the official DNS servers think you should see, your browser shows you what you wanted to see: the banned website.
The right way to do this would be to set up an alternative DNS server, with all the same entries as the official DNS servers, except that they retain the correct entries for the banned sites. That way, rather than running an extension on top of their browsers, users just have to change their DNS settings. It's a more elegant solution, automatically updating, etc...
But, I'll take what I can get. Although it's kinda crufty, it's probably easier for most Firefox users to install an extension, because it's something they've done before. And it's better to have an imperfect solution now than a perfect solution someday in the future. So I'll install the Mafiaafire extension, anyway.
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/fireice/
The more complex and ambiguous the law, the more exploitable the law is for those who control the business of government. It's not how you spend your multi billion-dollar budget, it's how you leverage it.
One of the commenters on the FF extension suggested that the extension introduces a serious vulnerability into your browser - by downloading the XML file containing the list of sites to be redirected, you are basically offering that website the ability to redirect "youtube.com" to "nastysexxxxxychix.com" or whatever. Certainly this would be unpleasant on a work computer, but it could also be used to send you to a malicious site. He also pointed out that every 15 times the extension is actually called you are sent to a "Help Us" page where they probably ask for donations.
The same commenter forked the extension to another called FireIce which has a hardcoded list of sites. I think the ideal way would be with a user-configurable list which the user can easily update from a website as desired, rather than automatically downloading an XML file without user input.
This other extension - which I haven't tried and cannot endorse - is at https://addons.mozilla.org/da/firefox/addon/fireice/
Just my $0.55 (US inflation, 1774-2008, for $0.02)
Who within the department initiated this? And why did they do that? Saw someone say "RTFM". Read it and that question wasn't in the list.
Hot on the footsteps of the murders in Pakastan, DHS, i.e. SDHS Janet N. and her lapdog Pistol are proclaming, Empire, in their blind rush to oblivion.
"Geronimo' as chosen for the 'Get Osama Raid' was very ahpripo.
In the 1870s the US Government was carrying out a plan of genocide against the American peoples of North America.
Geronimo was a figure who became a rally point for the 'real Americans', not the Caucasian Christian invaders (White Rasists).
By the end of Obama's second term of office, the former countries of Afganistan and Iraq, will become Territories of the United States of America.
And with THAT Executive Order, a new 100 years of genocide will be unleashed against Muslem peoples and the Islamic Faith.
May the White Rasist God Bless Barak Hussien Obama II.
T
Probably just a junior flunky demanding the takedown without any backing from his superiors.
The real "Libtards" are the Libertarians!
The ones who aren't kissing the ass of said all powerful authority are usually the ones who are kissing their own ass, usually while looking down on everyone else in their own wisdom, blissfully unaware of their intellectual narcissism.
It's a scary thing not having something to worship...
this: Well done mister Andersen! MAFIAA/DHS: As you can see, we've had our eye on you for some time now, Mr. Andersen. MAFIAA/DHS: I'm going to enjoy watching you die, Mr. Andersen. Mozilla: You can't scare me with this Gestapo crap. I know my rights. I want my phone call. MAFIAA/DHS: Tell me, Mr. Anderson... what good is a phone call... if you're unable to speak? MAFIAA/DHS: You hear that Mr. Anderson?... That is the sound of inevitability... It is the sound of your death... Goodbye, Mr. Andersen... Mozzilla: Yeah. Well, that sounds like a pretty good deal. But I think I may have a better one. How about, I give you the finger.
This is off-topic for the article, but I had to reply to your rant....
Please take a look at US voter turnout for the last few elections. US Voter Turnout
Recently, the US seems to be alternating between ~40-50% voter turnout for the eligible voters. The 2006 elections, for example, saw 37.1% voter turnout. This is hardly the majority of Americans speaking up for their current system electoral system.
It sounds more like a disaffected population that feels little hope of altering the system. This may also explain why the Democrats rallied the highest voter turnout since 1968 in the last election with their talks of changing the way government is run.
On a side note, with only 40% of the eligible voters voting, and elections being split 50/50 (give or take), the ruling party is usually only ruling with ~20% of the population's consent. And, back to your point, when they get into power, they actually represent the interests of even fewer.
Once you own a few senators, or a television network, maybe if you sit on the Federal Reserve Board, then I'd consider you "wealthy ruling class".
They feared that it could be used to suppress protest or support unpopular rule.
I've never heard of mafiaafire until today, probably because i've never used any of those seized sites... But now i installed it just in case, Thanks DHS!
That US ICE even considers "pirate" and "child porn" websites to be in the same category.
They don't. They started with "pirate" domains. In later seizure batches they added "cp" for PR reasons and to silence critics with the usual "are you for CP??!!11?"-bullshit. CP is just something they later slapped on as a disguise. It doesn't cost corporations money.
even if I don't use it whatever it may be.
It maps names of domains which were seized for some reason, to the new domains the websites moved to.
Mafiaafire appears to be unlisted, as browsing through the list of extensions reveals no such program. Did Mozilla cave in to DHS demands despite their initial refusal, or was the software never listed in the first place?
Unlawful domain seizures. Takedown demands. DHS has too much power and too little oversight.
The UK is holding a referendum on wether to ditch "First past the post" in favour of AV, a multiple preference system with a target voter percentage ( Obligatory BBC explaination of the system ). As counting of the referendum votes will only be starting as I write, I can't say how things will pan out. However indications are that AV will be rejected, mainly on the grounds that a manipulation of "second, and possibly third thoughts" denies a not inconsiderable body of voters who voted for the initially leading candidate a voice. Its a mechanical coilition system with unintended consequences.
Of course, true proportional representation destroys local representation entirely and reduces candidate selection to unaccountable nominees to a regional list. It may be more efficient, but it also increases the separation of people and politicians.
At least with FPP, you get to see your local representative when they need to be elected again! :-)
Those dumbies doesn't have any idea or reason of why would or should do such actions.
The SA was purged after the "night of the long knife" in the middle 30, long before the war or even horrors like the Krystalnacht. Whereas they were gathering violent people, bully, and saw themselves as replacement of the german army , they were not that "evil". The SS on the other hand were downright evil in their act. But by 1934 the SA were only existent in name.
How much longer until DHS decides to cause certain Mozilla-owned domain names to mysteriously disappear for [del]promoting pir[/del]...err "national security"?
After years of not using a signature, I am going to make one to say the following: Fuck Beta
I don't understand this anti-government mentality
That's because you believe in government. You believe that the people who control the business of government work for you, not themselves. You believe that they respect you and do what's right for you. I don't blame you; the majority believes exactly that. If the common man didn't believe it, government wouldn't be so successful (as a money-making business, not as a solution to any social problem).
We don't believe any of that. We believe that the people at the top of the pyramid work precisely for themselves, always, and by definition. An organization that demands a special right to employ physical force as a business model cannot logically be working for the same people they employ physical force over. It just doesn't make any sense.
We do not accept the social contract theory, which claims that an individual volunteers himself to be subject to coercion. Think about that: he volunteers himself to be subject to coercion. You don't see anything fishy about that, do you? Well, I do. The two modes of human interaction, voluntary association and coercion, are mutually exclusive and opposite. That is precisely what gives them meaning. They are defined in terms of each other. A man cannot volunteer himself to be subject to coercion, any more than he can coerce another man to volunteer. The idea is simply invalid and illogical. Where there is coercion, voluntary association does not exist. Period.
But the best way to sum up my view of government and politics is this (and you're not going to like it): I view government as the largest, most successful scam in human history. I consider it a religion. The people at the bottom of the pyramid just can't stop believing the people at the top, even as they're laughing all the way to the bank. It's all the common man has ever known, and he can't imagine a world without government and its special "right" to employ coercion -- just as the religious man cannot imagine a world without his superiors telling him how to think and what to believe.
Go ahead, consider me the enemy. But always remember that I'm not the one claiming a special right to employ physical force against you for my own benefit. I would never accept such a power, even if it was handed to me no strings attached. Why? Because I actually believe in every single word I just wrote. I respect you every bit as much as I respect every other individual on this planet -- as much as I respect myself. I believe it's our duty to respect others as we respect ourselves (unlike those who employ coercion as their means).
Let me guess: I'm still the enemy.
How does this plugin differ (in effect, rather than methodology) from an independant DNS server? From the description I've read, the plugin looks at the urls you enter, checks them with the server and if (say) demonoid.com has appeared on their list, they send back demonoid.me instead, so you get forwarded to the still-live site. Why not just run another DNS server and keep pointing demonoid.com to the correct IP address?
Pirates are groups of people who rape, torture, steal, and ransom for their own benefit. They're known for phrases like "Shiver me timbers, matey" though that stereotype may no longer be quite accurate as piracy has be forced to evolve since the times of "walking the plank". In any case, DHS has every right to put a stop to rapists, torturers, thieves, and child pornographers.
I think what you mean is "copyright infringers" and "child porn" websites shouldn't be in the same category. Indeed, though claims have been made that copyright infringement has cost the industry upwards of 72 trillion dollars, there is a plethora of evidence that copying bits over a network for free generates more sales than would occur if the "try before you buy" method was not in place.
Also unacknowledged is the issue that most people don't have thousands of disposable income per year to devote to movies, television shows, books, video games, and music. The content production industry should rest assured knowing that people are up to their necks in housing and gasoline price debt that the mild enjoyment received from copyright infringed material is a blessing.
That's right... I said it. DHS should go after corrupt real estate businesses and oil companies.
for what its worth..
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/mafiaafire-redirector/
After reading this article, I initially tried to find the add-on by using the Fire Fox Add-on search window https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/ but the search didn't return any results.
It appears that Mozilla's Fire Fox Add-on search is being censored.
And Customs is in the business of copyright enforcement, originally to keep infringing copies out of the country as they go through Customs.
You may be somewhat wealthy, but you might want to think twice before you think you're in the "ruling class." I assume that every few months your Senator comes to your house for a visit. When you pay him something under-the-table or otherwise make an arrangement whereby his re-election campaign will be able afford an extra week of TV advertisement, you of course mention your own concerns to him and hand him an envelope not just of cash, but of the already-written-for-his-convenience legislative text that he is supposed to pass. But are you a member of the ruling class? It depends. A few months later when that Senator is explaining why your bill needs support, he is going to be saying some transparently-stupid things on TV. If you grin and say, "Ha! He's actually doing it! This is amazing!" then you're not a member of the ruling class. On the other hand, if you just unemotionally nod and then wait with anticipation for your other guy to make the seemingly-reasonable compromise proposal to the legislation which really serves your interests, then yes, you're ruling class.
You're ruling class if you're paying tens of thousands of dollars per year for diversions from your corruption. If you're merely playing the bribery game right now, you're one of the pawns.
What rights are you quibbling about, right to an Internet domain name? Sorry, not buying it. Name one right being oppressed, and who grants it if applicable.
The right to due process you idiot.
Please don't use Jefferson when supporting this government. If Jefferson was alive today he would be jailed.
Jefferson also said:
A Bill of Rights is what the people are entitled to against every government, and what no just government should refuse, or rest on inference.
Bodily decay is gloomy in prospect, but of all human contemplations the most abhorrent is body without mind.
Every generation needs a new revolution.
Force is the vital principle and immediate parent of despotism.
I am mortified to be told that, in the United States of America, the sale of a book can become a subject of inquiry, and of criminal inquiry too.
I hope we shall crush in its birth the aristocracy of our monied corporations which dare already to challenge our government to a trial by strength, and bid defiance to the laws of our country.
I know of no safe depository of the ultimate powers of the society but the people themselves; and if we think them not enlightened enough to exercise their control with a wholesome discretion, the remedy is not to take it from them but to inform their discretion.
I would rather be exposed to the inconveniences attending too much liberty than those attending too small a degree of it.
Social Security was absolutely done improperly. The money wasn't saved in any fashion whatsoever for the future. The "trust fund" consists of money loaned to the US government, which already borrowed and spent it all.
It is an unsupportable ponzi scheme and will collapse if left in its present form.
Why is the DHS interested in protecting media and other manufacturers? This is a useful tool, and more and more necessary against a government that is over-stepping its authority.
We could vote out Tweedledee and elect Tweedledum, it's pretty irrelevant, although I still advocate voting in every election just as if it were important. (I should have gone to Vegas back in the '80s and bet against my slate, as my record was 100% contrary to who won, now I guess the fix is in as it's not QUITE so consistent.) In the olden days, when I was a kid, it seemed normal to watch the evening news and hear about peaceful protesters being gunned down and/or arrested. We used to hear the score in Vietnam like it was a sporting event, I notice we don't ever hear how many "insurgents" (or bystanders) we are slaughtering in other people's countries any more, only about our own righteous warriors who are being murdered by those sneaky cowards. Other than that nothing much has changed in my lifetime, so don't tell me it won't happen again. Democracy is only legal here because the candidates, courts, and television stations are owned by the "right people".
You just think you're being ironic, the irony is how correct you are.
They feared that it could be used to suppress protest or support unpopular rule.
You never know, a lot of entirely innocent and completely unrelated websites have been pulled down "by accident". You could be autistic with a laser sharp focus of interest on butterflies of the Antarctic and still find a site you visit taken down.
The only way to assure you never see again such likes is to have everybody stomp down very hard indeed when people and organizations and governments try to crawl onto the upper reaches of the slippery slope which leads to the depths of those likes.
The word you are missing in your complaint is "yet", the DHS does not _YET_ merit a claim of one-for-one congruency to the SA.
And "yet" the DHS is very like the precursors to the SA, so the comparison is apt. "Comparison" is not evil, and as the congruency grows, as the demand and abuses swell, the fact that the comparison is becoming more true, that it is progressing from 0.0 on its way to 1.0 correlation _is_ the cause for concern and validates the comparison.
With every good and bad governmental precedent hanging in a coordinate space, each new and/or evolving agency _should_ and _must_ be compared to any valid data point.
If we do not remain vigilant, not becomes yet becomes soon becomes now.
You cannot prevent a new SA if you are unwilling to police your own government's behavior with respect to the old one.
It is not enough to _hope_ you never see this stuff again, you must press on against its formation about you.
If you chose to rely on the "if I don't see it, it isn't happening" level of hope, you will find soon enough that your hopes have been dashed.
You should not -ever- decry a comparison between action and previous failures, as such comparison is the fruit of learning. To ban learning and the lessons of the past that teach it from the ongoing political discourse is to encourage the past to reoccur.
To Quote: The past does not repeat, but it does rhyme.
The future abuses will not be identical to the past, but it is the similarity in precursor and outcome that should let you know that ugly bits very like the previous ugly bits are about to come round again at the end of the stanza.
Innocent people shouldn't be forced to pay for inferior software development.
--"Code Complete" Microsoft Press
It was done/managed/executed improperly. Its conception was improperly done if it allowed for the mismanagement, which it did.
Our government will always spend whatever money it takes.
Because all of the government agencies that really are charged with defending the country (Military, CIA, FBI, etc.) were too politically powerful to allow themselves to be subsumed into a new agency. So it just became a grab-bag of smaller less prestigous agencies like FEMA, INS, etc.
My SWAG would be that they viewed the ability to confiscate domains as a cyber-secuirity issue. That agency is so unfocused though, it could have been damn near anything.
The add-on was not code reviewed at the time, so it didn't appear on search results. Now it appears as experimental because the developers haven't submitted the add-on to a more thorough review yet.
Stop voting the MOFOs in ok.
NONE OF THE ABOVE.
Sack em all.
Liberty freedom are no1, not dicks in suits.
Sorry about that, I'm only personally familiar with three acknowledged Tea Party advocates, and they are (big-time) reactionary assholes, IMHO. They are also big fans of "Michael Savage" and Rush Limbaugh, if those names mean anything to you. Otherwise, I'm just going by what I've seen on television, which has given me the impression that the other Tea Party supporters were also pretty much as ignorant. I suppose I should research their official position on things. I've read a couple books each by Rush Limbaugh, and "Michael Savage", respectively, and offhand I can't think of anything as painful that I can compare that to. Water-boarding? presstv.ir and foxnews.com are pretty brutal, but not quite in the same league. I may just be exhibiting my bias, as we each have our own perception of reality. I work pretty hard trying to keep my reality objective. I know I could be wrong, and these teabaggers I'm referring to won't admit that they could possibly be wrong; make of that what you will, but it tells me that they are not adept at critical thinking. I've hung out with some pretty liberal folks; most of them, e.g. Charlie Brown Artman, Mario Savio, & Steve Soliah* were what I'd call deep thinkers, though as a group I'd say an awful lot of liberals are about as ignorant as anyone- Judy Bari comes to mind, (that LOUD bitch could have had some deep thoughts but it was hard to discern), and all the brain-fried hippies you see when they get on television, so I reckon maybe my source could be tainted. Do you identify with the Tea Party people that have been shown on TV? or is that a misrepresentation? Am I missing something? BTW, I disagree pretty totally with the platforms of both major parties, as well. I'd identify myself more as a classic liberal, think Friedrich Hayek maybe. I suppose I need to put up a website of my own to expose my ideas to some mass criticism, rather than clogging up /. with offtopic shite.
*We never really talked about that SLA thing, I think he developed more wisdom since those days.
They feared that it could be used to suppress protest or support unpopular rule.
Department of Heimat Streisand?
Hmmm. Coolness.
See subject-line, because IF that's "the best you've got", vs. disproving the technical points I made? I win, as per usual...
( &, now, the folks reading who are not aware of the benefits of HOSTS files now are aware of them, and the fact they have EASY full control of them as well, via easily done text editor (notepad.exe) edits, as well as valid reputable sources for populating them also).
APK
P.S.=> However, the nicest part is, folks reading also see you "running away" & doing "hit & run mod downs" only, which is totally effete & useless, vs. facts!
... apk