Slashdot Mirror
Are UK Police Hacking File-Sharers' Computers?
superglaze writes "Following its takedown earlier this week of the music blog RnBXclusive, the UK's Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) has claimed that "a number of site users have deleted their download histories" in response. Given that the site didn't host copyright-infringing files itself, how do they know? We've asked, but SOCA refuses to discuss its methods. A security expert has pointed out that, if they were hacking using Trojans, the police would themselves have been breaking the law. Added fun fact: SOCA readily admits that the scare message it showed visitors to the taken-down site was written 'with input from industry.'"
Shit just got serious!
UK's Serious Organised Crime Agency
The Internet is Serious Business
Anons need not reply. Questions end with a question mark.
I see you're not a politician, so you see it totally wrong.
For starters, it's crime. It's murderous even: it kills music, it kills artists, it kills the studios and labels. And it is theft too, of course.
It's also serious, see above. Murder is a serious crime. So is theft - that's what I see on stickers pasted in shops against shoplifting. "Theft is a serious crime". I'm not going to argue with that, theft is a crime. So is murder. And it's serious.
And organised those web sites are. A large organisation, with its tentacles all over the place. They have hackers gaining access to unreleased music for them, other hackers that post complete albums or illegal recordings of concerts and whatnot. Well organised they must be, how else could they serve those thousands upon thousands of customers every day.
So of course it's a task for the SOCA. Drug dealers be damned, that're minor guys, not worth bothering with. But those music thieves must be stopped!
OK politician mode off. Have a nice day :-)