Well, how do you get the starter rope through? Unless you put a clothes line like system in each conduit. That's a lot of extra hardware/cost per conduit, even though it's only used on the rare occasions when something is changed.
Special machines are an upgrade though. They used to use ferrets. No kidding. Early 1900's, they'd train ferrets to crawl through underground conduits to run cable. Tie a string on and send it through.
To correct a few misconceptions in the previous comments.
It was not their server that was compromised, just a third party server in a round robin rotation. They don't own it, they don't maintain it - just someone else who donated server space.
The primary or master server is not accessible to users, it was not compromised, and so none of the original source files had a chance to be changed.
Only the 20 users that synchronized to this server even have a tiny chance of getting bad files. Having everyone sync now that this server is out of the rotation will immediately fix the problem.
Full disclosure 24 hours later. I give them a lot of credit for such a quick response and disclosure. This is very, very minor.
I think the point that most people are missing here, is this: This test was able to create a viable virus from scratch, simply copying the existing pieces. What they created was merely a synthetic copy of an existing virus. They did not create a new virus, or anything harmful.
But, what if those pieces were modified before they were reassembled?
This is dangerous/powerful because you could write your own virus from scratch just like writing a computer virus. Take virulence from one virus, infection from another, write your own specificity rules (this is the scariest - only attack people with a certain genetic profile), add some harmful effects, and you've got something dangerous.
For terrorism, this could be big. Write a virus that causes genocide. Kill everyone with a certain genetic trait.
But this can also be used for good. Write a virus that delivers chemotherapy to cancer cells. Or infects AIDS patients with an anti-aids virus. Or an anti-bacterial agent for infections. You could add a built in self-destruct so it couldn't over-replicate.
From an ethics standpoint, I would compare it to nuclear energy. You could generate electricity for millions, or wipe out entire cities. The technology isn't inherently evil, but it needs lots of research and a great deal of control.
That's where the analogy fails though. It's hard to build a lab capable of building nuclear bombs. It's relatively easy to build a lab capable of synthesizing viruses.
Go to the store, and buy a new TV, receiver, 5.1 speakers, DVD player, VCR, Tivo, Cable Box / Satellite tuner, etc. Take all of them home and set them on the shelf. Plug in all the power cords. Skip the rest of the cables.
What the OP wants, is for all of them to talk to each other, setup the connections, feed video/sound to the appropriate places, etc.
Pop a movie in the DVD player, turn on the TV, and hit play on the remote. The DVD shouts out "Hi, I've got a movie that's been requested." Your TV says "Hi, I can display audio/video. Send it here." The speakers chime in: "Hey, I've got better speakers than the TV, use me for the audio instead." The DVD then streams the video wirelessly to the TV, and the audio to the speakers. You get tired halfway through the movie. You hit pause and walk upstairs to your bedroom and turn on the TV there, and hit play. That TV says, "I'm taking over from here. Send me audio/video from the DVD player now."
Most imaginary scenarios I've heard of use Ultra Wide Band, not bluetooth, for actually sending the audio/video. This is better for high-bandwidth stuff over short distances. But, theoretically (and just to stay a little on topic), it could use Bluetooth for negotiating the connections, since this has better pairing/linking protocols.
Now, if only you didn't have to plug them in for power. I'm sure someone is working on that too.
* My cable modem didn't come with a contract. * My cable modem and installation was completely free.
You must have a real special deal there, or you're not sharing all the facts with us.
The way it usually works is if they pay for the installation, some sort of committment is involved. [caveat: At least it would be if there was real competition out there.] This committment is necessary to prevent them from paying the installation and setup costs, and then you switching to another provider. This is especially true with DSL, but also true for Cable Access. The 1 year committment lets the profit from a years worth of service offset the initial setup costs.
As for your modem, admit it: It's not really "completely free". You pay a monthly rental fee. At $5/mo = $60/year. You couldn't just drop the service without having to return the modem.
* So, you're cheap. Broadband isn't for you.
Part of the point of the original article was that it doesn't have to be so expensive. To bring broadband to the masses it is necessary to make it affordable for the masses.
Are the beer recipes open-source?
Seriously. I want to know. It says on their page they had two options for beer:
Option 1 is the quickest and cheapest - one of the Biddy Early Brews of our choice rebottled with a special design.
Option 2 - a special brew. More time, higher cost and we need to provide a recipe.
So if it's a special brew - opensource the recipie. I'm an avid homebrewer and I want to give some of these recipies a try!
So, what's the retail value of something that's given away for free?
Is is the retail value of the derived product? Or can an approximate retail value of a similar commercial product be substituted?
Since it's based on the retail value of the copyrighted work, I suspect this doesn't apply, at least not on the surface. A lawyer could probably identify the appropriate means to make it apply though.
If someone was to get the password file or sniff network traffic, they have a bunch of encrypted passwords. Let's suppose for a moment that you don't find out. Then, they start cracking.
I'll be nice and say you have really secure passwords. It takes about 6 -8 months of computer time to crack. This cracker is very dedicated. If you haven't changed your password since they stole it way back then, they're in.
However, if you change your passwords in an interval smaller than the time it takes to crack it, they can never get your current password. The cracker is always several months behind.
True, if they got a password file, you would probably know you were compromised. However, changing passwords protects you from those rare cases where you don't find out.
You *are* free to do this now. There are several alternative roots, or you are free to build your own - just like the early days of the internet when there was no centralized control.
Slashdot Mirror
Well, how do you get the starter rope through? Unless you put a clothes line like system in each conduit. That's a lot of extra hardware/cost per conduit, even though it's only used on the rare occasions when something is changed.
Special machines are an upgrade though. They used to use ferrets. No kidding. Early 1900's, they'd train ferrets to crawl through underground conduits to run cable. Tie a string on and send it through.
~J
To correct a few misconceptions in the previous comments.
It was not their server that was compromised, just a third party server in a round robin rotation. They don't own it, they don't maintain it - just someone else who donated server space.
The primary or master server is not accessible to users, it was not compromised, and so none of the original source files had a chance to be changed.
Only the 20 users that synchronized to this server even have a tiny chance of getting bad files. Having everyone sync now that this server is out of the rotation will immediately fix the problem.
Full disclosure 24 hours later. I give them a lot of credit for such a quick response and disclosure. This is very, very minor.
~J
I think the point that most people are missing here, is this:
This test was able to create a viable virus from scratch, simply copying the existing pieces. What they created was merely a synthetic copy of an existing virus. They did not create a new virus, or anything harmful.
But, what if those pieces were modified before they were reassembled?
This is dangerous/powerful because you could write your own virus from scratch just like writing a computer virus. Take virulence from one virus, infection from another, write your own specificity rules (this is the scariest - only attack people with a certain genetic profile), add some harmful effects, and you've got something dangerous.
For terrorism, this could be big. Write a virus that causes genocide. Kill everyone with a certain genetic trait.
But this can also be used for good. Write a virus that delivers chemotherapy to cancer cells. Or infects AIDS patients with an anti-aids virus. Or an anti-bacterial agent for infections. You could add a built in self-destruct so it couldn't over-replicate.
From an ethics standpoint, I would compare it to nuclear energy. You could generate electricity for millions, or wipe out entire cities. The technology isn't inherently evil, but it needs lots of research and a great deal of control.
That's where the analogy fails though. It's hard to build a lab capable of building nuclear bombs. It's relatively easy to build a lab capable of synthesizing viruses.
Scary. Yet promising.
Entertainment center explanation.
Go to the store, and buy a new TV, receiver, 5.1 speakers, DVD player, VCR, Tivo, Cable Box / Satellite tuner, etc.
Take all of them home and set them on the shelf. Plug in all the power cords. Skip the rest of the cables.
What the OP wants, is for all of them to talk to each other, setup the connections, feed video/sound to the appropriate places, etc.
Pop a movie in the DVD player, turn on the TV, and hit play on the remote.
The DVD shouts out "Hi, I've got a movie that's been requested."
Your TV says "Hi, I can display audio/video. Send it here."
The speakers chime in: "Hey, I've got better speakers than the TV, use me for the audio instead."
The DVD then streams the video wirelessly to the TV, and the audio to the speakers.
You get tired halfway through the movie. You hit pause and walk upstairs to your bedroom and turn on the TV there, and hit play.
That TV says, "I'm taking over from here. Send me audio/video from the DVD player now."
Most imaginary scenarios I've heard of use Ultra Wide Band, not bluetooth, for actually sending the audio/video. This is better for high-bandwidth stuff over short distances. But, theoretically (and just to stay a little on topic), it could use Bluetooth for negotiating the connections, since this has better pairing/linking protocols.
Now, if only you didn't have to plug them in for power. I'm sure someone is working on that too.
~J
Yes, but what if you know they're out of the country, as this person was. Free IP address, no downside.
This article might answer your question.
Basically, No. Nothing happened.
* My cable modem didn't come with a contract.
* My cable modem and installation was completely free.
You must have a real special deal there, or you're not sharing all the facts with us.
The way it usually works is if they pay for the installation, some sort of committment is involved.
[caveat: At least it would be if there was real competition out there.]
This committment is necessary to prevent them from paying the installation and setup costs, and then you switching to another provider. This is especially true with DSL, but also true for Cable Access. The 1 year committment lets the profit from a years worth of service offset the initial setup costs.
As for your modem, admit it: It's not really "completely free". You pay a monthly rental fee. At $5/mo = $60/year. You couldn't just drop the service without having to return the modem.
* So, you're cheap. Broadband isn't for you.
Part of the point of the original article was that it doesn't have to be so expensive. To bring broadband to the masses it is necessary to make it affordable for the masses.
Seriously. I want to know. It says on their page they had two options for beer: So if it's a special brew - opensource the recipie. I'm an avid homebrewer and I want to give some of these recipies a try!
So, what's the retail value of something that's given away for free?
Is is the retail value of the derived product? Or can an approximate retail value of a similar commercial product be substituted?
Since it's based on the retail value of the copyrighted work, I suspect this doesn't apply, at least not on the surface. A lawyer could probably identify the appropriate means to make it apply though.
If someone was to get the password file or sniff network traffic, they have a bunch of encrypted passwords. Let's suppose for a moment that you don't find out. Then, they start cracking.
I'll be nice and say you have really secure passwords. It takes about 6 -8 months of computer time to crack. This cracker is very dedicated. If you haven't changed your password since they stole it way back then, they're in.
However, if you change your passwords in an interval smaller than the time it takes to crack it, they can never get your current password. The cracker is always several months behind.
True, if they got a password file, you would probably know you were compromised. However, changing passwords protects you from those rare cases where you don't find out.
~J
You *are* free to do this now. There are several alternative roots, or you are free to build your own - just like the early days of the internet when there was no centralized control.
If you run your own DNS server (even if just for your own use), give them a try.