Muahahaha! No honour amongst thieves, eh? They collect thousands of dollars as a "defense fund".. and then turn around and settle with the MPAA! HAH! And give their logs so that the pirates that used the site are high and dry, and likely to face legal action..
It takes a lot more time and effort in order to find and prosecute a P2P pirate than a shoplifter. As well, P2P piracy is a more pressing problem. And furthermore, when you use BT or some other programs, you're not only doing the equivalent of "shoplifting" the DVD, you're also distributing copies of the DVD illegally - which carries a much higher penalty than simple shoplifting in it's own right.
What's the solution? DON'T STEAL/PIRATE MOVIES/BOOKS/SOFTWARE/MUSIC/etc.! It's VERY simple to avoid being caught by these supposedly "unfair" laws!
I use bittorrent as a means to an end - to get the file that I want. While I'm willing to upload while my file is downloading (I know how the BT protocol works - you can't download without uploading as well), once I receive the file, I consider my obligation complete.
Hmm.. maybe I should grab the Azureus source code and modify it to suit my needs..
Just because something is reviewed doesn't mean it won't contain flaws.. especially if said flaws are purposefully obfuscated. Has it happened? I don't know. Will it happen? Same answer. The fact remains, though, that this is a vulnerability (however trivial it may be) that OSS has that proprietary software does not.
The speed in which flaws are corrected in OSS is generally commendable - usually better than with proprietary software. HOWEVER, just because a patch is released doesn't mean all of the users will apply it. In fact, the vast majority of exploits are for flaws that have already been patched by the vendor.
And as for skills of the scumbag hackers (or crackers.. whatever term you prefer).. it is social skills that these people lack, not technical skills (except for script kiddies)
I'm certain that we'll see FF exploits sooner rather than later. While FF is immune to a few specific attack vectors used to install malware via IE, it has it's own, unique vectors. Extensions are one.
As well (some may dismiss this as FUD), but the very nature of OSS makes it vulnerable, as well. Consider if someone contributes code that (intentionally) contains a well-hidden vector for spyware attacks. Consider also that the blackhats will probably exploit the open bugtracking system and open access to the code to come up with exploits.
Goesling's comments made me laugh..NET can run unmanaged C/C++ code, therefore is unsecure. Well, Java can do the same thing, with JNI (and JNI is necessary in some cases.. anyone know how to read the MAC address of your NIC without it, for example?)
Essentially, Don's comments are: a).NET is as secure as Java wrt unmanaged code b).NET is more convenient wrt the same
Then again, they say: "The administration has called for relevant departments across the country to clean up the electronic publication and software markets, confiscate any of the 50 games if found and hold the publishers, producers and distributors of these games accountable."
It doesn't mention pirated versions specifically.. just any copies of those titles.
It sounds like (after RTFA) all this does is direct a user to a website - supposedly to get a "license" to play the content.. and once on that website, spyware is downloaded.
So.. isn't this just a new way to get people to visit spyware websites.. which exploit flaws in IE? Meaning, there is no new flaw in WMP here?
As long as WMP uses your default browser to check for licenses (can someone confirm this?) I'm safe:-> (now, to download some more porn off eDonkey!)
Those sites were havens for illegal material. The administrators of those sites had ample opportunity (and the ability) to remove torrents that linked to copyrighted material.. but they chose not to.
While Apple has no obligation to support music from competitor's stores, it appears they have gone out of their way to intentionally disable (and not accidentally, through addition of a new feature) songs purchased from Real's website.
Only thing I can view on my phone are sites that support the WAP... which sucks, considering many sites (/., even? If there is, I haven't found it) don't have one.
Slashdot Mirror
Muahahaha! No honour amongst thieves, eh? They collect thousands of dollars as a "defense fund".. and then turn around and settle with the MPAA! HAH!
And give their logs so that the pirates that used the site are high and dry, and likely to face legal action..
HAH! This makes my day!
It takes a lot more time and effort in order to find and prosecute a P2P pirate than a shoplifter. As well, P2P piracy is a more pressing problem. And furthermore, when you use BT or some other programs, you're not only doing the equivalent of "shoplifting" the DVD, you're also distributing copies of the DVD illegally - which carries a much higher penalty than simple shoplifting in it's own right.
What's the solution? DON'T STEAL/PIRATE MOVIES/BOOKS/SOFTWARE/MUSIC/etc.! It's VERY simple to avoid being caught by these supposedly "unfair" laws!
I use bittorrent as a means to an end - to get the file that I want. While I'm willing to upload while my file is downloading (I know how the BT protocol works - you can't download without uploading as well), once I receive the file, I consider my obligation complete.
Hmm.. maybe I should grab the Azureus source code and modify it to suit my needs..
because:
a) It's annoying
b) I'm not always at home once the download completes.
Is there a bit torrent client that does not automatically start seeding once you have downloaded the file? (my bandwidth is capped.. )
Just because something is reviewed doesn't mean it won't contain flaws.. especially if said flaws are purposefully obfuscated. Has it happened? I don't know. Will it happen? Same answer. The fact remains, though, that this is a vulnerability (however trivial it may be) that OSS has that proprietary software does not.
The speed in which flaws are corrected in OSS is generally commendable - usually better than with proprietary software. HOWEVER, just because a patch is released doesn't mean all of the users will apply it. In fact, the vast majority of exploits are for flaws that have already been patched by the vendor.
And as for skills of the scumbag hackers (or crackers.. whatever term you prefer).. it is social skills that these people lack, not technical skills (except for script kiddies)
I'm certain that we'll see FF exploits sooner rather than later. While FF is immune to a few specific attack vectors used to install malware via IE, it has it's own, unique vectors. Extensions are one.
As well (some may dismiss this as FUD), but the very nature of OSS makes it vulnerable, as well. Consider if someone contributes code that (intentionally) contains a well-hidden vector for spyware attacks. Consider also that the blackhats will probably exploit the open bugtracking system and open access to the code to come up with exploits.
Goesling's comments made me laugh. .NET can run unmanaged C/C++ code, therefore is unsecure. Well, Java can do the same thing, with JNI (and JNI is necessary in some cases.. anyone know how to read the MAC address of your NIC without it, for example?)
.NET is as secure as Java wrt unmanaged code .NET is more convenient wrt the same
Essentially, Don's comments are:
a)
b)
which is completely correct, IMO.
Straight from the horse's mouth:s px
http://www.microsoft.com/Office/xml/faq.m
Looks "open" enough to me..
[i]Although I don't think proprietary software is ethically legitimate,[/i]
Oh, and you were so close to writing something that I might at least partially agree with..
Then again, they say:
"The administration has called for relevant departments across the country to clean up the electronic publication and software markets, confiscate any of the 50 games if found and hold the publishers, producers and distributors of these games accountable."
It doesn't mention pirated versions specifically.. just any copies of those titles.
As if there were any reason to use AOL - which there wasn't - how does offering less services make them any more useful to their subscribers?
In other news:
SPAM and general stupidity on newsgroups declined by 99.5% after this announcement.
So EA can brand their games with ESPN. Woohoo. Big f***ing deal. I don't see how this is of any real importance (unless I'm missing something?)
The exclusive NFL deal was a lot worse for competition..
This blog/article does no such thing as the poster suggests of "dig[ging] deep into BitTorrent".
BTW: WTF is podcasting?
When I saw Star Wars for the first time, and thought I could use the force to pick up things
It sounds like (after RTFA) all this does is direct a user to a website - supposedly to get a "license" to play the content.. and once on that website, spyware is downloaded.
:-> (now, to download some more porn off eDonkey!)
So.. isn't this just a new way to get people to visit spyware websites.. which exploit flaws in IE? Meaning, there is no new flaw in WMP here?
As long as WMP uses your default browser to check for licenses (can someone confirm this?) I'm safe
IBM sells PC division to communist-China company
IBM gives patents away for free to people developing communist-OSS applications
WHEN YOU BUY IBM, YOU'RE BUYING COMMUNISM!
(nb: this is a joke, and should be modded "funny". I'm not serious, and so this should not be labelled "flamebait". Get it? Got it? Good.)
Well, MS flaws that affect only pre-SP2 XP versions of Windows seem to be an issue.. so it's only fair :->
Those sites were havens for illegal material. The administrators of those sites had ample opportunity (and the ability) to remove torrents that linked to copyrighted material.. but they chose not to.
Good riddance to bad rubish.
http://www.ioccc.org/ ..
if only this were written in C!
Seriously, though, if anyone working for me wrote code like that.. they'd be fired.
I CALL FOR A BOYCOTT ON ALL OF APPLE'S PRODUCTS.
While Apple has no obligation to support music from competitor's stores, it appears they have gone out of their way to intentionally disable (and not accidentally, through addition of a new feature) songs purchased from Real's website.
Nice.. but still, you can only read the headlines :-
Only thing I can view on my phone are sites that support the WAP... which sucks, considering many sites (/., even? If there is, I haven't found it) don't have one.
You mean they don't check outgoing e-mails, which might have anti-Communist content? Gasp!
penofficeoay asway ranslatedtay ntoiay igpay atinlay odaytay. ..
Inallyfay..