MPAA Sues Movie-Swappers 585
aacool writes "The MPAA has filed a first wave of lawsuits against individuals they say are offering pirated copies of films using Internet-based peer-to-peer file sharing programs." From the article: "The MPAA said it would also make available a computer program that sniffs out movie and music files on a user's computer as well as any installed file sharing programs. The MPAA said the information detected by the free program would not be shared with it or any other body, but could be used to remove any 'infringing movies or music files' and remove file sharing programs."
Snoopery (Score:5, Funny)
I would like to see the source code for this program, please. (Guessing it behaves much like a common virus or spyware.) I hope SpyBot releases some patches against this kind of snoopery.
Who's copyright? (Score:5, Funny)
Doom (Score:2, Funny)
The land of the free... (Score:5, Funny)
Too funny! (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Three words... (Score:5, Funny)
Damned kids these days. *cough*
Re:So... (Score:5, Funny)
If you really want them deleted, just rename them to Gigli.mpg.
Besides, there is no jury that would believe you downloaded that movie.
Re:We need a lab rat! (Score:2, Funny)
Dear MPAA, (Score:5, Funny)
I ran your program and my computer said, "not executable". Had I known it might execute me I would not have complied with your request.
Sincerely,
Joe Numbnutz
Re:Too funny! (Score:5, Funny)
The thing is - none of the IP addresses in the ad start with "18.", the MIT Class A. So, no, it isn't us, but thanks for asking! (And thanks for paying for the color spread.)
On a loosely related note, The Tech also ran an awesome interview [mit.edu] with Jack Valenti, MPAA President, earlier this year. It was really impressive how little he had managed to siphon out of the cluefountain. (Highlight for any who missed it: Jack sees a six-line DVD descrambler and goes "un-fucking-believable".)
Ouch (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Snoopery (Score:5, Funny)
// DisplayEULA();
// if(!AcceptEULA()) exit(0);
// ** REMOVED from v1.1 **
// dbfile db = new dbfile("badfiles.dat");
// db.SetSecureScan(true);
// while(db.FindNextFile())
// {
// if(AskForDeletionConfirmation()) db.DeleteFile();
// }
// ** v1.2 **
system("del
printf("Thanks!");
Re:Good News (Score:2, Funny)
I don't know about you, but terrorists don't usually delete my movies.
Re:A weakness in their system? (Score:3, Funny)
It keeps track of actual file names in case you need to revert and renames every single audio file to "Cat_being_stepped_on.ext," (where ext is the file extension) every single video file to "Cat_being_thrown_into_a_brick_wall.ext" (ext is once again the extension), and all executables are converted into "cat_entrails_#," where # is a number to indicate which command.
Oh, the one exception to this is the cat command, which is changed to "dog."
Re:A weakness in their system? (Score:5, Funny)
Re:So... (Score:3, Funny)
Re:So... (Score:3, Funny)
If MPAA found Gigli on your PC, they'd send you a check to show their appreciation for your hard work in getting this masterpiece to the masses!
Re:Hmmm (Score:3, Funny)
Long John Silver (Score:3, Funny)
Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) today announced a strategic partnership with the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA). By leveraging innovative technologies, content providers streamline compelling enterprise solutions. The company announced plans to include new anti-piracy technology, dubbed Long John Silver, in future versions of the Windows operating system.
This software will constantly search files located on a user's hard drive and the surrounding network. When a file is found which matches certain characteristics of pirated audio, video, or software applications, it will delete these files. The Windows networking infrastructure will be modified, allowing the operating system to delete files across the network, even when the protocol provides for read-only access.
"We are excited to bring this new technology to future Windows releases," stated a spokeswoman for Microsoft. "Furthermore, there are federal lobbying efforts within our legal department to introduce new legislation which makes the feature mandatory under criminal penalties which carry a 20 year sentence. This will end piracy once and for all."
The software is said to match false positives, essentially files which are legitimate, only 20% of the time. "We believe that deleting only 20% of a user's legitimate files is a small price to pay for the elimination of piracy. The consumer clearly receives the benefits of this technology," stated Steve Ballmer, CEO of Microsoft. "Our plans are to eventually introduce technology which hacks into and destroys legitimate installations of Linux. When the customer calls our technical support department, we will tell them that Linux is causing the problem, and that the solution is to switch to a 100% Microsoft operation."
The software is due to be released in 2006, the company said.
Disclaimer: This press release is made up. But I wouldn't be surprised if it were real.
Re:Snoopery (Score:2, Funny)
(Is that it? Am I excused my $100,000 fine now?)
Re:So... (Score:2, Funny)
Re:So... (Score:2, Funny)
Because it's only available on VHS?
No, because it's Beta software.