'I Was a Hacker for the MPAA' 385
Wired has up an article with a man named Robert Anderson, who was recruited by the MPAA in 2005 to inform on people in the BitTorrent community. In a tell-all interview with the site, Anderson explains how the powerful media organization encouraged him to obtain the information they were looking for: "According to Anderson, the MPAA told him: 'We would need somebody like you. We would give you a nice paying job, a house, a car, anything you needed.... if you save Hollywood for us you can become rich and powerful.' In 2005, the MPAA paid Anderson $15,000 for inside information about TorrentSpy -- information at the heart of a copyright-infringement lawsuit brought by the MPAA against TorrentSpy of Los Angeles. The material is also the subject of a wiretapping countersuit against the MPAA brought by TorrentSpy's founder, Justin Bunnell, who alleges the information was obtained illegally."
I'm glad that I no longer consume mass media. (Score:5, Interesting)
Instead of buying mainstream CDs, I go listen to local bands play at a variety of pubs and other venues, and buy directly from them if I like what I hear. The local theater productions are often far better than the latest Bruce Willis shitflick out of Hollywood. Instead of watching TV, I go biking, rockclimbing, and I also play recreational badminton.
So I'm glad to say that my funding of this sort of bullshit has been minimal, if at all. I urge more people to take a path similar to the one that I've chosen. You'll be far better off, both in terms of the entertainment you do experience, the money you save, and the fact that you're not funding the mainstream media in any way.
Re:obligatory (Score:5, Interesting)
What an effing crock! (Score:4, Interesting)
I'm sorry, but this smacks of FUD from the MPAA/RIAA bullshit, brain-storm meeting! How can we scare off casual "pirates"? I know, says bow-tied twat number 1, lets make up shit about professional hackers gathering your details and bringing down the fabric of society, or at least one of the 75 popular torrent sites.
Re:When hypocrites attack... (Score:5, Interesting)
Mr. Coward, please tell me why I can't:
a) watch a DVD that I purchased legally on my television via the TV-Out port on my video card, using my computer's DVD drive to read this legal DVD? Macrovision prevents that. There are ways around it, but they are illegal due to the DMCA.
b) watch a DVD that I purchased legally in linux, because apparently Hollywood hasn't bothered to write an official DVD-decoder for that operating system, yet they maintain that if anyone else does it, it's a DMCA violation?
Re:obligatory (Score:4, Interesting)
"Hacking" or "to hack" has many different meanings already. (The term was not invented by those 'hackers', and will not be the sole property of said hackers.
Google and Xerox don't like it when their name is used as a verb, but it still happens. If you don't believe me, then google it.)
Merriam Webster defines "hack [m-w.com]" as follows:
Yes, the term is being muddied by the media, but language is always in flux, meanings change. New words appear. Perhaps it's time to give the 'white hat' hackers a new term? Or start using the term 'white hat' more.
Re:obligatory (Score:3, Interesting)