Quote:
Originally posted by JackSpratts
it's some thing i've been thinking about for a year or so gr that i call a "viral app". it's a court ordered virus that effectively hijacks a pgm like morpheus if its makers claim they can't control the product. it overtakes it and hands it to a court appointed executor, removing control from a daily user.
sources at gannett said the riaa was ready to launch their version last december, but it was designed to slow down transfers, not hand off complete control, and as such was similar to a run of the mill virus or dos attack. but the most important difference was that it was not ordered by a court.
why they've waited is unclear (another "mystery" for you gr?lol!) they said the dmca gave them permission to "protect their copyrights" by hacking peoples' pcs. others were less enthusiastic about the purported legality and feared massive repercussions both criminal and civil as well as even larger amounts of bad pr. while the act of "recording and trading" may be a legal gray area, it's abundantly clear that launching a virus is - so far - most definitely illegal. lucky us - so far.
- js.
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I think the only thing holding the RIAA back is the liability issue...and their first attempt to get protection from any liability that arises from any damage done to anyone's PC was shut down in this shameful episode:
http://www.wired.com/news/conflict/0,2100,47552,00.html
The attempt to classify anti-pirating initiatives as anti-terrorist initiatives was a particularly disgraceful exploitation of the 9/11 tragedy.