News Erazor worm goes after P2P downloads

http://www.sophos.com/virusinfo/analyses/trojerazera.html

and can be spread like this

as for WhiskeyAlpha go to "user CP" above, and select "edit signature"

 

Well, this virus is strange to begin with. To delet the downloads... I don't really now. But at the same time, if its edited corespondingly it could well be an efficient anti-virus ) ). In my country not much is known about RIAA or MPAA. But from what I've heard about them, they seem very dumb(you ppl know about the incidents).

P2P, well it is indeed the future of Multimedia distribution. Of course it will be impossible to prevent illegal downloads. A virus of this sort is not at all an option as I see it. There will always be ppl who will hack or crack something and place it on torrents or whatever other distribution method there will be in the future.

As another intersting thought, of the future of multimedia distribution, don't forget about STEAM.

 

The first thing I thought when I read the headline was I wonder who is behind this. I havent touched regular p2p since the early days of kazaa and even now I only rarely use bittorrent. Its harder to find a good copy of whatever on those kazaa and limewire networks. If this is from the mpaa or their retarded cousin the riaa I hope this puts them under finally, then I can go back to buying music and movies in the stores.

edit: post #666, its evil

 

Sounds bad. One question though. It said will delete the contents of your downloads folder, but what if I don't keep my downloads in there? Will it hunt them down on my PC and eraticate them, or will it just think I have no downloads and be done with it?

 

Well to be honest i'd rather live in a country that has lax laws than live in a country where I should watch what I say on the phone in case someone else is listening or where the leader isn't actually elected...

I thought that went under the 'made available' clause of the US DMCA
I guess like most things it will be argued in a court of law and whomever has the most money to throw at it wins..

 

Can't really be bothered with getting into this debate again, but I would like to remind people...

P2P networking isn't illegal, it's not against the law, no matter what you are downloading (well, with the exception of certain photographs and so on, but that's a whole new area). It's not a crime and it's not 'stealling'. It's a mere intellectual property rights infringement.

For this the law reconises that a 'tort' against the owner of the IP rights has taken place and would ask the downloader to give some money to compensate.

With this in mind, if you REALLY couldn't afford the album, then there should be no penalty. The orignal owner would have lost nothing you see. However, a court's likely to take your computer as payment first (That if you've got one in the first place! Whatever happened to that?).


Who wrote the virus? I dunno, but must say this looks a touch more realistic than most conspiracy theories. Remember, to find out who was uploading on Kazaa the RIAA etc had to commit the 'crime' (in their words) of downloading themselves in the first place. There's no other way to find out who has the info.


Finally, ignoring the law. Hum, don't really agree you should - but would accept that under certain circumstances we all could.

 

Firstly, I totally agree with specofdust. I think everybody should use their discretion when dealing with such matters as just because sumething is illegal, it doesn't mean it is bad or "evil". In my opinion there are some things which are simply illegal in order to keep cash flowing against a concentration gradient. Secondly, just because someone cannot afford to buy a game, it doesn't mean that they wouldn't be a valuable asset to the community. For many people, the options are limited to download it illegaly or dont play/listen/watch it. Some people couldn't even afford to own a computer if it wasn't for illegal downloads. Does that mean that their contributions to the field are less valid? And, finally, as others have said before me, it isn't a loss of profit if you couldn't possibly buy it in the first place. IMHO

-ed out

P.S: I hope this makes sense i'm a bit tired

 

RIAA = a bunch of jackasses

 

I think we need to end this silliness about the RIAA developing the virus. I know it's too delicious to not think that, but the consequences for them would be so unthinkably massive that it wouldn't even be considered by them. The resulting law suits would be unbelievable. Even if they think they've done this totally clandestinely, someone who knew the truth and had a big mouth and a grievance with them would spill the beans sooner or later. There's no such thing as a secret.

I think we just really WANT it to be them... but it's almost certainly not.

 

weird virus

it wouldnt suprise me if it was the RIAA, but then again

it could just be some vigalante trying to inflict the most annoyance and such

plus this who "riaa conspiracy" thing gives he/she good cover

 

How come everyone suddenly thinks this virus writer needed special 'motivation' to delete download? They didn't seem to need motivation to delete docs or jpgs or whatever in any previous cases.

Putting that asside, as for these semantics on how it's really ok somehow, basically you're taking something without paying from someone who didn't want to give it to you for free. Now I'll be real about this and copying isn't anything new and back in my day daul tape deks seemed like a very good idea, but what I don't get is how some folks now seem to think they have a moral right to any software, film or music they want, for free, any any steps by the author/publisher to make this difficult is the work of satan.

 

Look for the last time. This isn't just about warez and illegal stuff. There is a massive ammount of traffic over P2P that is legitimate. Just because the majority is illegal, doesn't mean you can write off P2P as illegal full stop. This is not a discussion about piracy, it's a discussion about a virus deleting P2P downloads. I've said it before, and I'll say it again, it's vital users make a distinction between P2P and Piracy. They have to stay seperate, because once even we techies start using the two interchangabley, the tech is seriously screwed, and that's stupid to walk away from something with such absoltely fantastic potential.

 

Absolutely, I've noting against P2P, and as for this virus it's just as stupid, malicious and illegal as the last, but I'm reading posts like:

 

If there's one thing that irritates me, it's people who try to justify their crime. If I steal something, I'm stealing. I don't have a right to do it because I can't afford the CD/DVD/game itself. That just means you will have to go without it. There is no "right to play games". It's illegal. Accept it. Maybe the law is unfair. It's still the law.

You do not have the right or duty to break laws you disagree with. You have the right to try and CHANGE them perhaps, but not to break them.

And comparing downloading copyrighted material to the French Resistance is also ridiculous.

So to everyone who supports piracy and thinks they are in the right, please shut up!

I download music through P2P. This is wrong. I could afford CDs, or simply listen to music on the radio. I don't do that, I break the law. I'm not doing it to protest against CD prices, or to try and show the record companies how little I think of them. I do it because I want free music. I don't have a problem with that. I do have a problem with people whining about how they have a right to do it!

[/rant]

*pant wheeze pant pant wheeze*

 

just as pirating is wrong

making a virus to destroy data on peoples computer is just as wrong

both things are wrong

the virus breaks the "computer misuse act"

while the downloading breaks the "software copyrights act" (or somthing)

actually, thats a point, what act stops you downloading music, software is covered, but music ...

Also sticking "copyright" on stuff isnt good enough, the details of the copyright should be published (which is why i also disagree with "copyright" materials)

 

Risky

My rant was never a justification of the act. It was merely to remind people that the scare tatics used are wrong. i.e. 'you're a criminal'. It's not true. It's trying to lump it in the same area are theft, violence etc.

Even specofdust has fallen for this using the term 'illegal'. He (guess you're a guy, you're not called Emzee or anything ) also seems very knowledgable and reasonable in this discussion, so it's interesting how advertising from RIAA etc is effecting people.

'computer misuse act' - I do believe it's the Digital Copyright and Media Act 2000... but correct me if I'm wrong

Regarding what covers music, it's automatic, doesn't matter what it is, if someone has used their mind to create something - music, software or otherwise - you're protected by copyright. The DCMA is merely there to strengthen the legal powers that have been there for years.

out of interest, it also protects us, in that you orignally infringed copyright by looking at the internet - just think about it, every webpage is under copyright, yet when you look at it every router/ISP on the way forms an instant copy, then you make a copy in your RAM, maybe in your SWAP file or temporary folder, then you make a copy on your screen. Crazy, we've all been 'crminals' for years


In regard the virus.... as I'm sure you know, the legal profession is very slow and as far as technology is concerned, it usually has it's hands over it's ears singing *LA LA LA LA LA*. They did decide though, that by effecting the 010100101 pattern on a hard disk amounted to Criminal Damage. So there you have it, viruses cause criminal damage.

Interestingly, hacking (up until a couple of years back) was looked upon very kindly, the law saw it as an active way to find security holes and was normally carry out by people with an 'interest' and no malice.


P.S. Always get drawn into these debates, can help it! Also - just so you know my personal opinion - I buy my CDs, always sounds better, and overall, they're shiny!

 

well said there. I have to agree with you there. Theft is theft, pure and simple.

 

It's people who start a discussion on the morals of piracy whenever the topic is within shouting range. I'm gonna have to keep this relatively short, otherwise I'll end up insulting people, but please, keep the damn thing on topic, and don't use any topic that has anything that can possibly, however tenuously, be linked to copyright breach to give us all an inspired lecture on why you either think piracy is wonderfull w00t yeah man, or why you think it's a Very Bad Thing Indeed.

 

Due to the out right stupidity of the MPAA and RIAA I highly doubt that anyone under their wing has the brains to write a program, and an intelligent one at that. In fact I think they're so stupid that just the idea of writing a virus to delete downloads would never occur to their tiny minds, ever. They're all about brute force.

I'll give you another more realistic theory on who wrote this virus. Some programmer got some blackmail material released into the wild by someone (vids of him being drunk off his rear, something more scandalous, who knows, something he doesn't want others to see). Well, oh crap, since he's seen the vid in the wild on a torrent site or a Kazaa search, he'll write a virus that actively deletes whatever files are in circulation without prejudice since people renaming/modifying files is common and release it into the network. Why disable the malware? Who knows, maybe he found that the malware has conflicts with the virus.

Another theory? I bet it's those crazy christian fanatics that are against porn ("ALL YOU FORNICATORS ARE GOING TO HELL" you've heard that line if you've been around U of M in ann arbor), and wrote this virus to demolish all the porn on eveyone's HDs. He also put in a malware disabling algorithm to be a good samaritan.

Well, whoever wrote the virus, it's definately not MPAA or RIAA scum.

 

/kicks thread BACK ON TOPIC