BitTorrent Admin Monitored by US Government, Forced to Dump GNU/Linux
Written by enigmax on August 22, 2007Sk0t, an ex-administrator of the EliteTorrents BitTorrent tracker is to have his internet connection forcibly monitored by the US Government. If that wasn’t bad enough, the monitoring software is Windows based - which means he is being forced to ditch GNU/Linux - or face being barred from the internet.
Scott McCausland (sk0t), the ex-administrator of the EliteTorrents BitTorrent tracker isn’t having much luck lately. Back in September 2006, he pleaded guilty to two charges - ‘conspiracy to commit copyright infringement’ and ‘criminal copyright infringement’. Both charges relate to him uploading ‘Star Wars: Episode III’ onto the internet hours before the theatrical release, earning him 5 months in jail and 5 months home confinement.
Sk0t has now been released from jail but this doesn’t mean that everything is back to normal.
Back on 17 July, sk0t had to see his Probation Officer for the first time and two days later he had to have a special ankle bracelet attached. This monitoring device is there to enforce the terms of his release: Monday to Friday 08:30 to 21:00 he is free to do as he pleases. Weekends are more restrictive - freedom is allocated between 08:30 to 17:00. The one good thing about this device is that it will be removed before Christmas (Dec 19th).
According to a post on his blog, following another meeting with his Probation Officer, it seems sk0t is having more trouble:
So, I am getting shafted by the Justice Department again…”
sk0t was informed by his Probation Officer that he has to have special software installed on his PC so that the government can monitor his online activities. However, what is a more bitter pill to swallow for him is that the monitoring software is Windows only and as sk0t is an Ubuntu user, the Justice Department is forcing him to switch operating systems.
I had a meeting with my probation officer today, and he told me that he has to install monitoring software onto my PC. No big deal to me, that is part of my sentence. However, their software doesnt support GNU/Linux (Which is what I use). So, he told me that if I want to use a computer, I would have to use an OS that the software can be installed on.
Sk0t is left with a tough choice. Give in to the evils of the monitoring software, format his hard drive and install Windows - or be barred from using a PC completely.
Sk0t told TorrentFreak: “I think that this whole situation is just one more way that they can impose their will onto me. I have contacted my attorney, and we are going to fight this. It isn’t the fact that I have to be monitored that bothers me, it is the fact that I have restructure my life (different OS, different software on that OS) and that they would require (force) me to purchase software while I a currently unemployed and relatively unemployable with the 2 felonies that they gave me. It is just a ridiculous situation. Why should I conform to them when I am consenting to the software… they should have software that conforms to me.”
Unfortunately, thanks to the Family Entertainment and Copyright Act, some BitTorrent users are considered criminals these days, which means these unusual measures can be forced upon them. In a society where ‘the punishment should fit the crime’, you can’t help but think that somewhere along the line there’s been a big miscalculation when regular citizens are turned into criminals for sharing files.
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447 Responses
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To all those who are telling sk0t to put up and shut up, why the hell are you even on this site in the first place? You’re either grubby little leeches who don’t bother to help seed the torrents they download, or the world’s biggest hypocrites. We sympathize for sk0t because in a “normal” country, this wouldn’t even be a crime, let alone a felony. This would be the same as someone recording a movie via tape recorder, and taking it to a buddy’s house to watch it with a few friends, who also want copies of it. It would be nice for Canada to take sk0t, but not sure if he can even get in here considering he has a 2 felony criminal record attached to his name.
I can’t believe it. Here is what you do, install windows. Then if you need to go “off the record” for internet access (lol), use a cellphone, psp, OR THE WII, YES GET A WII. FULL NET ACCESS THEY CANT MONITOR AND ITS NOT A PC! I can’t believe nobody thought of that.
It sucks ass, i got in trouble also. Paramount Pic’s got my isp and shit. Said i was seeding Hot Rod. Uh No, i downloaded the avi about 45%, stopped the torrent, played in media player, and yes it was that fake bs about downloading a player thats really a virus. Damn morons, it was a STING OP lol.
Anyway, wtf good is a plea deal, the one i took for something related didnt, said i get probation, and i could get fines, jail, blah blah blah. So wtf is the point of the Deal?
Niceone yourahat. I second it!
“To all those who are telling sk0t to put up and shut up, why the hell are you even on this site in the first place? You’re either grubby little leeches who don’t bother to help seed the torrents they download, or the world’s biggest hypocrites. We sympathize for sk0t because in a “normal” country, this wouldn’t even be a crime, let alone a felony. This would be the same as someone recording a movie via tape recorder, and taking it to a buddy’s house to watch it with a few friends, who also want copies of it. It would be nice for Canada to take sk0t, but not sure if he can even get in here considering he has a 2 felony criminal record attached to his name.” - youreahat
just like some poor country, in usa there is no law…”big” bosses just make whatever they want and not caring about anyone else…so usa is no better then some afganistan or iraq…war and money rules…no law
(but as a little hope…bush is stepping down in less then 1½ year…maybe then innocent peoples stop dying…FFS just buy the oil, dont go to war for it!!!)
All you people giving him options on how to abide by his condition, while keeping ubuntu forgot oneof his issues. Out of principle or his budget, he stil would need to install windows. Maybe Mr Bill Gates will issue him a complimentary copy as a good gesture for leaving the linux community.. lol. anyways.. Im with you sk0t. By the way.. what is this software. Who makes it. And I wonder what else this mandatory software does.
That whole double jeopardy thing is an interesting concept though. May just work.
Im praying for you bud!!
[quote comment="151162"]:D Know what’s awesome? This bullshit would -never- happen in my country![/quote]
Tell him to leave the US after his Probation is up. TELL HIM TO LEAVE THE FU*KING USA.
This is a fake message.
Don’t believe this guy.
his fuck-up, his problem.
Wait, is this FOREVER? Or just until your probation is over?
I mean, for the rest of your life you can never ever use Linux again and you’ll always have to be monitored? How could they impose that at all? After a while, you will have paid your dept to society and done your time…therefore it should be over.
Also, since when did copyright violations equal jail time? I thought this was all a civil matter.
Well He Should Move to Russia or some other country that accomodates Hackers and pirates ,and Ditch the USA ,as he knows well that living within the USA will no longer be any good
Wow, some rabid readers here.
First he broke the law, that you all don’t like it is irrelevant.
He doesn’t have to comply, he can go back to jail, or as has been suggested, just give up the net for a while. I have a third idea… Why not offer to write a linux based version of the monitoring software. It helps you, or anyone else who might get in your position in the future.
Whine less, think outside the box. (god I hate that phrase). Be PROACTIVE. Your probation officer might even be impressed with your efforts, and good reports are important for early release.
The US Government can’t code for Linux?
Dear Skot. I have read a lot of suggestions on installing the spyware under vmware or wine in Linux. However, as you state this kind of legal shit is not to be played with (guy, it is your life, fuck what all of us say).
However I could recommend you to do following. Install Windows, install nothing but the spyware over there. Then just install VMWARE (the player or the server, which is free too). You can then install Ubuntu on the virtual machine. All the traffic will still be passing through the Windows spyware, and you will be able to use your Linux system with all the apps.
That is the way I have Linux at home, with VMWARE server + xming+putty+Ubuntu, I can run whatever Linux app (I personally use Kile a lot) and still have Windows running.
Are they going to offer him the Windows license?
:x
[quote]@NItrate Row - Peer Guardian can block advertisements and spyware. Quite useful on Windows don’t you think? Peer Guardian does not imply torrenting in any way, dumb ass.[/quote]
Peerguardian is mainly used for P2P.
Odd how you insult people over the internet for something as frivolous as this :)
Anyway, move to a country that doesn’t hate freedom as much as America (which happens to be many countries in the world).
hey sk0t, I’ve got an idea. go ahead, do it their way. get the windows, install the software, make it a router and use linux or whatever. Then encrypt all of your traffic. Just make sure that it’s all useless traffic. You know, maybe make a program that sends an email to the Justice Department regarding your unfair treatment. Send it ever hour on the hour. Encrypt all traffic, then when they tell you to stop, tell them you’ll happily supply the passphrase, then change the encryption type/passphrase. Do this every single day. Your situation sucks, don’t bitch about it, have some fun with it. Make the tax payers pay for it. The money is being wasted one way or another, might as well play with it yourself somehow.
Not that I condone any of the activities that led to your unfortunate circumstances, but hey, grow some ballz. Got screwed, guess what, gonna stay that way, might as well spit in their eye while they’re doing it.
[quote comment="151297"]Peerguardian is mainly used for P2P.[/quote]
Care to quote sources? Out of the box, PG can block 5 different lists: Spyware, Advertisements, Government, Educational and P2P addresses.
[quote comment="151297"]Odd how you insult people over the internet for something as frivolous as this :)[/quote]
Odd how you insult those monitoring internet activity by labeling them “fascists”. It’s their job. If you want someone to blame, maybe the judge, legal system or probation officer is a better place to direct your teenage angst?
Can you not open an SSH connection from your Forced windows machine to a server owned by you, or a friend on the internet?
I’m not sure if SSH2 has been cracked, or how easy it is to sniff, but better than nothing.
(oh, don’t forget that in firefox you need to go into about:config and set network.proxy.socks_remote_dns to true to stop DNS leakage.
[quote]Care to quote sources? Out of the box, PG can block 5 different lists: Spyware, Advertisements, Government, Educational and P2P addresses.[/quote]
http://phoenixlabs.org/pg2/
“PeerGuardian 2 is Phoenix Labs’ premier IP blocker for Windows. PeerGuardian 2 integrates support for multiple lists, list editing, automatic updates, and blocking all of IPv4 (TCP, UDP, ICMP, etc), making it the safest and easiest way to protect your privacy on P2P.”
“Phoenix Labs and the PeerGuardian team do not condone copyright infringement. There are many legal uses of P2P and we are sick of being treated like criminals! We want to keep organizations and individuals from collecting data about us without our consent.”
[quote]Odd how you insult those monitoring internet activity by labeling them “fascists”. It’s their job.[/quote]
Monitored by fascists / Monitored by the government.
I wasn’t talking about the individuals doing the actual monitoring, but what they are doing is still bad.
Just saying “it’s their job” isn’t an excuse to do it.
Spend the time going to university. Don’t play their game. Better yourself in the 5 years they have you under their thumb.
[quote comment="151287"]The US Government can’t code for Linux?[/quote]
It aint that. Bill Gates probably gave a nice donation to the state’s senate or something..
a few years from now “The Microsoft Supreme Court”
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