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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This reminds me of A Clockwork Orange when Alex can no longer listen to Beethoven’s ninth.
Can someone not get a legal copy of the software and figure out a way to get this to work for sk0t?
[quote comment="151512"]This reminds me of A Clockwork Orange when Alex can no longer listen to Beethoven’s ninth.
Can someone not get a legal copy of the software and figure out a way to get this to work for sk0t?[/quote]
Edit: I meant get this to work under wine for sk0t.
Knoppix. The government apparently is not too bright (ok, really not bright). The family entertainment and copyright act makes me look like a crimminal too, because I use bittorrent to get linux (full versions), and related software, plus movies created under the cc license. OH NO! He’s downloading movies via bittorrent, CRIMMINAL! They will all shout, even though the license allows it all legally, and the original owners wanted and intended it to be distributed this way (went out of their way to distribute this way too).
at least they arent making you use an apple…
Well, sk0t, lemme get you set on the right foot with Windows. nLite. It’s required with any Windows installation. Never let plain Windows touch your computer. Best of all, it’s legal to use. ;)
Hopefully you’ll learn to ninja Windows the same as you can probably already ninja Linsux. Except Windows doesn’t suck, and has many millions more users. ;)
Fuck Vista.
http://nliteos.com
[quote comment="151448"]YOu get all this freeshit from ELITE TORRENTS and bitch because you have to spend 200 bucks for windows xp.. You need a reality check.. THe governement didnt screw you, you screwed the government and now your just have to do your time and instead of bitching about it.[/quote]
Hey shawners you’re a F’N moron and he didnt screw the Government they screwed him instead dumb ass!!! Hey sk0t fuck the US government!!! The only way they will take my computers is over my DEAD F’N body. If they want to stop me they will have to KILL me otherwise I won’t be stopped from using the internet and torrents and usenet. Also I am well armed and an expert shot as well. Im not afraid of the F’N PIGS if they want some then I say come get some!!! I’m well prepared with 3000 rounds of teflon coated hollow point armor piercing 9mm rounds and then the PIGS will have a bloodbath on their hands for what sharing some F’N video files over the internet? F-CK THE MPAA, RIAA, BSA, FBI, CIA, US GOVERNMENT, ETC. Face reality file sharing will never, ever be stopped no matter how much they would like to think they can stop it because Information is POWER and the sooner they realize that fact and figure out they will never stop ThePirateBay.org or the usenet as much as they would like to do so. The Pirate Bay in case you people forgot gave Hollywood the middle finger 2 days after they were taken down and the MPAA and RIAA can F-CK off forever as far as Im concerned!!!
Stop using a computer and read alot for the next five months.
[quote comment="150808"]I AM NOT ALLOWED TO HAVE AN INTERNET CONNECTION THAT ISNT MONITORED. Which means I cant be on the computer unless I use windows… so partitioning a useless drive for 2 years is worthless.[/quote]
Did the insanity of using a software-based solution on the PC to be monitored evade them? Wouldn’t it make more sense to preserve the freedom to choose to avoid proprietary software altogether, and use a monitoring device at the connection’s entry-point into the residence? Or monitor the connection from the vantage point of the ISP (and make *damn* sure that it’s limited to just the involved party)?
This wreaks of injustice to me.
[quote comment="150815"]The point is, he doesn’t have money to pay for $100-$500 dollars worth of Microsoft software just so some cops can put their crappy VB.NET monitoring software on his computer. Unless the Justice Dept. buys him this software so that their software would work, he should not be subjugated to changing his primary operating system and selling his organs to do so. This is serious, if they want to, they can throw him back in jail for refusing a court order/probation terms. There needs to be a compromise somewhere…[/quote]
Except that if the government buys yet another license of Windows for this purpose, then *we* have to pay for it. That’s not a desirable solution, either. I abhor paying for the licenses of Windows that I pay for every year on April 15 as it is.
F-CK BUSH. HE IS NOTHING MORE THEN PRESIDENT ADOLF “COCKSUCKER” HITLER!!! And if you dont like that fact tough titty said the F’N kitty and the milk is still shitty!!!
So… This seems pretty easy to me…
Don’t break the law, moron.
If I get a DUI, and later I want to drive, I have to buy special expensive insurance. Same type of deal here. You have a choice, you just don’t like it.
This guy wasn’t a casual file sharer, his actions were tantamount to grand theft.
Stop complaining.
Why don’t you start a blog? You need a job anyways… obviously, by the string of comments on this bulletin board, plenty of people are interested. You could keep them reading for months. Publish your story. It’s an important one.
Also, videoman413 had a decent idea: make linux monitoring software yourself!
Whatever you decide to do (or not do), good luck!
Can you run the software under WINE?:)
Do you have any open wireless APs in your area? If so, get a decent antenna and a amplifier and connect to one of these APs for your internet connection.
But, of course, that requires some spare money to get the equipment.
IF the American Government and the US military is as great as they claim to be then why havent they captured Osama Bin Laden yet? I’ll tell you why cause he has more brains in his pinky finger then President Cocksucker and the US Military has because IF they can’t catch Osama Bin Laden after 5 years or more then they are FAILURES at what they get paid to do and are wasting the taxpayers money. Im not being Unamerican I’m simply stating the TRUE facts whether the US Government, the news media who is CENSORED in the USA, or you republican supporting assclowns are willing to admit it or not.
maybe the justice dept could provide SK0T with a confiscated pirated windoze for free:-)
or the OLPC project could donate a laptop he could use in any hotspot.
call it One Laptop Per ‘Criminal’ as the MPAA likes to depict sharing citizens as criminals.
America, the land of the Brave and the Free, I suppose? Thanx, but no thanx.
Anyway, almost everybody on the planet has access to the star wars 3 movie by now. so why punish only the one who published it, and not the rest who watches it. plain hypocrisy imho.
He is a criminal. I’ve got no problem with ripping your CD’s or DVD’s for personal use but uploading the film before theatrical release? Yeah, that’s criminal.[/quote]
No, what Lucas did to a perfectly good movie is the REAL crime, here.
I don’t like the MPAA/RIAA, but sk0t did release something _before_ it even hit the theaters.
If I paid for a list of computer parts from an online store and had those parts get stolen as they were en route to my house, I’d be furious and would want those responsible to have an appropriate punishment.
sk0t if you are reading this, don’t make a big deal out of it (any more so than you’ve done already) so as to lessen the suspicion that you are just a trouble maker, then after you’ve served your time, see if you can skip on over to Sweden.
Best regards.
hahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha
You got fucking owned.
hahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha
*snort*
hahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha
hahaha
hah
hahaha
*sniff*
Oh man, you got owned.
The Jews has controlled Hollywood, **AA, Democrats and Republicans, financial and IT industry, law enforcement, and many other industries etc.
Your only way is to utilize the second amendment of the constitution, which give you some rights to take over Washington D.C. and declare presidency, or move to China immediately.
HEIL HITLER
So it says he HAS to run that software, not on what OS. So he should try it in WINE and go on with his life.
Really, shouldn’t the gov better monitor his IP? rather than having him install the software on his pc? it’s like keeping the key of the cell inside it and tell him not to use it.
Can they provide you with the software installed on a windows “server” acting as a router of sorts? Then you could use that machine as a router for any device “behind” it.
What else is new about the USA government? As they say “follow the money”
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