Convicted BitTorrent Admin Fights for his Right to Use Linux
Written by Ernesto on September 08, 2007Scott McCausland, a convicted ex-administrator of the EliteTorrents BitTorrent tracker is going back to court to fight for his right to use Ubuntu GNU/Linux while he is home confined. The US government is forcing him to use Windows, because that’s the only OS their monitoring software can run on.
September last year Scott pleaded guilty to ‘conspiracy to commit copyright infringement’ and ‘criminal copyright infringement’ for uploading ‘Star Wars: Episode III’ onto the internet hours before the theatrical release. Scott was later sentenced five months in prison, followed by five months of home confinement.
After his release from prison Scott was told by his Probation Officer that he has to install Windows so that the government can monitor his online activities. A cruel punishment for someone who’s used to Ubuntu GNU/Linux, and Scott has now decided to fight this decision in court.
“My lawyer is filing a motion to go back in front of the judge and find out what is next to happen,” Scott writes on his blog “It will either end in one of two ways: First, he could tell me to just suck it up and install windows, or he could say that no where in the Computer Monitoring Guidelines does it say that I have to use Windows, and it is the Probation Offices responsibility to be the Cyber Police and support all possible options.”
The court will now have to decide whether he can be forced by the US Government to use Windows. In the meantime, he is allowed to keep Ubuntu installed which means his online activities won’t be monitored.
Scott told TorrentFreak earlier: “I think that this whole situation is just one more way that they can impose their will onto me. 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.”
Not all convicts like to use Windows, let’s hope this case will motivate the US government to develop multi-platform monitoring software. It can’t be that hard can it?
Previously: Private BitTorrent Trackers Vulnerable To Anonymous Leechers
Next: BitTorrent Anime Downloaders Offered Amnesty
36 Responses
Just a thought: What would have happened if he would have a mac (PowerPC one, not the new IntelMacs)? Surely they can’t force him to buy a PC just to make their monitoring software work.
please dont bite my head of for this but cant he just run linux and the software they use to monitor him on wINE. that way he can run linux and have the software run on his system. is it just me being naive or did they miss this option?
You have to fight, for your right, to paaaaaarty!
He’s a convicted felon. Why should he get special treatment?
Don’t you just love those “law biding goody good citizens” ?
If there was a law, making breathing a criminal offense, we’d get rid of them pretty quickly …
;)
Stupid people will always base their morals on stupid laws, thats the way it is >,
Studies show that nine of of ten convicted felons prefer Linux.
Dude using wINE is like using copyrighted material. Its not ment to be used on other systems it wasn’t made for.
Although couldn’t he just go and download a version of Windows illegally? LOL just kidding!! But that would be funny to watch.
And its not “special treatment”. Its not like the convicts that we set free and put up into a boarding house… find jobs for… feed with our tax dollars… which I believe falls into special treatment. He should just be able to run his life in his own home without Uncle Sam saying “By the way, be a chum and support our mulit-billion dollar software giant microsoft, you need to use windows while we monitor your internet use.”
I say let him use his Linux and if they can’t write a code for something thats free and as simple as Linux then WTF are they doing?
I bet he was someone’s bitch in prison…
“So what are you in for?”
“I uploaded a bootleg of Episode 3…You?”
“Murdered an entire family then ate them…You might wanna just take your pants off now…”
Correct me if I’m wrong but uhhh don’t you give up certain rights when you decide to break the law? He pleaded guilty, correct? And in the plea bargain they gave him house arrest instead of prison…wtf are you complaining for?
Sean got it, as far as I’m concerned.
If you wish to exercise the right to use a computer now ( after abusing it ) you must conform to monitoring. This doesn’t sound like much of a “forcing you to use Windows” thing as much of a “allowing you to still use a computer” thing. I don’t think that they should in any way be required to write software for Linux, after all they’re not the ones who broke the law.
It’s a tough break, but that’s just the way it is. Court would probably be a waste of time.
sc0t had the misfortune of getting busted for something that helps everyone and should not be illegal. Uploading did not make sc0t any money, and he is not a criminal. sc0t was just sharing information with the good people of the internet. If we still have freedom of speech in the US then sc0t broke no law. Any law infringing on our freedom of speech is illegal and null according to the Constitution. You asshats saying he is a criminal do know what the Constitution is right?
sc0t if you read this, thank you for taking the heat for all of us who upload. You are not a criminal but a hero. I hope this works out for you.
Is the govt at least planning on supplying the copy of Windoze? If not, why doesn’t he just claim he doesn’t HAVE one to use in the first place?
[quote comment="161350"]Stupid people will always base their morals on stupid laws, thats the way it is >,[/quote]
And stupid people selectively break them when it is convenient, and then whine when they have to face the music.
Laws were meant to be broken. In fact, it used to be illegal to have an abortion. Then it was legal. Sometimes it “depends” if it is legal or not…
[quote comment="161535"]sc0t had the misfortune of getting busted for something that helps everyone and should not be illegal. Uploading did not make sc0t any money, and he is not a criminal. sc0t was just sharing information with the good people of the internet. If we still have freedom of speech in the US then sc0t broke no law. Any law infringing on our freedom of speech is illegal and null according to the Constitution. You asshats saying he is a criminal do know what the Constitution is right?
sc0t if you read this, thank you for taking the heat for all of us who upload. You are not a criminal but a hero. I hope this works out for you.[/quote]
What part of the Constitution are you referring to exactly that I don’t know? The part where he is innocent until proven guilty (not actually in there but whatever)because…he pleaded guilty. It’s not a fact that the law is unjust, he knew the consequences when he broke it, he wouldn’t have pleaded guilty had he not.
And file sharing has nothing to do with freedom of speech seeing as he did not own what he shared.
You missed one Sean :P
Criminal = someone guilty of a criminal offence.
Criminal copyright infringement is a criminal offence (the name gives it away).
Therefore, those saying he’s a criminal are not asshats at all.
I think someone must have left her logic in bed this morning :P
Well, saying he is a criminal and thus he has no right doesn’t quite work. Sure, when in prison he kind of has no rights, but now he is free and living in his own house.
To then say, you should use this or that, just doesn’t work. He should be free to use a Mac or a PC running Linux. If the police lack the software to monitor him, that’s their problem.
Read something similar about the iPhone. With it being different and on top of that, Mac based, all the normal forensic software just wont work. If an iPhone is used in a crime, there is today no software that can extract call logs and such. And even if there was, they would probably have to use Mac, which no police know how.
According to most people here, to solution is not to train the police and develop new software, but to simple make it a crime to use the iPhone.
Or to put in another light. Say the criminal has to use an ankle bracelet when being confined to his or hers home. Now, the person is a double amputee. Should it now be a crime not to have legs? Sure, it sounds stupid, but the principle is the same. If the old methods don’t work, create something new to fix it.
[quote]Well, saying he is a criminal and thus he has no right doesn’t quite work. Sure, when in prison he kind of has no rights, but now he is free and living in his own house.
To then say, you should use this or that, just doesn’t work. He should be free to use a Mac or a PC running Linux. If the police lack the software to monitor him, that’s their problem.[/quote]
He’s on probation.
I think the Linux community should rally and help code this thing so the cops will get out of Scott’s ass.
whay dont you code this! you have no idea what your talking about because its very hard to code software for linux from windows. its like rewritting the heart of the software.
even after that do you think the government will trust a program they didnt write?
He’s on probation. In order to meet the terms of that probation (remain at home and provide proof that he’s there), he must use hardware and software provided.
He isn’t being forced to use Windows; he can go back to jail if he prefers. Or he can run Windows in a VM inside the Linux box. Or he can buy a $200 POS which runs Windows and can support the monitoring program.
im not in the know about the software and how it works, but im guessing it only runs when windows is loaded… solution?
dual boot, just dont let them know :P as long as windows OS isnt loaded, his PC will be seen as “off” because the software wont be monitoring as it isnt loaded
Why doesn’t he just install Ubuntu in a VM under Windows? If he’s got a decent enough machine and not planning on doing any Compiz Fusion then it should work alright.
[quote comment="161763"]Well, saying he is a criminal and thus he has no right doesn’t quite work. Sure, when in prison he kind of has no rights, but now he is free and living in his own house.
To then say, you should use this or that, just doesn’t work. He should be free to use a Mac or a PC running Linux. If the police lack the software to monitor him, that’s their problem.
Read something similar about the iPhone. With it being different and on top of that, Mac based, all the normal forensic software just wont work. If an iPhone is used in a crime, there is today no software that can extract call logs and such. And even if there was, they would probably have to use Mac, which no police know how.
According to most people here, to solution is not to train the police and develop new software, but to simple make it a crime to use the iPhone.
Or to put in another light. Say the criminal has to use an ankle bracelet when being confined to his or hers home. Now, the person is a double amputee. Should it now be a crime not to have legs? Sure, it sounds stupid, but the principle is the same. If the old methods don’t work, create something new to fix it.[/quote]
I never said he didn’t have any rights. I just said that as a criminal some rights are taken away, you give them up when you commit an offense, get caught, and then plead guilty. He doesn’t like Windows, he can feel free to go to jail for all I care.
He is NOT free in his own house, he is under house arrest, which is NOT probation. Let him choose — read a few good books and comply, or go back to jail. Sounds like a hand slap sentence anyway. And what kind of silly lawyer would play around with such petty crap? He’s got the $300 bucks per hour for a lawyer and can’t afford windows? GEt a used Dell latitude Of CL,and load the backup.
Well, the point here is still the same. Instead of educating the police force, they try to make it a criminal act to use things they aren’t trained for. This is simple put, very stupid.
I could be fine with the whole idea if it was put something like this. You are a hacker (not true here, I know) and you are not allowed to use hacking tools again. Linux is by us considered a hacking tool, but you may use Windows.
OK, maybe not the most cleaver thing in the world, but it still make some sort of sense. In this case, I would have agreed that using Windows is better then not using a computer at all. But as the situation stands now, I don’t.
Learn how to monitor a Linux system, as well as a Mac/Apple system. Make the proper software. DON’T force people to fit into your narrow frames of mind!
he charged for torrents IIRC. a friend of mine told me he would pay a monthly fee to use his site. he loses all my respect for that and gets no sympathy from me.
seeing as i am being blocked from sk0t’s page… keep in mind sk0t, your real friends are still here even if we are in silence due to all the shit the US is putting you throu, but I know that we will rise again. keep your head up as better days are soon to come for you.
CTIDU
It would be interesting to see how this plays out. Certainly the court could decide that he has to use Windows. If they can put a man in a cell and never let him out, an OS seems to be a minor sentence. The real trick here is whether or not they can force him to PURCHASE a copy. No precedent of which I am aware says that a criminal has to pay his own money to fulfill the terms of his sentence in a criminal trial. (That would be civil law unless I’m much mistaken.)
Of course the ruling could simply state that the defendant must run Windows or nothing, and thus force the issue.
Oh, and I believe Wine is run in something akin to a VM, so you could run Wine and the spyware but it would only monitor things accessible to the Wine program.
What COULD work is to run a Windows box as a proxy to route net traffic. That all depends on whether or not the spyware is designed to monitor processes or just net traffic…
“No precedent of which I am aware says that a criminal has to pay his own money to fulfill the terms of his sentence in a criminal trial.”
When under house arrest, you have to pay a fee for the ankle bracelet.
If I could afford it, I would sneak an Ultra Mobile PC to you.
:D
sk0t should do the community a service and use windows.
That way the snoops won’t have to bother developing Linux monitoring software, leaving the rest of the Linux using community free of being snooped upon!
probation is shit, in the state i live, it costs $150 a month. that shit isn’t funny. you’re constantly monitored. the fucking system wants to control your schedule, and if you break any rule, out you go. that’s what it’s like. for all of you fucking law abiding citizens out there, you don’t know the fucking law. the only reason you haven’t been criminally prosecuted is because you aren’t constantly monitored. when the government monitors every second of your life, then life will really go to shit.
[quote comment="161438"]I bet he was someone’s bitch in prison…
“So what are you in for?”
“I uploaded a bootleg of Episode 3…You?”
“Murdered an entire family then ate them…You might wanna just take your pants off now…”[/quote]
Hahaha..
Funny one :p
I am a Kubuntu user myself so I completely understand his position. He has my full support for the government to build linux-based monitoring software. I hope he wins in court, but if that is not the case, perhaps he can use VirtualBox and install Linux on that.
If they can’t monitor virtual machines, then isn’t it still perfectly legal?
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