| How do you think the US
government's actions concerning piracy will change over
the next year? |
| They will do
two things: they will actively monitor backbone
connectivity through the Universities via sampling and
they will require large ISP's like BBN Planet and MCI net
to become responsible for traffic that passes through
their networks by signing contract supported by random
testing. There will be a less pro-active approach
privately because companies are more interested in
increasing revenue than monitoring traffic. Universities
are where warez will be more risky to traffic. Sniffers
are the only tool I am aware of that can monitor and
record such traffic. Companies like Network General
specialize in developing tools to monitor networks and
trap certain data - anything from flesh tones, to
keywords, to file types and strip packets looking for
source and destination ip addresses. |
| |
| Who will be the first to be
convicted under the new laws and how will this group of
people react? |
Site-OPs -
primarily distros then courier groups via siteops. Some
ISP's will be pegged too. |
| |
| What effect will these
convictions have on the rest of the scene? |
| We will
adapt, new technologies will be created. More RAR's
rather than zips because Sniffers flag zip files...etc.
etc. It will not stop. Spoofing will be a common tool to
use as well, covering ones trail is a common hacking tool
which will work its way through the warez scene - so GET
ON IT! Likewise, encryption will become more of a common
resource as the government and big brother attempt to
become more invasive. A good analogy is the video tape
and music taping industry. These activities of pirating
movies and audio is illegal, but never stopped.
Technology has adapted to make them possible and private. |
| |
| How is the warez scene
going to be different a year from now because of the NET
act? |
| It wont be, a
few people/groups will be made examples of and the scene
will go on. Law enforcement realizes that they cannot
control the situation, so they act through deterrence
rather than enforcement. This has been historically true
whenever new 'crimes' have been legislated. Prostitution,
Drugs... etc. etc. Deterrence is everything to law
enforcement. |
| |
| Will there be any positive
effects on the scene? |
| New
technology, more encryption. Necessity is the mother of
invention. The government is too lagged to really keep up
with the private sector especially when people are
motivated by curiosity and ingenuity rather than finance. |
| |
| How will the NET act effect
you personally? |
| It makes me
leery but I will continue my operations as they are low
profile, low traffic, and primarily for personal use. |
| |
| What advice would you give
to people in the warez scene about the NET act? |
| Chill out.
Think more about what you are doing. Don't stop, just use
your head, its what got you where you are and you must
continue to evolve. Use the resources you have available
including encryption between sites. Don't be lazy. Change
your ip address as much as possible, twice a month if
possible. |