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General discussion

Recording Group Sues 531 More in Download Crackdown

Feb 17, 2004 9:42AM PST

Discussion is locked

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Just guessing here,...
Feb 17, 2004 9:49AM PST

...but the "number" may be the IP address of people who have broadband connections with fixed IP addresses. Dialup users get a different IP address every time they go online, as do many broadband users.

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Re:Just guessing here,...
Feb 17, 2004 10:04AM PST

Some say do not put any files in your upload folder. But the download files have to download into some kind of folder. Plus that defeats the purpose of file sharing.
Does'nt matter to me anyway, because I do not use any of those programs, but someone here might.

George

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Number is IP addy...
Feb 17, 2004 12:37PM PST

I read a different article and it was more specific. They have filed "John Doe" suits seeking to force the ISPs to identify the actual customers based on the server logs of who the IPs were issued to at the time the RIAA search engine found someone online at that IP with a huge number of files in their upload folder.

dw

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I have zero sympathy for the RIAA.
Feb 17, 2004 11:29AM PST

I don't download. I won't expose my computer to those kinds of risks, but at the same time I have zero sympathy for the RIAA. Why did it take mass downloading to get sites like iTunes? Why did it take so long for the industry to give customers the ability to buy what they want (specific songs) rather than an overpriced bundle? Why has the RIAA and MPAA consistently tried to suppress new technology to keep it out of the hands of consumers (Sony Betamax)?

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Because they're profiteering ********?
Feb 17, 2004 11:51PM PST

Just a guess.

Dan

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That, I admit, is part of it. I don't think the companies and their execs
Feb 18, 2004 10:52AM PST

are hurting, and I don't know how much goes to the artists. What REALLY frosts me though, is the RIAA and MPAA attempt to suppress technology because it might hurt their business. Thus, they tried to outlaw VCRs, and are, even now, trying to control what our computers are allowed to do. I think if I buy a performance, I should be able to move it to any media I choose without having to buy the performance again. This 'rip off' plus bundling where I am forced to buy extraneous songs to get what I want, is what causes me to turn a deaf ear to the industry's complaints and the cheer for the downloaders.

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You got that right!
Feb 19, 2004 2:58AM PST

I don't mind them making a good profit, but not by cheating the artists. Just because they sign a contract doesn't make it right. Abrogating our fair use rights ain't too cool, either.

In any case, the industry if overestimating their lost sales. It's impossible to prove one way or the other, but I venture that of all the material ever downloaded only a very tiny fraction would ever have been purchased. They'd be better off developing a better product.


Dan

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They are only protecting THEIR PROPERTY, same as you...
Feb 18, 2004 1:28AM PST

or I would.

Regarding the "why" of iTunes, because no one had seen it as a viable business model. Once the "idea" and methodology was presented to the RIAA and the benefits (including elimination of much of the piracy) were realized and "doable" the RIAA has worked with them.

Why have they consistently tried to suppress certain technology? Again, to protect their property. Surely you don't deny that the technology has been a great enabler of property theft and profitable piracy?

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Too bad! That doesn't give them the right to control technology.
Feb 18, 2004 10:59AM PST

Even the Supreme Court agreed with that in a decision that has made big bucks for the industry in spite of themselves.

Why should they be alowed to cripple, or control, my computer because someone ELSE might misuse it. Using that reasoning, MADD should be alowed to control my car because someone else might get drunk.

Let's take all the guns, cars, etc. away because someone else is using them for theft, murder, piracy, mayhem, etc. Ed, I'm surprised to hear this pitch coming from you.

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Re:Too bad! That doesn't give them the right to control technology.
Feb 19, 2004 1:51AM PST

No one here is advocating that they "control" your computer BUT they should be able to exercise control over what is done with their properties.

RIAA wasn't too upset about copying radio music to cassette because the sound quality left a little to be desired. They weren't too concerned about copying songs as WAV files as again quality wasn't the greatest.

They became concerned when technology enabled copying their properties in a format that encouraged piracy.

The laws needed are those that allow us to PREVENT others from taking our guns, our cars, our properties from us on a whim and at their leisure.

Using an IP address and getting the ISP to supply the name and address of the person(s) that address was leased to for connection during a specified time is a legitimate tactic as is a supoena for any other reason during a civil or criminal trial. I do feel a judge should be involved in the issuance and I believe this is the process currently being used.

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I'm not talking about the ISP or the IP address.
Feb 19, 2004 9:39AM PST

I'm talking about the preemptive strike that seeks to cripple our computers so that they will not serve us, but will, instead, serve the entertainment industry. If I own a copy of a performance, I should be able to put it on any media I choose so that I can enjoy it at the time and place of my choosing. The RIAA and MPAA oppose this, and are pressuring the industry and attempting to use the courts to prevent me from doing this. That is what I object to.

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Intel chips
Feb 17, 2004 12:09PM PST

have a unique number that gets broadcast unless turned off by running a program they later released for that purpose when this was discovered.
Google link

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Re:Intel chips
Feb 17, 2004 5:58PM PST

According to one of the links you provided with the google search, the unique ID number has been abandoned...

http://www.jamesshuggins.com/h/oth1/big_brother_inside.htm

However, if you also have a link specifically to the program you mentioned, that gives info about how to check to see if it's been turned off already, I would appreciate it.

TONI

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I was looking for that program at Intel last night...
Feb 18, 2004 12:35AM PST

...and it's like it just disappeared. Used their advanced search and didn't find much mentioned about it anymore either, other than the CPUID being praised as a means of distinguishing computers on networks. Only positive emphasis on it. I probably have the program on a CD around here somewhere, but would have to look around to locate it. That, and the ident hidden in every MS Word document (starting with Word 98 or 2000?) both were about the same time frame, quite the furor at the time. There are a lot of computers with those CPU chip still in them and if I locate where the program can be downloaded I'll let you know.

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It's a BIOS setting on some pcs.
Feb 18, 2004 2:06AM PST

.

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I did find this today, but not the Intel program itself.
Feb 18, 2004 6:13AM PST

Maybe checking motherboard sites will find the generic program to turn the PSN off, but that particular program Intel supplied is still susceptible to a couple of hacks. The BIOS method mentioned above, if exists on the person's mobo, seems the safest one.
==============================================

http://www.sims.berkeley.edu/courses/is224/s99/GroupG/psn_wp.html

With the Pentium III, Intel introduced a new feature called the processor serial number. This is a feature that according to Intel, would usher in the next generation of software applications for the world of networked computing. The processor serial number (PSN) is a unique identifier for an individual microprocessor that cannot be modified, but can be read by software to provide identification of a processor. Stronger identification of a system or user can be achieved through combined use of the PSN with other factors such as a username and a password....Intel intended to ship the Pentium III with a configurable PSN wherein a user could turn off the reading of the PSN if he or she so desired. Also, the default state of the processor would be ON, allowing the PSN to be read off remotely.... However, there was an outcry against the PSN on the Pentium III. Privacy advocates contended that the serial number is an easy way to track people's movement on the Internet and is an infringement of privacy.


http://studio-on-the.net/coppermine.html#psn

http://slashdot.org/articles/99/03/11/0810242.shtml
discussion on how the PSN can be hacked and obtained through a web server and other considerations of the ID on the Intel chips. You can believe these hacks have been spread around everywhere by now.
http://www.heise.de/ct/english/99/05/news1/

CNET article about an Active X hack that can obtain the INTEL CPU ident number.
Zero Knowledge Systems of Montreal said today that it has developed an ActiveX control that can retrieve the serial number
under certain circumstances, even after a software repair released last month by Intel has disabled the feature and ostensibly "hid"
the number from prying eyes.

The Pentium III serial number has turned into a public-relations nightmare for the world's largest chipmaker. Although Intel
included the number in the chip as a way to improve Internet security, it has drawn protests from privacy advocates who say it
provides hackers with an opportunity to obtain sensitive information.

Zero Knowledge's control essentially exploits the approximate 15-second gap between the time a Pentium III computer is turned on and exposes the processor serial number and when the software repair kicks in and covers it up.

The control tricks the computer into crashing. Then, as the machine is rebooted, Zero's software grabs the number before the software utility has a chance to disable it again.


http://news.com.com/2100-1040_3-222256.html?tag=st_rn

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Here it is!
Feb 18, 2004 6:57AM PST
http://support.intel.com/support/processors/pentiumiii/sb/CS-007579.htm

http://support.intel.com/support/processors/pentiumiii/sb/CS-007583.htm

ftp://aiedownload.intel.com/df-support/823/ENG/ReadMe.txt
Read Me for the Intel Processor Serial Number Control Utility.

http://downloadfinder.intel.com/scripts-df/Detail_Desc.asp?agr=N&ProductID=25&DwnldID=823

You can download the PSN Control Utility at above link!
Only needed if you can't turn off the PSN in the mobo's BIOS.
About a megabyte in size.
Can be hacked.
Direct link to English file is here.