MPAA Trying To Rootkit Universities?
from the how-nice-of-them dept
Just as the MPAA is strongly pushing for a new law that would require universities to take proactive measures to prevent unauthorized file sharing from happening on university networks, the group is also apparently pushing certain universities to install some MPAA-sponsored software to monitor network usage. However, after examining this "toolkit" some are noticing that it appears a lot more like a "rootkit" than a "toolkit." Depending on how a university's network is configured, it could actually reveal a lot of private info to the outside world. The software also phones home to the MPAA, despite promising not to report back any information. There are a few other oddities as well. While it could password protect some of the exposed content, it never prompts the user to do so -- and, at the same time, it disables logging who accesses the pages revealing all the info. While it could all be a coincidence, effectively the MPAA has made it so that it (and others) can spy on university network usage without being tracked in many cases. People in the article note the similarity to the Sony rootkit situation, where software designed to "protect" actually opened up huge security vulnerabilities.Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
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Filed Under: mpaa, privacy, toolkit, universities
Companies: mpaa
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Stupid
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Paying the cost
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Re: Paying the cost
>and all of the University users when their software
>crashes the system or results in a leak of private >information?
The upside on a MPAA rootkit causing the release of private information is that there would finally be grounds to sue them into oblivion.
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Re: Re: Paying the cost
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When it's time to cut and run...
If the new world of eBusiness is embraced by the entertainment industry, I think that there could be an exponential growth in revenue.
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Re: When it's time to cut and run...
Maybe this is their new business model. They can't seem to make any decent films, maybe they've caught on to how entertaining it is to watch them bumble around like a bunch of clueless morons?
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universitytoolkit.com
www.xenu.net
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rootkit==teh 3/i1
Via Kreb's blog, a quote from Steve Worona, director of policy and networking programs at EDUCAUSE:
IOW, it doesn't matter what a hacker might think is the definition of a “rootkit”. All you need to know is . . .
r0ot|
Run away!
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Re: rootkit==teh 3/i1
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sadly, its breaking the law in a bad way
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Re: sadly, its breaking the law in a bad way
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On top of that...
EtG
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Techdirt comment handling
Backslashes showed up fine in preview. Backslashes disappeared on post.
& (ampersand)l (ell) t (tee) ; (semicolon) also showed up fine in preview. Everything in rest of paragraph disappeared on post.
Anyhow, "rootkit == teh 3vi1".
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RIAA
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Re: RIAA
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They think you are stupid
Yes, that's right, MPAA. Nobody ever looks to see what the software they install is actually doing. Everybody just installs whatever you give them and takes your word for it that it's all safe and honest.
After all, you are the trustworthy ones, and anybody who would question your right to distribute your "toolkit" is obviously a criminal.
Once again, this proves that the MPAA and their ilk really do think the rest of the world is stupid.
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Corporations Defining What is Legal
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