RIAA Secret Meeting

[Nexus]

----- Original Message -----
From: "John Young" <jya@pipeline.com>
To: <dvd-discuss@eon.law.harvard.edu>; <cypherpunks@lne.com>;
<cryptography@wasabisystems.com>; <ukcrypto@chiark.greenend.org.uk>
Sent: Tuesday, October 09, 2001 7:24 AM
Subject: RIAA Secret Meeting
[snip]

> One particularly disturbing fact is that Codex Data System's DIRT
> software is supposed to be restricted to law enforcement agencies,
> yet the RIAA, MPAA, and IFPI have all purchased it, and use it
> routinely to monitor servers which are suspected of infringing
[snip]

This is no great surprise - DIRT had been around for 3 years or so and the
guy who was/is selling it, SpyKing, did time for fraud - coincidence I am
sure.   From a technical perpective it has always lagged behind the latest
remote control tools such as BO2K and SubSeven.   At one point, the
programmer for it approached some independant security groups requesting
unpublished exploit information with which to install this software - the
group I know of refused on ethical grounds.   I have not seen the latest
version since I'm not an LEA or a music Mogul but I am sceptical of some of
it's claims purely from a technical point of view.   One of the biggest
dangers with such software, it that if [they] can control the remote host,
then someone else could as well.....

Cheers,
            JJ