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| Hatch, Software Pirate? Say it ain’t so! |
| 2003-06-20 |
| Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) suggested Tuesday that people who download copyright materials from the Internet should have their computers automatically destroyed. But Hatch himself is using unlicensed software on his official website, which presumably would qualify his computer to be smoked by the system he proposes. The senator's site makes extensive use of a JavaScript menu system developed by Milonic Solutions, a software company based in the United Kingdom. The copyright-protected code has not been licensed for use on Hatch's website. "It's an unlicensed copy," said Andy Woolley, who runs Milonic. "It's very unfortunate for him because of those comments he made." Hatch on Tuesday surprised a Senate hearing on copyright issues with the suggestion that technology should be developed to remotely destroy the computers of people who illegally download music from the Net. On Wednesday, Hatch clarified his comments, but stuck by the original idea. "I do not favor extreme remedies -- unless no moderate remedies can be found," he said in a statement. "I asked the interested industries to help us find those moderate remedies." Just as well. Because if Hatch's terminator system embraced software as well as music, his servers would be targeted for destruction. Milonic Solutions' JavaScript code used on Hatch's website costs $900 for a site-wide license. It is free for personal or nonprofit use, which the senator likely qualifies for. However, the software's license stipulates that the user must register the software to receive a licensing code, and provide a link in the source code to Milonic's website. On Wednesday, the senator's site met none of Milonic's licensing terms. The site's source code (which can be seen by selecting Source under the View menu in Internet Explorer) had neither a link to Milonic's site nor a registration code. However, by Thursday afternoon Hatch's site had been updated to contain some of the requisite copyright information. An old version of the page can be seen by viewing Google's cache of the site. "They're using our code," Woolley said Wednesday. "We've had no contact with them. They are in breach of our licensing terms." When contacted Thursday, Woolley said the company that maintains the senator's site had e-mailed Milonic to begin the registration process. Woolley said the code added to Hatch's site after the issue came to light met some -- but not all -- of Milonic's licensing requirements. Before the site was updated, the source code on Hatch's site contained the line: "* i am the license for the menu (duh) *" Woolley said he had no idea where the line came from -- it has nothing to do with him, and he hadn't seen it on other websites that use his menu system. "It looks like it's trying to cover something up, as though they got a license," he said. A spokesman in Hatch's office on Wednesday responded, "That's ironic" before declining to put Wired News in contact with the site's webmaster. He deferred comment on the senator's statement to the Senate Judiciary Committee, which did not return calls. The apparent violation was discovered by Laurence Simon, an unemployed system administrator from Houston, who was poking around Hatch's site after becoming outraged by his comments. Milonic's Woolley said the senator's unlicensed use of his software was just "the tip of the iceberg." He said he knows of at least two other senators using unlicensed copies of his software, and many big companies. Continental Airlines, for example, one of the largest airlines in the United States, uses Woolley's system throughout its Continental.com website. Woolley said the airline has not paid for the software. Worse, the copyright notices in the source code have been removed. "That really pisses me off," he said. A spokesman for Continental said the airline would look into the matter. |
| Posted by:Angry Federalist |
| #15 On the slight chance that anybody here might have missed it, "unemployed system administrator" Laurence Simon's blog is here: Amish Tech Support. Original Post - reader responses - followup - followup. Enjoy! |
| Posted by: Anonymous 2003-06-20 22:46:31 |
| #14 Mojo - LOL ;-)~ |
| Posted by: Frank G 2003-06-20 20:27:58 |
| #13 This is all Al Gore's fault; damn the unintended consequences of his clever invention! Unleash the Ro-Bots! |
| Posted by: (lowercase) matt 2003-06-20 18:31:20 |
| #12 Kiss my Atch,Orrin! |
| Posted by: raptor 2003-06-20 18:00:32 |
| #11 I was not joking the other day when I quoted Bugs Bunny: "Of course you know, this means war!" It is now coming to pass. And Lo, the Hackers were awakened from their nightmares, and Hatched a vile plan to place a pox upon those who threaten plague toward the hackers and their kinsmen, and He smiled and was amused by the hullabaloo created by such mere mortals. |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2003-06-20 12:14:04 |
| #10 Orrin Hatch -- Software Pirate & Pornographer?: If you go to the Explore Utah section of Orrin Hatch's website and click on the myUtahsearch.com button, you get forwarded to a porn page. Has Hatch been hacked or is a staffer playing a little prank on him? In any case, I don't mind seeing him get embarassed -- again. Let's see how long it takes for Hatch to get that taken off of his page... |
| Posted by: mojo 2003-06-20 11:19:37 |
| #9 Boy howdy, is Orrin gonna get an edumacation. He's seriously pissed off folks it's best not to annoy if you like your bank account to stay in one bank, your drivers license to remain valid, etc. etc. Should be fairly amusing. "Can you explain how all these child molestation convictions got on your record, Senator?" |
| Posted by: mojo 2003-06-20 11:05:11 |
| #8 I think they prefer good old greenbacks. Gold is heavy and you have to change it before paying the laundry bill. :-) |
| Posted by: JFM 2003-06-20 10:52:05 |
| #7 No matter how much gold they put in these pols personal bank account, while it can influence voters, it can not sub for a vote. How many young adults vote in your damn state Orrin? Give'em a reason to show up at the poles come next election, idiot. And by the way, maybe we'd respect copyright if you didn't sale the public domain to the industry, moving the period of copyright from 28 years to a hundred. You and your fellow corrupt cronies on both sides of the political divide sold our rights for gold, you old bastards. |
| Posted by: Don 2003-06-20 09:44:18 |
| #6 Of course to do the above would be prohibitively expensive, so I propose that computers should simply be banned altogether. 10 years minimum for being caught with a computer. No parole. Fred could continue his Rantburg work via a newsletter, with us mailing-in our comments. I see no need for computers. |
| Posted by: RW 2003-06-20 09:30:46 |
| #5 I don't care what you say, I actually like the idea of exploding computers when you download illegal MP3s. Should be done for nudy pictures too. Intel should be forced by law to include tiny amounts of C4 embedded in every processor they produce. Microsoft Windows should be forced to black-out any material you shouldn't be seeing on the web. Best of all, before you are allowed to logon to any computer, you should be forced to get Hatch's permission first. That will resolve any controversies about the Internet forever. |
| Posted by: RW 2003-06-20 09:20:45 |
| #4 Ahh yes the Elitist Philosophy of Life""Do as I say,not as I do." |
| Posted by: raptor 2003-06-20 07:20:40 |
| #3 I think they prefer good old greenbacks. Gold is heavy and you have to change it before paying the laundry bill. :-) |
| Posted by: JFM 6/20/2003 10:52:05 AM |
| #2 No matter how much gold they put in these pols personal bank account, while it can influence voters, it can not sub for a vote. How many young adults vote in your damn state Orrin? Give'em a reason to show up at the poles come next election, idiot. And by the way, maybe we'd respect copyright if you didn't sale the public domain to the industry, moving the period of copyright from 28 years to a hundred. You and your fellow corrupt cronies on both sides of the political divide sold our rights for gold, you old bastards. |
| Posted by: Don 6/20/2003 9:44:18 AM |
| #1 I don't care what you say, I actually like the idea of exploding computers when you download illegal MP3s. Should be done for nudy pictures too. Intel should be forced by law to include tiny amounts of C4 embedded in every processor they produce. Microsoft Windows should be forced to black-out any material you shouldn't be seeing on the web. Best of all, before you are allowed to logon to any computer, you should be forced to get Hatch's permission first. That will resolve any controversies about the Internet forever. |
| Posted by: RW 6/20/2003 9:20:45 AM |