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Author Topic: Second Life gets cozy with FBI. Furries beware!  (Read 7094 times)
Shockeye
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on: December 15, 2005, 04:44:42 PM

Quote from: Second Life Herlad
Extra!!: Philip Calls the FBI. W-Hats Shit Themselves

— Urizenus @ 9:47 pm

by Dow Jonas

Philip Rosedale, CEO of Linden Lab, announced at a resident virtual winter holiday party in Second Life’s Wengen today that he is turning to real-world authorities to investigate Monday’s deliberate crashing of his virtual world’s grid.

When the party was bombed today by a griefer with pixelated C-4, Rosedale, whose avatar is Philip Linden, was bumped around the sim. The overcrowded Linden-run sims appeared to be a prime target for an attack during the season’s top event.

Bedecked in a red Santa’s cap and blue shirt, the Monetarized Socializing Platform Mogul danced around a roaring bonfire set for the occasion and said, “This seems about a good a time as any to tell you that I am turning over names to the FBI.”

Linden said that he viewed Monday’s grid crash like any denial-of-service attack on an Internet web page.

The CEO’s announcement was greeted with cheers by residents toasting marshmallows around the virtual fire.

Asked by a reporter to clarify what kind of prosecution he might seek, Linden said, “Yes, we will turn over data to the FBI. That is what we are doing. Already in progress.”

Hastening away to a real-life party with investors, Philip Linden declined to comment on queries about whether the 14-day suspension handed out to an unnamed resident for a “global attack” reported on the Police Blotter this week was related to the grid crash, or whether it was the limit of Linden Lab’s actions.

He did not name the attackers nor specify whether they were related to members of W-Hat responsible for 2 other global attacks this year.

I caught this story earlier today at News.com. I don't completely understand what the "attacker" did here. Did he crash the game from inside the game or what?
pohsyb
Developers
Posts: 57


Reply #1 on: December 15, 2005, 04:59:18 PM

In the earlier attacks, a user used their robust item scripting system to create a malicious self replicating item, which spiraled out of control and crashed their net.  I'd assume this was the same sort of attack.  Here is article on first attack.
Shockeye
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Reply #2 on: December 15, 2005, 05:05:47 PM

So essentially it's an exploit within the game itself, not an attack from outside the game. Doesn't the FBI have better things to do? I don't see how an exploit, a violation of the terms of service, is a federal matter. If the game was attacked from the outside, I can understand the FBI being involved, but this was a violation of the ToS as far as I can tell.
Lum
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Hellfire Games


Reply #3 on: December 15, 2005, 05:40:06 PM

The writer of the news story referenced in the first post has a history of, um, breathless reporting. (He was banned from Sims Online, supposedly for writing that story). He's since been interviewed by the New York Times and the Daily Show.
pxib
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Reply #4 on: December 15, 2005, 05:52:26 PM

Quote
Bedecked in a red Santa’s cap and blue shirt, the Monetarized Socializing Platform Mogul danced around a roaring bonfire set for the occasion and said, “This seems about a good a time as any to tell you that I am turning over names to the FBI.”

This sentence/paragraph is pure Bulwer Lytton.

if at last you do succeed, never try again
Evangolis
Contributor
Posts: 1220


Reply #5 on: December 18, 2005, 05:50:28 AM

Shoplifting is an exploit within the system too; retailers could place all product in sealed cases and have shoppers redeem item slips for them at checkout.

Crime is as the law defines it, and intentional denial of service is a crime, regardless of method of execution.

Now I don't know how seriously the FBI takes this stuff, or if calling the FBI into a place like Second Life is a good thing, but I do think that the distinction of 'external' vs 'internal' is meaningless.

"It was a difficult party" - an unexpected word combination from ex-Merry Prankster and author Robert Stone.
Der Helm
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Reply #6 on: December 21, 2005, 02:57:01 AM

Shoplifting is an exploit within the system too; retailers could place all product in sealed cases and have shoppers redeem item slips for them at checkout.
If there was a legal loophole, that allowed the shoplifter to do so without punishment, it would be an exploit, not a crime.

Violating the EULA can (and should) result in denial of service, not in persecution by federal law enforcements.

EULA |= written law AFAIK

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Alkiera
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Reply #7 on: December 21, 2005, 05:38:21 AM

Personally, I don't see it as any different from walking up to the back of, say, a local grocery store, and cutting the power cable.  Sure, it's relatively easy to fix, maybe a couple hours of outage...  But you better believe if caught you'll be charged.  It prevents the merchant from doing business in the same way a DoS-style attack prevents online merchants from doing business.  The main difference in online stuff, is it's easier to catch culprits unless they are very clever, and most attacks occur across state lines, making them federal jurisdiction.


Alkiera

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Evangolis
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Reply #8 on: December 21, 2005, 09:41:47 AM

EULA |= written law AFAIK

In America, thanks to the dips at BSI, EULA does equal a binding contract, per the courts.

"It was a difficult party" - an unexpected word combination from ex-Merry Prankster and author Robert Stone.
Shockeye
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Reply #9 on: December 21, 2005, 09:43:49 AM

EULA |= written law AFAIK

In America, thanks to the dips at BSI, EULA does equal a binding contract, per the courts.

But that's a civil matter, is it not?
Merusk
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Reply #10 on: December 21, 2005, 10:04:16 AM

EULA |= written law AFAIK

In America, thanks to the dips at BSI, EULA does equal a binding contract, per the courts.

But that's a civil matter, is it not?

I believe the reason it was referred to the FBI is this falls in the category Cyberterrorism in the Patriot Act.  Not certain of that, though.

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Shockeye
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Reply #11 on: December 21, 2005, 10:09:01 AM

EULA |= written law AFAIK

In America, thanks to the dips at BSI, EULA does equal a binding contract, per the courts.

But that's a civil matter, is it not?

I believe the reason it was referred to the FBI is this falls in the category Cyberterrorism in the Patriot Act.  Not certain of that, though.

Does that mean the President can authorize spying on everyone in the game then?
HaemishM
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Reply #12 on: December 21, 2005, 11:54:26 AM

The President can't handle that truth.

eldaec
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Reply #13 on: December 27, 2005, 03:52:12 AM

Personally, I don't see it as any different from walking up to the back of, say, a local grocery store, and cutting the power cable.  Sure, it's relatively easy to fix, maybe a couple hours of outage...  But you better believe if caught you'll be charged.  It prevents the merchant from doing business in the same way a DoS-style attack prevents online merchants from doing business.  The main difference in online stuff, is it's easier to catch culprits unless they are very clever, and most attacks occur across state lines, making them federal jurisdiction.

In practice you will only be charged if the store do all the hard work related to catching you and presenting evidence (and even then only maybe). Most police forces and prosecutors will not prioritise investigation or prosecution of easily fixable crimes resulting in no uninsured losses or injuries to private individuals.

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Der Helm
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Reply #14 on: December 27, 2005, 05:15:10 AM

The President can't handle that truth.

Nobody can.

PS:I just GIS'ed "furry" for a funny link, but I am quite sure that linking to furry-porn results in a ban , so I chickened out. But I consider a large part of my humanity gone forever  Sad Panda

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Mesozoic
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Reply #15 on: December 28, 2005, 01:02:06 PM

Quote
When the party was bombed today by a griefer with pixelated C-4,

Wow.  Some people are writing only because its illegal to cut their hands off. 

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-Numtini
HaemishM
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Reply #16 on: December 28, 2005, 05:41:39 PM

PS:I just GIS'ed "furry" for a funny link, but I am quite sure that linking to furry-porn results in a ban , so I chickened out. But I consider a large part of my humanity gone forever  Sad Panda

You should have known better. Any punishment we could dole out for posting furry pr0n links would be nothing compared to the horror of actually having SEEN furry pr0n.

Shockeye
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Skinny-dippin' in a sea of Lee, I'd propose on bended knee...


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Reply #17 on: December 28, 2005, 05:43:12 PM

You should have known better. Any punishment we could dole out for posting furry pr0n links would be nothing compared to the horror of actually having SEEN furry pr0n.

Oh come on. It's not THAT bad. I mean, it's no lemonparty.
HaemishM
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Reply #18 on: December 28, 2005, 05:43:50 PM

Every time you masturbate to furry pr0n, you have to remember that the chances are good somewhere Bruce is masturbating to the same thing.

Shockeye
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Skinny-dippin' in a sea of Lee, I'd propose on bended knee...


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Reply #19 on: December 28, 2005, 06:23:44 PM

Every time you masturbate to furry pr0n, you have to remember that the chances are good somewhere Bruce is masturbating to the same thing.

Now that is just silly. He doesn't have time for that with all the drugging and molesting he does.
Strazos
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Reply #20 on: December 28, 2005, 06:43:02 PM

Where does he find the time for his charts!?

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Shockeye
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Skinny-dippin' in a sea of Lee, I'd propose on bended knee...


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Reply #21 on: December 28, 2005, 07:05:32 PM

Where does he find the time for his charts!?

It doesn't take long to make a chart when you're pulling numbers out of your ass. Along with other things.
Der Helm
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Reply #22 on: December 28, 2005, 10:17:26 PM

You should have known better. Any punishment we could dole out for posting furry pr0n links would be nothing compared to the horror of actually having SEEN furry pr0n.

Oh come on. It's not THAT bad. I mean, it's no lemonparty.
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Stephen Zepp
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Reply #23 on: January 13, 2006, 08:32:50 AM

Since the laws still are so unclear regarding where an attack like this actually occurs, the FBI routinely handles them.

Normally, if the victim of a dos, cyber-attack, whatever you want to call it can show an economic loss of > $5,000 US due to a single attack event and it's follow-on repercussions, they have the right to contact the FBI for criminal investigation. Obviously, the FBI doesn't have the manpower to handle each and every one, so they pick and choose, but yes, they have the authority in a case like this, and yes, it is possible that an actual crime (economic style, can't remember the specific name of the crime) occured that could be prosecutable.

Has nothing to do with the EULA in other words, but I do admit it's stretching the line as to if negligence on the victim's side was a contributing factor if they used an "in game" exploit of some sort.

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Soukyan
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Reply #24 on: January 13, 2006, 10:48:26 AM

I think this may be an issue in part because Second Life is starting to push the envelope in virtual worlds. This may be pie in the sky for now, but those of you who have read it, think about Snow Crash and the implications. At what point does the internal system attack become a problem that should be addressed by the outside world as well?

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Nija
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Reply #25 on: January 25, 2006, 09:56:24 AM

This isn't really FBI relevant but the fetapult, fetus-catapult, or what they call it - the fetus cannon, has now been completed.

http://img232.imageshack.us/my.php?image=fetuscannon7gr.jpg
HaemishM
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WWW
Reply #26 on: January 25, 2006, 12:52:11 PM

Le awesome.

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