Hey! > My question here is : what if the tool is very > specifically created to > steal music, and is also promoted as such. I doubt > that "MAY" was > applicable here. Pls educate me -- what other uses > was that tool for, > what did he promote it as ... was it accidentally > used by *everyone* to > rip iTunes without his *ever* saying it could.
Well, AFAIK, Fairplay *wasn't* promoted or touted as being the free, bad-ass way of stealing itunes. It was probably developed by the author to see if he *could* crack the itunes encrypted AAC's - much like the tons of tutorials out there which tell you how to make dirty nuclear bombs or floppy drives which explode on inserting a floppy... Ever heard of the anarchist's cookbook? How are there millions of copies online? > I think the intention of these tools was never bad, > whereas the software > in question was (or MA Y HAVE BEEN) intended to do > something arguably > illegal/harmful. > > The intention of the tools themselves isn't in question here. Its how you actually use emacs to write a deadly worm or use windows to compromise security :) which matters. > To take an extreme example, can i create and freely > distribute > anthrax with instructions on how to kill people with > it, and still be > absolved of all blame when others use it as I > suggest. I dont believe > anthrax has any useful (other) use (just an > example). I dont agree. Software of any kind (except for only ONE exception) has never directly resulted in the deaths of innocent human beings - a consequence more dire than any loss or profit a company might undergo. (Interestingly, the program I'm talking about was one which displayed psychedellic colors and patterns on screen, along with a screech, which lead to someone hamaeoraging his brain) The hacker ethic (NOT Crackers) is all about going through and creating/modifying code to suit your own purpose. If I find an algorithm interesting enough, I'm gonna try and break it, provided it ultimately helps me sleep better at night, or allows me to play my favourite music on another device.. > I also think there are many many avenues for > creativity/innovation - we > dont have to target one another's softwares and > claim that thats the > only avenue. Well, how would YOU do it? ===== -- Viksit Gaur http://www.viksit.com me[at]viksit.com viksit[at]linux-delhi[dot]org 'Not all who wander are lost.' - J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Photos: High-quality 4x6 digital prints for 25¢ http://photos.yahoo.com/ph/print_splash _______________________________________________ ilugd mailinglist -- [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://frodo.hserus.net/mailman/listinfo/ilugd Archives at: http://news.gmane.org/gmane.user-groups.linux.delhi http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
