4 ms·

Would a publisher be liable to a pirate for damages if their anti-piracy measures include code of the form: IF is_pirated() THEN dd if=/dev/urandom of=/dev

• 0x0 11y ago
  They should be, IMO. What if a RAM error bitflip happens exactly on the is_pirated variable? :) Similarly, someone had a piracy check autopost to users' twitter accounts but it apparently started happening for legit users: http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2012/11/ios-apps-hijack-twitter-accounts-post-false-confessions-of-piracy/ http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2012/11/ios-apps-hijack-t...
• comex 11y ago
  IANAL, but probably. Such a case would be somewhat comparable to the Sony BMG scandal from a decade ago. The circumstances would be somewhat different, especially if only pirates were actually harmed, but there would still probably be a good case under the CFAA.
• nibnib 11y ago
  This is not unheard of for hardware. Firmware or driver updates to legitimate devices can detect pirate/counterfeit devices and brick them. Attitudes are changing since the publicity about FTDI doing this https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FTDI#Driver_controversy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FTDI#Driver_controversy
• tveita 11y ago
  Consider an analogous situation: the developer knows the email address of a user that pirated their software. They send them a link to a trojan that will wipe their hard drive when run. An illegal action is still illegal when it is done as revenge for copyright infringement. From an ethical point of view, consider that the damage could be inflicted on innocent third parties. E.g. if a negligent employee runs a pirated game on a computer that controls medical or industrial equipment.