Build Date: Tue Mar 10 18:40:10 2026 UTC
Well, sorry. I guess we can't ALL be super cool Russian forth hacker/extropian/pretend scientists like you.
-- Ratsnatcher
Smash the MPAA through DIRECT ACTION!!
2000-02-02 16:37:18
2600 Magazine is taking the fight for SOFTWARE FREEDOM to the streets of America! Striking a blow against the INFORMATION HOARDERS where they live! Beaujolais to that!
Check this: if you don't know the scoop on the DeCSS decryption issue, man, it's time you DID. Here's the deal: a group of brilliante Linux programmers developed a program that would let you play DVD movies on your Linux box. You would think that the DVD people would be, like, "Beaujolais!" to that, since it saved them a lot of trouble. But no!
See, the dipshits who make DVD movies have this lame, trivial encryption on the disks. The Linux DVD player needed to crack this encryption, using reverse-engineering. Which is TOTALLY ILLEGAL in the United States -- but the crazy cracking was done in Norway, which is a slightly more enlightened country for hacking in. But the DVD people -- including the heavy-weight industry group the MPAA -- started FREAKING OUT and running around BLINDLY like wounded moose and SUING everybody they could find.
There have been HORRIBLE HORRIBLE HORRIBLE hackers-rights violations all over the place. Bunches of people who just LINKED ON THEIR WEB PAGE to the DeCSS code have been sued! Just for having a link! Mother fucker! Also, the poor sap who did some of the first hacking on the project, Jon Johansen, was ARRESTED by ICY VIKING THUGS, and all his computers were seized, and even his DAD was thrown in the NORDIC CLINK! Imagine having to go to jail with your DAD, man. That would blow.
The WEIRD thing is that it's ALL about wanting to watch MOVIES on Linux! Watching MOVIES is not a fucking CRIME! It's not even MORALLY REPREHENSIBLE! It's not like people aren't BUYING the fucking DVDs in the first place -- they're just ASKING TO PLAY THEM on a REASONABLE OPERATING SYSTEM. WHAT is so wrong with that!? WHY does Jack Valenti have CAYENNE in his BRIEFS about this? God damn!
Anyways, 2600 Magazine, who are some of the main defendants in this linking bullshit case, are calling on ALL SOFTWARE FREEDOM ADVOCATES to take this battle BACK to the MAN. They want people to hit the movie theaters of America this Friday with DEMONSTRATIONS and FLIERS and just generally be a PAIN in the BUTT. It's one of those AWARENESS-RAISING things that are so crucially important.
The movie industry has set itself up against the SOFTWARE JIHAD, and only ONE group can come out on top here! Go to the movies this Friday and make sure it's US and not THEM!
T O P S T O R I E S
The Crossroads are real and The Blues is a place; The enduring myth of Robert Johnson (More...)
California Glory Hole attracts huge crowds
A glory hole at Napa's Lake Berryessa is drawing huge crowds. According to Chris Lee, the general manager for the Solano County Water Agency, the glory hole hasn't been active since 2019, and only restarted operations on Feb 4. (More...)
Republican State Senator busted after soliciting a teenage girl
Republican State Senator Justin Eichorn of Minnesota was arrested for soliciting a teen girl on Monday just hours after he introduced a bill proposing "Trump derangement syndrome" (TDS) as a form of mental illness. (More...)
Parents claim measles is not that bad after having only one child die
The parents of a Texas girl who died from the measles are defending their decision not to vaccinate their daughter. "She says they would still say 'Don't do the shots,'" an unidentified translator for the parents said. "They think it’s not as bad as the media is making it out to be." (More...)
Delusional rich man tries to fire town staff
"I'm mayor now" said write-in mayoral candidate and founder of Pirate’s Booty Snacks Robert Ehrlich after losing the election for Mayor of Sea Cliff, NY. Then he tried to take over the Village Hall and fire everyone. (More...)
Musk claims Xitter security is staffed by idiots
Earlier this month Xitter experienced a massive outage. In an interview, Musk told Fox Business that he believes the attack came from "IP addresses originating in the Ukraine area." (More...)
C L A S S I C P I G D O G
Johnnie Royale's Guide to Wakes
Wakes can present problems for Bad People of the Future. (If you don't know what a BPotF is, you need to read more of the PDJ.) Sure, your friend is gone and you miss him and that really sucks; it does, I know. But all Bad People of the Future are gonna die, and they have all accepted that fact. They do deserve, however, to have one final kickass party to celebrate all the bad things they've done in the past, present and future. And you, as a friend, have to make sure that their desire for a final send off is well executed (sorry for the pun). That's just the way of BPotFdom. (More...)
Datelined "Historic Mariposa," the fateful press release came in like an angry wind, announcing the release of a self-produced album, "Ordinary Hero," by occasional Pigdog contributor Thom Stark, in the language and tone of a Major Event, setting off a brief firestorm around the pigdog mailing list. (More...)
An innocent trip to the Central Market resulted in a severe attack of arachnophobia (and a meal) when a depraved street kid set her vicious pet spider on an unsuspecting shopper. (More...)
Poor Metallica. All they want is to continue to put out the same weak "Heavy Metal" they've been churning out since the "And Justice For All" days? and make gooey wads of cash in the process. The problem is, people aren't buying their bound for the heavy metal scrap heap, over-produced, uninspired, tired crap. And let's face it, their various commercial endorsements won't pay for the lifestyle they've become comfortably accustomed to. Resorting to lawsuits makes perfect sense, when you need spending money. But just one lawsuit isn't going to pay their bills. So, to aid Metallica, I've composed an open letter to the boys in the band, with suggestions as to whom else they might sic their lapdog lawyers on... (More...)
Tastes like key lime pie, gets you hammered like nobody's business: Introducing the Key Lime Spocktail! (More...)
