Daniel15's Blog » Internet

News Response: “ISPs may be liable for illegal downloads”

Daniel15 — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 06:10:37 +0000

So, I was reading the news today, and came across this story. It states:

THE NSW Federal Court has not ruled out the possibility that an ISP could be in direct breach of copyright laws if it provides internet service to individuals that illegally share files on peer-to-peer networks.
A group of copyright holders represented by the Australian Federation Against Copyright Theft (AFACT) put the claim to the court as a part of its copyright case against Perth-headquartered ISP iiNet.

Most of AFACT’s original claims against iiNet lodged with the court last year were based on allegations that the ISP indirectly breached their members’ copyright. They alleged that iiNet effectively encouraged customers to engage in copyright breaches by failing to take steps to block illegal file sharing activity on its network.

However, on February 19, AFACT lodged an amended statement of claim to the court containing new allegations that iiNet engaged in primary acts of copyright infringement alongside illegal file sharers simply by carrying the data through its network and systems.

(bold by me)

This is totally stupid! Why should an ISP be responsible for the data it’s carrying? Why is the electricity company not responsible? They’re supplying the power to the systems mentioned, so they also provide services to people that illegally share files. What about the building company that built the houses/offices? They’re responsible for housing the systems.

The thing is, ISPs don’t know what the data being transferred on their network actually is. Much like the postal service… When you send a letter to someone, they don’t open your letter and read it, they just send it. If I send you a terrible analogy that makes you think “oh my God, this guy needs to take lessons on writing”, that’s not Australia Post’s issue. The postal service, and the ISP, are just transport agents. They send mesages from one location to another, but are not responsible for the contents of the messages. Saying that the ISP is responsible for illegal file sharers because their network is being used is like saying that VicRoads is responsible for criminals, because they’re driving their cars on the roads. Clearly, this makes absolutely no sense. If you go to VicRoads and tell them to put tollbooths on the roads to identify every person driving to make sure they’re not a criminal, they’d laugh at you. The ISPs should be doing the same thing — This is exactly what’s being asked of them.

Also, the article said that the ISP would be responsible if “it provides internet service to individuals that illegally share files on peer-to-peer networks“. How are they meant to know that individuals illegally share files? Note that ISPs already disconnect users they get copyright complaints about (how users are caught is a different issue altogether… Fake torrents and similar things. Might blog about this eventually). There’s really no other way for them to know who illegally shares files. This sentence makes it sound like they want ISPs to add a “Do you illegally share files” tickbox on the registration form.

And also, as Aaron mentioned on his blog, “copyright theft” makes no sense. The term they’re actually looking for is “copyright infringement“. But, they seem to barely know what they’re doing, so I guess the use of a nonsensical term makes sense in whatever magical land they’re living in. A land where there’s no Peer-to-Peer networks, and everyone pays for the latest crappy music albums and TV shows and whatever else exists. For now, the rest of us live in reality, where none of this filtering is possible.

— Daniel

MySpace Friend List Export – Code now available

Daniel15 — Sat, 27 Oct 2007 11:38:36 +0000

The code for the MySpace Friend List Export script I wrote a while back is now available for download. If you’re a PHP programmer and are interested in viewing the source code for it, take a look at http://stuff.daniel15.com/php/myspace/get_friends.txt

The code is quite ugly, but, well, so is MySpace. That’s my excuse.

Interesting WHOIS results

Daniel15 — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 05:45:22 +0000

Recently, I was working on some DNS tools, including DNS lookup and WHOIS tools. Needing to test the WHOIS tool, I used google.com as a test domain (as I usually do). The WHOIS lookup returned some rather interesting results:
Hostnames like “GOOGLE.COM.IS.HOSTED.ON.PROFITHOSTING.NET”, “GOOGLE.COM.PLZ.GIVE.A.PR8.TO.AUDIOTRACKER.NET”, GOOGLE.COM.ZOMBIED.AND.HACKED.BY.WWW.WEB-HACK.CO and ” GOOGLE.COM.SUCKS.FIND.CRACKZ.WITH.SEARCH.GULLI.COM” are listed.

Whois Server Version 2.0

Domain names in the .com and .net domains can now be registered
with many different competing registrars. Go to http://www.internic.net
for detailed information.

Server Name: GOOGLE.COM.ZZZZZ.GET.LAID.AT.WWW.SWINGINGCOMMUNITY.COM
IP Address: 69.41.185.195
Registrar: INNERWISE, INC. D/B/A ITSYOURDOMAIN.COM
Whois Server: whois.itsyourdomain.com
Referral URL: http://www.itsyourdomain.com

Server Name: GOOGLE.COM.ZOMBIED.AND.HACKED.BY.WWW.WEB-HACK.COM
IP Address: 217.107.217.167
Registrar: ONLINENIC, INC.
Whois Server: whois.35.com
Referral URL: http://www.OnlineNIC.com

Server Name: GOOGLE.COM.WORDT.DOOR.VEEL.WHTERS.GEBRUIKT.SERVERTJE.NET
IP Address: 62.41.27.144
Registrar: KEY-SYSTEMS GMBH
Whois Server: whois.rrpproxy.net
Referral URL: http://www.key-systems.net

Server Name: GOOGLE.COM.VN
Registrar: ONLINENIC, INC.
Whois Server: whois.35.com
Referral URL: http://www.OnlineNIC.com

Server Name: GOOGLE.COM.UA
Registrar: DIRECT INFORMATION PVT LTD D/B/A PUBLICDOMAINREGISTRY.COM
Whois Server: whois.PublicDomainRegistry.com
Referral URL: http://www.PublicDomainRegistry.com

Server Name: GOOGLE.COM.TR
Registrar: DIRECT INFORMATION PVT LTD D/B/A PUBLICDOMAINREGISTRY.COM
Whois Server: whois.PublicDomainRegistry.com
Referral URL: http://www.PublicDomainRegistry.com

Server Name: GOOGLE.COM.SUCKS.FIND.CRACKZ.WITH.SEARCH.GULLI.COM
IP Address: 80.190.192.24
Registrar: KEY-SYSTEMS GMBH
Whois Server: whois.rrpproxy.net
Referral URL: http://www.key-systems.net

Server Name: GOOGLE.COM.SPROSIUYANDEKSA.RU
Registrar: MELBOURNE IT, LTD. D/B/A INTERNET NAMES WORLDWIDE
Whois Server: whois.melbourneit.com
Referral URL: http://www.melbourneit.com

Server Name: GOOGLE.COM.SERVES.PR0N.FOR.ALLIYAH.NET
IP Address: 84.255.209.69
Registrar: TUCOWS INC.
Whois Server: whois.tucows.com
Referral URL: http://domainhelp.opensrs.net

Server Name: GOOGLE.COM.SA
Registrar: OMNIS NETWORK, LLC
Whois Server: whois.omnis.com
Referral URL: http://domains.omnis.com

Server Name: GOOGLE.COM.PLZ.GIVE.A.PR8.TO.AUDIOTRACKER.NET
IP Address: 213.251.184.30
Registrar: OVH
Whois Server: whois.ovh.com
Referral URL: http://www.ovh.com

Server Name: GOOGLE.COM.MX
Registrar: DIRECT INFORMATION PVT LTD D/B/A PUBLICDOMAINREGISTRY.COM
Whois Server: whois.PublicDomainRegistry.com
Referral URL: http://www.PublicDomainRegistry.com

Server Name: GOOGLE.COM.IS.NOT.HOSTED.BY.ACTIVEDOMAINDNS.NET
IP Address: 217.148.161.5
Registrar: ENOM, INC.
Whois Server: whois.enom.com
Referral URL: http://www.enom.com

Server Name: GOOGLE.COM.IS.HOSTED.ON.PROFITHOSTING.NET
IP Address: 66.49.213.213
Registrar: COMPUTER SERVICES LANGENBACH GMBH DBA JOKER.COM
Whois Server: whois.joker.com
Referral URL: http://www.joker.com

Server Name: GOOGLE.COM.IS.APPROVED.BY.NUMEA.COM
IP Address: 213.228.0.43
Registrar: GANDI SAS
Whois Server: whois.gandi.net
Referral URL: http://www.gandi.net

Server Name: GOOGLE.COM.HAS.LESS.FREE.PORN.IN.ITS.SEARCH.ENGINE.THAN.SECZY.COM
IP Address: 209.187.114.130
Registrar: INNERWISE, INC. D/B/A ITSYOURDOMAIN.COM
Whois Server: whois.itsyourdomain.com
Referral URL: http://www.itsyourdomain.com

Server Name: GOOGLE.COM.DO
Registrar: GODADDY.COM, INC.
Whois Server: whois.godaddy.com
Referral URL: http://registrar.godaddy.com

Server Name: GOOGLE.COM.BR
Registrar: ENOM, INC.
Whois Server: whois.enom.com
Referral URL: http://www.enom.com

Server Name: GOOGLE.COM.BEYONDWHOIS.COM
IP Address: 203.36.226.2
Registrar: TUCOWS INC.
Whois Server: whois.tucows.com
Referral URL: http://domainhelp.opensrs.net

Server Name: GOOGLE.COM.AU
Registrar: PLANETDOMAIN PTY LTD.
Whois Server: whois.planetdomain.com
Referral URL: http://www.planetdomain.com

Domain Name: GOOGLE.COM
Registrar: MARKMONITOR INC.
Whois Server: whois.markmonitor.com
Referral URL: http://www.markmonitor.com
Name Server: NS1.GOOGLE.COM
Name Server: NS2.GOOGLE.COM
Name Server: NS3.GOOGLE.COM
Name Server: NS4.GOOGLE.COM
Status: clientDeleteProhibited
Status: clientTransferProhibited
Status: clientUpdateProhibited
Updated Date: 10-apr-2006
Creation Date: 15-sep-1997
Expiration Date: 14-sep-2011

[other stuff omitted]

It looks like Google’s not the only site with strange WHOIS information… Microsoft has some as well:

Whois Server Version 2.0

Domain names in the .com and .net domains can now be registered
with many different competing registrars. Go to http://www.internic.net
for detailed information.

Server Name: MICROSOFT.COM.ZZZZZZ.MORE.DETAILS.AT.WWW.BEYONDWHOIS.COM
IP Address: 203.36.226.2
Registrar: TUCOWS INC.
Whois Server: whois.tucows.com
Referral URL: http://domainhelp.opensrs.net

Server Name: MICROSOFT.COM.ZZZZZ.GET.LAID.AT.WWW.SWINGINGCOMMUNITY.COM
IP Address: 69.41.185.194
Registrar: INNERWISE, INC. D/B/A ITSYOURDOMAIN.COM
Whois Server: whois.itsyourdomain.com
Referral URL: http://www.itsyourdomain.com

Server Name: MICROSOFT.COM.ZZZOMBIED.AND.HACKED.BY.WWW.WEB-HACK.COM
IP Address: 217.107.217.167
Registrar: ONLINENIC, INC.
Whois Server: whois.35.com
Referral URL: http://www.OnlineNIC.com

Server Name: MICROSOFT.COM.ZZZ.IS.0WNED.AND.HAX0RED.BY.SUB7.NET
IP Address: 207.44.240.96
Registrar: INNERWISE, INC. D/B/A ITSYOURDOMAIN.COM
Whois Server: whois.itsyourdomain.com
Referral URL: http://www.itsyourdomain.com

Server Name: MICROSOFT.COM.WILL.LIVE.FOREVER.BECOUSE.UNIXSUCKS.COM
IP Address: 185.3.4.7
Registrar: MELBOURNE IT, LTD. D/B/A INTERNET NAMES WORLDWIDE
Whois Server: whois.melbourneit.com
Referral URL: http://www.melbourneit.com

Server Name: MICROSOFT.COM.WILL.BE.SLAPPED.IN.THE.FACE.BY.MY.BLUE.VEINED.SPANNER.NET
IP Address: 216.127.80.46
Registrar: TUCOWS INC.
Whois Server: whois.tucows.com
Referral URL: http://domainhelp.opensrs.net

Server Name: MICROSOFT.COM.WILL.BE.BEATEN.WITH.MY.SPANNER.NET
IP Address: 216.127.80.46
Registrar: TUCOWS INC.
Whois Server: whois.tucows.com
Referral URL: http://domainhelp.opensrs.net

Server Name: MICROSOFT.COM.WAREZ.AT.TOPLIST.GULLI.COM
IP Address: 80.190.192.33
Registrar: KEY-SYSTEMS GMBH
Whois Server: whois.rrpproxy.net
Referral URL: http://www.key-systems.net

Server Name: MICROSOFT.COM.TOTALLY.SUCKS.S3U.NET
IP Address: 207.208.13.22
Registrar: ENOM, INC.
Whois Server: whois.enom.com
Referral URL: http://www.enom.com

Server Name: MICROSOFT.COM.STINKT.NACH.WIESBADEN.VISIT.CALITEC.NET
IP Address: 85.190.27.2
Registrar: ENOM, INC.
Whois Server: whois.enom.com
Referral URL: http://www.enom.com

Server Name: MICROSOFT.COM.SMELLS.SIMPLECODES.COM
IP Address: 207.44.234.34
Registrar: GODADDY.COM, INC.
Whois Server: whois.godaddy.com
Referral URL: http://registrar.godaddy.com

Server Name: MICROSOFT.COM.SHOULD.GIVE.UP.BECAUSE.LINUXISGOD.COM
IP Address: 65.160.248.13
Registrar: GKG.NET, INC.
Whois Server: whois.gkg.net
Referral URL: http://www.gkg.net

Server Name: MICROSOFT.COM.RAWKZ.MUH.WERLD.MENTALFLOSS.CA
Registrar: TUCOWS INC.
Whois Server: whois.tucows.com
Referral URL: http://domainhelp.opensrs.net

Server Name: MICROSOFT.COM.OHMYGODITBURNS.COM
IP Address: 216.158.63.6
Registrar: DOTSTER, INC.
Whois Server: whois.dotster.com
Referral URL: http://www.dotster.com

Server Name: MICROSOFT.COM.MORE.INFO.AT.WWW.BEYONDWHOIS.COM
IP Address: 203.36.226.2
Registrar: TUCOWS INC.
Whois Server: whois.tucows.com
Referral URL: http://domainhelp.opensrs.net

Server Name: MICROSOFT.COM.LOVES.ME.KOSMAL.NET
IP Address: 65.75.198.123
Registrar: GODADDY.COM, INC.
Whois Server: whois.godaddy.com
Referral URL: http://registrar.godaddy.com

Server Name: MICROSOFT.COM.LIVES.AT.SHAUNEWING.COM
IP Address: 216.40.250.172
Registrar: ENOM, INC.
Whois Server: whois.enom.com
Referral URL: http://www.enom.com

Server Name: MICROSOFT.COM.IS.NOT.YEPPA.ORG
Registrar: OVH
Whois Server: whois.ovh.com
Referral URL: http://www.ovh.com

Server Name: MICROSOFT.COM.IS.NOT.HOSTED.BY.ACTIVEDOMAINDNS.NET
IP Address: 217.148.161.5
Registrar: ENOM, INC.
Whois Server: whois.enom.com
Referral URL: http://www.enom.com

Server Name: MICROSOFT.COM.IS.NOT.AS.COOL.AS.SIMPLECODES.COM
IP Address: 207.44.234.232
Registrar: GODADDY.COM, INC.
Whois Server: whois.godaddy.com
Referral URL: http://registrar.godaddy.com

Server Name: MICROSOFT.COM.IS.IN.BED.WITH.CURTYV.COM
IP Address: 216.55.187.193
Registrar: ABACUS AMERICA, INC. DBA NAMES4EVER
Whois Server: whois.names4ever.com
Referral URL: http://www.names4ever.com

Server Name: MICROSOFT.COM.IS.HOSTED.ON.PROFITHOSTING.NET
IP Address: 66.49.213.213
Registrar: COMPUTER SERVICES LANGENBACH GMBH DBA JOKER.COM
Whois Server: whois.joker.com
Referral URL: http://www.joker.com

Server Name: MICROSOFT.COM.IS.GOD.BECOUSE.UNIXSUCKS.COM
IP Address: 161.16.56.24
Registrar: MELBOURNE IT, LTD. D/B/A INTERNET NAMES WORLDWIDE
Whois Server: whois.melbourneit.com
Referral URL: http://www.melbourneit.com

Server Name: MICROSOFT.COM.IS.A.STEAMING.HEAP.OF.FUCKING-BULLSHIT.NET
IP Address: 63.99.165.11
Registrar: THE NAME IT CORPORATION DBA NAMESERVICES.NET
Whois Server: whois.aitdomains.com
Referral URL: http://www.aitdomains.com

Server Name: MICROSOFT.COM.IS.A.MESS.TIMPORTER.CO.UK
Registrar: MELBOURNE IT, LTD. D/B/A INTERNET NAMES WORLDWIDE
Whois Server: whois.melbourneit.com
Referral URL: http://www.melbourneit.com

Server Name: MICROSOFT.COM.HOSTED.BY.CALITEC.NET
IP Address: 85.190.27.3
Registrar: ENOM, INC.
Whois Server: whois.enom.com
Referral URL: http://www.enom.com

Server Name: MICROSOFT.COM.HAS.ITS.OWN.CRACKLAB.COM
IP Address: 209.26.95.44
Registrar: DOTSTER, INC.
Whois Server: whois.dotster.com
Referral URL: http://www.dotster.com

Server Name: MICROSOFT.COM.HAS.A.PRESENT.COMING.FROM.HUGHESMISSILES.COM
IP Address: 66.154.11.27
Registrar: TUCOWS INC.
Whois Server: whois.tucows.com
Referral URL: http://domainhelp.opensrs.net

Server Name: MICROSOFT.COM.GOT.OWNED.BY.CALITEC.NET
IP Address: 85.190.27.2
Registrar: ENOM, INC.
Whois Server: whois.enom.com
Referral URL: http://www.enom.com

Server Name: MICROSOFT.COM.FILLS.ME.WITH.BELLIGERENCE.NET
IP Address: 130.58.82.232
Registrar: CRONON AG BERLIN, NIEDERLASSUNG REGENSBURG
Whois Server: whois.tmagnic.net
Referral URL: http://nsi-robo.tmag.de

Server Name: MICROSOFT.COM.DRINKS.LISTERINE.NET
IP Address: 66.33.206.206
Registrar: SPOT DOMAIN LLC DBA DOMAINSITE.COM
Whois Server: whois.domainsite.com
Referral URL: http://www.domainsite.com

Server Name: MICROSOFT.COM.CAN.GO.FUCK.ITSELF.AT.SECZY.COM
IP Address: 209.187.114.147
Registrar: INNERWISE, INC. D/B/A ITSYOURDOMAIN.COM
Whois Server: whois.itsyourdomain.com
Referral URL: http://www.itsyourdomain.com

Server Name: MICROSOFT.COM.ARE.GODDAMN.PIGFUCKERS.NET.NS-NOT-IN-SERVICE.COM
IP Address: 216.127.80.46
Registrar: TUCOWS INC.
Whois Server: whois.tucows.com
Referral URL: http://domainhelp.opensrs.net

Server Name: MICROSOFT.COM.AND.MINDSUCK.BOTH.SUCK.HUGE.ONES.AT.EXEGETE.NET
IP Address: 63.241.136.53
Registrar: DOTSTER, INC.
Whois Server: whois.dotster.com
Referral URL: http://www.dotster.com

Domain Name: MICROSOFT.COM
Registrar: TUCOWS INC.
Whois Server: whois.tucows.com
Referral URL: http://domainhelp.opensrs.net
Name Server: NS1.MSFT.NET
Name Server: NS2.MSFT.NET
Name Server: NS3.MSFT.NET
Name Server: NS4.MSFT.NET
Name Server: NS5.MSFT.NET
Status: clientDeleteProhibited
Status: clientTransferProhibited
Status: clientUpdateProhibited
Updated Date: 10-oct-2006
Creation Date: 02-may-1991
Expiration Date: 03-may-2014

Anyone know how this was done?

MySpace Friend List Export

Daniel15 — Wed, 19 Sep 2007 11:09:55 +0000

Update 2010-03-28: MySpaceTools.ws is no longer available, due to MySpace blocking my server from accessing it.

Edit: This has been moved to MySpaceTools.ws. Please email errors [-at-] myspacetools.ws for support, do not comment here.

Based on a blog entry I read about backing up your profile, I decided to try and write a script that would grab your entire friend list so you can have a local copy of it. It was kinda hard to do, but I’ve managed to write a relatively simple script that will grab your entire friends list, and display it on the one page. It does so by grabbing each page in the “View All Friends” section, and essentially merges them all together. What you end up with is one page that contains your entire friends list.

Take a look at [broken link removed] for the script so far. Note that it will currently not work on private profiles (although I’m working on a fix for that). For now, if you have a private profile, you must temporarily set your profile to public in order to export the friends list.

You can easily save the page it generates (via File → Save As…) and keep it as a local copy of your friends list. Yes, I know how it displays its output is kinda ugly at the moment, but I’m a coder, not a designer

Hope it’s useful for someone.
I originally posted this to the MySpace Forums, but thought I should also post it here

Brute-force attacks from Nokia

Daniel15 — Wed, 02 May 2007 06:15:35 +0000

I checked my email inbox this morning, and guess what I found? The firewall (ConfigServer Security and Firewall) on a server I help run blocked a brute-force attack from Nokia:

Time: Tue May 1 02:28:18 2007
IP: 63.97.248.34 (machine34.nokia.com)
Failures: 5 (sshd)
Interval: 135 seconds
Blocked: Yes

Log entries:

May 1 02:28:08 blue sshd[9363]: Failed password for root from ::ffff:63.97.248.34 port 56057 ssh2
May 1 07:28:08 blue sshd[9364]: Failed password for root from ::ffff:63.97.248.34 port 56057 ssh2
May 1 02:28:11 blue sshd[9368]: Failed password for root from ::ffff:63.97.248.34 port 56436 ssh2
May 1 07:28:11 blue sshd[9369]: Failed password for root from ::ffff:63.97.248.34 port 56436 ssh2
May 1 02:28:13 blue sshd[9370]: Failed password for root from ::ffff:63.97.248.34 port 56591 ssh2

Just thought it was funny
(oh yeah, and I will report it to them!)

Stupidest eBay Auction ever!

Daniel15 — Tue, 21 Nov 2006 08:35:45 +0000

Sure, there’s been some stupid eBay auctions in the past, but this has got to be the stupidest eBay auction ever! Someone was trying to sell contact information of a person who has a PlayStation 3… Here’s the description that was posted:

You are bidding on the contact information for my friend who acquired a PS3 by waiting in line outside Best Buy for two days in advance. I was there with him the entire time, but already sold mine. He has in his posession a PS3, extra controller, extra charger, three games (Resistance, Madden, and Ridge Racer), and a 2 year product replacement plan. Keep in mind that you are not bidding on an actual system, but only the information where you might obtain one. You will be able to contact him and he is very willing to sell if the price is right. The unit is in the Atlanta, GA area and he would be willing to deliver in person if close by. PayPal is the only payment form accepted.

As soon as I saw this, I couldn’t believe that someone would be trying to sell contact information on eBay, and certainly didn’t think that anyone would bid on it… Strangely enough, bids came flying in, and the final bid was US$1,100.00 (about AU$1,430) . For reference, here’s a full screenshot of the auction:

I hope the final bidder (digitalbrew1) knew that he was only bidding on contact information. If he didn’t check before buying, he’s in for a suprise