Once again it looks like the RIAA website has been hacked, and this time we were able to get copies of a couple of pages before it went down.

The culprits made some minor changes that are funny if nothing else, that makes it appear that the RIAA has changed it's position on filesharing. The even issue an apology to Listen4Ever for shutting them down and recommend using Kazaa Lite and even provide a handy link. (Just in case Thanks, Hilary!)

With the RIAA backing of the Howard "I can be bought" Berman bill, that would legalize vigilante hacking on the behalf of copyright owners, it is hardly surprising that this is taking place. This is the second time since the bill was introduced that the RIAA website has been hacked.

The Berman bill opens up a Pandoras box that would allow anyone who suspected that their material was on someone elses server to legally hack into the server, with little or no responsibility for any damage done.

THE EFF on the Berman bill http://news.dmusic.com/article/5183

The RIAA Pages that were hacked that we have (Thanks Frawgster!) are at http://www.boycott-riaa.com/hacked/riaa.org.htm
Click on the one headline beside news...

Nice work!

In no way do I encourage the hacking of _anyone's_ website. ...but this just makes me chuckle a bit. Very subtle.

Let's hear it for teamwork. Thanx Frawggy.

http://www.cafeshops.com/cp/prod.aspx?p=riaafark.3085190

Wear it proudly!

Hahahah that's hysterical

I expect right now every script kiddie is trying to get in. Edventually one of them is going to manage again.

hahaha, awsome!

oh my god it's frawgster! hi frog man

That's so radd - good job people!

You all remind me of the cheering Afghani's.

This is sweet!!!!

By the way, I can't seem to see the pages on boycott-riaa. Getting the dreaded 404

it worked for me

Works for me too.

damn.. wtf.. friggin computer

/me bangs the out of it.. WORK DAMNIT!!!!

hehe, sometimes I find throwin' it out the window can be quite effective.

Not Found
The requested URL /hacked/riaa.org.htm was not found on this server.


That's what I get when I click on the link. Oh well

I'm about ready to

I don't understand.

must be connected to aol

lol, ...somehow I doubt it.

ok must be the person behind the key board then

haha, thats great!!

I laughed my @$$ off when I saw that... I hope they continue to harass the RIAA website, it's good for 'em. I can't get on the riaa.com though, to see if they had anything to say about it... it keeps timing out.

Yeah Baby!!

Suckers, Hackers rule!

Hey next time put a link to Winmx.

Hail Mp3!!!

I tried to do connect since about 10:30 am this morning and haven't been able to ge through, the server is down period.

HAHAHAHHA this is wonderful! i needed a good laugh all damn day and this really made my day!!!! HAHAHAH!!!!

lmmfao-rofl... damn :lol,
now something tells me that this won't be the last time that this'll happen . I'm not surprised but at the same time... well this is some funny shit, Hacking is wrong and... well a wrong for a wrong lets the other know that even opening your yap on letting anyform of hacking become legal is just settin yourself up.

Hacking is wrong for ALL reasons. Yes, sometimes it's humorous but that doesn't make it any less wrong! Hilary'd say that her cause was just too! It gets us nowhere. There is no "just cause" for vandalism. Period.

...but this was indeed funny as hell.

Dude, I hope he installed a backdoor so he can fuck with them again.

I use a converted anarchy symbol as my (icon? avatar?) here mainly because I like the look of it when I saw it spraypainted on a wall once. Anarchy and chaos for real isn't workable though. Going to end up devolving the culture as we know it. (pundits and fans of "Fight Club" might think this is a GOOD idea, but I digress)

I enjoyed the attack for the humourous statement that it was, but I agree it's wrong and doesn't really serve any constructive purpose. It's a pretty fair reminder to the Association that they CAN'T uninvent the wheel; you just can't stop progress.

But this will galvanize them and give them more credence that file sharing is the domain of the criminal.

Here's a thought. Perhaps whomever authored this is a copyrighted artist and had a good idea that his work was on the RIAA webserver. Seems like a case of justifiable aggressive copyright protection to me. If he was smart and wanted to pursue that, he left a few trademarked things there somewhere

linkin park did it!!

those no good backstreet boys with angst!

eh..i'd liked to say hacking is terribly irresponsible here but..hey

you get what you put out in the world

karma?

If that's the tech skills that organization is gonna use to hack our computers should that ridiculous law passes, I can sleep tight! ;}

Damn those RIAA people are stupid! Don't they ever learn?

Now that I've collected myself, I would like to extend a cyber handshake to the person(s) responsible for that wonderful piece of work!

i am giving my best wishes and best regards for our beloved hackers
JUST HACK THEM 24 hours times 7 days

though i am not really agree bout hacking but for RIAA

OH yesssssssss
GO for it
later on if i pass my networking class
i will test my skill there

Why don't some el33t hackers get in and get some evidence as to the RIAA's mis-accounting eh ?

You think that RIAA wouldn't have learned by now. Hackers are toying with the RIAA for now, but if this bill passes, do you honestly think these hackers are gonna change links on a website. Their are much more things out their that are worse then getting your site dos'd, and it cracks me up that the RIAA are to stupid to see this. I honestly think they don't know what can of worms they opened, and even the bigger can of whoop ass that will follow if this bill were to pass. A hack war will happen, and the RIAA is on the losing end, but too bad for them.

Again, I'd like to agree with everyone that I do not approve of hacking corportae or any web sites, but the position of the RIAA is so hard line and asinine that I cannot help a bit of schadenfruede, that old German saw about taking delight in the misfortune of others. Just in time for the MTV Video Music Awards! I hope some of the presenters mention this!

Maybe the RIAA will soon learn that if they keep fighting, not only are they going to be embarrassed and hassled, they are also going to encourage more people to work past the hacker stage of 'script kiddie.'

Really- even by ASKING to hack home computers, the RIAA has probably motivated many a computer savvy music lover to head up the hill and on his or her way to hacking school. Not only would said lover be learning how to give the RIAA what they hope to someday dish out, the lover would also learn how to better protect him or herself from the RIAA in the future.

RIAA: Mess with the bull, get the horns.

Even with 100% free music distribution, music artists would still be in the 'very' upper class. True fans would still pay to have an 'official' CD, with case and inserts (now they could even leave them unopened for better preservation). Posters, concerts, radio stations, special promo items such as box sets, and other similar things would continue to generate money. Last, and most importantly, sponsors would need to pay more. Let the sponsors (corporate America) pick up the slack as the music lovers drop off artists’ balance sheets. Soda vendors make a 90% profit, they can probably afford to pick up the slack alone.

Stealing is wrong. Defacing someone else’s property is wrong. The Boston Tea Party was wrong. Taking money that belongs to your enemy (can we say al Queda?) is wrong in a sense. Sometimes wrong things must be done in order to help the greedy find their way. I’m sure many people said “well that’s just plain wrong” when the USA was forming itself into a nation. Do any Americans living today wish they could go back and convince this country to do otherwise? I hope there are not many.

Congratulations on a job well done, computer hackers extraordinaire. I do hope and believe that this is just a warning shot. Our voice is out there- Type clearly and stand for a change. The world is going through a lot of change right now; let’s hope that money, the media, and the wrong things that must be done in order to make changes happen do not impede us.

Sorry to type your eyes off guys!

woooo! I think its fanfucking tastic!

I mean, with that Bill, they are basically going to hack peoples computers.

I hope they realise that, this is only the beginning - i mean, a dos attack is all good, but seriously, RIAA have no idea what they are taking on, they dont have the people or the skillz. I know that RIAA are just going to make even more of a fool out of themselves, to think that they can a) stop the freedom of sharing and b) hack our computers

This does not go down well with any of us, and im very sure that if any bill was passed that gave them the right to hack into people, they wouldnt have any working box to do it on

It does sound like a great way for the RIAA to waste money while crying "It's their fault" though. If the bill does pass, the RIAA will need to spend more protecting their site and will also be spending more trying to break into home users' computers. A year or two of that and the artists will be crying even more than they are now.

It won't pass though. Not for something as silly as music. Terrorism maybe, not music.

Sometimes it takes a thing like this to open up the eyes of the political machine.
George W.'s stance on stem cell research changed when Nancy Reagan contacted him saying that the research can be beneficial to finding a cure for Alzheimer's. Guiliani's stance on helath changed when he was diagnosed with cancer.

Maybe this will open up the RIAA's eyes as to what it feels like to have your computer invaded.

I hate to encourage vigilante justice, as I do not believe that 2 wrongs make a right. But if lawmakers will even give consideration to such a blatant violation of OUR personal rights, I say Kudos to the hackers for opening their eyes a little.

I said it.. and I was right. I didn't hack into anyone's shit to get what I've got.. how come they get the right to hack MY shit? This was a much needed shot in the arm for the boycott.. great work guys
btw.. link doesn't work, and I get a 403 error when I try to connect directly to RIAA. good deal

The RIAA will probably just set up a big IDS to locate and sue hackers

Watch it pass. Most polititions dont understand computers enough to read their own email. They will work on the assumptions they are fed by the RIAA, that copyright holders should be able to prevent theft. As soon as its passed the RIAA will launch massive DoS attacks on p2p networks and completly ruin them.

RIAA, sounds like a disease, No? I believe the cure for that malady is to stop buying the trash churned out by record labels. Such mindless, shallow acts as Brittney (The teen queen of Slut Pop) Spears, The back gate boys, In Stink and the like are getting to be a bore and clearly not worth the 17.99 the CD costs here. CD sales have declined also in part because Mariah Carey can't remove enough clothing to gain any more popularity, Whitney (Toot) Houston can't stay sober long enough to mount a comeback, and People are getting tired of the same old hate rap regurgitated by the likes of Enema M. Any downloading I engage is mostly the old stuff that record stores can't, or more to the point,Won't help me find. When I ask for something more than 5 years old, I witness this look of immence stupidity slowly crawl over the clerks face as I get the standard answer, We can't get that, It's out of print. HA, the frigging RIAA wishes all the old stuff would disappear so it won't have to pay royalties to retired performers. In closing, for the sake of my own personal slanderous attack, Hillary Rosen, you make me want to puke in my yarmulke.

Muahahahahahaha Im no haxor or a scriptor. But i am a multimedia guy. And i love all my nerdy little 1337 brothers and sister who keep these fools in check. Praises to all of you. thank god for the nerds.. or it would be 1984 all over again. To all haxorz from a audio/video freak. Keep up the good work and dont take theyre shit... Booyah

*FREE* Leonard Peltier

Hey LewKe, it ain't just the older stuff stores won't stock, do you know how many blank expressions and responses of "Who are they?" I've gotten at some places when I've asked for the last two Dream Theater albums when they were released? To Wal-Mart's credit (?) they eventually started carrying "Six Degrees Of Inner Turbulence", although it took them about a month after it's release to stock it. Guess they had to wait & see if it was gonna sell enough to merit it worth their shelf space. Rik Emmett's another one I can't even find new releases of at most of the stores near me. Couldn't have anything to do with the fact that they're not "commercial" enough, could it? Or maybe it's just that they produce intelligent music that would confuse the target audience of the majority of these stores too much for them to risk putting it in the customers' hands.

THE HACKED VERSION OF THE RIAAS WEBSITE IS STILL UP HERE:
http://www.riaa.org/storymain.htm

Have fun! I found this from a news report!

now was this a denial of service???? where's the pages at????? was it a really noticable change to the site....

I agree with goldenpi- politicians do NOT understand computers.
I remember a Dick Cheney comment on the Today show (of all places). When Matt asked him about Napster (yup, this was a while back), good old Dick's reply was simply "What? What is Napster?"
But really, is this a suprise considering that him and Rain Man (pet name for George W.) ran together for office? I expect ignorance out of them. What else could they possibly contribute?

BUT, one thing: ALthough they may not understand computers and all of the technical details, all they are responsible for is to get the legislation passed. nce that happens, they're out of the loop (unless of course something goes wrong).
The job of enforcement goes to the geniuses at the FBI.

So, the fact that most politicians may not understand computers, at least in my opinion, makes things all the more dangerous, since they're only sources of opinion, it seems, are the supporters from the RIAA.

check this out,
its quite slow, but funny....
http://www.riaa.org/storymain.htm

Thanx spikester, I hadn't seen that before.

It looks like its down now, but the mirror (less the MP3s is still up at boycott-riaa.com

What do polititions understand? None of them understand computers or technology. They understand money and votes very well .

Im a bush-basher. That incompetent should not be running a country. He is lazy. He blames forigners for everything. Unfortunatly he is also a friend of the prime minister over here .

The FBI might do some IP enforcement, but for most of it the corporations are their own police force. The BSA all but smashes doors down to audit software. The RIAA and MPAA have hired suebots trawling p2p networks and sending automated shutdown orders to the ISPs. Once they find an infringement they can release the lawyers and either threaten until the infringement stops or sue to scare others straight.

Whats the oppinion of bush in the states? Everyone is laughing at him here. ITV just called him a warmonger, BBC frequently complains. He is best known for his rediculous war on terrorism and ignoreing or resisting the summit

I don't think bush is an intellectually gifted man, but as far as the war mongering goes, he had to do something, not because something needed to be done but most Americans wanted him to send in the tanks and kick ass.
Heck, I've talked to Canadians who think he should've used nukes, I can't imagine what they were calling for in Texas.
I can't think of anything Bush has done that has resulted in widespread public backlash, and his approval rating so far has been pretty high. So, if Bush is an idiot, than the majority of Americans are idiots.

hmm no comment




P.S. - only kidding, it's just the majority who can't see the wood for the tree's and all act like sheep.

Hey, majority rules right?
Unfortunately, you can't force people to be discriminating thinkers.
The major failing of democracy is that most people are too wrapped up in their own trivial lives to give true, objective consideration to their political standpoints. Most people vote out of subjective self interest.
Maybe the biggest brainwashing job in history has been convincing the western world how wonderful democracy is.