Texsox Posted February 20, 2006 Share Posted February 20, 2006 http://www.casperstartribune.net/articles/...h/d8fr777o0.txt Mac-User Sites Shut for Possible Violation By MAY WONG Monday, February 20, 2006 SAN JOSE, Calif. - Two busy Web sites that focus on Apple Computer Inc.'s Mac OS X operating system went silent Friday just days after they featured links to information on how to hack the software and run it on non-Apple PCs. The OSx86 Project Web site stated Apple had served it with a notice on Thursday citing violations of the 1998 Digital Millennium Copyright Act, and the site was reviewing all of its discussion forum postings as a result. The site has always aimed to adhere to copyright laws and is working with Apple to ensure no violations exist, according to a statement by the site administrator. The other Web site, Win2OSX.net, was completely shut down. Administrators there could not be immediately reached for comment. An Apple spokesman declined to comment Friday on the DMCA-based notices. The federal law prohibits anyone from distributing software or hardware that can circumvent copy protection mechanisms. The law has been criticized at times as being unconstitutional and too broad. Apple does not authorize the use of its Mac OS on machines other than its own, and earlier this week, the sites posted links to the Web site of a hacker who claimed his software patches could be used to run a version of the Mac OS on a non-Apple machine. The hacking endeavors are, for now, relegated to a small, technically savvy set, but it underscores a risk Apple faces if a pirated, functional version eventually becomes as accessible and straightforward as installing other software on a computer. It's a risk that became more apparent after Apple decided to make a historic transition from Power PC chips to Intel Corp.-based chips, the same type that its rivals use in predominant Windows-based PCs. Apple so far has two Intel-based computers on the market and plans to migrate the rest of its Macs to the Intel platform by the end of the year. The Mac maker had anticipated some people would try to crack its new Intel-compatible OS X operating system and deeply embedded some warnings to would-be hackers in the software, including one written in the form of a poem. The OSx86 Project Web site, which was formed after Apple announced its switch to Intel in June 2005, was among the many Mac-user sites that posted a copy of the poetic warning earlier this week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HuskyCaucasian Posted February 20, 2006 Share Posted February 20, 2006 I have no problem with this. It's a website that shows how to circumnavigate a copywrite and illegally hack an OS. THis is no differant that shutting down Napster for illegally sharring music. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NorthSideSox72 Posted February 20, 2006 Share Posted February 20, 2006 QUOTE(Texsox @ Feb 20, 2006 -> 12:50 PM) http://www.casperstartribune.net/articles/...h/d8fr777o0.txt I don't get it Tex. What do you see as wrong with this? Apple is protecting its proprietary software from various types of theft. I would expect any software company (or software division) to do the same. Their code is their lifeblood, and Apple OS is not open-source, right? So what bothers you about this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Texsox Posted February 20, 2006 Author Share Posted February 20, 2006 QUOTE(NorthSideSox72 @ Feb 20, 2006 -> 12:09 PM) I don't get it Tex. What do you see as wrong with this? Apple is protecting its proprietary software from various types of theft. I would expect any software company (or software division) to do the same. Their code is their lifeblood, and Apple OS is not open-source, right? So what bothers you about this? I'm not bothered at all. I find it kind of funny, that the computer of the creative, free thinking set, zealously protects it's intellectual rights with the frenzy zeal of Homeland Security. Plus they are shutting down the people talking about it, not the sites where it is done. Shhhh, they may shut us down next, for talking about it. Plus, who can resist a chance to jab Mac users, they get in that Mac frenzy that is so much fun to watch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Texsox Posted February 20, 2006 Author Share Posted February 20, 2006 QUOTE(Athomeboy_2000 @ Feb 20, 2006 -> 12:09 PM) I have no problem with this. It's a website that shows how to circumnavigate a copywrite and illegally hack an OS. THis is no differant that shutting down Napster for illegally sharring music. No No No, read again, they had links to the sites that do that. So if we liked to them, Apple could shut us down. BTW, that is why soxtalk doesn't allow links of that kind. We also shut down any threads talking about pirated software, etc. ^^^^^^^^^^^ For Apple's benefit Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Texsox Posted February 20, 2006 Author Share Posted February 20, 2006 BTW, if I was a Mac OS user, I'd be more worried about the viruses that will follow the move to Intel architecture. It will make Mac a nicer target. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NorthSideSox72 Posted February 20, 2006 Share Posted February 20, 2006 QUOTE(Texsox @ Feb 20, 2006 -> 01:19 PM) BTW, if I was a Mac OS user, I'd be more worried about the viruses that will follow the move to Intel architecture. It will make Mac a nicer target. Already happening. First virus to target Mac OS X: http://cnn.com/2004/TECH/internet/04/09/ap...ojan/index.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HuskyCaucasian Posted February 20, 2006 Share Posted February 20, 2006 QUOTE(Texsox @ Feb 20, 2006 -> 12:19 PM) BTW, if I was a Mac OS user, I'd be more worried about the viruses that will follow the move to Intel architecture. It will make Mac a nicer target. Hate to disapoint, but viruses have NOTHING to do with the proccessor a computer uses. It's about vulnerablities in the OS. OS X is more secure than Windows, but not totally impenitrable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NorthSideSox72 Posted February 20, 2006 Share Posted February 20, 2006 QUOTE(Athomeboy_2000 @ Feb 20, 2006 -> 01:51 PM) Hate to disapoint, but viruses have NOTHING to do with the proccessor a computer uses. It's about vulnerablities in the OS. OS X is more secure than Windows, but not totally impenitrable. But the OS does indeed need to work with the Bios, which manages the processor, no? And the chipset dictates some of the machine data communication involving the OS as well, I believe. There is a connection there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoxFan1 Posted February 20, 2006 Share Posted February 20, 2006 Kinda off topic but when I opened my iPod on Saturday, the first thing I saw was the plasctic sticker on the screen that says "Don't steal music" in like 4 languages. I laughed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Texsox Posted February 20, 2006 Author Share Posted February 20, 2006 QUOTE(Athomeboy_2000 @ Feb 20, 2006 -> 12:51 PM) Hate to disapoint, but viruses have NOTHING to do with the proccessor a computer uses. It's about vulnerablities in the OS. OS X is more secure than Windows, but not totally impenitrable. My understanding was the language changes to the Mac OS to accomodate Intel would make virus writing easier for the mainstream virus writer. It would be less of a learning curve. You are right, now that I put my hardware brain back on, it really shouldn't make much of a difference. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
southsideirish71 Posted February 20, 2006 Share Posted February 20, 2006 QUOTE(NorthSideSox72 @ Feb 20, 2006 -> 12:09 PM) I don't get it Tex. What do you see as wrong with this? Apple is protecting its proprietary software from various types of theft. I would expect any software company (or software division) to do the same. Their code is their lifeblood, and Apple OS is not open-source, right? So what bothers you about this? Actually a good amount of its code is open source. Their OS is based on BSD, and they have had the Darwin project open for years running their kernel and their base OS on x86. I agree that its their right, and its their software, however all this is going to do is push it to the torrent sites. The cracking of the OS will happen, and it will be available. Just not on some easy to download website. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
southsideirish71 Posted February 20, 2006 Share Posted February 20, 2006 QUOTE(NorthSideSox72 @ Feb 20, 2006 -> 12:54 PM) But the OS does indeed need to work with the Bios, which manages the processor, no? And the chipset dictates some of the machine data communication involving the OS as well, I believe. There is a connection there. This is based entirely on how the kernel communicates to the hardware. Most of the modern malware is executed in user space, not in kernel space. The only applications that utilize lower code would be rootkits. There may be some assembler in some of the code to mask injection points into memory(to trick the OS into executing it). However malware writers dont need to get that low anymore due to the large amounts of APIs and hooks into the OS from the user space area. The only corelation between the code going on Intel vs the Motorolla as far as malware increase is the fact that hackers can port OSx to Vmware or run it natively via a crack on home grown architecture. This means that they have a sandbox development environment to test code. Where before they actually had to own a mac. Its not the Intel architecture that makes its more likely to run a virus, just the fact that more people have it. Now as it sits OSX is more secure out of the box than a windows machine. This has to due more with seperations of user space vs kernel space and how embeddeded Microsoft has put their COM/DCOM/.NET architecture into the OS for their developers. Its a brilliant move for Microsoft as it makes things easy for developers to write, however it makes things easy for hackers to write to as well. The large code base of the Microsoft operating system is also to blame. Distributed development teams and a lack of a quality Q&A cycle. The more lines of code the more bugs that can be left hidden. Its also a much more prevelant operating system, going back to the sandbox theory. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heads22 Posted February 20, 2006 Share Posted February 20, 2006 Shouldn't Flaxx have commented by now? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bmags Posted February 20, 2006 Share Posted February 20, 2006 my mac is awesome, no problems. It's f***ing awesome. Drag n drop, drag n drop drag n drop. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Texsox Posted February 20, 2006 Author Share Posted February 20, 2006 QUOTE(Heads22 @ Feb 20, 2006 -> 03:40 PM) Shouldn't Flaxx have commented by now? His Mac is down and it will be 6 weeks before he finds someone that knows how to work on it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlaSoxxJim Posted February 20, 2006 Share Posted February 20, 2006 QUOTE(Heads22 @ Feb 20, 2006 -> 04:40 PM) Shouldn't Flaxx have commented by now? I'm having my own growing pain issues with the move to the Intel chips. I figured I'd not have to worry too much about the under the hood stuff for the Director authoring I do, but it's proving not to be the case. I'm at the mercy of Adobe and the 3rd party Xtra developers to get new developer tools released or I will be in trouble with porting some interactive museum pieces I've developed onto new hardware. As for Apple playing heavy to protect its code, I'm glad they are doing it. The last thing I need is for Apple to lose more computer market share to cheap iron and decide to get out of the personal computer business. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NUKE_CLEVELAND Posted February 20, 2006 Share Posted February 20, 2006 QUOTE(FlaSoxxJim @ Feb 20, 2006 -> 05:08 PM) I'm having my own growing pain issues with the move to the Intel chips. I figured I'd not have to worry too much about the under the hood stuff for the Director authoring I do, but it's proving not to be the case. I'm at the mercy of Adobe and the 3rd party Xtra developers to get new developer tools released or I will be in trouble with porting some interactive museum pieces I've developed onto new hardware. As for Apple playing heavy to protect its code, I'm glad they are doing it. The last thing I need is for Apple to lose more computer market share to cheap iron and decide to get out of the personal computer business. Apples MAC sales have exploded in sympathy with the IPOD or so says CNBC from time to time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rex Kickass Posted February 20, 2006 Share Posted February 20, 2006 Apple's market share in France increased to 2.6% last year. 2.1% world wide though. Some industry experts are seeing the possibility of 10 million Macs shipped this year after the intel switch, and increase of about 110-120% year to year. They have 0 debt. And they're 20 points off their high for the year. If I had the money to invest... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mr_genius Posted February 20, 2006 Share Posted February 20, 2006 (edited) QUOTE(Athomeboy_2000 @ Feb 20, 2006 -> 12:51 PM) OS X is more secure than Windows, but not totally impenitrable. oh really? please explain... i like macs, but they are less likely to have a virus directed towards their OS because of apple's smaller market share. (ps. this is a weighted question, i have a masters in computer science) Edited February 20, 2006 by mr_genius Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HuskyCaucasian Posted February 21, 2006 Share Posted February 21, 2006 QUOTE(Texsox @ Feb 20, 2006 -> 03:01 PM) My understanding was the language changes to the Mac OS to accomodate Intel would make virus writing easier for the mainstream virus writer. It would be less of a learning curve. You are right, now that I put my hardware brain back on, it really shouldn't make much of a difference. That would be a 100% correct. Either way, to write a mac virus, you need to have a Mac to write/test it. So, either way, the processor shouldn't mater. you need to own a mac either way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HuskyCaucasian Posted February 21, 2006 Share Posted February 21, 2006 QUOTE(mr_genius @ Feb 20, 2006 -> 05:44 PM) oh really? please explain... i like macs, but they are less likely to have a virus directed towards their OS because of apple's smaller market share. (ps. this is a weighted question, i have a masters in computer science) From Mac experts I have heard and talked to, Mac is safer, but not impenitrable. It has a lot to do with the permission and the way you instal programs. on Windows, a lot of stuff can be installed without you knwoing about it. on Mac, it requires you to enter a password. If you dont knwo what a program is, why would you install it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mr_genius Posted February 21, 2006 Share Posted February 21, 2006 QUOTE(Athomeboy_2000 @ Feb 20, 2006 -> 06:05 PM) From Mac experts I have heard and talked to, Mac is safer, but not impenitrable. It has a lot to do with the permission and the way you instal programs. on Windows, a lot of stuff can be installed without you knwoing about it. on Mac, it requires you to enter a password. If you dont knwo what a program is, why would you install it? Not exactly true. Have you ever launced an mp3 on your computer? A virus can run on a Mac through many media forms and the user will never be prompted to accept an install. That is just one expample, but there are many more ways to install a virus on a Mac without the user knowing. Also, they're are many vulnerabilites in it's protection from a direct hack. Mac has the largest number of extremely critical security violations of any large OS system. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bmags Posted February 21, 2006 Share Posted February 21, 2006 QUOTE(mr_genius @ Feb 21, 2006 -> 12:14 AM) Not exactly true. Have you ever launced an mp3 on your computer? A virus can run on a Mac through many media forms and the user will never be prompted to accept an install. That is just one expample, but there are many more ways to install a virus on a Mac without the user knowing. Also, they're are many vulnerabilites in it's protection from a direct hack. Mac has the largest number of extremely critical security violations of any large OS system. nonetheless, drag n drop baby! Drag n Drop! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EvilMonkey Posted February 21, 2006 Share Posted February 21, 2006 I love my G5. And my G4. And 2 of my 3 G3's. However, the Classic is just a paperweight now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.