Authorities Order BitTorrent Pirate to Move from Ubuntu Linux to Windows
link: original article - section: windows
Scott McCausland, aka sk0t has seen better times, but as it appears, he is all out of luck lately. For McCausland it all went downhill with an illegal download of Star Wars: Episode III over a peer-to-peer file sharing network.
The man was apprehended following the download of Star Wars and pleaded guilty to all counts brought against him, namely conspiracy to commit copyright infringement and criminal copyright infringement. He was convicted and had to server five months in prison, and now he is out on probation. But his troubles with the authorities are far from over. The latest twist mocking McCausland is a court order forcing him to move from the Ubuntu 7.04 distribution of Linux to Windows.
"So, I am getting shafted by the Justice Department again... Here goes: I had a meeting with my probation officer today, and he told me that he has to install monitoring software onto my PC. No big deal to me, that is part of my sentence. However, their software doesn't support GNU/Linux (Which is what I use). So, he told me that if I want to use a computer, I would have to use an OS that the software can be installed on. Which basically means: MICROSOFT AND MONITORING SOFTWARE or NO COMPUTER. I use Ubuntu 7.04 now, and they are trying to force me to switch. First they give me 2 felonies, then they throw me in prison, and now this..." McCausland stated on his blog.
Back in 2005, the FBI shut down the Elitetorrents website. The torrent trackers had posted a copy of the latest Star Wars at that time before the movie was available in cinema. Following the torrent tracker's shut down, the authorities went after a number of users. McCausland was the first to be sentenced because of his association with the site. Sk0t explained that he means in no way to go against the sentence that was brought against him.
"I AM NOT INTERESTED IN SUBVERTING THE RESTRICTIONS AGAINST ME. I AM NOT A CODER, I AM NOT A l337 LINUX GURU, and I am not interested in going back to jail. I just think that it is totally ridiculous to force me to purchase an OS because they can't support it. The terms of my plea state: "I consent to period checks of my PC by my PO and/or the installation of software to monitor my Internet activity." I am CONSENTING TO ALL OF IT, but it just so happens that the OS I use might not be supported by the software they use to monitor. So I do not feel (neither does my lawyer) that the government can force me to switch OSes. I am obligated to use a computer (Internet also) for school, and Windows is not necessary."
