# DrMatrix- I'm calling you out. (Somewhat weak, but... WTF?) **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [March 18, 2004, 6:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drmatrix-im-calling-you-out-somewhat-weak-but-wtf/235000 "2004-03-18T06:59:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![caphis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e19adc/32.png) [@caphis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/caphis)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2004, 6:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drmatrix-im-calling-you-out-somewhat-weak-but-wtf/235000/1 "2004-03-18T06:59:08Z")
In [this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=245761), I asked a couple questions about the RIAA’s algorithm of corrupting MP3 files that people are using on the various filesharing networks. I didn’t ask how to defeat them (because, from what I understand, you can’t – they generally corrupt the entire file). Instead, I asked about reasons people seed them. I also asked about the ways that the RIAA propagates these types of files. Then, 10 minutes later, I determined that the issue had already been discussed in depth on the board, and decided that my question had been answered, so I suggested the thread be closed. **DrMatrix** closed it, but not before deciding to patronize me with > [@](#): > > Piracy is illegal and we are not going to discuss ways to defeat anti-piracy tactics on this board. Excuse me, but what the fuck? Where the hell in my post did I mention ANYTHING and wanting to discuss ways to defeat anti-piracy tactics? Oh, right, nowhere. Jumping the gun and making the assumption that just because I asked about the way these files are propagating themselves means that I want to know how to defeat them is akin to jailing any Arab who enrolls in flight school. The policy of “covering our asses” is, to me, becoming an overextension of theory and turning into an absurd practice. A cordial “because this thread has been discussed before, it is closed” or “at the OP’s request, this thread has been closed” would have been much more appropriate than assuming that I’m out to defeat anti-piracy. Jesus Christ, what next? I suppose you would file a police report on anyone inquiring about purchasing a gun, if you could? :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2004, 7:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drmatrix-im-calling-you-out-somewhat-weak-but-wtf/235000/2 "2004-03-18T07:05:49Z")
Try to keep in mind that the FIRST responsibility (IMHO, but I’d imagine they agree) of the moderators is to protect the boards from criminal or civil liability. Given that the authors of tracts on bomb-making and so forth have been successfully sued, ensuring that the SDMB cannot be accused of disseminating information which might be used to break the law takes priority over your question. In any case, if you _really_ want to know, call the RIAA. They’re surprisingly forthcoming about this kind of stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2004, 7:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drmatrix-im-calling-you-out-somewhat-weak-but-wtf/235000/3 "2004-03-18T07:07:22Z")
Yeah, I gotta agree this was a bit of a kneejerk reaction on **Doc** ’s part. I think a warning for posters to keep to the question and not discuss ways to defeat antipiracy techniques on P2P networks would have sufficed. I’d even have sympathy for you, if you hadn’t _asked for the thread to be locked right beforehand_. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![caphis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e19adc/32.png) [@caphis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/caphis)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2004, 7:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drmatrix-im-calling-you-out-somewhat-weak-but-wtf/235000/4 "2004-03-18T07:07:25Z")
I agree that the first responsibility is to protect the board and its members. However, I think **DrMatrix** was out of line by assuming that I wanted anti-piracy information. I didn’t ask for anything illegal, so being treated like I did is patronizing, at the least. ---
**Author:** ![caphis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e19adc/32.png) [@caphis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/caphis)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2004, 7:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drmatrix-im-calling-you-out-somewhat-weak-but-wtf/235000/5 "2004-03-18T07:09:58Z")
> [@Q.E.D.](#): > > I’d even have sympathy for you, if you hadn’t _asked for the thread to be locked right beforehand_. :rolleyes: Eh, only because I’d seen that what I was asking had been discussed before. I even linked to two of the threads. I didn’t ask that it be closed because I decided that I’d done something wrong, or even because I anticipated that someone was going to post methods of defeating anti-piracy methods – but rather because I didn’t want a barrage of replies along the lines of “this has been discussed ad nauseum”. I’m not arguing about the actual closing, just the finger-wagging way in which it was done. ---
**Author:** ![iampunha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/74df32/32.png) [@iampunha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iampunha)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2004, 8:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drmatrix-im-calling-you-out-somewhat-weak-but-wtf/235000/6 "2004-03-18T08:15:46Z")
> [@CompuHyperGlobalMegaNet](#): > > However, I think **DrMatrix** was out of line by assuming that I wanted anti-piracy information. He didn’t strictly speaking assume that. > [@](#): > > Piracy is illegal and we are not going to discuss ways to defeat anti-piracy tactics on this board. Seems to me to be nothing but CYA. Did he accuse you specifically of anything? No. While it’s not a completely unreasonable assumption to say that he was indirectly chiding you, he did not specifically accuse you of anything. My guess is that he was closing a potential floodgate before anything further was disseminated that could enable another party to defeat anti-piracy tactics. Were the SDMB implicated in such a suit, we’d find ourselves without a board. The legal costs would simply be too high. ---
**Author:** ![caphis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e19adc/32.png) [@caphis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/caphis)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2004, 8:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drmatrix-im-calling-you-out-somewhat-weak-but-wtf/235000/7 "2004-03-18T08:21:09Z")
I agree that this is not the place to discuss anti-piracy defeating tactics. I maintain my opinion that **DrMatrix** ’s knee-jerk reaction was unnecessarily over-the-top. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2004, 8:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drmatrix-im-calling-you-out-somewhat-weak-but-wtf/235000/8 "2004-03-18T08:42:51Z")
> [@CompuHyperGlobalMegaNet](#): > > I agree that this is not the place to discuss anti-piracy defeating tactics. I maintain my opinion that **DrMatrix** ’s knee-jerk reaction was unnecessarily over-the-top. This tribunal agrees, and we hereby sentence defendant **DrMatrix** to report for moderator duty at a message board of his choice. In the case of **CompuHyperGlobalMegaNet** taking things too personally and has a user name even freakin’ longer than mine, he/she/it is hereby ordered to ingest a chill pill. ---
**Author:** ![Aslan\_of\_Narnia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecd19e/32.png) [@Aslan\_of\_Narnia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aslan_of_Narnia)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2004, 9:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drmatrix-im-calling-you-out-somewhat-weak-but-wtf/235000/9 "2004-03-18T09:02:15Z")
> [@iampunha](#): > > My guess is that he was closing a potential floodgate before anything further was disseminated that could enable another party to defeat anti-piracy tactics. Were the SDMB implicated in such a suit, we’d find ourselves without a board. The legal costs would simply be too high. Then, going from the possibility of a discussion regarding MP3s turning into ‘how to override RIAA’s anti-sharing methods’ and having the message board sued, why aren’t all discussions about MP3s banned? After all, they could easily devolve into discussions regarding where to get them or how to make them avaliable. The same could happen to any discussion that deals with matters that are illegal or could be illegal, the SDMB might be liable. Granted, they were discussing the RIAA’s anti-sharing methods, which is more likely to devolve into defeating anti-piracy methods, but my point remains. ---
**Author:** ![gouda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c77e96/32.png) [@gouda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gouda)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2004, 9:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drmatrix-im-calling-you-out-somewhat-weak-but-wtf/235000/10 "2004-03-18T09:12:33Z")
I see from the thread was closed exactly 1 minute after your post requesting the mods to close it. My WAG: The good **Doc** was in the process of closing it, even as you posted your request. His comment was the standard disclaimer, which I assume you normally wouldn’t have had a problem with. Case closed. ---
**Author:** ![caphis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e19adc/32.png) [@caphis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/caphis)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2004, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drmatrix-im-calling-you-out-somewhat-weak-but-wtf/235000/11 "2004-03-18T18:25:58Z")
> [@gouda](#): > > I see from the thread was closed exactly 1 minute after your post requesting the mods to close it. > > My WAG: The good **Doc** was in the process of closing it, even as you posted your request. His comment was the standard disclaimer, which I assume you normally wouldn’t have had a problem with. > > Case closed. Perhaps that’s true, but even so, my OP didn’t ask for anything illegal. If DrMatrix was closing it as I posted the request to close it, then he most likely didn’t see my request, and thus closed it because he thought I was asking for something illegal. If he didn’t see my request to close it, and judging from the content IN my OP, I would see something like a blanket warning to anyone who replies to be more fitting. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2004, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drmatrix-im-calling-you-out-somewhat-weak-but-wtf/235000/12 "2004-03-18T21:52:46Z")
"A friend of mine was complaining earlier that it’s getting harder and harder to steal. "It got me thinking, why are other thieves making it harder for each other to steal? "Or is it the owners who are pretending to be thieves? “Does anyone have the Straight Dope on how owners are stopping thieves?” The above is a translation of your OP. **DrMatrix** ’s phrasing may have been ham-fisted but there’s no question the thread should have been locked. I second the judgment of your ingesting a chill pill. ---
**Author:** ![caphis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e19adc/32.png) [@caphis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/caphis)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2004, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drmatrix-im-calling-you-out-somewhat-weak-but-wtf/235000/13 "2004-03-19T00:25:08Z")
> [@Otto](#): > > "A friend of mine was complaining earlier that it’s getting harder and harder to steal. > > "It got me thinking, why are other thieves making it harder for each other to steal? > > "Or is it the owners who are pretending to be thieves? > > “Does anyone have the Straight Dope on how owners are stopping thieves?” > > The above is a translation of your OP. **DrMatrix** ’s phrasing may have been ham-fisted but there’s no question the thread should have been locked. > > I second the judgment of your ingesting a chill pill. Since when is a discussion about security and anti-piracy so off-limits? ---
**Author:** ![II\_Gyan\_II](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/bbe5ce/32.png) [@II\_Gyan\_II](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/II_Gyan_II)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2004, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drmatrix-im-calling-you-out-somewhat-weak-but-wtf/235000/14 "2004-03-19T00:59:37Z")
This is actually a slippery slope. Somewhat akin to “you can only patent the non-obvious”. Well, what’s not obvious depends on who’s judging. It’s possible for a savvy user who’s missing a bit of seemingly harmless concrete information to enact his/her malice aftering obtaining that info. And for some, you could post everything but the explicit instructions before the info helps further criminal activity. Like the “don’t be a jerk” rule, this is a pretty subjective area. Hopefully, once the subscriptions thingy gets going, we’ll have more concrete guidelines in place. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2004, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drmatrix-im-calling-you-out-somewhat-weak-but-wtf/235000/15 "2004-03-19T05:14:43Z")
> [@CompuHyperGlobalMegaNet](#): > > Since when is a discussion about security and anti-piracy so off-limits? Oooh, tough question, but I’m gonna go with “since the operators of the fucking message board said it was.” ---
**Author:** ![caphis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e19adc/32.png) [@caphis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/caphis)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2004, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drmatrix-im-calling-you-out-somewhat-weak-but-wtf/235000/16 "2004-03-19T05:42:00Z")
> [@Otto](#): > > Oooh, tough question, but I’m gonna go with “since the operators of the fucking message board said it was.” If you’d be so helpful as to point me in the direction of that statement. The only thing I can find is where they ban discussion of _circumventing_ such methods.