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Optimum Online Blocks Limewire

Edit: Limewire may or may not be blocked anymore. Some people are now reporting being able to connect.

It’s official. If you’re on Optimum Online, you won’t be connecting to Limewire’s network because they have taken measures to block all of peer to peer traffic. Besides Limewire, some other P2P applications are also affected.

In order to get around this, you kind of have to know what you are doing and it is beyond the basic skill level of average computer users. I am not giving detailed instructions here (Google it), but this is basic idea: 1) In Limewire options you have to change the default port. 2) Forward that port in your router control panel to the internal IP of the computer on your network.

This is completely uncool. Not all P2P traffic is illegal. There are perfectly legal things licensed under Creative Commons that are free to distribute (free internet shows, podcasts etc.). The whole point of P2P is not piracy, but rather to take a load off one central server and distribute the content among users. This is useful for linux distributions and other things of that nature. I lost most of my respect for Optimum Online and Cablevision as a result of this. For a while, I always thought cable was good because of it’s high speeds. However, many people started complaining that excessive bandwidth usage led to individual bandwidth capping restrictions. Optimum online is doing this because it is less expensive for them when customers use less bandwidth. And that is not the point of paying for internet access.

RIAA Says Ripping CDs to Your iPod is NOT Fair Use

The RIAA argues in a DMCA rule-making filing that copying for personal use (to an iPod) is not fair-use.

This is complete bullshit. If you buy a CD, as far as I’m concerned, you have the license for personal use. Whether you listen to it on a CD or on an mp3 player makes no difference. You paid for the CD so now you can do whatever you want with it. It’s not like you downloaded it for free. Now they’re targeting people who pay for music. What next? The RIAA doesn’t understand that CDs are a dying technology. They’re assuming that online music stores like Apple’s iTunes music store and others that sell mp3s/other formats of music will be harmed if you rip music off CDs. It’s been proven many times that the movie industry and music industry is not losing money because of downloading. So the fact that someone can’t buy a CD and listen to it on an mp3 player is complete nonsense.

This just enrages people and encourages more piracy. It’s no solution to the problem. The RIAA/MPAA and other retarded organizations need to grow up. They’ve being doing this since the 80s with recording TV and radio onto VHS and cassette tapes.

read more | digg story (#1 story of the week of 2/12)

Unsecured Wifi May Be Outlawed in New York

According to a new proposal being considered in Westchester County, any business or home office with an open wireless connection but no separate server to fend off Internet attacks would be violating the law.

This is absolute nonsense. Anyone who votes in favor of this bill needs to get run over by a car. First of all 75% of people who buy wifi routers are n00bs who have no idea how to secure their network. It would be unfair to pass a law that punishes them. It is not possible to enforce this because so many people have unsecured networks and would be a waste of money. Second off, if people are too dumb to read the documentation and learn how to secure their wireless networks, then they deserve to have others access their network. Let’s make a simple analogy: If you were in the middle of the South Bronx, would you leave your car door open with the key in the ignition? Obviously no, because that’s just asking for some person to walk in and drive away with your car. Same thing goes for wireless – if it’s left vulnerable, you shouldn’t complain if people access it. Any open wireless access point should be considered public.

Politicians in Westchester County are urging adoption of the law–which appears to be the first such legislation in the U.S.–because without it, “somebody parked in the street or sitting in a neighboring building could hack into the network and steal your most confidential data,” County Executive Andy Spano said in a statement.

Andy Spano – resign immediately you ignorant fool. You obviously don’t know anything about computers so don’t make retarded ass statements, you nüb. If a wifi access point is unsecured, someone sitting in the street or in a neighboring building is not HACKING into the network and stealing confidential data. Because it’s unsecured, that means anyone can access it – you don’t have to be a hacker to get onto an open network. That’s like walking into CVS during store hours and getting arrested for burglary. You’re not breaking into the store, but rather shopping in the store. Second off, once you connect to someone’s wifi, chances are they’re too dumb to set up file sharing, so you probably would not be able to get their “most confidential data.” Most likely, you’re just using their Internet. Besides, anyone sophisticated enough to set up file sharing on a network would be smart enough to know that the wifi should be protected.

I’m not done with you asshole politicians in this dumbass county. Stop worrying about people’s wifi and start spending more time prosecuting sick ass online predators who attack and kill children. Worry about people selling crack in Mt. Vernon, worry about securing Indian Point. If I hop onto someone’s network, you’re basically saying I’m a criminal.

Also, Windows XP tends to connect to the strongest available network. So why should some noob be punished if their computer connects to some other person’s network without their knowledge. Smart people would check the XP wireless connection, but noobs would say “LYK ZOMGZ!!11one Teh internet is lyk working. I’m teh computer expert”

If I ever read another news story like again… I don’t even know what I’ll do. That’s how insane it is. This nonsense completely outrages me.