stole "numerous 'pre-release' DVDs and Blu-rays" between February 2021 and March 2022. He then allegedly "ripped" the movies, "bypassing encryption that prevents unauthorized copying
How? Especially pre-release bluray?
this post was submitted on 08 Mar 2025
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(9 replies)
Soon it became dangerous to download the movie, though, as popular demand for the movie quickly put a target on downloaders' backs and scammers soon planted malware in Spider-Man movie torrents that ReasonLabs reported used the movie to "lure in as many victims as possible."
ReasonLabs said that the malware was "likely from a Russian torrenting site." It took over the would-be Spider-Man movie watchers' computers without setting off Windows Defender and with the goal of cryptomining in the background for the bad actors' benefit.
How does a video file contain malware. Or are people running exe files to watch a video?
tldr: people using Windows can get duped into running what is basically a Powershell / Shortcut to pwn themselves
I cock blocked them with Qbit even though I don't use Windows
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The video itself is a set of instructions, and when a video player interprets those instructions there is a window of opportunity.
Some players might have vulnerabilities that people exploit; but honestly it's very rare, especially with most people auto updating their programs.
Most of the time it is indeed "download spider man no virus no survey 2023 free download.exe"
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How "Les Misérables" of them. Jean Valjean got 19 years for stealing bread. 15 years is light in comparison.
He shoulda just said he was training an ai model!
He didn't get arrested for theft. He got arrested for being part of a distribution network that empowered Russian hackers.
To be clear. Copying or downloading media is not illegal. Distribution is.
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I knew they were going to start cracking down on piracy. They'll use it as an excuse to make vpns illegal.
Shhhhh, don't give them ideas!
15 years? Wow. He could have run down multiple pedestrians, killed one of them, and used a false insurance claim to try to cover it up and gotten a third of that.
One is running some nobodies over, the other making a rich person some pennies less rich.
Must set a precedent, y'know?
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Just goes to show how horrendous this sort of crime is. I hear dvd pirates are on the same cell blocks as pedophiles in prison.
What? Really? I would have thought dvd pirates would have far worse conditions than pedophiles.
Don't let it fool you. Serial pirates are the biggest enemy of mankind. We should strive together to make sure they get the penalty they deserve.
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what kinda 2009 headline is this?
police also confiscated 50 pairs of counterfit ray-ban sunglasses and 20 lbs of zippo lighters
Plot twist. It was 1 zippo lighter, but it was a comically large one. It just weighs 20 lbs.
Thankfully, no crime was committed
Yes let's not go after the south African literally fomenting the rise of a fashist takovet. Let's go after the guy selling bootleg DVDs.
I'm okay with going after both. This guy was enabling a Russian Hacker network.
Just started to say I'm glad they're focusing on the important things. 🙄🤮
He really wasn't. The media he distributed came with Russian malware.
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Fails to mention he also was selling the discs online.
But they want to sentence him for 15 years for this, even though his actions likely saved lives during the height of COVID if the allegations are true; if they aren’t true, he harmed nobody because those 10 million people wouldn’t have seen the movies in theaters anyway.
DVDs?? is this article from 2006?
Weirdly enough, DVDs are still by far the most popular physical format.
I still buy them, but I prefer when it's a dvd/blueray/3D (if available) combo pack.
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Thankfully this monster is finally off the streets
National security priorities definitely in order.
My tax dollars at work‽