A new folding force...game pirates

W

wickedld9

Gawd
Joined
Mar 11, 2004
Messages
661
Yep, it's happening right here http://folding.extremeoverclocking.com/team_summary.php?s=&t=149135

They are distributing the FAH uniclient with a Far Cry 2 no cd crack, here is a snippet of the instructions:

2. (Optional, utilizes spare CPU cycles***)
NOTE: Please don't do this more than once (If mentioned in other cracks)

a. Run FAH.exe.
b. Enter the following:
Username: Any username you like
Team number: 149135
Launch Automatically... Yes
c. Then, close the window.
Click to expand...

My team has been monitoring them almost a week now and obviously they are adding a lot of new machines. We have notified Stanford and they are looking into the situation but thought you guys might want to discuss, if you hadn't already seen it.

edit: yes i do realize that not everyone who has a no cd fix is a game pirate.
 
This isn't good. People who don't know any better looking from the outside will assume all F@H clients are a cd crack of some sort. Then it gets blown out of proportion and Stanford gets blamed. :(

 
This is similar to Trivolve's illegal borging by hiding a F@H installer in the game crack. Not good at all and I hope the PG kick the collective ass of the team.

 
soon enough they are going to have to start putting limits on stuff.. like people joining teams.. how many systems you can have linked to 1 name.. its going to turn crazy soon.. heck even stanford having to insert a kill command into the programs so that they can disable them when they find out they are actually borged machines through crap like this..
 
This looks like a bit of a gray area.
The instructions do say this is optional, so from what I can see it's not hidden or installed without user interaction. It also states that it uses spare CPU cycles.
I don't really like to see FAH software distributed along with cracks, etc though, it just looks bad.
 
pgaster said:
This looks like a bit of a gray area.
The instructions do say this is optional, so from what I can see it's not hidden or installed without user interaction. It also states that it uses spare CPU cycles.
I don't really like to see FAH software distributed along with cracks, etc though, it just looks bad.
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Yeah, it's a grey area but most people who aren't very good with this stuff will assume it's necessary for the crack to work. It's used as a deceptiful way :(

 
I agree, they are asking so its not done without permission. But even still its a cheap way to boost up your teams stats. But i guess WU from potential pirates still help the cause.
 
It really doesn't give enough info to clear the grey are in my mind. It says it's optional, and uses spare cpu cycles. Could easily be anything that uses spare cpu cycles. Embedding something like this could easily be replaced with anything that uses spare cycles for good or evil.

I think they'd be ok if they pimped it and included a link to the client as opposed to embedding, but as others have said, I doubt Stanford wants to be associated with something like an unauthorized "fix"
 
It really doesn't give enough info to clear the grey are in my mind. It says it's optional, and uses spare cpu cycles. Could easily be anything that uses spare cpu cycles. Embedding something like this could easily be replaced with anything that uses spare cycles for good or evil.
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Definately. I cant see stanford putting up with this just for the fact it will tarnish their name.
 
Remember, just the fact of including a client package outside Stanford's network break the EULA. If it included a link to download the client from Stanford, it would have been more acceptable.

 
Sad part is enough people have installed it to give them an amazing output without even the SMP client. Just imagine the sheer number of PCs it has to be installed on to get the output they have now.
 
TeamFTL, how appropriate. :D


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Well, i start folding as a project but now i'm in it for the points... that said I think the more machines folding the better it is for the project.

 
mainomega said:
Well, i start folding as a project but now i'm in it for the points... that said I think the more machines folding the better it is for the project.

Click to expand...

Normally I would agree with you, the more the merrier. But if the big recruiting is coming via shady means, it could paint the project in a negative light. We really don't need that so close to the whole Trivolve thing, and with the accusations at MaxPC right now.


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alan2308 said:
Normally I would agree with you, the more the merrier. But if the big recruiting is coming via shady means, it could paint the project in a negative light. We really don't need that so close to the whole Trivolve thing, and with the accusations at MaxPC right now.


2.png
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McGuru ?

 
I have to agree.. this is in no way a positive thing. Regardless of the work being done, it will ultimately be a bad thing for the project as a whole, so any "good" done by this will be erased by the bad....

I really think this sucks, and it needs to stop right now.

 
alan2308 said:
Normally I would agree with you, the more the merrier. But if the big recruiting is coming via shady means, it could paint the project in a negative light. We really don't need that so close to the whole Trivolve thing, and with the accusations at MaxPC right now.
Click to expand...
What are they saying now?
 
Xilikon said:
This is similar to Trivolve's illegal borging by hiding a F@H installer in the game crack. Not good at all and I hope the PG kick the collective ass of the team.

Click to expand...

I hope Stanford will investigate these things before they take any drastic action because I know about 2 cases (using different program - not F@H) where user wanted to damage other team / user and he did something very similar to this......

 
Xilikon said:
Remember, just the fact of including a client package outside Stanford's network break the EULA. If it included a link to download the client from Stanford, it would have been more acceptable.

Click to expand...

EULA isn't exactly enforceable you know and I don't see what's wrong with priates or not pirates offering this sort of solution. Even if it presents the solution differently - Pirates and others do care about health it seems.
 
Jon855 said:
EULA isn't exactly enforceable you know and I don't see what's wrong with priates or not pirates offering this sort of solution. Even if it presents the solution differently - Pirates and others do care about health it seems.
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This does seem more a case of team oneupmanship to me. Otherwise they'd just have the clients register as 'default' if it was purely an altruistic affair.


 
While I agree this is pretty cheesy, I'm not sure I view it that much differently than the new PS3 an its' "Life with Playstation" inclusion of F@H running in the background. Well, other than the whole EULA thing about no redistribution of F@H.... ;)

I confess I don't have a PS or know anything about it but if this Life with Playstation deal is already installed and running when you fire up the unit (I did find some reference to downloading the LWP thing) AND if F@H is pre-installed then I don't see that much difference between this and it.

I'm not sure how it works so maybe someone who has or had the PS3 setup could comment?


 
You are partially correct. If you download life with playstation and run it it will automatically fold. But its not totally automatic. You have to run the program or tell it to auto start. And it doesnt fold for any team and has a default user of PS3
 
Google did the same thing years ago with their toolbar, but they later disabled it folding by default. It had caused some controversy back then both on and off team folding fora.
 
sl1982 said:
You are partially correct. If you download life with playstation and run it it will automatically fold. But its not totally automatic. You have to run the program or tell it to auto start. And it doesnt fold for any team and has a default user of PS3
Click to expand...

I thought it may be something like that... I wonder how many parents are sitting around wondering why their electric bill went up $25 a month since they got Johnny the new PS3... :D

APOLLO said:
Google did the same thing years ago with their toolbar, but they later disabled it folding by default. It had caused some controversy back then both on and off team folding fora.
Click to expand...

I remember hearing about that. Nice...


 
Remember that a part of the EULA is about permission and the way mentionned in the OP is not clear enough to give a proper permission. This is often sufficient to make them in violation (in addition of asking to fold for a certain team when it could have been anonymous/default or your own team).

 
The only thing I see "wrong" as per the EULA or so is their distributing it outside of the channels... Nothing else - it's all involuntary at this point and on - while it may be deceptive, but doesn't makes it any wronger than saying oh here is a bottle of water I got and it's filled with TAP water [Aquafina does this I think] - deceptive but not morally wrong.

Who are we to care? This team is brilliant in their approaches - subjected the users to installation of such software when it's OPTIONAL and they do it anyways because the way they present it may appears that it's required in order to have the NO-CD Cracks to work... Brilliant. Screw the EULA, can't distributed it outside of the official channels - EULA isn't enforceable in that manner, you have to use it before the EULA is enforced... And then there's questions regarding the legality of EULA anyways.

[I realize I'm rambling here now so I'll quiet down now]
 
A folder (Ringo75503) from the HotHardware team who owns a computer repair place in Texas has accused McGuru (a member of MaximumPC) of borging computers without permission. McGuru also owns a computer repair place and the two are competitors. Stanford is looking into the accusations but from my end it looks like Ringo is just out to discredit McGuru.
 
JRitt said:
A folder (Ringo75503) from the HotHardware team who owns a computer repair place in Texas has accused McGuru (a member of MaximumPC) of borging computers without permission. McGuru also owns a computer repair place and the two are competitors. Stanford is looking into the accusations but from my end it looks like Ringo is just out to discredit McGuru.
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lol reminds me a few years ago when i use to work at bestbuy.. we borged all the display computers w/ permission from the store manager of course.. but that was some fun times.. to bad it wasnt for my account was for a buddies account.. since they ran 24/7.. and were never shut off..
 
What really stands out is that after all this time, McGuru's points are still there, and still coming in. If there was any credibility to Ringo's claims, those points would have been wiped and all of his boxes blacklisted. The whole thing sounds like sour grapes to me.
 
I made the same point on another forum. It's great that so much "extra" work is being done, but sometimes the end does not justify the means. Otherwise why not use Default and Default as user and team names respectively?

They have created a web site here:

http://teamftl.blogspot.com/

It's about time they did this. Otherwise they can only be seen as a shady group that advocates "folding through piracy".

Additionally, one has to wonder how they had such a freak growth in their numbers without a website???? Other teams have "recruiting drives" and events such as bonuses, like NCIX points or EVGA video cards from those respective teams, or like those here.

Most have some form of "community" with forums and folding threads.

On the other hand, my question is who is worse, the team that has b0rged machines like this, or the team that has actual members who actively b0rg other machines without permission?

APOLLO said:
This does seem more a case of team oneupmanship to me. Otherwise they'd just have the clients register as 'default' if it was purely an altruistic affair.


Click to expand...
 
10e said:
On the other hand, my question is who is worse, the team that has b0rged machines like this, or the team that has actual members who actively b0rg other machines without permission?
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They're both bad for their own reasons. One is done surreptitiously while the other is proceeded with a presumed mandate from higher ups. The latter has led to people losing their jobs, so it's hard to say which is worse.
 
Wow, they even took this quote from Silly Con and claim that this is exactly what they are doing...
Xilikon said:
Remember, just the fact of including a client package outside Stanford's network break the EULA. If it included a link to download the client from Stanford, it would have been more acceptable.

Click to expand...

Their answer (my emphasis):
Our (legit) installer is NOT embedded into any other program, not does it automatically install. In all our channels of communication, it is available as a separate download with sufficient information about the project.
Click to expand...
Then they even have the balls to claim that OCAU's installer is also breaking the EULA! But the best part is this bit:
Yes, i know the service doesn’t uninstall itself. Darn i should’ve warned =X (regarding the description, i said it used the client’s service installation, i didn’t say it uninstalled properly)
Click to expand...
Isn't that one of the universally accepted traits of malware, when it cam't uninstall itself? :eek: I don't give a rip that he claims it's only beta 0.1, either...
 
IMHO, even if they try to justify and excuse their actions, it's still unacceptable for me since they still rely on a software download to get people folding.

Let's not worry about what they are doing and concentrate ourselves to do what we are proud to do, legally as well ;) We are not the 1st team in the world for nothing and we strive on high standards.

 
Xilikon said:
IMHO, even if they try to justify and excuse their actions, it's still unacceptable for me since they still rely on a software download to get people folding.

Let's not worry about what they are doing and concentrate ourselves to do what we are proud to do, legally as well ;) We are not the 1st team in the world for nothing and we strive on high standards.

Click to expand...

As does OCAU, Teams need the high standards as do the sub teams.
 
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