Jason's Log

HOWTO Rebut a DMCA take-down order with TOR: The Onion Router

My first email check this morning showed a message from the hosting provider of www.buberel.org, The Planet (http://www.theplanet.com/) with the following message subject:

DMCA Complaint from the ESA for 69.57.148.142 

Upon further reading, it appears as though the Entertainment Sofware Association (ESA) believed that my server was responsible for hosting a bittorrent of the newly released PC game 'Prey'. The first thought to enter my head was "Oh crap, someone has hacked my server and is using it to distribute pirated software!".

After searching the disks and checking the security logs, I was convinced that no such copyright infringing materials were being distributed from my server. Then it suddenly dawned on me that it must be my hosting/operating of a TOR (The Onion Router) anonymous proxy server that had convinced them that my server was the actual source of the pirated materials.

A quick search of the TOR website turned up a handy boilerplate letter to be used in exactly these situations. I modified the letter for my specific situation, and sent it off to the legal folks at The Planet. A few hours later I received a note from a member of their legal staff thanking me for my prompt response. The trouble-ticket had been closed and the issue resolved.

Although I do not condone the illegal distribution of copyrighted software - I make my own living writing software after all - I was thrilled with the response from The Planet's legal team. It was clear that they understand the issue and that people like myself run TOR proxies to ensure anonymity and freedom of communications on the internet. From time to time this capability will be used to protect illegal activity, but there are most definitely "substantial non-infringing uses" of the technology (protecting political dissidents, whistle blowers, etc.).

Notch a small victory for freedom!

HOWTO: Configure apache to correctly serve debian package files

Just recently a new version of my favorite command shell (Fish, the friendly interactive shell, version 1.23.0) was released. In order to keep my Ubuntu 7.10 desktop system updated, I went ahead and created a debian package file (.deb) to install locally.

After successfully installing the file myself, I decided that it might be useful to other Unbuntu users who use the older version. After uploading it to www.buberel.org and testing the download, I noticed that the file was shipped with an unknown mime-type, causing Firefox to open the contents of the compressed file in the browser directly.

After a bit of digging around, I added the following line to my Apache configuration file and reloaded the server:

AddType application/x-deb    .deb

The package can now be correctly downloaded from here.

John McCain misrepresenting the Presidential Oath of Office

As a result of McCain's strong showing in the Iowa Republican nomination vote, I decided to read up a bit about John McCain. I was skimming his website's 'Issues' section when I came accross his statement on National Security:

"The most sacred responsibility vested in a president - the commander in chief - is to "preserve and protect" American citizens."

For some reason, that wording reminded me of the US Presidential Oath of Office:

"I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States."

The emphasis, in both cases, is mine. If you are going to put 'preserve and protect' in quotation marks, you might as well get the latter half of the quote right. The president is sworn to uphold and protect the constitution, not the American citizens.

Just thought that was worth pointing out.

My rules of life in Silicon Valley

Here are the rules I have formulated to help myself and others understand what it is like to live and work as an entrepreneur here in Silicon Valley. I am often asked by recent arrivals, family members and friends from the midwest what life here is like. Although this does not capture everything about the culture here, it helps me keep everything in perspective.

When you find yourself in the company of more than your immediate friends and close acquaintances, you should make the following assumptions:

1. You are not the wealthiest person in the room.
2. You are not the smartest person in the room.

The reasons for these assumptions is fairly straighforward. Every time I've been in a room of 10 or more people, both (1) and (2) were completely accurate. Like my neighbors across the street and their new yellow Ferrari or the vast quantities of Stanford graduates around me, I can safely assume that I am not at the top of any pecking order.