Foto: La página de EliteTorrent cerrada por el FBI
Sk0t era el administrador de la web de descargas EliteTorrents hasta que fue detenido por el FBI. Su pequeño negocio le valió una condena de cinco meses de prisión y otros cinco de arresto domiciliario por conspiracy to commit copyright infringement y criminal copyright infringement, o lo que es lo mismo: subir a internet la película de Star Wars: Episode III antes de su estreno en el cine.
Tras el castigo, ha llegado la penitencia. Todo lo que Sk0t vea ahora en Internet tiene que ser controlado por un programa especial que registra todas las páginas. Y es donde empieza el problema, porque el sistema operativo de Sk0t es Ubuntu (Linux) y el programa sólo funciona con Windows.
La administración de Justicia estadounidense es implacable con él: o se pasa a Microsoft Windows o no se conecta a internet, como relata en su blog el propio Scott McCausland, su nombre real. A pesar de los meses en la sombra, el joven no está dispuesto a pasar por el aro. Al menos no gratis, ya que actualmente se encuentra sin empleo y una licencia de Windows no es barata. Piratear el software, tampoco es una opción.
Ni corto ni perezoso, el joven Sk0t ha iniciado una campaña de recolecta para intentar que las almas con poder adquisitivo que navegan por la red se apiaden de él, pero advierte desde su blog que, “por favor, nadie done si no es estable financieramente”.
[eng]Scott McCausland, who used to be an administrator of the EliteTorrents BitTorrent server before it was shut down by the FBI, pleaded guilty in 2006 to two copyright-related charges over the uploading of Star Wars: Episode III to the Internet. As a result, he was sentenced to five months in jail and five months’ home confinement.
McCausland–who also goes by the name “sk0t”–has since been released from jail, but on Tuesday he reported on his blog that the terms of his sentence meant he would have to install Windows if he wanted to use a computer during his probation. “I had a meeting with my probation officer today, and he told me that he has to install monitoring software onto my PC,” wrote McCausland. “No big deal to me…that is part of my sentence.”
“However, their software doesn’t support GNU/Linux (which is what I use),” continued McCausland. “So, he told me that if I want to use a computer, I would have to use an OS that the software can be installed on. Which basically means: Microsoft and monitoring software or no computer. I use Ubuntu 7.04 now, and they are trying to force me to switch. First they give me two felonies, then they throw me in prison, and now this.”
According to the Web site TorrentFreak, McCausland and his attorney will fight the situation. “It isn’t the fact that I have to be monitored that bothers me, it is the fact that I have (to) restructure my life (different OS, different software on that OS) and that they would require (force) me to purchase software while I am currently unemployed and relatively unemployable with the two felonies that they gave me,” McCausland said. “It is just a ridiculous situation.”
David Meyer of ZDNet UK reported from London.