Valve announces arrests in Half-Life 2 code theft

[axia777]

http://www.gamespot.com/news/2004/06/10/news_6100381.html

punk asses got busted. knew that they would. hahahahahahahaha. again, it goes to show that people really do give a shit. hackers and crackers around the world beware, this is just an example of the future to come.... :twisted:....wonder if jail is gonna be fun for those fools.

[Omega Blue]

i bet Doug Lambardi was like "newbs got pwned" when he found out the "h4x0r" was caught.

[Kiwi]

Heh. I'm not very up on the goings on in the PC gaming world, but what did this code theft actually mean?

As in, what significance has it had on the game?

[solidus]

The thiefs released an alpha version of the game, which caused the game to delay.

[Kiwi]

Oh right. So they got the code for the whole game then? Wow.

So that's why it was delayed! Bastards! :x

[solidus]

I'm not sure about the whole game, but even if it was. They have been working on it so much since than...
I just hope it's gonna come out soon :x

[Kiwi]

So did they steal it, and Valve didn't have a copy of it? Or they just had another copy of the code?

Must've been a real pain in the arse.

[solidus]

They stole a copy and distributed it, i guess you could still find it somewhere on the net.

[Kiwi]

Found it in quite a few places, I suppose that Valve wouldn't be able to do a lot about the distribution of it.

[slayerx]

happends a lot i have the doom 3 alpha and it plays well even at alpha stage

[Kiwi]

How big was the file for it?

[slayerx]

do you mean hl2 code or doom 3?

If you mean doom 3 it wasnt that big and should still be on supernova ;)

[Omega Blue]

How big was the file for it?
theres 2, the first one was around 330MB download but the slightly fixed one with more home made levels was around 600MB's. i suggest the 600MB one. i got it to play on my old FX5200 128MB card and on my 9600XT.

[axia777]

Heh. I'm not very up on the goings on in the PC gaming world, but what did this code theft actually mean?

As in, what significance has it had on the game?

To me, and alot of professionals in the industry, this single example is not the point. rampant wide theft of games is the point. billions of dollars/pounds/money, world wide, are lost every year to this growing problem. most people who steal games never buy a real copy of a the game they steal. thus, the publisher and developer get screwed for the lost cash. now, this may look rather small in the grand sceme of things. most people have the attitude, "Well, they are just rich fat cats who have to much money anyway!". This attitude is dangerous to the Video Games industry. When a favorite publisher or developer goes down and out of business, like the recent InterPlay/Black Isle debacle, one has to wonder why this happened. I believe that one of the key hidden factors in this problem is games theft. When millions of people steal games, they all contribute to the overall profit lose of the companies they profess to love. In short, steal a game, screw the company that made it and the company that published the said game. This problem is growing and it is a real issue with many publishers and developers and if anybody out there thinks that they don't have and effect on the profit margins, think again. I am not preaching at you personnaly Matt. You seem to be an intelligent fellow. This is just how I feel and I never steal games, music or movies(or any else for that matter). I spend my hard earned cash honestly, something alot of people seem to have a big assed problem with.

[Kiwi]

British newspaper article sheds new light on gaming's most notorious code heist.

When Valve announced last month that a wave of international arrests had been made in the Half-Life 2 code theft, they directed questions to the FBI's Cybercrime Task Force. Task Force officers would only confirm arrests had been made but would not comment beyond that.

Luckily, the FBI's European counterparts are apparently more forthcoming. An article in yesterday's London Guardian outlined the Half-Life 2 code-theft arrests in the most detail to date. Besides talking about how the gaming community helped track down the perpetrators via online group-sleuthing, the article revealed several new details, including:

How the theft was perpetrated: According to the Guardian, "Having accessed Valve's server through a security-bypassing loophole in Windows, the hackers were able to download an early and hugely incomplete version of Half-Life 2 and posted it on the Internet for downloading via Usenet. A boxed version of the code was even on sale on the Ukrainian and Russian black markets."

This was confirmed to the Guardian by Newell himself, who told the paper, "Once into our network, hacking tools were installed, and a custom source control client [was] created to extract the Half-Life 2 code. This continued until October, when one of the hackers distributed one of my e-mails on a Web site. We knew something was horribly wrong with our network and took steps to prevent further incursions. This was followed shortly after by the hackers releasing the source code."

The "primary hacker" was German: The Guardian describes how tips from the gaming community led investigators to Germany. So large was the online hunt that "the risk of being caught prompted the primary instigator to contact Newell. He admitted hacking into Valve's server but denied any role in the theft, instead naming those responsible for distributing the stolen code." After the hacker ratted out his colleagues, Newell said he "had three independent ways of confirming this primary instigator and, through conversations with this individual, had convinced him to fly out to us in Seattle for a job interview." This is where the hacker would be picked up by the FBI. However, "the plan was changed so German authorities could [make] the arrests on German soil."

The Half-Life 2 hackers are in deep trouble: Besides being charged with the Half-Life 2 code theft, those arrested were "found to have links with similar crimes." (That information jibes with unconfirmed rumors that the German author of the Phatbot worm was involved in the theft.) The suspects can also look forward to being served a big, steaming bowl o' litigation by Valve, which is planning a battery of civil lawsuits against them.

Source: Gamespot (http://www.gamespot.com/)

[axia777]

Busted ass fools! I wonder if you aked these assh@oles if the whole thing was worth going to jail and getting sued for tons o cash from Valve. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!! :lol: