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Former Bungie, Pokémon lawyer explains how they caught leakers

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Re: Former Bungie, Pokémon lawyer explains how they caught leakers

#51

>‘Hacking software, that’s a federal crime, but I don’t want that to be the conversation. Why don’t we make it a conversation about the good and bad things he can do with a computer?’ What a complete piece of shit. Threatening a child and his parent because the child dumped some memory and found some file. He also knows that there is exactly zero chance for any legal actions towards that kid (and of course it is not…

I think he would fit right in at Riot Games next.

Re: Former Bungie, Pokémon lawyer explains how they caught leakers

#52
The anecdote about setting the lawyers on the kid who extracted the art assets from Pokémon.exe feels like a real ethical low point.

If you’re a lawyer going after children who take the screws out of the backs of alarm clocks then I’m afraid you’re the bad guy. People like that ought to be held accountable by their regional bar association.

Re: Former Bungie, Pokémon lawyer explains how they caught leakers

#53

What's bizarre is that this guy says that tracking down this kid (who btw didn't try to hide at all) made him a "legend" at Pokemon. Quote from the article: "Which was fantastic. Absolutely baked my legend in at Pokémon for like five years." Don McGowan is a legend though, a legendary asshole for being proud of bullying a curious kid that was poking around in legally obtained game-files.

What's even worse that this asshole was legally correct, of course he was, one of the bad laws is the passage of DMCA which bans circumventing digital protections. That's how you get bullshit like DVD Jon who was accused of trespassing on his own computer.

Re: Former Bungie, Pokémon lawyer explains how they caught leakers

#54
post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Exactly. This guy sounds like a massive POS.

> I might have a talk with David. I might say, ‘Listen, I’ve figured out it was you. Do I not seem approachable? Why are you and I not having a conversation about this?’ Talk about an absolute terrible way to approach someone who went public about a sexual harassment claim. From just this article I don't think I'd feel comfortable talking with this dude about anything serious going on.

100% that even if that situation were to arrive, it would never go down that way anyway. It's a complete fantasy they have in their head about how they're not the corporate stooge they actually are along with everything else this guy views about himself.

Re: Former Bungie, Pokémon lawyer explains how they caught leakers

#55
post #9

>‘Hacking software, that’s a federal crime, but I don’t want that to be the conversation. Why don’t we make it a conversation about the good and bad things he can do with a computer?’ What a complete piece of shit. Threatening a child and his parent because the child dumped some memory and found some file. He also knows that there is exactly zero chance for any legal actions towards that kid (and of course it is not…

I thank god I never became a lawyer. They are $300+/hr thugs for hire whose only mission is to bully you into complete submission until you pay to make them go away.

In my experience they cost a lot more than $300 an hour.

Re: Former Bungie, Pokémon lawyer explains how they caught leakers

#56

What's bizarre is that this guy says that tracking down this kid (who btw didn't try to hide at all) made him a "legend" at Pokemon. Quote from the article: "Which was fantastic. Absolutely baked my legend in at Pokémon for like five years." Don McGowan is a legend though, a legendary asshole for being proud of bullying a curious kid that was poking around in legally obtained game-files.

I also found that paragraph super weird. Kid played around with the software and found out a new Pokemon was in there but not released, lawyer guy gets his personal information, calls their house and threatens them with computer hacking charges, which seems bullshit as that was reverse engineering, so in many legislations it's not illegal.

Re: Former Bungie, Pokémon lawyer explains how they caught leakers

#57

What's bizarre is that this guy says that tracking down this kid (who btw didn't try to hide at all) made him a "legend" at Pokemon. Quote from the article: "Which was fantastic. Absolutely baked my legend in at Pokémon for like five years." Don McGowan is a legend though, a legendary asshole for being proud of bullying a curious kid that was poking around in legally obtained game-files.

I also found that paragraph super weird. Kid played around with the software and found out a new Pokemon was in there but not released, lawyer guy gets his personal information, calls their house and threatens them with computer hacking charges, which seems bullshit as that was reverse engineering, so in many legislations it's not illegal.

dmca is federal. it's worded in a way that you can be trialed for anything at all if there's a will on the software author side.

Re: Former Bungie, Pokémon lawyer explains how they caught leakers

#58
post #53

What's bizarre is that this guy says that tracking down this kid (who btw didn't try to hide at all) made him a "legend" at Pokemon. Quote from the article: "Which was fantastic. Absolutely baked my legend in at Pokémon for like five years." Don McGowan is a legend though, a legendary asshole for being proud of bullying a curious kid that was poking around in legally obtained game-files.

What's even worse that this asshole was legally correct, of course he was, one of the bad laws is the passage of DMCA which bans circumventing digital protections. That's how you get bullshit like DVD Jon who was accused of trespassing on his own computer.

What digital protections did the kid circumvent? As far as I can tell he just dumped the game's graphics and found a previously unknown creature among the results. No circumvention of anything whatsoever, just direct access to the data.

If the corporations don't want stuff like this to be found, they should try not putting it into the game in the first place. I guess copyright monopolists who are delusional enough to believe they can publish information world wide and control what happens to it do not have this sort of common sense.

For the record, there's an entire website full of people dedicated to doing what that child did:

https://tcrf.net/

Re: Former Bungie, Pokémon lawyer explains how they caught leakers

#59

The anecdote about setting the lawyers on the kid who extracted the art assets from Pokémon.exe feels like a real ethical low point. If you’re a lawyer going after children who take the screws out of the backs of alarm clocks then I’m afraid you’re the bad guy. People like that ought to be held accountable by their regional bar association.

It's tempting to feel bad for the kid, but he knew exactly how to not get any threatening phone calls: never unscrew anything. The parents are liable for leaving screwdrivers in accessible places. The inside of alarm clocks are our currency, for God's sake. If you ask me, every screw should have a uniquely shaped slot in the head and come with a single matching drill bit. This reckless screw compatibility situation we've ended up in is terrible for business.
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