Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

The Boy Who Stole Half-Life 2

eurogamer.net

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

101–110 of 130 posts

Re: The Boy Who Stole Half-Life 2

#101

Post by bluesnowmonkey »

moe wrote: post #76
bluesnowmonkey wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What's the correct figure, then?

$0. I doubt their competitors will learn awesome secrets from their code-base and I doubt the pirates will compile their own binary instead of just using the standard DVD-Rip. Yes, they embarrassed themselves. But they have nobody but themselves to blame for not investing in security. And, as ramidarigaz points out, it was even free PR for them.

> But they have nobody but themselves to blame for not investing in security.

Ah, the classic rape defense. It was her fault for walking down that alley.

Re: The Boy Who Stole Half-Life 2

#102

Post by brianmckenzie »

kmfrk wrote: post #33
true_religion wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Double Jeopardy doesn't protect you from being tried in multiple jurisdictions. An American example is the "D.C. Snipper" who was charged in Maryland, Virginia, and D.C. to maximize jailtime and possibility of conviction.

Any idea what the statute of limitation would be for his crime in the US?

IANAL, but at first glance it would be 5 years federal, 6 years for Washington state. In practice they probably wouldn't let him into the US.

Re: The Boy Who Stole Half-Life 2

#103

Post by ajays »

T-hawk wrote: post #18
l0nwlf wrote: post #13

I wonder why Valve didn't offered him a job. He was naive but talented and passionate about gaming.

Would you hire somebody that already stole something major from your very company?

There's stealing, and then there's stealing.

I don't think what this kid did was actual "stealing". Had I been at Valve in a position to hire, I would have definitely considered hiring the kid (after evaluating how contrite he was, and how good he was, and on the condition that he keep his mouth shut, for fear of spawning copycats). But maybe that's because I've done such rebellious things in the past myself, and have a soft spot for true "hackers".

Re: The Boy Who Stole Half-Life 2

#104

Post by brazzy »

noibl wrote: post #93
true_religion wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A lot larger as in landmass. People pay attention to what goes on in their geographic area, regardless of its population. For example, a beating in California isn't going to be as troubling to a resident in Vermont. They'll simply say "different state, different police force". On the other hand, a beating in Berlin is going to trouble someone in any part of Germany.

Believe it or not, Germany is also a federal republic with distinct regional differences. Germany doesn't even have federal policing.

Not true: the former border police (Bundesgrenzschutz, parent organization to the famous GSG 9) has been officially the Bundespolizeit (federal police) since 2005, and there has always (well, since the 1951) been a federal investigation agency (Bundeskriminalamt). Most claims of police violence are actually against the Bereitschaftspolizei (riot police units, exist both at state and federal level), which is not surprising since they are deployed (and trained) mainly for potentially violent situations.

Re: The Boy Who Stole Half-Life 2

#105

Post by oemera »

ztan wrote: post #11

I found the story to be quite tragic. This kid really saw the people at Valve as his heroes. Valve knew this and totally abused of that fact. They tricked him and was planning to hand him to the FBI, despite the fact he was (still is) their biggest fan and that the leak was accidental. I would have really hired him if I was in Gabe's position. He had both passion and skills. I think he would make an awesome YC applic…

I know he was young and didn't think about it but what he should have done is get into Valve network, watch it for 2 weeks, copy some source code to proof it AND after that say:

"Hey Gabe, you know what I love Valve and I love all of you guys. You are all my biggest heroes BUT you know your security systems aren't good. I hacked your system and it was quite easy. For two weeks no-one even noticed it. I DIDN'T steal anything but if you give me a job I will do my best to pretend such security issues and make your system as secure as I can. Would consider giving me a job?

I attached some source code of Half-Life 2 to proof my abilities.

I hope you all best and hope to hear from you back.

Thanks"

I really think that this would bring in the job.

Re: The Boy Who Stole Half-Life 2

#106

Post by oemera »

What I learned from this is: Never trust any of your friends or family when you have such important things in your hands.

You know in everyone of us is this little devil and if you have something which is important you can earn something with it (money or even credit in the community) there is a good chance that people will go the devil way.

I even would consider saying I even DON'T trust myself on such important and valued things!

Re: The Boy Who Stole Half-Life 2

#107

Post by [deleted] »

oemera wrote: post #105
ztan wrote: post #11

I found the story to be quite tragic. This kid really saw the people at Valve as his heroes. Valve knew this and totally abused of that fact. They tricked him and was planning to hand him to the FBI, despite the fact he was (still is) their biggest fan and that the leak was accidental. I would have really hired him if I was in Gabe's position. He had both passion and skills. I think he would make an awesome YC applic…

I know he was young and didn't think about it but what he should have done is get into Valve network, watch it for 2 weeks, copy some source code to proof it AND after that say: "Hey Gabe, you know what I love Valve and I love all of you guys. You are all my biggest heroes BUT you know your security systems aren't good. I hacked your system and it was quite easy. For two weeks no-one even noticed it. I DIDN'T steal a…

[deleted]

Re: The Boy Who Stole Half-Life 2

#108

Post by noibl »

brazzy wrote: post #104
noibl wrote: post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Believe it or not, Germany is also a federal republic with distinct regional differences. Germany doesn't even have federal policing.

Not true: the former border police (Bundesgrenzschutz, parent organization to the famous GSG 9) has been officially the Bundespolizeit (federal police) since 2005, and there has always (well, since the 1951) been a federal investigation agency (Bundeskriminalamt). Most claims of police violence are actually against the Bereitschaftspolizei (riot police units, exist both at state and federal level), which is not surpr…

To clarify: I know there are federal investigative police (but not as powerful as the FBI, right?) so I deliberately used the verb, meaning enforcement. I didn't know there were federal riot police though.
Post reply on HN