Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!swrinde!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!brutus.cs.uiuc.edu!jarthur!polyslo!vlsi3b15!vax1.cc.lehigh.edu!sei.cmu.edu!krvw From: munnari!mqccsunc.mqcc.mq.oz.au!ifarqhar@uunet.UU.NET (Ian Farquhar) Newsgroups: comp.virus Subject: The AIDS "Trojan" is a Copy Protection System Message-ID: <0011.9002121947.AA15751@ge.sei.cmu.edu> Date: 12 Feb 90 15:45:03 GMT Sender: Virus Discussion List Lines: 111 Approved: krvw@sei.cmu.edu For several weeks we have been monitoring the discussion in comp.virus and elsewhere concerning the AIDS "trojan". There has been much discussion about the motives of the author in publishing this virus, and the general surprise that the accompanying program was quite sophisticated. We have recently received a copy of the AIDS trojan with the accompanying license agreement, and upon reading this agreement I am drawn to make several points. Needless to say, this copy was not installed. Let me quote some of the relevant passages from the license agreement: "Read this license agreement carefully. If you do not agree with the terms and conditions stated below, do not use the software, and do not break the seal (if any) on the software diskette..." "...you may not decompile, disassemble, or reverse-engineer these programs or modify them in any way without consent from PC Cyborg Corporation. These programs are provided for your use as described above on a leased basis to you; they are not sold. You may choose one of the following types of lease (a) a lease for 365 user applications or (b) a lease for the lifetime of your hard disk drive or 60 years, whichever is the lesser. PC Cyborg Corporation may include mechanisms in the programs to limit or inhibit copying and to ensure that you abide by the terms of the license agreement and to the terms of the lease duration. There is a mandatory leasing fee for the use of these programs; they are not provided to you free of charge. The prices for "lease a" and "lease b" mentioned above are US$189 and US$378, respectively (subject to change without notice). If you install these programs on a microcomputer (by the install program or any other means), then under the terms of this license you are thereby agree to pay PC Cyborg Corporation in full for the cost of leasing these programs. In the case of breach of this license agreement, PC Cyborg Corporation reserves the right to take any legal action necessary to recover any outstanding debts payable to PC Cyborg Corporation and to use program mechanisms to ensure termination of your use of the program. These program mechanisms will adversely affect other program applications on microcomputers. You are hereby advised of the most serious consequences of your failure to abide by the terms of this license agreement: your conscience may haunt you for the rest of your life; you will owe compensation and possible damages to PC Cyborg Corporation; and your microcomputer will stop functioning normally. Warning: Do not use these programs unless you are prepared to pay for them..." End quote. This is not a trojan: it is a COPY PROTECTION SYSTEM. The consequences of using the program without paying are quite adequately laid out in the license, which apparently has not been read. It warns quite clearly that: a) You should not install this program unless you are going to pay for it. b) The program contains mechanisms that will ensure that the terms of this license agreement will be followed. c) That these mechanisms will affect other programs on the hard disk. I am led to make the following conclusions: 1. That all of the users who were adversely affected by this supposed trojan either (a) did not read the license agreement for the program which they were installing, or (b) they read it and ignored it. Either way, they must accept the consequences. The installation instructions first step tells you to read the agreement on the reverse of the sheet. 2. That the people who have been harping on at length about this trojan did not bother to read the license agreement either. I am left wondering if the "excitement" of this horrible "trojan" prevented them using some elementary logic to ask if the program may be something else. 3. PC Cyborg laid out the consequences quite plainly in the license agreement. It is a debatable point whether PC Cyborg would have sent the "defusing" program for the time bomb that this program installs, though the US invasion would have defeated any attempt to do this (the invasion was doubtless more illegal than this program). 4. That the people hurriedly disassembling the program actually committed a breach of the license agreement, and are liable for legal action from PC Cyborg. Equally, copying of this program is as illegal and is as much piracy as copying any commercial program. I am stunned at the sheer volume of pointless garbage that this program has generated, and it makes me seriously doubt any other information received from these "experts". I would also point out that self-destructing programs are not new, but one has never caused such an outcry before. If the author of this program is convicted, it will be the first conviction ever for the hidious crime of writing a copy protection system, and will be one of the biggest farces of justice ever witnessed. Disclaimer: These are my own opinions, and do not necessarily represent the opinions of my employers. "AI is also an acronym for Artificial Ignorance" Ian Farquhar Phone : (612) 805-7420 Office of Computing Services Fax : (612) 805-7433 Macquarie University NSW 2109 Also : (612) 805-7205 Australia Telex : AA122377 ACSNet ifarqhar@macuni.mqcc.mq.oz.au ifarqhar@suna.mqcc.mq.oz.au