Conspiracies abound
November 25, 2002 8:42 PM   Subscribe

Could cracks.am (warning: preceeding link may open some unappropriate pop-ups for those of you at work!), one of the 'net's most predominant sites for software cracks and cd keys in fact be run by... <cue freaky music> the CIA?!? (<---this link safe to open from work) Talk amongst yourselves.
posted by PWA_BadBoy (14 comments total)

This post was deleted for the following reason:



 
While I don't see much proof here that the CIA actually hosts cracks.am, it is interesting that a site involved in this sort of illegal activity is allowed to reside in Washington without ever being bothered by the feds.
posted by Jimbob at 9:09 PM on November 25, 2002


"So what does this mean? Well, i'm not really sure."

Similar logic leads me to believe the site is actually run by Brad Pitt. What the hell? There's zero logical or circumstantial evidence here for the CIA connection. The guy is pulling every single conclusion out of his ass. He's clueless, so the CIA must be behind something. Right. No doubt.
posted by y6y6y6 at 9:14 PM on November 25, 2002


You can run anything you want on a Cogent line, that's why their bandwidth is so damn cheap. I agree with Jimbob, however, it's strange someone hasn't put pressure on Above.net to shut them down. I'm also taking this site at it's word tonight, to lazy to put my investigative skills to use. Methinks it is all bullshit.
posted by rotifer at 9:19 PM on November 25, 2002


They're running Apache/PHP on FreeBSD, and they're no longer with Cogent. Early July, they're here. Currently hosted by the Principality of Sealand.
posted by trondant at 9:22 PM on November 25, 2002


Heh. I think the NSA is a better bet.
posted by delmoi at 9:25 PM on November 25, 2002


1) Software piracy can't exist in DC? Where does that come from? Don't they have the highest murder rate or something? Mayor is a crack addict?
2) Searching on *any* ISP will turn up network wanna-bes bashing copy which was written by a marketing department.
3) The .am domain is not suppose to be in Armenia. The kid is clueless. Anyone can get one. Anywhere, any time.
4) I'm thinking maybe there are a few more things within 5 miles of CIA headquarters? Maybe? He picks CIA for what reason? Anyone?
5) He's running his map search using zipcodes only. What the hell? The spaz can't even track down an address?

Not just bullshit, but lazy, sloppy bullshit.

"Talk amongst yourselves."

Why? Talk about what? How bored you must be?
posted by y6y6y6 at 9:36 PM on November 25, 2002


Did you know the DEA employs an army of proffesional drug dealers and supplies them with the goods just so that they can estblish a database of the customers for possible future monitoring. Its a brilliant strategy, much like that used by the CIA in this utterly factless webpage.
Oh, and good job posting a crack / pornography page on the front page of metafilter. Im sure someone is keeping track of those brownie points.
posted by sophist at 9:42 PM on November 25, 2002


I'm pretty sure this is the real cover hosting co. for the CIA.

see? they mixed up the letters, to fool us like. because they are the cia.
posted by taz at 10:07 PM on November 25, 2002


If they use Cogent, it's just because it's insanely cheap. Traceroute some porn and warez sites, and you'll find that many (most?) of the domestic ones use cheap bandwidth like Cogent. There's no secret to why it's cheap; Cogent has peering arrangements with most of the major providers, but only in a city or two for each -- so Cogent-originating traffic stays on the Cogent network for a long time before it pops onto another backbone. That means it doesn't cost the other carrier much at all.

(Like I said, Cogent peers with all the major providers, not just MFN/Above, as the article would suggest. The author of the article seems to lack good knowledge of the company's network.)

In addition, that site doesn't trace through Cogent for me. Here are the last few hops:

10 pos2-0.metro1-londencyh00.London1.Level3.net (212.113.0.113) 158.028 ms 158.349 ms 158.105 ms
11 unknown.Level3.net (212.187.151.10) 158.434 ms 158.370 ms 158.260 ms
12 havenco-gw (213.166.1.190) 158.581 ms 158.421 ms 158.277 ms
13 217.64.33.66 (217.64.33.66) 163.784 ms 163.775 ms 163.507 ms
14 faste0-gw1-dc1-sx.havenco.net (217.64.34.9) 163.635 ms 165.605 ms 163.486 ms
15 customer-ip.havenco.com (217.64.35.210) 165.520 ms 163.862 ms 163.887 ms
16 customer-ip.havenco.com (217.64.35.212) 150.228 ms 149.096 ms 149.144 ms

That trace is actually pretty interesting, because it goes to havenco, which is the datacenter at Sealand -- check out this site.
posted by Edge100x at 10:13 PM on November 25, 2002


what a moron...

a) has this guy ever considered that there ARE datacenters in Washington, and it is possible that some of them are near CIA headquarters?

b) his information is out of date

c) calling cogent a fake ISP is rediculous - they use marketing BS just like everyone else, doesn't make them illegitimate.

d) if the CIA was conspiring somehow to run the site, why on earth would they do it in their own backyard? They may be a government agency, but stupid is one thing that the CIA is not.
posted by cyberbry at 10:16 PM on November 25, 2002


It seems to me that, based on precedent, the FBI or Secret Service would be doing things like this, not the CIA.

And Cogent is a real ISP. A friend of mine had a machine colocated at a provider who used Cogent as their uplink.
posted by zztzed at 10:21 PM on November 25, 2002


I'm not clear what building he's referring to in Washington, D.C., but CIA headquarters are in Langley, Virginia. That's why the Pakistani was executed last week for the 1993 murder of CIA employees.
posted by stevefromsparks at 10:51 PM on November 25, 2002


I also bought bandwidth from Cogent at one time (what a mistake that was!). Just cheap, crappy bandwidth, and not spooky or special in any way.
posted by Edge100x at 10:52 PM on November 25, 2002


Sorry. Should have explained that's why he was executed in Virginia last week.
posted by stevefromsparks at 10:53 PM on November 25, 2002


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