- Plot
The Bad Guys (The Amazon
Noir Crew: Cirio, Lizvlx, Ludovico, Bernhard) stole copyrighted books from
Amazon by using sophisticated robot-perversion-technology coded by supervillain
Paolo Cirio. A subliminal media fight and a covert legal dispute escalated into
an online showdown with the heist of over 3000 books at the center of the
story. Lizvlx from UBERMORGEN.COM had daily shoot outs with the global
massmedia, Cirio continuously pushed the boundaries of copyright (books are
just pixels on a screen or just ink on paper), Ludovico and Bernhard resisted
kickback-bribes from powerful Amazon.com until the finally gave in and sold the
technology for an undisclosed sum to Amazon. Betrayal, blasphemy and pessimism
finally split the gang of bad guys. The good guys (Amazon.com) won the showdown
and drove off into the blistering sun with the beautiful femme fatale, the
seductive and erotic massmedia.
- Technology
The
Amazon Noir Robots (Sucker01-12) used the frontdoor to access the huge digital
library of Amazon.com. They tricked around with Amazon.coms "Search Inside
the Book" function until it gave away the complete volumes of copyright
protected books. This was carried out by sending 5.000 - 10.000 requests per
book. After this process the data was logically reassembled into pdf-format by
the SIB-Book-Generator.
- Truth
All our work is
done in the open. Our matter is accurate. Amazon Noir was scripted as a
internet-movie. The whole digital action (media hack) was carried out in the
global massmedia, within the art world and on a highly sophisticated technical
level in the clandestine matrix of our global networks.
Amazon USA, Amazon
U.K., Amazon Germany and Amazon France were vulnerable targets. During the attack they transformed part
of the ãSearch Inside the BookÒ technology to defend the rights of the
copyright holders - without actually solving the problem. Over 3000 Books were
downloaded and distributed through p2p (Peer-to-peer networks: Gnutella/G2,
BitTorrent, FastTrack, ed2k) between April - October 2006.
In July 2006 Amazon France and Amazon USA threatend to
litigate. The matter was resolved out of court October 30th, 2006. Amazon.com
bought the Amazon Noir software for an undisclosed sum - both parties signed a
non-disclosure agreement.
Media Coverage (before settlement): WMMNA, Heise.de, Der Spiegel, ORF
- A merge between Fact & Fiction
- Sometimes laws have to be challenged in
order to update, optimize the legal system.
Media Hacking is
generally described very vaguely as manipulation of media technology. A more
specific definition is the massive intrusion into mass media channels with
standard technology such as email or mobile communications, mobile phones,
etc... Usually these actions are carried out within the legal realm - or at
least in the twilight zone of international law. Sometimes laws have to be
challenged in order to update/optimize the legal system. We have to judge for ourselves
wheter its unethical to do so or its totally reasonable to put freedome of
speech above an applieable law. With such a cybernetic modus operandi - in the
end only courage, intelligence and basic technological know how is necessary -
we can achieve enormous reach and frequency in this age of the totally
networked space.