Description
The text of this hoax is as follows:
PRESS RELEASE
June 27, 2001
MUSIC 'VIRUS' TO ATTACK SONG THIEVES VIA NAPSTER & OTHER SWAPPING PROGRAMS
JULY 4
Embedded code since late 2000 now ready to emerge on US Independence Day in top
500 downloaded songs
Music fans around the planet will receive a shocking surprise on their
computers on American Independence Day-July 4-but only if they have downloaded
unauthorised songs from Napster, Gnutella or other file swapping applications
on the Internet. On that day, those who have downloaded any of 500 most popular
songs planted on the Internet with an imbedded hybrid 'virus' will find their
illicit music unusable and their computers frozen due to the timed release of
this bomb.
MusicPanel is a new hybrid computer code that goes beyond what viruses can do
and is hidden as imbedded bits of information that can not be detected by virus
checkers. It affects both Macs and PCs as well as computers running Linux Unix
and even Personal Digital Assistants that can download music. It's the answer
to the 'sonic stealing' of legitimate music without Payment to the creators and
was developed by a group of musician-programmers to redress the grievances of
recorded artists who find their music being swapped and lifted from the
Internet.
The program was developed last year following a meeting of disgruntled
musicians and their managers at a Fourth of July American concert where the
plan was hatched to determine more than 100 of the top songs illicitly traded
on the Internet through Napster. Over the US autumn school term, the program
was perfected and made invisible with an increase in the number of songs to 500
that were loaded with this application before Christmas.
Placed in easily accessible computers on the Internet where unsuspecting users
could obtain copies of the music, the songs play as if they are normal
downloaded music but a ticking time bomb within the files has been awaiting the
Independence Day when it will be full unleashed across the Internet. So for
those who have used Napster since last November and a number of other file
swapping protocols that have accessed the computers where the MusicPanel
embedded files have resided initially or been placed into other computers once
swapped, fireworks will begin.
The program is only loaded into songs that are protected by copyright and only
those people who have downloaded these 500 infected songs from the computers on
the Internet in which they were planted or computers that have accessed the
files and allowed them to be shared by others. Those users who have the
infected files will find that accessing their computers on July 4 anywhere in
the world will cause a crash that will erase all music files from their
computers and any file sharing or MP3 applications. Once the computer is
restarted, these songs and applications will have disappeared and the computer
will load a 'message skin' called MusicPanel that will warn them off accessing
unauthorised music in the future.
In a statement of intent, the producers of MusicPanel explain, "As Creators of
music, we are deprived of income from our music by those companies that
proliferate free file-swapping of songs and the users who blithely shoplift
songs via the Internet who do not pay for our creations. This global weapon is
designed to not only help eliminate this illegal and unfair practice but also
to bring awareness of the loss to legitimate and hardworking musicians, their
record companies, publishers and support systems. It was not developed in
conjunction with any record labels or publishers nor with the Recording
Industry Association of America or any other organization. We do not wish to
cause destruction or other damage to computers or other programs but have
tailored this application attached to frequently downloaded copyrighted music
to attack those who steal songs."
"Since there is no anti-virus protection that will detect or block this
application imbedded in what appear to be otherwise working downloads, only
removal of the illicit songs from hard drives can prevent it from activating on
July 4. If songs have been burned to CDs or are transferred to other devices
that contain music download programs, those devices will also crash and remove
all music files. A further statement will be made after the MusicPanel
activates July 4."