Cuckoo's Egg

Friends!! I came across this very interesting concept,which I would like to share with you all, We might be doing something like hatching egg's everyday but you would really be surprise after reading the below lines and you will agree with me that everything has a technical reason behind it. 

Let me tell you something about this project first. 

The Cuckoo Egg Project!!!!

    It is his first-person account of the hunt for a computer cracker who broke into a computer at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBL).

    The Cuckoo Egg Project began with Michael and Stephanie Fix.Stephanie Fix is a musician who is concerned about the illegal availability of copyrighted music through Napster.

    The concept centers on the idea of how a real cuckoo bird lays its eggs in another bird's nest. To the Fixes, the Napster system is like a huge nest of MP3 files, a perfect environment in which to lay cuckoo eggs.

    The first cuckoo egg was laid on June 10, 2000. Since then, Napster users have posted hundreds of angry messages at the Cuckoo Egg Project's Web site. Whether it's deterring them from downloading other songs has not been determined.

    There is an ironic twist to the Cuckoo Egg Project, According to the official Web site's FAQ, cuckoo eggs are also not legal, because they also use unauthorized portions of copyrighted songs. But they claim that only a sample portion is used compared to the entire song being used with Napster, which is more defendable according to fair use laws. Anyone who creates and distributes MP3 files can create cuckoo eggs

     An MP3 file that typically contains 30 seconds of the original song with the remainder of the song overwritten with cuckoo clock noises, white noise, and/or voice messages such as, "Congratulations, you must've goofed up somewhere."

     The purpose of cuckoo eggs is to deter the downloading and sharing of MP3 files using Napster and similar approaches. Typically, a Napster user downloads an MP3 file and sometimes share it with others before listening to it.

       The Cuckoo Egg project was started as a method of attempting to slow the distribution of illegal copyrighted MP3 files.The basic technique behind the Cuckoo Egg project is to download an illegal MP3, edit the file so that the first few seconds of it contain the copyrighted material and the rest has been replaced with non-copyrighted cuckoo bird sounds or other random sounds. The overall file size, name, etc. remain the same so users downloading the new file don't realize that it does not contain what they think it should contain

The Nasty Thing about These Eggs

        Napster users are more likely to download songs to completion even if they listen to a bit of the song as it downloads - which most don't.

        If they don't listen to it right away and discover the true contents then the file will be visible to other Napster users as whatever artist name and track title it was originally labeled with and therefore is likely to be downloaded from them... further spreading the eggs.. It's important to note here, that the first batch only appeared to be a particular band when downloaded from one of our machines because it was stored in that bands folder on our hard drive.

        We are only using music that is album material, not live or unrecorded and therefore somehow excusable according to the way some Napsterites view the habits

         By monitoring the habits of those who download the latest eggs and it appears that 2/3 of those who download to completion immediately share the new song. This observation bears out or theory that there are more of these eggs out there than most folks think.

         "The Cuckoo's Egg" is about a year-long effort to apprehend Mark Hess. Hess was a West German hacker who broke into computers all over Europe, North America, and Japan through a tangled web of computer networks. Until his capture, Stoll watched Hess attempt to break into over 400 computer sites on Milnet and Arpanet. Hess was successful in about 40 of his attempts

         Stoll first became aware of the hacker's presence when he discovered a 75 cent accounting error in the Unix system he was administering. One thing led to another, and he soon realized an unauthorized user was on his system. Instead of getting rid of the account and locking out the hacker, Stoll methodically kept notes and records on the hacker's every move. Stoll alerted all the government agencies that he thought could act upon the case. He started performing traces with the help of Tymnet, a data carrier on which Hess was placing his calls.

          As his activities grew, the more interest government agencies showed in Hess. It became apparent the hacker was coming from Europe and showed a strong taste for documents concerning the Star Wars project. The slow wheels of bureaucracy started to move. The FBI, the only agency with the authority to act on the case, officially asked for help from West Germany. With their help, the FBI was quickly able to identity the hacker. He was arrested nearly one year after Stoll first discovered the accounting error in his system.

Now Let be share a very brief way of How to Lay Cuckoo's eggs, Dont worry I won't ask you to become a cuckoo.  ;-) 

How To Lay Cuckoo's Eggs

               Step 1: Download and install Kazaa or BearShare

               Step 2: Download or rip songs for use as eggs.

               Step 3: Edit the songs adding noise, sounds, and other info

               Step 4: Copy your MP3 file into the Napster directories.

               Step 5: Connect to Napster and start laying eggs

Do you know while you are Browsing …………The Eggs Are Hatching.

               I see the project as bit of hactivism aimed at promoting debate regarding on-line file trading and artist’s rights in the digital age. The project is essentially a monkey wrench in the machinery of online piracy. The method is relatively simple - by creating an mp3 and renaming it to whatever your devious mind desires you can subvert the machinery.

             This project have no illusions that they brought down Napster. They merely wish to encourage them and the various warring parties to create a fair use method for listening to and trading music online; one that respects the artists and the consumer.

Cheers,

All the Best ....... :)