'Warez lawyer' had double agenda - claim

Found on The Register on Monday, 13 December 2004
Browse Legal-Issues

More details have emerged on the arrest of a German lawyer and three businessmen who masterminded an international warez network and grossed €1m.

A spokesman for German anti-piracy organisatin GVU told Berlin newspaper Tagesspiegel on Friday (17 Sept) that the crackdown may have been the biggest blow ever against internet pirates anywhere in the world.

Syndikus represents Firstway Medien GmbH, a German firm which released a hobbled version of the open source file sharing program eMule. The hacked eMule was disabled, and could only be activated once you paid for the product. Worse, the program couldn't be removed from Windows without corrupting the internet connection.

Even more remarkable is the reputation of Syndikus's partner Günther Freiherr von Gravenreuth (real name: Günter Werner Dörr) who, according to his own biography, advised the European Institute for Computer Anti-Virus Research and German Association for Entertainment Software. von Gravenreuth was behind the much publicised Tanja campaign against software piracy.

Gravenreuth has a questionable reputation thanks to his methods. He's been around for years, and his name got well known amongst C64/Amiga users. I have to admit that I can't help but laugh, seeing the reason for his troubles. "Do what I say, don't do what I do".