TitanMS (koolk) arrested.

[Trunks]

Ynet ?????? - ???? ?????? ???? ?????? ????? MapleStory (http://www.ynet.co.il/articles/0,7340,L-3610626,00.html)

Credit to xFreeze for the Translation

A student of the 11th grade has been arrested this morning because of hacking the game Maplestory(which has been created by Nexon) and releasing "the secret codes to upgrade your charcter".

The young guy has admitted he did that for "fame on the internet" after an investigation that lasted 3 months.

During the month of July complaint filed by attorneys representing the company in Israel, Nexon Korean. Company representatives noticed that are Israeli as a "koolk" broke the company's software, downloadable for free, it slipped by module security module connection. The hacker opened server which is equivalent to connect with the cracked software, and made users who were supposed to connect to the original server connect to the pirated server.

The game "Maplestory" is a free-based game, you can play in for free when-ever you want, but if you want a strong charcter you have to pay to Nexon.

The guy also published the cracked\pirated software by the Internet thereby caused financial damage to increase, and increased the fear viruses for the game who have used the cracked\pirated software. Over several weeks, the boy managed to evade researchers of computer fraud unit, which came during the investigation was considered hackers innocent people.

During the search conducted by police fraud unit of the district center computer of computer material was captured, detained the suspect for questioning. Pleaded guilty to minor offenses and released on making conditions restrictive by his parents. The police say that this is an offense to infiltrate into pertaining to computer material, breaking into a protected server, removing the security of a server module and establishing smiliar server - all of these criminal offenses.

Letter that koolk received before this arrest.

Nexon America Inc. (“Nexon”) is the owner of the Website, (Nexon's website could post link because i dont have enough posts) (the “Website”) The website contains Nexon’s copyrighted material and the intellectual property in the Video Games on the Website, which include the game MapleStory (the “Game”), as well as the original images on the Website and embedded in the Game, and the object and source code for the site. In addition, Nexon is the owner in the trademarks NEXON and MapleStory, as well as hundreds of other trademarks used in association with the website.

You are currently hosting the following website: http://titanms.koolk.net (the “Rogue Website”). This website is a haven for private servers of the Game, and for those who have illegally misappropriated Nexon’s intellectual property: These private servers who specifically distribute and download private server software for the Game from the Rogue Website are severely damaging the Game and are hurting Nexon’s business. In addition, they are misappropriating Nexon’s intellectual property for their own commercial gain.

I hereby state that Nexon America Inc. is the owner of copyright in the images attached hereto and that to the best of my knowledge and belief, the infringing use was not authorized by it, its agents or the law. I further declare under penalty of perjury that this notice is accurate and that I am authorized to act as Nexon America Inc.’s agent in this matter. Pursuant to the Copyright Act, and your Terms of Service, Nexon America Inc. demands that you shut down the Rogue Website and remove the infringing material contained on said site.

You may reach me by e-mail at ***@nexon.net if you have any questions about this matter. The foregoing is not intended as a complete statement of our rights and remedies, all of which are hereby expressly reserved.

Woah, scary as hell, especially that they were tracking him down for 3 months before the arrest. It was confirmed to be real and Fiel agreed that it probably was (though he has his doubts).

[Kaasoljoyyx]

Saw this over at SP but did they ever confirm it was the real koolk or just someone who copied his name?

[Giggster]

wowzor...
koolk is that great?

[Trunks]

It doesn't make any sense that it would be anyone other then koolk. It's hard to impersonate something like that and it's from a very, very credible israel newspaper from what the developer Koriz says.

[DarkSplicer]

What exactly did he do in layman's terms? From what I could interpret, how is what he did different than what a private server does?

[traitor]

This really sucks.

[Trunks]

He created an engine (like OdinMS) before OdinMS, it just wasn't as popular. He also created a repacker (adding images, monsters, etc to the game) and was a huge developer for the community, he was one of the best.

[Shirley]

I personally thought that Koriz's explanation (http://pastebin.com/m5b49e4a4) was more ... legible.

[DarkSplicer]

After reading Koriz's explanation, I still don't see how that's any different than any of the private servers out there. If this action was taken, won't they come after private servers next?

[Trunks]

You should read mine, lol. He created a .wz repacker, has enormous knowledge of the game, released localhosts & .xml files, had his own server that he created from scratch which was open source.

The big fish are: OdinMS (shutdown), TitanMS (shutdown), Vana (fork of TitanMS), FlowsionMS (fork of OdinMS).

The first two are now down.

[xElkin]

Copied my post :S
but thats fine though

And for the people that think its not the koolk that made the wz repacker, it is him, there is no other koolk, and there is a nexon letter to prove it

[B0WJOB]

Nexon hunting Pservers down reminds me of Agents from the Matrix

[RichardParker]

Nexon hunting PServers down reminds me of how much they fail.

[Kaasoljoyyx]

After reading Koriz's explanation, I still don't see how that's any different than any of the private servers out there. If this action was taken, won't they come after private servers next?

I'm pretty sure it's another one of those "Take down a major person and many other people will stop"

i.e. If you take down a leader, the army will fall.

For Nexon, taking down 1 major person/pserver is the most efficient way for them to get rid of a whole bunch.

[Atarxia]

Well, what? Should we all quit and move on to something else before you get sued?

[Shugi]

He's in grade 11... wow.. That's really impressive D: Reminds of that other guy who hacked ebay and stuff >.< Lucky he's not 18 yet though =/ I hope this is fake though or we'll be in trouble here...

[Dymloz]

Well I hope you dont get under investigation too Flowsions and Devp, We all know its ilegal, but i guess nexon is too dam rich already, eventually they will have to give up cause they are many pservers around so they need to make thousands of lawsuits agaisnt all the private servers around.
I was just curious i played maple history since the beggining of global, why everyone got a pserver all sudden. who was the first person to hack the server and copy the data if you got any information who did that i would be pleased to know it

[Trunks]

The developers of FlowsionMS all knew about the 'risks' involved in this and we've talked it over extensively. There's nothing we can do, we understand we are 'sitting ducks' so to speak. However, we believe we'll be C&D'd first and if that is the case then we will take the appropriate action. Nexon is very, very stupid and none of the developers agree with their tactics or with what they are doing.

I believe they should have hired Serpendiem, Matze and koolk instead of taking action against them. I believe that they should take this as an opportunity to extend their game beyond the crap it is right now and make it something better.

However, they choose to think that nothing is wrong with their game: there is if a couple kids can crack it.

[B0WJOB]

that is what i thought after reading the first post.
for a talented guy like koolk...i guess Nexon just DOESNT see it.

[Shiken]

Koolk is a hero to many private servers! May things go well for him!

BAKA NEXON!

[manspwnyou]

Dam. Another dev gone because of nexon. >=(. I hope flowsion does not closed done.

[Eldon]

If any of you played warcraft 3, you probably know about the epic pro Final Fantasy custom RPG maps. Square Enix was impressed with the map and picked him up, now he's working for them.

Nexon should have done the same =/

[Evilince]

Nexon hunting Pservers down reminds me of Agents from the Matrix

wut

[Hiep]

Koolk is a hero to many private servers! May things go well for him!

BAKA NEXON!

wat?

[Syuko]

Aww man, the pro is gone now =[.
He should've gave someone his WZ repacking skills, lol.
-sigh- another source is dead. bad news.

[frantier123]

The developers of FlowsionMS all knew about the 'risks' involved in this and we've talked it over extensively. There's nothing we can do, we understand we are 'sitting ducks' so to speak. However, we believe we'll be C&D'd first and if that is the case then we will take the appropriate action. Nexon is very, very stupid and none of the developers agree with their tactics or with what they are doing.

I believe they should have hired Serpendiem, Matze and koolk instead of taking action against them. I believe that they should take this as an opportunity to extend their game beyond the crap it is right now and make it something better.

However, they choose to think that nothing is wrong with their game: there is if a couple kids can crack it.

- Agree with you. Koolk, especially, is pro in putting in mobs, like PacMan. Nexon's update are too dull, and putting in some sort of famous game or cartoon characters will eventually boost the game financial. -

I didn't say that =X

[Ryanide]

Agree with you. Koolk, especially, is pro in putting in mobs, like PacMan. Nexon's update are too dull, and putting in some sort of famous game or cartoon characters will eventually boost the game financial.

He(koolk) could also get sued by Namco for using Pacman's sprites without their permission.

OOOOH DOUBLE SUE-AGE!






Trunks, it's time for operation undercover.

[Ikaeru]

So, Trunks, how about going underground now?

[B0WJOB]

there's not much we can do. we just hope they wont catch us.

[frantier123]

He(koolk) could also get sued by Namco for using Pacman's sprites without their permission.

OOOOH DOUBLE SUE-AGE!






Trunks, it's time for operation undercover.

I didn't say that =X

[nadav64]

koolk got released he had to pay 5000 shekels
thats a small price to pay and with his skills he will be beack
he cant just let his gift go

[Clear]

The developers of FlowsionMS all knew about the 'risks' involved in this and we've talked it over extensively. There's nothing we can do, we understand we are 'sitting ducks' so to speak. However, we believe we'll be C&D'd first and if that is the case then we will take the appropriate action. Nexon is very, very stupid and none of the developers agree with their tactics or with what they are doing.

I believe they should have hired Serpendiem, Matze and koolk instead of taking action against them. I believe that they should take this as an opportunity to extend their game beyond the crap it is right now and make it something better.

However, they choose to think that nothing is wrong with their game: there is if a couple kids can crack it.
This would be the best option for nexon, but I think they are to blinded by failness to actually see that. 2 dudes from germany and 1 kid from israel manged to copy their MapleStory. while they needed a massive team of paid developers who worked years on it.(Nexon did the most work for pservers with the .WZ files n stuff tho). But still.

Also, fiel said he thinks that the .WZ repacker gave the final push for arresting koolk. but the investigation started way back in July. long before anyone knew koolk was working on a wz repacker.

[tuxWishful]

It doesn't make any sense that it would be anyone other then koolk. It's hard to impersonate something like that and it's from a very, very credible israel newspaper from what the developer Koriz says.

Yeah, actually it's the best Israeli newspaper. I'm an Israeli, and I could tell you: This is for real man.

[LaiLaiNoob]

You should read mine, lol. He created a .wz repacker, has enormous knowledge of the game, released localhosts & .xml files, had his own server that he created from scratch which was open source.

The big fish are: OdinMS (shutdown), TitanMS (shutdown), Vana (fork of TitanMS), FlowsionMS (fork of OdinMS).

The first two are now down.

So next will be flowsion / SakuraMS .. ? since they can't sue Vana for that.
Vana didn't host any servers, just their own source.

koolk got released he had to pay 5000 shekels
thats a small price to pay and with his skills he will be beack
he cant just let his gift go

5000 shekels = ??? usd?

[butterfli]

I'm sure all developers have a future in computer programming that doesn't involve Nexon. Having these "masterminds" working for the "enemy" in their fight against pservers? Wouldn't that just shut down all pservers and making the crap that is gMS the "only and one place for maplestory"?

[tuxWishful]

So next will be flowsion / SakuraMS .. ? since they can't sue Vana for that.
Vana didn't host any servers, just their own source.



5000 shekels = ??? usd?

It's 1333.6889837289943985062683382235 USD.

But I don't think that this is the bill he payed, actually the source he was take it from is an Israeli forum with a guy that pretended he is the real Koolk.

[Asukari]

It's 1333.6889837289943985062683382235 USD.

But I don't think that this is the bill he payed, actually the source he was take it from is an Israeli forum with a guy that pretended he is the real Koolk.

In legible English, please?

[Kaasoljoyyx]

^This is what I heard over at the first few pages on SP but basically, some other forum guy copied his name [koolk] and it might have been him.

But now that's it's been known for 24+ hours, I think it's confirmed to be the real koolk

[Sykadelia]

It's 1333.6889837289943985062683382235 USD.

But I don't think that this is the bill he payed, actually the source he was take it from is an Israeli forum with a guy that pretended he is the real Koolk.

5000 shekels was the bail, and yes it is the real KoolK; GMZorita posted as well.

[iDark]

Another Server Down V.V O.o
The game "Maplestory" is a free-based game, you can play in for free when-ever you want, but if you want a strong charcter you have to pay to Nexon.
How much you have to Pay? o.O

[Kaasoljoyyx]

^The newspaper thing wrote that. They're just referring to the fact that to make MS easier for you [NX isn't required, it just helps a ton], you have to use NX such as gach, MTS, x2 exp, etc...

[LaiLaiNoob]

btw flowsion, please kindly remove your contact off the domain flowsionms.net
Nexon will use this info to screw u.

http://www.whois.net/whois_new.cgi?d=flowsion&tld=net

Domain name: flowsion.net

Registrant Contact:
NA
NA None

1665 Watercrest circle
Lawrenceville, GA 30043
US

Administrative Contact:
Hosting Services, Inc.
Hosting Services (flowsion@hotmail.com)
+1.8666437427
223 W. Jackson Blvd
Suite 1014
Chicago, AL 60606
US

Technical Contact:
Hosting Services, Inc.
Hosting Services (techsupport@midphase.com)
+1.8666437427
223 W. Jackson Blvd
Suite 1014
Chicago, IL 60606
US

Status: Active

remove my post if you want ;D

[Trunks]

That's the WHOIS Guard I have on the domain, I live in Canada. Nexon will get my information if they really want it, via my server hosts.

[YuniorAcosta]

Cool you live in Canada so do I =] Bah do you really think nexon would sue Flowison?

[Bellocan]

Lolcanada

On-Topic: It depends, I think there'd only be a letter requesting that FlowsionMS be shut down, and then we'd go underground.

[Desolation]

I don't think Nexon would sue Flowsion MS. They've done a good job of not asking for money in exchange for NX or in-game items that could get them sued. The most you'd get is a cease and desist I guess...for even starting up the private server. Then yes as Bellocan said, we'd probably go underground.

As of now, we've got the first google hit, all the youtube vids, and ads going up in a load of forums. We're not very underground. But if we do get a letter to shutdown, I spose all of that will have to be taken down.

[tuxWishful]

Update: He has been released but now he is in a "House Arrest", like he can't get out from his own House, he don't have his Computer [& Internet Connection] as well. I think he will be with us very soon.
He have to pay a bill of 1300 USD, it's like 1 month of working for an average work in Israel, people here actually get like 3100 USD every month (a fine workplace, ofc) so I don't think this one will be a problem for him (Ofc he will get helped by his parents, right?).

[Margaritas]

Koolk was sued at first for hacking their packets and protections (both server side and client side) and using exploits to get information off their server, a thing he have done in order to build TitanMS and are of criminal offense. FlowsionMS didn't hack anything from Nexon, it's based on the OdinMS source so packets are included already. We build our code over oMS's material so we didn't hack Nexon. If I'm right, in most of the countries Nexon could only demand this server to be shut down, nothing more. Of course that if they demand and we don't shut it down, it's a copyright infringement, and that's something else.

[Pepperpost]

GG Nexon -_-''
Nexon = BAKA!!!!!!!


seriously.

[tuxWishful]

Koolk was sued at first for hacking their packets and protections (both server side and client side) and using exploits to get information off their server, a thing he have done in order to build TitanMS and are of criminal offense. FlowsionMS didn't hack anything from Nexon, it's based on the OdinMS source so packets are included already. We build our code over oMS's material so we didn't hack Nexon. If I'm right, in most of the countries Nexon could only demand this server to be shut down, nothing more. Of course that if they demand and we don't shut it down, it's a copyright infringement, and that's something else.

You're right.

[Hiep]

GG Nexon -_-''
Nexon = BAKA!!!!!!!


seriously.

are you jap or wut

[convictx]

Good luck devs. FIGHT THA POWA!!!!!!!!

*pulls out ak47*

[Magelaz]

Another Server Down V.V O.o

How much you have to Pay? o.O

$2000 USD...in the course of 3 years or less...It depends how BAD you want to be the #1 player or one of the PROS in that particular server.

I spent about 1,250 USD on MapleSEA, and Global Combined.