# Team FTL has been neutralized by Stanford



## BUCK NASTY (Mar 5, 2009)

Just one look tells you that Stanford won't put up with any monkey business. 100 millions points disappeared like that and they have to start from the bottom. It took a few months after we complained, but Stanford did the right thing. It's a little bit of sweet justice for all that are dedicated to folding legally.


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## hat (Mar 5, 2009)

uhh... so what was so fishy about team ftl? were they hacking the stats server to give them shittons of points or what?


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## BUCK NASTY (Mar 5, 2009)

hat said:


> uhh... so what was so fishy about team ftl? were they hacking the stats server to give them shittons of points or what?



Here is a little background on Team FTL:

http://foldingforum.org/viewtopic.php?p=61388#p61388


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## hat (Mar 5, 2009)

BUCK NASTY said:


> Here is a little background on Team FTL:
> 
> http://foldingforum.org/viewtopic.php?p=61388#p61388



this page cannot be displayed


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## 3870x2 (Mar 5, 2009)

sounds great that they have been caught.


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## El Fiendo (Mar 5, 2009)

Wow, that's amazing, ingenious, but amazing. Definitely good they were caught though, that would be a huge morale killer.


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## mmaakk (Mar 5, 2009)

Was about time!!

We had been talking about this bastards for a long time already.

Thanks for the heads-up Buck.


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## El Fiendo (Mar 5, 2009)

Here they come again, stats pages say in about 3.5 months they'll overtake us, mind you if they keep getting new users at the rate they've been getting, I'd give them 1.5 months till they overtake us again.


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## 3870x2 (Mar 5, 2009)

But are they overtaking with the same tactics they were using previously?  If so, they need to be permanently banned.


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## Silverel (Mar 5, 2009)

3870x2 said:


> But are they overtaking with the same tactics they were using previously?  If so, they need to be permanently banned.



I don't think the functionality of the site really allows for that. Unless they add some DRM-type stuff into the code, it's pretty open and freely available. All they need to do otherwise, is change their team name. One one hand, it IS more folding (albeit maliciously) and therefore good for the research aspect, on the other hand is our curling e-peens as a botnet steals away its thunder.

Not really sure how I feel about it. Malware that folds for research projects? Is it really that bad of a thing? In the sense that it hammers on thousands of machines constantly, sure. But at least it's for a good cause.


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## Solaris17 (Mar 5, 2009)

Silverel said:


> I don't think the functionality of the site really allows for that. Unless they add some DRM-type stuff into the code, it's pretty open and freely available. All they need to do otherwise, is change their team name. One one hand, it IS more folding (albeit maliciously) and therefore good for the research aspect, on the other hand is our curling e-peens as a botnet steals away its thunder.
> 
> Not really sure how I feel about it. Malware that folds for research projects? Is it really that bad of a thing? In the sense that it hammers on thousands of machines constantly, sure. But at least it's for a good cause.



For some reason i dont see this as bad BUT HEAR ME OUT! I actually think its good that they got people downloading cracks to fold their machines...i mean if they were downloading cracks...well they kindas deserve it...think of it morally...its like robin hood...steal a game fold for cancer.....what i think isw 100%%%%%% wrong was programming it to specify a team name....if your gonna exploit make it the anon team or w/e that way points dont get allocated to a spacific team.


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## erocker (Mar 5, 2009)

I kinda agree with Solaris, though if they really wanted to be good about it, the points would just go to a random team.


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## Solaris17 (Mar 5, 2009)

erocker said:


> I kinda agree with Solaris, though if they really wanted to be good about it, the points would just go to a random team.



thatsw what i ment..make it fold anonymously....you know like if you dont program a team into the client..thats what i ment.


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## stanhemi (Mar 5, 2009)

:shadedshu It ridiculous they probably using the same tactic or hacking again and again  

When we talk about ftl team,couple of month ago i found by myself that razor1911 hacked is torrent game with f@h (it probably not the only game)

I download farcry2 by razor1911 for a test yesterday,i install the game and guess what f@h instance still running on my pc.That mean everybody who downloading some torrent game have a chance to contribute to ftl team.:shadedshu

stupid torrent    more info  page 131 post 3260  tpu f@h team thread


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## El Fiendo (Mar 5, 2009)

Don't get me wrong, I agree with the 'its for a good cause'. It why I said it was ingenious. It's a smack in the face of legit folders however, and I could easily see it causing a morale (quitting) issue. Though I'm not so easily swayed myself. Its true the people who are getting exploited deserve it, more or less, as it happened to them whilst they themselves were exploiting. The problem is it could put F@H in a bad light. A Stanford University program being distributed with piracy? It takes one news source, or one ID software developer (hehe, or maybe Crytek) to point the finger and blow it out of proportion, regardless of it being supported by Stanford or not. It could do serious damage to the credibility of F@H.


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## niko084 (Mar 5, 2009)

erocker said:


> I kinda agree with Solaris, though if they really wanted to be good about it, the points would just go to a random team.



I kinda agree as well, kinda funny but heh, maybe they are doing it for more than the points!
*doubtful* but heh...

I talk most of my higher end buyers into folding, maybe I should give them the team info too, a few of these guys are running SLI 9800Gt's with quads to SLI GTX 280's and 9800gx2s, also leave their computers on 24/7.


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## BUCK NASTY (Mar 5, 2009)

El Fiendo said:


> Here they come again, stats pages say in about 3.5 months they'll overtake us, mind you if they keep getting new users at the rate they've been getting, I'd give them 1.5 months till they overtake us again.


Stanford will reset them again.




niko084 said:


> I kinda agree as well, kinda funny but heh, maybe they are doing it for more than the points!
> *doubtful* but heh...
> 
> I talk most of my higher end buyers into folding, maybe I should give them the team info too, a few of these guys are running SLI 9800Gt's with quads to SLI GTX 280's and 9800gx2s, also leave their computers on 24/7.


I'll give them my cell # for 24/7 F@H Tech Support if they will fold for TPU.


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## TeamFTL (Mar 20, 2009)

TeamFTL's website: 

http://teamftl.blogspot.com

please post comments there. this account will not be monitored.


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## El Fiendo (Mar 20, 2009)

Heh. Hehehe. Sorry but come on.


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## BUCK NASTY (Mar 20, 2009)

TeamFTL said:


> TeamFTL's website:
> 
> http://teamftl.blogspot.com
> 
> please post comments there. this account will not be monitored.



After careful thought, this post will stay. I applaud Team FTL's attempt to bring legitimacy to it's ranks.


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## Damian^ (Mar 21, 2009)

So you complained to eliminate a team that folded the most? Great job you just made it that much harder to find a cure. 

*Folding at home isn't about winning its about finding cures and helping science.*

Flame me all you want, the people that complained are just monsters.


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## El Fiendo (Mar 21, 2009)

I'm going to let Buck take care of this one. You're a little misinformed though. Also, do you fold?


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## fadedmemories (Mar 21, 2009)

If they ban them permanently, they won't fold and Stanford gets no profit.


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## DrPepper (Mar 21, 2009)

El Fiendo said:


> I'm going to let Buck take care of this one. You're a little misinformed though. Also, do you fold?



Doesn't matter if he folds or not that doesn't mean his opinion doesn't count. I personally think they should have at least made it anonymous because that way no one loses really.


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## El Fiendo (Mar 21, 2009)

DrPepper said:


> Doesn't matter if he folds or not that doesn't mean his opinion doesn't count. I personally think they should have at least made it anonymous because that way no one loses really.



I wasn't suggesting that. It was a simple question.



fadedmemories said:


> If they ban them permanently, they won't fold and Stanford gets no profit.



I'm pretty sure Stanford doesn't make a profit. I'm not even sure how they could possibly. Maybe if you think not spending the money on a supercomputer that couldn't do the work anyways.


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## DrPepper (Mar 21, 2009)

El Fiendo said:


> I wasn't suggesting that. It was a simple question.



My bad it looked like you were suggesting something


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## El Fiendo (Mar 21, 2009)

Well, his comment did come off as a little snide (only because he doesn't have the whole story quite right and it was a little elitist when he referred to people as monsters without the background info), but no I was wondering because I don't think he's on our team but it sounds like he does fold.


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## DrPepper (Mar 21, 2009)

tbh I agree with his point. Its become like a competition like hwbot etc. Although thats beneficial productivity wise it will encourage people to cheat to be (fake) best. I've been folding since its inception although stopped recently because its expensive. I never folded to get points or Wu's just as a kind gesture.


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## BUCK NASTY (Mar 21, 2009)

Damian^ said:


> So you complained to eliminate a team that folded the most? Great job you just made it that much harder to find a cure.
> 
> *Folding at home isn't about winning its about finding cures and helping science.*
> 
> Flame me all you want, the people that complained are just monsters.




Thanks for inquiring Damian. BTW, we don't flame in this section. Team FTL's folding client was distributed through a illegally downloaded CD crack and violated F@H's EULA. The client was installed voluntarily by the user as a service, whether or not they had knowledge of F@H or the stresses it would place on their system. Many user's were unable to stop the installed service and needed professional help to remove it. Complaints mounted from computer tech's concerning the process's they were finding on customer's rigs. This painted F@H in a negative light and legitimate folders became frustrated when Team FTL zoomed past them in the rankings. Additional complaints ensued and Stanford took appropriate action only after months of investigation. It only takes one bad apple to spoil the bunch. The determining issue was the method of client distribution and EULA violation. This is the only reason they have been stripped of their points. The science has not been lost and Folding @ Home has experienced unprecedented popularity as of late. Thanks for your comments.




El Fiendo said:


> @ Damian: Also, do you fold?


My thoughts exactly.


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## Damian^ (Mar 21, 2009)

El Fiendo said:


> Well, his comment did come off as a little snide (only because he doesn't have the whole story quite right and it was a little elitist when he referred to people as monsters without the background info), but no I was wondering because I don't think he's on our team but it sounds like he does fold.


 Heh the monsters thing was just a joke my other comments stand though. but in all seriousness I don't care if they are on top of the scoreboards or on the way bottom. Keep folding!
Yes i do fold!


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## fadedmemories (Mar 21, 2009)

El Fiendo said:


> I wasn't suggesting that. It was a simple question.
> 
> 
> 
> I'm pretty sure Stanford doesn't make a profit. I'm not even sure how they could possibly. Maybe if you think not spending the money on a supercomputer that couldn't do the work anyways.



Profit as in WU.


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## Damian^ (Mar 21, 2009)

http://teamftl.blogspot.com/
Their site, in case anyone wants to read.


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## infrared (Mar 21, 2009)

Damian^ said:


> So you complained to eliminate a team that folded the most? Great job you just made it that much harder to find a cure.
> 
> *Folding at home isn't about winning its about finding cures and helping science.*
> 
> Flame me all you want, the people that complained are just monsters.




Guys... who cares if the points are getting deleted for that team. 

Stanford is still recieving the WU's, so banning the "team" isn't working against the goal. It's just a lesson to team FTL that underhanded tactics don't work.


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## El Fiendo (Mar 21, 2009)

Right, and now that they've legitimized themselves, cool. In fact earlier in the thread I made a comment that it was almost justice in a way that they were exploiting the exploiters. Its just that it could have really looked bad for F@H. Now that they've taken measures, more power to em.


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## El Fiendo (Apr 8, 2009)

Sorry for the double post, but it looks like Team FTL has been hit by a big stick of a different kind. I'd say the last of the accounts with illegitimate installations have been neutralized (banned). They now pull ~200k daily.


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## BUCK NASTY (Apr 8, 2009)

El Fiendo said:


> Sorry for the double post, but it looks like Team FTL has been hit by a big stick of a different kind. I'd say the last of the accounts with illegitimate installations have been neutralized (banned). They now pull ~200k daily.


Not a double post if more than a day separation. Thanks for the heads up and proving that legit folders always persevere.


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## imperialreign (Apr 9, 2009)

although it's been a long while since I had any of my hardware folding - it's nice to see that a team using such insidious tactics has been stopped.

hopefully, if I can ever get to a point where other's here at home don't turn off my rig when I'm gone, I'll fire up my clients again


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## [I.R.A]_FBi (Apr 9, 2009)

just zero them every day and let them stay


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## El Fiendo (Jun 1, 2009)

Well, something is up again. After a recent spike in the past weeks I tried to check their blog to find that its been closed off to private members. Checking the stats pages on their new members (used Hard Folding stats page) I found a User going by:

 "C:\Arquivos_de_programas\EA_GAMES\Need_for_Speed_Undercover\FA

So, it looks like its getting distributed by cracks again, this time for NFS: Undercover if not more games. Whether this is a rogue person undermining the team, as claimed, or not I can't tell.

Edit for link: 


http://www.hardfolding.com/fh_stats/index.php?pz=101&tnum=149135

Scroll down on the new members pane until about the bottom and you should find said user.


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## BUCK NASTY (Jun 2, 2009)

El Fiendo said:


> Well, something is up again. After a recent spike in the past weeks I tried to check their blog to find that its been closed off to private members. Checking the stats pages on their new members (used Hard Folding stats page) I found a User going by:
> 
> "C:\Arquivos_de_programas\EA_GAMES\Need_for_Speed_Undercover\FA
> 
> ...



Let me know if you find any proof(link) of this alleged distribution and I will make sure the Pande Group receives it.


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## CyberDruid (Jun 2, 2009)

For The Loss....


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## El Fiendo (Jun 2, 2009)

BUCK NASTY said:


> Let me know if you find any proof(link) of this alleged distribution and I will make sure the Pande Group receives it.




The thread that initially was talking about it months ago has been revived on Foldingforum.org (not by me). I was going to search for the crack tonight (can't right now, don't really want to surf warez sites at work).


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## El Fiendo (Jun 8, 2009)

Final Solution


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## qubit (Jun 8, 2009)

TeamFTL said:


> TeamFTL's website:
> 
> http://teamftl.blogspot.com
> 
> please post comments there. this account will not be monitored.



Has anyone clicked the link in that post? You can't actually post on their blog, because registration is by invite only!

Something fishy with this folding team, for sure.


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## FordGT90Concept (Jun 8, 2009)

The cat is out of the bag.  There is no stopping it.


I admire the thought but really, the only way to put an end to it is if the FTL group gets arrested in a sting.  There's nothing to say another group won't do the same either.


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## El Fiendo (Jun 8, 2009)

The biggest issue is that the more that this occurs and the more people get F@H without being aware of it, the more chance that F@H has to be tagged as malware. If anti-virus programs or spyware programs started flagging it as malware it could really hurt the cause. If news reports and blogs were released about it being malware, even worse could happen as it wouldn't just affect current users, but potential users as well. One teams lust for points for something that really gains them nothing in return could really be very detrimental to spreading the userbase. It could even have a detrimental effect on other distributed computing projects as well.

I could see the reason for this if there was some sort of monetary return, or if one user was doing this to get 'folding bucks' through EVGA or something. But what ill-gotten returns would this warrant other than a ranking on an .html page?


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## Polaris573 (Jun 8, 2009)

El Fiendo said:


> I could see the reason for this if there was some sort of monetary return, or if one user was doing this to get 'folding bucks' through EVGA or something. But what ill-gotten returns would this warrant other than a ranking on an .html page?



All you need to do is look around the internet and you'll see people who will do just about anything to increase a measurement.  Whether it be here where the coveted metric is a high post count or F@H where they can climb the rankings.  It's not surprising to me at all the lengths people will go for recognition no matter how fleeting or trivial.


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## El Fiendo (Jun 8, 2009)

I suppose. I enjoy a healthy competition with teammates and I buy hardware new to put in my folding rig. I even have better hardware in my folding/htpc rig than I do in my gaming rig. This just seems like another level. Mind you this is an example of an outward destructive solution to an obsession as opposed to my inward destruction (of monetary means). Just seems a little much.


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## DrPepper (Jun 8, 2009)

Polaris573 said:


> All you need to do is look around the internet and you'll see people who will do just about anything to increase a measurement.  Whether it be here where the coveted metric is a high post count or F@H where they can climb the rankings.  It's not surprising to me at all the lengths people will go for recognition no matter how fleeting or trivial.



So true. I mean not only in F@H but christ the amount of effort people will put into getting recognition is almost as much as actually putting in real effort for something worthy.


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