Who Stole the Half-Life Source Code?
Arrests have been made in several countries stemming from the October 2003 theft of computer source code for a Half-Life 2, a much-anticipated sequel to the popular computer game Half-Life. Tips from an online gaming community led to the arrests after an eight-month investigation by the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation into the theft, according to a statement released this week by Valve of Bellevue, Washington, which makes the game. “Within a few days of the announcement of the break-in, the online gaming community had tracked down those involved,” says Gabe Newell, Valve’s chief executive officer, in a statement. “It was extraordinary to watch how quickly and how cleverly gamers were able to unravel what are traditionally unsolvable problems for law enforcement related to this kind of cybercrime.” Valve did not reveal details about the arrests and referred questions to the FBI’s Northwest Cyber Crime Task Force. The FBI did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
