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What's the purpose for spreading PDFs like this? Are there ways to embed malware into PDFs so they attack the host machine of whoever downloads the files?

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When this happened to me, I jumped to the same conclusion, that the PDFs must be a honeypot or something.

But yes, PDFs are exploitable, like any file format.

https://www.sans.org/security-resources/malwarefaq/pdf-overv...

There are people who feel good about sharing non-free materials with others. Perhaps this approach is for users where torrenting isn't an option.

Yep, like me

I don't disagree with the idea, but it is hard to think of a world where we only optionally pay for things. Do you think it's okay because the cost is prohibitive? Or because if we truly value it we will support it if it is free or not free? I don't necessarily know how to reason this issue out.

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