Warez group

{{short description|Group dedicated to copyright infringement}} A '''warez group''' is a tightly organised group of people involved in creating and/or distributing warez such as movies, music or software ("warez") in The Scene. There are different types of these groups in the Scene: ''release groups'' and ''courier groups''. Groups often compete, as being the first to bring out a new quality release can bring status and respect – a type of "vanity contest". The warez groups care about the image others have of them.<ref name=Craig2005 />

==Description== ''ANALOG Computing'' observed in 1984 that software piracy did not make sense economically to those performing the software cracking.<ref name="harberg198401">{{Cite magazine |last=Harberg |first=Allen |date=January 1984 |title=Software Piracy: A Survey |url=https://archive.org/stream/analog-computing-magazine-15#page/n65/mode/2up |magazine=ANALOG Computing |pages=64–66 |quote=I continue to be amazed by the tenacity of the pirates. There are software publishers who market disks which contain 500 unformatted disk sectors. To make an illegal copy of such a disk, you would have to search a sea of unformatted sectors to find a single sector of binary zeroes. Yet I know that there are individuals who will spend untold hours listening to their drives make the most horrifying sounds imaginable while they search for an oasis in a desert of unformatted tracks. Eight hours and 1000 I/O errors later, they've created a back-up of a program which retails for a $29.95! I guess that using leisure time effectively, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder.}}</ref> The primary motivation of warez groups is not monetary gain, but the excitement of breaking rules and beating competitors,<ref name=Vanity /><ref name=darknet /> although at least two Scene groups have been asking for bitcoin donations, PoWeRUp and spamTV.<ref name=bitcoin /> Individual members of these groups are usually also the authors of cracks and keygens.<ref name=Vanity />

There are warez groups publishing new content outside of the Scene, often referred to as ''P2P groups''.<ref name=newkids /> They are a lot more accessible for people with access to new movies and are not limited to a set of rules and regulations.<ref name="newkids" />

The FBI have been combating warez groups with Operation: Cyberstrike, Operation Buccaneer, Operation Fastlink, Operation Safehaven and Operation Site Down.<ref name=KingKong>{{cite news|last=O'Brien|first=Timothy L.|title=King Kong vs. the Pirates of the Multiplex|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/28/business/media/28movie.html?_r=1&pagewanted=print|accessdate=2012-05-24|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2005-08-28|authorlink=Timothy L. O'Brien}}</ref><ref name="millennium">{{cite web |url=http://pdf.textfiles.com/academics/online-software-piracy-of-the-last-millennium-1_0.pdf |title=Online Software Piracy of the Last Millennium |first=Ben |last=Garrett |date=2004-04-27 |publisher=defacto2.net}}</ref> Similarly, the P2P group IMAGiNE has been disbanded due to law enforcement actions.<ref name=imagine />

Some game and software groups include Razor 1911, Reloaded, DrinkOrDie, Pirates With Attitude, Class, Myth and Fairlight. For a larger list, see the list of warez groups.

==Release groups== Release groups are responsible for making warez releases. For example, they rip a movie from DVD (often times, the Region 2/UK DVDs), encode it to a video file and chop it up in smaller pieces before sharing it. They are at the top of the warez world.<ref>{{cite web |title=Where do you want to pirate today? |author=Adam L. Penenberg |date=1997-08-08 |url=https://www.forbes.com/1997/08/08/column.html |accessdate=2013-07-06 |work=Forbes}}</ref> An announcement of the release shows up in pre databases after making the release available on their affiliate sites. Access to the original software products is necessary to write cracks and keygens so they share original media among each other, usually using private sites and servers.<ref name=Vanity /> Communication between members happens with IRC.<ref name=darknet />

Warez groups typically add NFO files with their releases. Due to the nature of the scene, not much is known about these groups. Most groups follow one of the different warez standards to prevent being nuked. Most groups are focused on a single category (music, movies, television, ...) or genre (e.g. metal music or graffiti).<ref name="wired">{{cite magazine |url=https://www.wired.com/2005/01/topsite/ |title=The Shadow Internet |first=Jeff |last=Howe |date=January 2005 |magazine=Wired}}</ref>

The group members have different roles. Most groups have one or more group leaders, aided by people with assignments such as supplier, cracker or ripper.<ref name=darknet/>

==Courier groups== Courier groups take releases and distribute them. This can be done using FXP to FTP sites. There are more couriers in the scene than there are crackers, suppliers and sites combined.<ref name=Craig2005 />

Couriers are a specific class of topsite users who earn their access by uploading new releases and filling requests. When a courier gains access to a topsite, they are often required to pass a trial test such as uploading a certain amount in a short period of time.<ref name=geheimewelt />

Couriers compete (race) against each other for respect, credits, access to other topsites, and fun.<ref name=nyt99 /> Private couriers often operate as independent (iND) couriers. Some couriers band together to form courier groups which provide support and friendship through camaraderie. Although it may be noted that Couriers/Racers are looked down upon more than ever by affiliates and topsite staff with the increase of scripts that perform the couriers tasks automatically.

==See also== *List of warez groups

==References== {{reflist|2|refs=

<ref name=Vanity>{{cite book|last1=Kammerstetter|first1=Markus|last2=Platzer|first2=Christian|last3=Wondracek|first3=Gilbert|title=Proceedings of the 2012 ACM conference on Computer and communications security - CCS '12 |chapter=Vanity, cracks and malware|year=2012|pages=809|doi=10.1145/2382196.2382282|isbn=9781450316514 |s2cid=3423843 |chapter-url=http://www.syssec-project.eu/m/page-media/3/kammerstetter-ccs12.pdf}}</ref>

<ref name=Craig2005>{{cite book |last1=Craig |first1=Paul |last2=Ron |first2=Mark |editor1-first=Mark |editor1-last=Burnett |others=Publisher: Andrew Williams, Page Layout and Art: Patricia Lupien, Acquisitions Editor: Jaime Quigley, Copy Editor: Judy Eby, Technical Editor: Mark Burnett, Indexer: Nara Wood, Cover Designer: Michael Kavish |title=Software Piracy Exposed – Secrets from the Dark Side Revealed |date=April 2005 |publisher=Syngress Publishing |location=United States of America |isbn=1-932266-98-4 |doi=10.1016/B978-193226698-6/50030-1 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/softwarepiracyex0000crai }}</ref>

<ref name=nyt99>{{cite news |url=http://partners.nytimes.com/library/tech/99/07/circuits/articles/29pira.html |title=Online Piracy: From Music to Film |date=1999-07-29 |first=Steve |last=Wilson |newspaper=The New York Times |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304191119/http://partners.nytimes.com/library/tech/99/07/circuits/articles/29pira.html |archivedate=2016-03-04 |url-status=live |quote=Like the pirates, the couriers do this largely for bragging rights, not money.}}</ref> <ref name=darknet>{{cite web|url=http://www.legalaffairs.org/issues/May-June-2005/feature_lasica_mayjun05.msp|title=The Prince of Darknet|last=Lasica|first=Joseph D.|date=May–June 2005|access-date=2017-01-06|archive-date=2022-10-13|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221013203049/https://www.legalaffairs.org/issues/May-June-2005/feature_lasica_mayjun05.msp|url-status=dead}}</ref> <ref name=geheimewelt>{{cite web |title=Die geheime Welt der Raubkopierer |trans-title=The secret world of pirates |language=German |first=Sascha |last=Plischke |date=2010-06-21 |url=http://www.t-online.de/computer/internet/id_42024770/warez-szene-so-arbeiten-die-filmpiraten-im-untergrund.html |accessdate=2013-07-06 |work=T-Online |archive-date=2017-01-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170107100216/http://www.t-online.de/computer/internet/id_42024770/warez-szene-so-arbeiten-die-filmpiraten-im-untergrund.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>

<ref name=newkids>{{cite web |title=BitTorrent Releasers Are The New Kids On The Piracy Block |url=https://torrentfreak.com/bittorrent-releasers-are-the-new-kids-on-the-piracy-block-100729/ |author=Enigmax |date=2010-07-29 |website=TorrentFreak}}</ref> <ref name=bitcoin>{{cite web |title=Scene Group Asks For Bitcoin Donations, Gets $0 |url=https://torrentfreak.com/scene-group-donations-160703/ |author=Ernesto |date=2016-07-03 |website=TorrentFreak}}</ref> <ref name=imagine>{{cite web |title=Reports: Feds Bust IMAGiNE Movie Release Group |url=https://torrentfreak.com/reports-feds-bust-imagine-movie-release-group-110913/ |author=Enigmax |date=2011-09-13 |website=TorrentFreak}}</ref>

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==External links== * [http://www.meehawl.com/Mine/Culture/5Consumption.html Consumption essay by Mike Rogers]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Warez Group}} Category:Warez Category:Warez groups