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{{Short description|Organized network of pirate groups}} {{Short description|Organized network of pirate groups}}
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The '''Warez scene''', often referred to as '''The Scene''',<ref>{{cite book |first=Linus |last=Walleij |title=Copyright does not exist |date=1998 |translator-first=Daniel A. |translator-last=Øien|chapter=Chapter 5 – Subculture of the Subcultures |chapter-url=http://svenskefaen.no/cdne/ch5web.htm |url=http://www.devili.iki.fi/pub/misc/books/cdne.pdf |quote=The Scene (capital S) is thus a label for the large group of users that exchange programs (primarily games) and also so-called demos.}}</ref> is an ] network of ] groups specialized in obtaining and illegally releasing ] before their official release date.<ref name="EveWarez">{{cite book |last1=Eve |first1=Martin Paul |title=Warez: The Infrastructure and Aesthetics of Piracy |date=2021 |publisher=punctum books |location=Earth, Milky Way |isbn=978-1-68571-036-1 |page=21}}</ref> The Scene distributes all forms of ], including ], ], ], ], and ].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Crisp |first1=Virginia |title=Film Distribution in the Digital Age: Pirates and Professionals |date=2017 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |location=Basingstoke |page=186}}</ref> This network is meant to be hidden from the public, with the files shared only with members of the community. However, as files became commonly leaked outside the community and their popularity grew, some individuals from The Scene began leaking files and uploading them to ], ] and ]. The '''Warez scene''', often referred to as '''The Scene''',<ref>{{cite book |first=Linus |last=Walleij |title=Copyright does not exist |date=1998 |translator-first=Daniel A. |translator-last=Øien|chapter=Chapter 5 – Subculture of the Subcultures |chapter-url=http://svenskefaen.no/cdne/ch5web.htm |url=http://www.devili.iki.fi/pub/misc/books/cdne.pdf |quote=The Scene (capital S) is thus a label for the large group of users that exchange programs (primarily games) and also so-called demos.}}</ref> is an ] network of ] groups specialized in obtaining and illegally releasing ] before their official release date.<ref name="EveWarez">{{cite book |last1=Eve |first1=Martin Paul |title=Warez: The Infrastructure and Aesthetics of Piracy |date=2021 |publisher=punctum books |location=Earth, Milky Way |isbn=978-1-68571-036-1 |page=21}}</ref> The Scene distributes all forms of digital media, including ], ], ], ], and ].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Crisp |first1=Virginia |title=Film Distribution in the Digital Age: Pirates and Professionals |date=2017 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |location=Basingstoke |page=186}}</ref> This network is meant to be hidden from the public, with the files shared only with members of the community. However, as files became commonly leaked outside the community and their popularity grew, some individuals from The Scene began leaking files and uploading them to ], ] and ].


The Scene has no central leadership, location, or other organizational culture. The groups themselves create a ] for each Scene category (for example, ] or ]) that then becomes the active rules for ] material. These rule sets include a rigid set of requirements that ]s (shortened as "grps") must follow in releasing and managing material. The groups must follow these rules when uploading material and, if the release has a technical error or breaks a rule, other groups may "]" (flag as bad content) the release.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Eve |first1=Martin Paul |title=Warez: The Infrastructure and Aesthetics of Piracy |date=2021 |publisher=punctum books |location=Earth, Milky Way |isbn=978-1-68571-036-1 |page=186}}</ref> Groups are in constant competition to get releases up as fast as possible. First appearing around the time of Bulletin Board Systems (]), The Scene is composed primarily of people dealing with and distributing media content, for which special skills and advanced ] are required. The Scene has no central leadership, location, or other organizational culture. The groups themselves create a ] for each Scene category (for example, ] or ]) that then becomes the active rules for ] material. These rule sets include a rigid set of requirements that ]s (shortened as "grps") must follow in releasing and managing material. The groups must follow these rules when uploading material and, if the release has a technical error or breaks a rule, other groups may "]" (flag as bad content) the release.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Eve |first1=Martin Paul |title=Warez: The Infrastructure and Aesthetics of Piracy |date=2021 |publisher=punctum books |location=Earth, Milky Way |isbn=978-1-68571-036-1 |page=186}}</ref> Groups are in constant competition to get releases up as fast as possible. First appearing around the time of Bulletin Board Systems (]), The Scene is composed primarily of people dealing with and distributing media content, for which special skills and advanced ] are required.


==History== ==History==
The Warez Scene started emerging in the 1970s, used by predecessors of ] and ] groups. Their work was made available on privately run ] (BBSes).<ref name="TheWarezSceneHistory">{{cite web |url=http://www.defacto2.net/wayback/apollo-x-demo-resources-1999-december-17/wrzhst.htm |title=The History of the Warez Scene (unfinished) |access-date=2012-07-07}}</ref> The first ] were located in the ], but similar boards started appearing in ], the ], ], and mainland ]. At the time, setting up a machine capable of distributing data was not trivial, and required a certain amount of technical skill; this was usually taken on as a technical challenge. The ] typically hosted several megabytes of material, with the best boards having multiple ], and up to one hundred megabytes of storage space, a considerable expense at the time.<ref name="WarezWars">{{cite news |first=David |last=McCandless |title=Warez Wars |url=https://www.wired.com/wired/archive/5.04/ff_warez.html |publisher=] |date = April 1997|access-date=2009-06-06}}</ref> Releases were mostly games and later ]. The Warez Scene started emerging in the 1970s, used by predecessors of ] and ] groups. Their work was made available on privately run ] (BBSes).<ref name="TheWarezSceneHistory">{{cite web |url=http://www.defacto2.net/wayback/apollo-x-demo-resources-1999-december-17/wrzhst.htm |title=The History of the Warez Scene (unfinished) |access-date=2012-07-07}}</ref> The first ] were located in the ], but similar boards started appearing in ], the ], ], and mainland ]. At the time, setting up a machine capable of distributing data was not trivial, and required a certain amount of technical skill; this was usually taken on as a technical challenge. The ] typically hosted several megabytes of material, with the best boards having multiple ], and up to one hundred megabytes of storage space, a considerable expense at the time.<ref name="WarezWars">{{cite news |first=David |last=McCandless |title=Warez Wars |url=https://www.wired.com/wired/archive/5.04/ff_warez.html |publisher=] |date = April 1997|access-date=2009-06-06}}</ref> Releases were mostly games and later software.


As the world of ] evolved to counter the distribution of material, and as the ] and hardware needed for distribution became readily available to anyone, The Scene adapted to the changes and turned from simple distribution to actual ] of copying restrictions and non-commercial ].<ref name="TheWarezSceneHistory" /> As many groups of people who wanted to do this emerged, a requirement for promotion of individual groups became evident, which prompted the evolution of the ], which specialized in the creation of graphical ] associated with individual groups.<ref name="DefactoSceneHistory">{{cite web |url=http://www.defacto2.net/includes/documentsweb/df2web99/scene-archive/history.html | title=scene history | access-date=2009-06-06}}</ref> The groups would promote their abilities with ever more sophisticated and advanced ], graphical ], and later also ] (]).<ref></ref> As the world of ] evolved to counter the distribution of material, and as the ] and hardware needed for distribution became readily available to anyone, The Scene adapted to the changes and turned from simple distribution to actual software cracking of copying restrictions and non-commercial reverse engineering.<ref name="TheWarezSceneHistory" /> As many groups of people who wanted to do this emerged, a requirement for promotion of individual groups became evident, which prompted the evolution of the ], which specialized in the creation of graphical ] associated with individual groups.<ref name="DefactoSceneHistory">{{cite web |url=http://www.defacto2.net/includes/documentsweb/df2web99/scene-archive/history.html | title=scene history | access-date=2009-06-06}}</ref> The groups would promote their abilities with ever more sophisticated and advanced software, graphical art, and later also music (]).<ref></ref>


The subcommunities (], ], etc.), which were doing nothing illegal, eventually branched off. The programs containing the group promotional material (coding/graphical/musical presentations) evolved to become separate programs distributed through The Scene, and were nicknamed ]s and later ]s. The subcommunities (artscene, demoscene, etc.), which were doing nothing illegal, eventually branched off. The programs containing the group promotional material (coding/graphical/musical presentations) evolved to become separate programs distributed through The Scene, and were nicknamed ]s and later ]s.


The ] grew especially strong in ], where annual gatherings are hosted.<ref>{{cite web |title=ASSEMBLY Summer 2011 – Finland's largest computer festival in Helsinki |url=http://www.assembly.org |year=2011}}</ref> The demoscene grew especially strong in ], where annual gatherings are hosted.<ref>{{cite web |title=ASSEMBLY Summer 2011 – Finland's largest computer festival in Helsinki |url=http://www.assembly.org |year=2011}}</ref>


==Release procedure== ==Release procedure==
When releasing material, groups must first encode properly so as not to be nuked, which shows up as a cautionary flag to potential users. After encoding, they ] the files to a ], an ](a file transfer protocol) server with a large amount of ] where all the files originate. When the ] is complete, they execute a command that causes the name and category of the release to be announced in the topsite's ](Internet Relay Chat) channel using an ] hosting an ] which keeps track of activity. This ] server and ] are hidden and closed to the public. New releases are also announced 0sec (meaning seconds to minutes after official scene pre) on various public websites. This is called a "pre" release. Once this is done, all other releases for the same material are nuked as duplicates ("dupes"). However, if there is a technical error or the file breaks the ruleset for the category, the original "pre" release will be nuked. Other groups then encode the same material and release it with a "PROPER" tag in the filename. The same group may re-encode the file, with the new release marked as "REPACK". If the issue was with something other than the main content, the same group can release a "fix", labelled "DIRFIX", "NFOFIX", etc. as appropriate. Release groups are exempt from FTP ]s in most cases, while "racers" in ] ] channels will be given a ratio. Racers use ] software and custom auto-trading software to transfer releases from one ] to other ]'s and ] Site-Rings (group of ] linked together) around the world. ] site channels will use modes such as +s (secret) +p (private) and +i (invite only) to avoid detection. When releasing material, groups must first encode properly so as not to be nuked, which shows up as a cautionary flag to potential users. After encoding, they ] the files to a ], an ] (a file transfer protocol) server with a large amount of ] where all the files originate. When the ] is complete, they execute a command that causes the name and category of the release to be announced in the topsite's ] (Internet Relay Chat) channel using an ] hosting an ] which keeps track of activity. This FTP server and IRC are hidden and closed to the public.


New releases are also announced 0sec (meaning seconds to minutes after official scene pre) on various public websites. This is called a "pre" release. Once this is done, all other releases for the same material are nuked as duplicates ("dupes"). However, if there is a technical error or the file breaks the ruleset for the category, the original "pre" release will be nuked. Other groups then encode the same material and release it with a "PROPER" tag in the filename. The same group may re-encode the file, with the new release marked as "REPACK". If the issue was with something other than the main content, the same group can release a "fix", labelled "DIRFIX", "NFOFIX", etc. as appropriate. Release groups are exempt from FTP ]s in most cases, while "racers" in ] ] channels will be given a ratio. Racers use ] software and custom auto-trading software to transfer releases from one FTP to other FTP's and FTP Site-Rings (group of ] linked together) around the world. IRC site channels will use modes such as +s (secret) +p (private) and +i (invite only) to avoid detection.
⚫ Each release in The Scene consists of a folder containing the material (sometimes split into ] pieces), plus an ] and ] file. The ] is a text file which has essential information about the files encoded, including a reason for the nuke if the file is a PROPER or REPACK release. A robust ] file may contain a group's mission statement, recruitment requirements, greetings, and contact info; many groups have a standard ] template for the file, with the most prolific exhibiting elaborate artistic examples. The ] file uses ] to ensure that the files of a release are working properly and have not been damaged or tampered with. This is typically done with the aid of an external executable like QuickSFV or SFV Checker. Failure to include an ] or ] file in the release will generally result in a nuke, as these are essential components of the ] to which The Scene adheres.

⚫ Each release in The Scene consists of a folder containing the material (sometimes split into ] pieces), plus an NFO and SFV file. The NFO is a text file which has essential information about the files encoded, including a reason for the nuke if the file is a PROPER or REPACK release. A robust NFO file may contain a group's mission statement, recruitment requirements, greetings, and contact info; many groups have a standard ] template for the file, with the most prolific exhibiting elaborate artistic examples. The SFV file uses ] to ensure that the files of a release are working properly and have not been damaged or tampered with. This is typically done with the aid of an external executable like QuickSFV or SFV Checker. Failure to include an NFO or SFV file in the release will generally result in a nuke, as these are essential components of the ] to which The Scene adheres.


In 2012, The Scene had over 100 active groups releasing material. Over 1,000 releases were made each day, with a cumulative total of more than five and a half million releases through 2012.<ref>{{cite web |title=PreDB.in |url=http://predb.in/doku/index.htm#stats |access-date=2012-01-19 |archive-date=2012-01-15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120115024903/http://predb.in/doku/index.htm#stats |url-status=dead }}</ref> In 2012, The Scene had over 100 active groups releasing material. Over 1,000 releases were made each day, with a cumulative total of more than five and a half million releases through 2012.<ref>{{cite web |title=PreDB.in |url=http://predb.in/doku/index.htm#stats |access-date=2012-01-19 |archive-date=2012-01-15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120115024903/http://predb.in/doku/index.htm#stats |url-status=dead }}</ref>
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==Crackers and reverse engineers== ==Crackers and reverse engineers==
{{Main|Software cracking}} {{Main|Software cracking}}
] has been the core element of The Scene since its beginning. This part of The Scene community, sometimes referred to as the crack scene, specializes in the creation of software cracks and ]s. The challenge of ] and ] complicated ] is what makes it an attraction.<ref name=Craig2005> Software cracking has been the core element of The Scene since its beginning. This part of The Scene community, sometimes referred to as the crack scene, specializes in the creation of software cracks and ]s. The challenge of software cracking and reverse engineering complicated software is what makes it an attraction.<ref name=Craig2005>
{{cite book |last1=Craig |first1=Paul |last2=Honick |first2=Ron |editor-first=Mark |editor-last=Burnett |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/B978-193226698-6/50029-5 |page= |chapter=Chapter 4: Cracking |quote=For many, it is the challenge of the game; trying to defeat technology designed specifically to stop them. For others, there is a significant financial incentive involved. Many black market counterfeiting operations employ crackers to remove copy protection from software titles, thereby allowing the material to be copied and sold. Cracking is taken very seriously, and is the most respected role in the warez group scene. |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/softwarepiracyex0000crai/page/63 |chapter-url-access=registration}}</ref> The game ] group ] described it as follows in one of their ] files:<ref>{{citation |title=Trainz.Simulator.12.Nfo.Fix-SKIDROW |date=2011-04-18}}</ref> {{cite book |last1=Craig |first1=Paul |last2=Honick |first2=Ron |editor-first=Mark |editor-last=Burnett |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/B978-193226698-6/50029-5 |page= |chapter=Chapter 4: Cracking |quote=For many, it is the challenge of the game; trying to defeat technology designed specifically to stop them. For others, there is a significant financial incentive involved. Many black market counterfeiting operations employ crackers to remove copy protection from software titles, thereby allowing the material to be copied and sold. Cracking is taken very seriously, and is the most respected role in the warez group scene. |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/softwarepiracyex0000crai/page/63 |chapter-url-access=registration}}</ref> The game cracking group ] described it as follows in one of their NFO files:<ref>{{citation |title=Trainz.Simulator.12.Nfo.Fix-SKIDROW |date=2011-04-18}}</ref>


{{quote|Keep in mind we do all this, because we can and because we like the thrilling excitement of winning over the other competing groups. We absolutely don't do all these releases, to please the general user that rather want to spend their cash on updating to the latest hardware, and sees the scene releases as a source to play all these games for free. Enjoy playing and remember if you like it, support the developer!}} {{quote|Keep in mind we do all this, because we can and because we like the thrilling excitement of winning over the other competing groups. We absolutely don't do all these releases, to please the general user that rather want to spend their cash on updating to the latest hardware, and sees the scene releases as a source to play all these games for free. Enjoy playing and remember if you like it, support the developer!}}


The game ] group ] expressed it as follows in their ] files:<ref>{{citation |title=Yager.DVDRiP-MYTH |date=2003-09-25}}</ref> The game ] group ] expressed it as follows in their NFO files:<ref>{{citation |title=Yager.DVDRiP-MYTH |date=2003-09-25}}</ref>


{{quote|We do this just for FUN. We are against any profit or commercialisation of piracy. We do not spread any release, others do that. In fact, we BUY all our own games with our own hard earned and worked for efforts. Which is from our own real life non-scene jobs. As we love game originals. Nothing beats a quality original. "If you like this game, BUY it. We did!"}} {{quote|We do this just for FUN. We are against any profit or commercialisation of piracy. We do not spread any release, others do that. In fact, we BUY all our own games with our own hard earned and worked for efforts. Which is from our own real life non-scene jobs. As we love game originals. Nothing beats a quality original. "If you like this game, BUY it. We did!"}}
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* {{cite thesis |type=Ph.D. |first=Andrew |last=Sockanathan |year=2011 |title=Digital Desire and Recorded Music: OiNK, Mnemotechnics and the Private BitTorrent Architecture |publisher=Goldsmiths, University of London, Centre for Cultural Studies |url=http://research.gold.ac.uk/6569/}} * {{cite thesis |type=Ph.D. |first=Andrew |last=Sockanathan |year=2011 |title=Digital Desire and Recorded Music: OiNK, Mnemotechnics and the Private BitTorrent Architecture |publisher=Goldsmiths, University of London, Centre for Cultural Studies |url=http://research.gold.ac.uk/6569/}}
* {{cite journal |url=http://widerscreen.fi/numerot/2014-1-2/amis-euros-software-import-contacts-european-american-cracking-scenes/ |title="Amis and Euros." Software Import and Contacts Between European and American Cracking Scenes |first=Patryk |last=Wasiak |date=2014-04-15 |journal=WiderScreen |issue=1–2}} * {{cite journal |url=http://widerscreen.fi/numerot/2014-1-2/amis-euros-software-import-contacts-european-american-cracking-scenes/ |title="Amis and Euros." Software Import and Contacts Between European and American Cracking Scenes |first=Patryk |last=Wasiak |date=2014-04-15 |journal=WiderScreen |issue=1–2}}
* {{cite journal |first=Patryk |last=Wasiak |date=2012 |title='Illegal Guys'. A History of Digital Subcultures in Europe during the 1980s |journal=Zeithistorische Forschungen/Studies in Contemporary History, Online-Ausgabe |url=http://www.zeithistorische-forschungen.de/2-2012/id=4746 |pages=257–276 |volume=9 |issue=2}} * {{cite journal |first=Patryk |last=Wasiak |date=2012 |title='Illegal Guys'. A History of Digital Subcultures in Europe during the 1980s |journal=Zeithistorische Forschungen/Studies in Contemporary History |url=http://www.zeithistorische-forschungen.de/2-2012/id=4746 |pages=257–276 |volume=9 |issue=2}}
* Stephen Witt, '']'', Viking (June 16, 2015), hardcover, 304 pages, {{ISBN|978-0525426615}} * Stephen Witt, '']'', Viking (June 16, 2015), hardcover, 304 pages, {{ISBN|978-0525426615}}
* {{cite thesis |first=Jan Adriaan |last=van der Wal |title=The "rise" and "fall" of the MP3scene: A Global and Virtual Organization - An organizational, social relational and technological analysis |year=2009 |url=http://dare.uva.nl/document/139360}} * {{cite thesis |first=Jan Adriaan |last=van der Wal |title=The "rise" and "fall" of the MP3scene: A Global and Virtual Organization - An organizational, social relational and technological analysis |year=2009 |url=http://dare.uva.nl/document/139360}}

Latest revision as of 07:20, 13 December 2024

Organized network of pirate groups
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A hierarchy, from the top down it reads: "Release Groups", "Topsites", "Couriers", "Sites", and "Leechers".
Warez hierarchy

The Warez scene, often referred to as The Scene, is an underground network of piracy groups specialized in obtaining and illegally releasing digital media before their official release date. The Scene distributes all forms of digital media, including computer games, movies, TV shows, music, and pornography. This network is meant to be hidden from the public, with the files shared only with members of the community. However, as files became commonly leaked outside the community and their popularity grew, some individuals from The Scene began leaking files and uploading them to file-hosts, torrents and EDonkey Networks.

The Scene has no central leadership, location, or other organizational culture. The groups themselves create a rule set for each Scene category (for example, MP3 or TV) that then becomes the active rules for encoding material. These rule sets include a rigid set of requirements that Warez groups (shortened as "grps") must follow in releasing and managing material. The groups must follow these rules when uploading material and, if the release has a technical error or breaks a rule, other groups may "nuke" (flag as bad content) the release. Groups are in constant competition to get releases up as fast as possible. First appearing around the time of Bulletin Board Systems (BBSes), The Scene is composed primarily of people dealing with and distributing media content, for which special skills and advanced software are required.

History

The Warez Scene started emerging in the 1970s, used by predecessors of software cracking and reverse engineering groups. Their work was made available on privately run bulletin board systems (BBSes). The first BBSes were located in the United States, but similar boards started appearing in Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, and mainland Europe. At the time, setting up a machine capable of distributing data was not trivial, and required a certain amount of technical skill; this was usually taken on as a technical challenge. The BBSes typically hosted several megabytes of material, with the best boards having multiple phone lines, and up to one hundred megabytes of storage space, a considerable expense at the time. Releases were mostly games and later software.

As the world of software development evolved to counter the distribution of material, and as the software and hardware needed for distribution became readily available to anyone, The Scene adapted to the changes and turned from simple distribution to actual software cracking of copying restrictions and non-commercial reverse engineering. As many groups of people who wanted to do this emerged, a requirement for promotion of individual groups became evident, which prompted the evolution of the artscene, which specialized in the creation of graphical art associated with individual groups. The groups would promote their abilities with ever more sophisticated and advanced software, graphical art, and later also music (demoscene).

The subcommunities (artscene, demoscene, etc.), which were doing nothing illegal, eventually branched off. The programs containing the group promotional material (coding/graphical/musical presentations) evolved to become separate programs distributed through The Scene, and were nicknamed Intros and later Cracktros.

The demoscene grew especially strong in Scandinavia, where annual gatherings are hosted.

Release procedure

When releasing material, groups must first encode properly so as not to be nuked, which shows up as a cautionary flag to potential users. After encoding, they upload the files to a topsite, an FTP (a file transfer protocol) server with a large amount of bandwidth where all the files originate. When the upload is complete, they execute a command that causes the name and category of the release to be announced in the topsite's IRC (Internet Relay Chat) channel using an IRC bot hosting an IRC script which keeps track of activity. This FTP server and IRC are hidden and closed to the public.

New releases are also announced 0sec (meaning seconds to minutes after official scene pre) on various public websites. This is called a "pre" release. Once this is done, all other releases for the same material are nuked as duplicates ("dupes"). However, if there is a technical error or the file breaks the ruleset for the category, the original "pre" release will be nuked. Other groups then encode the same material and release it with a "PROPER" tag in the filename. The same group may re-encode the file, with the new release marked as "REPACK". If the issue was with something other than the main content, the same group can release a "fix", labelled "DIRFIX", "NFOFIX", etc. as appropriate. Release groups are exempt from FTP Share ratios in most cases, while "racers" in Topsite IRC channels will be given a ratio. Racers use FXP software and custom auto-trading software to transfer releases from one FTP to other FTP's and FTP Site-Rings (group of dedicated servers linked together) around the world. IRC site channels will use modes such as +s (secret) +p (private) and +i (invite only) to avoid detection.

Each release in The Scene consists of a folder containing the material (sometimes split into RAR pieces), plus an NFO and SFV file. The NFO is a text file which has essential information about the files encoded, including a reason for the nuke if the file is a PROPER or REPACK release. A robust NFO file may contain a group's mission statement, recruitment requirements, greetings, and contact info; many groups have a standard ASCII art template for the file, with the most prolific exhibiting elaborate artistic examples. The SFV file uses checksums to ensure that the files of a release are working properly and have not been damaged or tampered with. This is typically done with the aid of an external executable like QuickSFV or SFV Checker. Failure to include an NFO or SFV file in the release will generally result in a nuke, as these are essential components of the warez standard to which The Scene adheres.

In 2012, The Scene had over 100 active groups releasing material. Over 1,000 releases were made each day, with a cumulative total of more than five and a half million releases through 2012.

As of 2023, the number of releases has doubled since 2012, surpassing 11 million in total. With now over 400 active scene release groups, more than 2,000 releases are made every day.

Crackers and reverse engineers

Main article: Software cracking

Software cracking has been the core element of The Scene since its beginning. This part of The Scene community, sometimes referred to as the crack scene, specializes in the creation of software cracks and keygens. The challenge of software cracking and reverse engineering complicated software is what makes it an attraction. The game cracking group SKIDROW described it as follows in one of their NFO files:

Keep in mind we do all this, because we can and because we like the thrilling excitement of winning over the other competing groups. We absolutely don't do all these releases, to please the general user that rather want to spend their cash on updating to the latest hardware, and sees the scene releases as a source to play all these games for free. Enjoy playing and remember if you like it, support the developer!

The game ripping group MYTH expressed it as follows in their NFO files:

We do this just for FUN. We are against any profit or commercialisation of piracy. We do not spread any release, others do that. In fact, we BUY all our own games with our own hard earned and worked for efforts. Which is from our own real life non-scene jobs. As we love game originals. Nothing beats a quality original. "If you like this game, BUY it. We did!"

David Grime, former DrinkOrDie member, describes the motivation of The Warez Scene as follows: "It's all about stature. They are just trying to make a name for themselves for no reason other than self-gratification."

See also

References

  1. Walleij, Linus (1998). "Chapter 5 – Subculture of the Subcultures". Copyright does not exist (PDF). Translated by Øien, Daniel A. The Scene (capital S) is thus a label for the large group of users that exchange programs (primarily games) and also so-called demos.
  2. Eve, Martin Paul (2021). Warez: The Infrastructure and Aesthetics of Piracy. Earth, Milky Way: punctum books. p. 21. ISBN 978-1-68571-036-1.
  3. Crisp, Virginia (2017). Film Distribution in the Digital Age: Pirates and Professionals. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. p. 186.
  4. Eve, Martin Paul (2021). Warez: The Infrastructure and Aesthetics of Piracy. Earth, Milky Way: punctum books. p. 186. ISBN 978-1-68571-036-1.
  5. ^ "The History of the Warez Scene (unfinished)". Retrieved 2012-07-07.
  6. McCandless, David (April 1997). "Warez Wars". Wired. Retrieved 2009-06-06.
  7. "scene history". Retrieved 2009-06-06.
  8. The BBS Documentary – MOVIE
  9. "ASSEMBLY Summer 2011 – Finland's largest computer festival in Helsinki". 2011.
  10. "PreDB.in". Archived from the original on 2012-01-15. Retrieved 2012-01-19.
  11. "PreDB.net".
  12. Craig, Paul; Honick, Ron (April 2005). "Chapter 4: Cracking". In Burnett, Mark (ed.). Software Piracy Exposed – Secrets from the Dark Side Revealed. United States of America: Syngress Publishing. p. 63. doi:10.1016/B978-193226698-6/50029-5. ISBN 1-932266-98-4. For many, it is the challenge of the game; trying to defeat technology designed specifically to stop them. For others, there is a significant financial incentive involved. Many black market counterfeiting operations employ crackers to remove copy protection from software titles, thereby allowing the material to be copied and sold. Cracking is taken very seriously, and is the most respected role in the warez group scene.
  13. Trainz.Simulator.12.Nfo.Fix-SKIDROW, 2011-04-18
  14. Yager.DVDRiP-MYTH, 2003-09-25
  15. Lee, Jennifer (2002-07-11). "Pirates on the Web, Spoils on the Street". The New York Times.
  16. Chandra, Priyank (2016). "Order in the Warez Scene". Proceedings of the 2016 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems – CHI '16. pp. 372–383. doi:10.1145/2858036.2858341. ISBN 9781450333627. S2CID 15919355.
  17. "The Movers Collection, Part 2". got papers?. 2016-01-27. SCA sending out custom-made anti-virus software to protect their friends from their own SCA Virus

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