Warez

Warez is an Internet slang term meaning copyrighted material (usually software) traded in violation of its copyright license. The term generally refers to releases by organized groups, as opposed to file sharing between friends. "Warez" is a deformed derivation of the word "wares" as in produce. Initially, it was a leet term used in underground circles, but today it is commonly used among mainstream Internet users. "Warez" is most common as a noun ("He downloaded 10 gigs of warez yesterday"), but can also be used as a verb ("The new Photoshop was warezed as soon as it was released"). People engaging in warez production and distribution are referred to as warezers, warez groups. They are also sometimes pejoratively called warez d00dz (this is leet speak) and warez kiddies. The collection of warez groups is referred to globally as the warez scene. Warezers are also often called pirates, figuratively referring to the pirates of ocean commerce, though the use of this term is controversial: see Copyright infringement of software for details. Warez is a large-scale and international phenomenon. Well-organized pirate groups, often based in China and Russia, illegally produce millions of copies of copyrighted software, which if sold at retail would be worth several billions of dollars annually. Warezers exploit the international nature of the Internet to avoid law enforcement from specific countries. For example, in Russia, the copying of software was once explicitly permitted by law when such software was not in the Russian language; this is no longer true, but prosecutions for copyright infringement are still very rare. Warez groups are often highly efficient, coordinating tasks among their members across the Internet. For example, suppose a popular new piece of commercial software is released in the United States. A warez group might first use one of its contacts in America to obtain a pre-release copy, then send it to a skilled programmer in Europe to remove copy protection (see software cracking), who will then send it to a distributor in Russia for release as warez. As a result, distribution of illegally copied programs on the same day as the commercial release ('0-day warez'), or even before ('negative-day warez'), is common. Beginning in the early 2000s, feature films have been frequently released by warez groups prior to their official release. Distribution of warez is usually handled between groups using topsites. The groups also have private sites for internal purposes, such as archiving their own releases and transferring the unmodified material.\nThrough the users of these sites the warez is delivered to people outside groups where it starts spreading through peer-to-peer networks, like KaZaA, and becomes available to the public. In addition to groups who profit from illegal software redistribution, there also exist others who obtain no monetary profit from their actions, often composed of high-school or undergraduate students. The motivation of these groups varies. Warez groups are frequently competitive amongst each other, and a fast warez release is viewed as a social accomplishment. The morality of copyright infringement is also much more disputed than that of conventional property theft, and members of warez groups often view their actions as socially positive. Justifications include the alleged impossibility of copyright enforcement and the perceived injustice of not sharing information with those who could not afford to obtain it otherwise. They also claim that warez may actually increase the value of software through the network effect. The production and/or distribution of warez is illegal in many jurisdictions. See Copyright infringement of software for legal details. Sometimes, in addition to actual illegally copied data, warez dealers distribute Free software and documentation, copyrighted works whose copyright license specifies that the work may be legally redistributed. The free software community generally doesn't have any relation to the warez scene. As of 2001, there were about 8 to 10 major warez networks. Some warez groups have included:\n* DrinkOrDie, subject to raid in December 2001.\n* Deviance\n* RAZOR1911\n* TGW\n* Myth\n* FairLight or FLT, subject to raid in April 2004.\n* USA\n* INC\n* BSP\n* FOSI\n* Radium (Providing illegal copies of expensive audio applications), retired from scene around 2002 In early 2003, the house of David Rocci, owner of a warez news site called iSONEWS.com, was raided and the domain was taken over. The raid happened because Rocci was advertising the modchips he was selling on the web site; it had nothing to do with the fact that his site featured "releases" by "groups". The raid on the website infuriated many free speech activists. iSONEWS continues to operate at other domains.

Table of contents

1 See also 2 External links 3 References

See also

\n* Copyright infringement of software

External links

\n* Piracy Textfiles\n* The ISO News: [1], [1].

References

\n*warez, The Jargon File\n*warez d00dz, The Jargon File \n\n