The Hacker's Encyclopedia 1998/hackers_encyclopedia.iso/pc/crack/warez.faq

Text File | 2003-06-11 | 14.3 KB | 286 lines

                              Usenet Warez FAQ

                                Introduction

Well, these newsgroups are the epitome of what the internet is, that is,
unadulterated, unmoderated, universal, most of all unruly. In the interest
of education the Inner Circle is bringing you these frequently asked
questions.

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                     What is alt.binaries.warez.ibm-pc?

This is a newsgroup dedicated to trading, exchanging, and posting commercial
software for pc/intel/windows/dos/ibm computers.

               No, I said, what is alt.binaries.warez.ibm-pc?

            (What is this group all about, why is it so popular?)

This newsgroup is a lot of different things to different people. Some users
treat it as an evaluation territory for a product they cannot evaluate in
any other way. Most products you buy from a store can be returned if you are
unsatisfied with them. Software, due to arcane licensing agreements, cannot.
The a.b.w.i. newsgroup provides an alternative route for many software
users, allowing them to "try before you buy" commercial software.

Many users of this group use it for one purpose only: pirating software. One
philosophy behind this is that software companies charge too much for their
products, and by getting software from the newsgroup, they are getting back
at software companies. Another, most likely more prevalent philosophy is
that most computer users simply cannot afford to buy expensive software and
games, and therefore, they use this group to satisfy their needs, urges or
entertainment.

Other users of this group believe it to be a true expression of the
internet: a free for all, free from rules and regulations that are imposed
on them in the real world: a kind of anarchy. The a.b.i.w. newsgroup helps
them in this escape from reality.

                         Is this newsgroup illegal?

            Why aren't software companies more concerned with it?

Technically, in North America, most of Europe, and in parts of Asia, this
group violates copyright laws. Questions have been raised in courts around
the world about licensing agreements, so this is really a gray area. A lot
of users do use this newsgroup to EVALUATE software only, and they tend to
buy the products they are most satisfied with. As for software companies,
they, for the most part, turn a blind eye to this newsgroup, as far a
prosecution of individuals goes, because some companies (such as Microsoft)
view the transfer of warez as a necessary evil. Internal memos at Microsoft
have stated that their company would not be anywhere near as successful as
they are today if Windows 3.1 was not the most copied software in history.

           Can I get in trouble by downloading software from here?

No you cannot, as long as you keep it to yourself. If you call up Microsoft
and say "Hey, I just got Office95 from the internet, and didn't pay a cent
for it! My name is Joe Loser, 123 Main Street, etc." well, you might get in
trouble then. As far as any secret internet police lurking around and
checking out your downloads, it's impossible for them to know. Your server
might, if they are actively tracking each and every file you access, but
then again if they did, they would cease to be the "blind midstation"
holding the warez unknowingly on their hard drives, and therefore would be
as accountable as you for possession of the warez.

                  Is software from here safe from viruses?

                  Can it harm my computer in any other way?

For the most part software in this group is safe from viruses, as most of
the regular contributors are conscientious of their uploads, and they have
checked them previously for viruses. BUT, you MUST scan each and every file
you download from this group as a precaution. Viruses have been spread in
this group on occasion, and you alone are responsible if you forget to scan
the software.

As far as programs "hurting" your computer, many programs can change the
nature of your computer -- you just have to be aware of the possible
changes. For example, Adobe PhotoShop is notorious for changing certain .dll
files in your windows/system directory, without notifying you. Other
programs install a 32 bit subset under Windows 3.xx without telling you.
These changes do not necessarily hurt your computer, but they do affect it.
The bottom line, don't download something just for the sake of downloading
it, be aware of the program first so you know what it can and should do.

                               How do I post?

Well the best thing to do is to lurk and watch the group for awhile. Then
when you are ready it must mean that you have compiled all the necessary
tools.

  1. Pkzip and WinZip are the utilities used to compress files and make them
     manageable.
  2. Agent news reader is the choice of many, including the Inner Circle.
     Agent can be fetched by ftp at ftp://ftp.forteinc.com/pub/forte/agent.
  3. If you don't use Agent, make sure you have the tools necessary to split
     up files if the reader you use doesn't do it for you, UUencode will be
     required.
  4. A good ISP or News server that allows posting binaries in full. The
     Inner Circle highly recommends alt.net
  5. ONLY POST IN SINGLE DISKS. Posting "One Large Zip" will result in a
     large number of articles, increasing your chances that the post will
     never make it complete to many servers.
  6. Test post in alt.test, NOT IN THIS GROUP!!! "alt.test" is the news
     group where you can do any testing you might want to do.
  7. General newsgroup ettiquette is to post with a header of REQ: to
     request specific software, FILE: when posting a file, and ATTN: when
     trying to write to a specific person.
  8. Keep in mind that the scene is supported by people who care. You are
     not owed anything, nor do YOU owe anything to this group.

                    What is the best setting for posting?

  1. For Agent goto options/ preferences/ attachments and choose a setting
     of anywhere between 10K and 15K lines. This will average one floppy
     disk into two to three pieces, easily managable.
  2. If you are using WinVn I believe the posting preference is in K-size in
     which you will want it to be about 909k not to be confused with lines.
     In the config menu of WinVn, chose attachement and for the size of
     "Article Split Length" fill: 944950. You will get post of about 15000
     lines. Be sure to select UU for the encoding process.

                         How do I post anonymously?

  1. Most news readers have a "Preferences" section. In this area you should
     eliminate your real name and use a nickname that you have made up. Make
     sure that this information is changed under "Group Properties" is you
     are using Agent.
  2. To further hide yourself while using Agent goto group/ default
     properties/ posting and be sure to fill in most of the fields, those
     most important are the from, reply to, organization and sender. Be sure
     to put something there (at least an * ) so that your ISP doesn't tag
     it.
  3. As far as your ISP tagging a time stamp ,IP #, or an access dial-in IP
     that identifies your geographical location the only recourse is to use
     a public server that doesn't do this or a news-to-e-mail gateway (size
     is limited with that one). Your on your own as far as finding these
     servers, and gateways, and we DO NOT suggest you ask in the group. Your
     only hope may be that someone takes you under their wing and or you
     happen to stumble across this info elsewhere.(try a search engine)
  4. Be aware that there is no such thing as true anonymous posting. Someone
     will always have a record of what you have posted. You can minimize
     this risk by following newsgroup ettiquette and NOT angering those
     people in a position to find out who you are.

                            What is "cypherpunk"

          Or "How do I remain anon and still get e-mail feed back?"

  1. Ask yourself? Do I really want this?
  2. Am I gonna screw up and fill the group with flames and gripes?
  3. Read the Remailer FAQ!!!
  4. Also read the Anonymity and privacy on the Internet pages!!!
  5. You can always use the somewhat undependable anon.penet.fi re-mailer
     service, but it is not as secure. Read the Instruction for
     Anon.Penet.Fi contact service pages!!! DO NOT try to send binaries
     through anon.penet.fi (or any of the other re-mailers for that matter)
     it will NOT work (there is about a 32k file size limit that it will
     allow you to send)

                       Where is all this stuff found?

  1. PGP262 Mit version is readily available from many a web and ftp site:
     http://web.mit.edu/network/pgp-form.html this web site is a good
     starting point.
  2. So you want to try to get the cypherpunks going: here are a couple
     places to start http://www.eskimo.com/~joelm/ items and info you find
     here are priceless in particular, Private Idaho, this is a mailer app
     that will help you send mail through a cypherpunk Re-mailer and chain
     them as well. Another good feature is that it will help you to set up a
     "nym" with a nym-server.
  3. If you really get into the pgp thing and decide to have a second key
     for anon reasons you better be good at key management. And you might
     want to put your key on a server, or acquire a key that is there so you
     can respond to someone who does use PGP here is the place to go
     http://www-swiss.ai.mit.edu/~bal/pks-commands.html.
  4. Where might you find some good net apps? why Strouds Consummate Winsock
     List is a good place to look http://cwsapps.texas.net/.
  5. Where do I find info about ISP available in my area?
     http://www.thelist.com/ as for weather they carry the groups you need
     is another question.
  6. Another source for PGP is The international PGP Home Page( this is
     added for our non US friends) (or anyone else for that matter)
     http://www.ifi.uio.no/pgp/.
  7. Both Free Agent and Agent news readers can be found at
     ftp://ftp.forteinc.com/.
  8. Another good site for PGP is
     ftp://ftp.informatik.uni-hamburg.de//pub/virus/crypt/.

                          What are some good tips?

  1. It's not polite to beg.
  2. Ask for something only after posting.
  3. If you e-mail someone about a post have all you facts straight.
  4. Don't continuously e-mail a posting contributor.
  5. If you post something do it right.
       1. If it's a CD RIP make sure it works.
       2. If you got it from somewhere else and never installed it, make
          sure it works.
       3. I don't have to tell you the importance of anti viri software.
       4. Post sensibly in large posts 10000 to 15000 lines.
  6. You saw a post you want, did you give the server enough time to make
     sure all parts arrived ? Wait a couple days before flaming and begging,
     it might just show up.
  7. You want to reply to an an### ID but don't want to be assigned an ID
     yourself, do it this way TO: -- NA######@anon.penet.fi .
  8. We all get upset at times but it's best not to do it in the group.
  9. No one controlls the group, don't assume they do, your isp decides
     whether or not to keep it available to you.(messages scroll, disk space
     is precious)
 10. If something is missing that does not mean there is a deleter!
 11. Servers time out and things end up missing, it happens, just relax a
     repost will usually show.
 12. Don't post public server addresses to the groups and don't ask for
     them.
 13. Don't post ftp sites to the groups and don't ask for them.
 14. If you stumble upon someones real id or think you know who they are
     it's a really bad idea to post such info as well. Unless they are a
     real screw up.
 15. Read the doc's that come with your winsock apps they are generally very
     thorough. "RTFM"
 16. There is no crime in asking questions.
 17. IRC is a good place to look for sites, YES irc has warez too!
 18. Don't expect someone to do all the work for you.

                      What warez groups are available?

Here are a few that we know of but not all of them are on every server:

   * alt.binaries.warez.ibm-pc *this would be the most popular.
   * alt.binaries.warez.ibm-pc.old
   * alt.warez.ibm-pc.apps
   * alt.warez.upload
   * alt.warez
   * alt.warez.ibm-pc.games
   * alt.warez.ibm-pc.old
   * alt.binaries.warez.ibm-pc.discussion ,(for the discussion of warez)
   * alt.binaries.warez.ibm-pc.dos
   * alt.cracks ,(for the tools and resources to defeat copy protection and
     registration)
   * alt.crackers ,(same as above)
   * alt.new.cracks ,(same as above)
   * alt.binaries.warez.mac
   * alt.binaries.warez
   * alt.binaries.pictures.leek

There are many other shareware groups as well as other discussion groups
that deserve mention.

   * alt.binaries.misc
   * alt.binaries.games
   * alt.security.pgp
   * alt.hackers
   * alt.hackers files
   * alt.2600

Not all these groups are available on all servers and not all are good or
used but they are out there, as well as some private sites and groups that
are specific to you isp or news server only.

                           Inner Circle Disclaimer

The Inner Circle in no way assumes to be a moderator nor expert in the warez
field. We do not claim the responsibility for any thing posted using the
name "Inner Circle". Nor do we store warez on our machines, or possesion.
Software developers have families, and should be able to support them.
Piracy is against the law, and we don't encourage it nor deny it's
existence. Copyright laws are meant to protect the income of software
companies, just as they do others, and we don't encourage breaking them
either. The collection of software is nothing more than a pissing contest
but the warez groups are a good place to find copies of items you have
rightfully purchased that may have become corrupt as well as a place to find
something you might want to evaluate before purchasing, Remember when you
purchase something you get the manuals and doc's that support as well as
technical support and there is a better chance it will install and work.

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   Document last edited 2/21/96. All information herein has been written,
 compiled, and edited by Mad Hatter, Wolf, Irrelevant, Clickety-Clack, Zero
                          Da Hero, and SpiffDoodz.

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