It's late at night now, and they're fast asleep. Look coldly at any dark window in any building, and you might see a white computer sitting quietly on its owner's desk. If the owner is sleeping deeply enough, open their drawer - what do you see? Oh, I don't mean their personal diary, nor am I asking you to look through their photo album or pencil case. But didn't you see a few pirated software discs?
Who dares to say that their personal computer doesn't have a single illegal software? It's a vast invisible piracy empire that has supported us into the IT era. This doesn't seem like an exaggeration. So, do you want to know the identities and origins of their creators? Do you want to understand their organizational structure and system? Do you want to know the truth? By chance, we learned all this and hope to make it public. Now, that's what we're doing.
1. Origins
The earliest software piracy organizations appeared in the late 1970s and early 1980s. These were strange spontaneous civilian organizations born abroad. Their members were teenage computer enthusiasts. They were purely technical groups that used their skills to crack software running on various machines (including personal computers and video game consoles), distributing them illegally but not for profit. In the early days without the internet, they transmitted games and self-made demo programs via telephone lines, conducting irregular technical exchanges, with organizations in the same region frequently exchanging members. These organizations were spread across North and South America, Europe, and South Africa.
In the 1990s, the global proliferation of PCs and the growing development of the internet created fertile ground for these organizations to grow and expand. This organization is intangible - they have their own beliefs and unwritten rules. They don't have their own websites or make money. Cracked games are only uploaded via FTP for download, and they exchange information through BBS. Organization members are very dedicated and take pride in being members of "WAREZ" or "0DAY" organizations. In some American universities, if a student is a "0DAY" member, their computer science teacher might even consider adding points to their grades - because joining such piracy organizations signifies technical excellence. Some early leaders of these organizations have now become lawyers, doctors, and government officials - pillars of society.
2. Terminology
Here we need to explain the meaning of "WAREZ" - it's a general term for those engaged in software piracy production abroad. "WARE" means cracked software, and "Z" stands for zero (ZERO), meaning cracking software in less than a day. So the meaning of "0DAY" is self-evident.
3. Operational Process
Below we'll introduce the process of how these organizations crack legitimate software.
First, the supply group is responsible for purchasing games or obtaining materials, then the cracking group is responsible for decrypting the software - this group often has the most members and requires the highest technical skills. After that comes the packaging group. Here, the "rules" differ between CD cracking organizations and hard disk cracking organizations. Hard disk versions require 2.8×65, meaning no more than 65 compressed packages, with each package not exceeding 2.8 megabytes. They believe that exceeding this standard means it can't be considered a hard disk version and would be deceiving downloaders. CD versions have no such restrictions - 15 megabyte ISO disc image packages that users download completely, then decompress and burn to CD to play the complete CD game.
The specific compression rules are generally like this: One ISO package contains one ZIP package, and the multimedia files within the ZIP package are further compressed with ACE. This ensures a 1:12 compression ratio, facilitating online distribution - all of the above is purely considering the players' interests. Finally, the distribution group is responsible for uploading the cracked game software to FTP.
4. Self-Management Mechanism
Various organizations don't have their own dedicated FTP download sites. You can voluntarily provide resources, and of course, site administrators can also join various organizations. Whether organization members or administrators, anyone who voluntarily joins these organizations has considerable responsibility. When a game cracked and uploaded by a member has already been cracked and uploaded by someone else on other sites first, then your crack will be CANCELLED. And if their hard disk version isn't as perfect as yours, they will automatically CANCEL their own version. This rule ensures survival of the fittest and guarantees that all cracked software has only one version, but it's definitely the most perfect one.
Peripheral members of major organizations come from all over the world. As long as they're willing and technically capable, they can join multiple piracy organizations simultaneously. When you graduate from school and get a legitimate job, and no longer have the energy to do this volunteer work, you'll naturally fade out from the organization.
5. The Legend of RAZOR1911
This section will briefly introduce RAZOR1911's journey from 1985 to the present on Commodore64, Amiga, and PC, as it is the most representative organization in the development of such groups.
On a rainy evening in October 1985, three young Norwegian computer enthusiasts decided to form a computer group to crack games for the Commodore64. They weren't quite sure what was needed to form a group, but they drew inspiration from famous software cracking groups like 1941, Section 8, Jedi2001, Hellmates, and SCC.
A good organization needs a good name. A friend named them RAZOR2992, but they didn't like this name and soon changed it to RAZOR1911. Many people asked why they used this name, and they replied that because in the C64 game cracking scene, there were too many mindless kids using numbers like 666 on their DEMOs, letterheads, and disk cases. They thought this was childish and wanted mystery - 1911 converts to 777 in hexadecimal, a mockery of 666.
6. Overview of Well-Known Organizations
Among the currently internationally renowned PC game software piracy organizations, those specializing in cracking and producing CD versions include RAZOR1911, FAIRLIGHT, and DEVIANCE, while those specializing in hard disk versions include CLASS, MYTH, and DD. Among application software piracy organizations, CORE, FOREST, ING, and PARADIGM are the most famous. FOREST specializes in cracking graphics software. Almost all pirated graphics software circulating worldwide is cracked by this organization.
7. The Situation in China
China's earliest personal "WAREZ" organization volunteer and webmaster of the "Chinese Decryption Base" website once wanted to establish his own "CHINA 0DAY" organization, and he had many like-minded individuals domestically. However, they soon discovered that "0DAY" organizations could not emerge in China. Many people simply attribute the reason to some kind of "national character" obstacle, which is incorrect. There are significant economic, social, and technical factors at play.
Economically speaking, IT and telecommunications industries are already developed in European and American countries, where annual personal expenses on hardware, software, and network services are negligible compared to per capita income. Economic development drives social progress and educational advancement, meaning more talented young people in developed countries can pursue this hobby. In China, if a computer genius is born in a mountainous area, they will never be able to prove themselves.
Editor's Note
This article is excerpted from the September 2000 first issue (17) of "Popular Software" (Total Issue 82). The article's intent is to introduce WAREZ and "combat piracy," but I must first declare that these are only the viewpoints expressed in the article.
As stated in the article, WAREZ are "purely technical groups not aimed at profit." "They have their own beliefs and established codes of conduct, they don't have their own websites, they don't make money, and cracked games are only uploaded via FTP for download, with information exchanged through BBS. Organization members have a strong spirit of dedication and take pride in being members of 'WAREZ' or '0DAY' organizations." It's just that their achievements have been exploited by businessmen, leading to today's so-called "pirated software."
This is just like the difference between the "hackers" people talk about nowadays and the "Hackers" in the true original sense. I hope this article helps everyone understand WAREZ better.