Software piracy in the ?80s and ?90s. The second book
in the CRACKERS series. Digital visions and copy parties, intrigues and
industrial espionage, disk traders and pirates. Elitism, escape and
persecution: The mysterious life of crackers and their scene
organisations shaped the computer age.
Zero-day warez and 101% cracks with ?++ trainer? are the golden
standards among the C64 crackers. In the early 1990s, software pirates
organised themselves and the underground scene grew into a global
distribution network. Uploading and downloading became daily business.
The
BBSes (Bulletin Board Systems) became the distribution centres, the
software goldmines. And when the console games became copyable, some
sensed a business opportunity. But how did teenage crackers deal with
the Far Eastern black market? And what led to perhaps the largest
European piracy raid of the 1990s? Which role did American calling cards
play? And how were the groups able to distribute their cracks via
public commerce?
Special Features and Guest articles on When Cracking became popular (written by David Almer) // The Spirit of Swapping (by Cedric/Stranger HMD) // The Wonders of ASCII graphics (by SNS) // Photocopy Protection (manuals) // World of Copy Protection (by Denis Lechevalier) // Chaos Computer Club // Compact Disk Menus // AmiExpo Fair (Amiga Messe) // Scene Letters (handwritten) // X-Copy Professional // Calling Cards, Minitel (France) // BBSses // Trojan Virus // Total Apathy (Demo).
Featuring:
Mr. Z, Eagle Soft Incorporated, Dynamic-Duo, Genesis Project, Cynix,
ST/Amigos, ST Bandits, The Revolution, T.O.I., Nokturnal, The Big Four,
HRFH, Cynix, Hotline, MCA, Elite, Elitendo, The Empire, The Syndicate,
ICS, The Blade Runners, The Medway Boys, Pompey Pirates, Automation,
BBC, Sub Humans of Turkey, RBCG, The Marvellous V8, Fuzion, Positivity,
Jordan Corp, The Stranglers, Hemoroids, The Corporation, VMAX, Factory,
The Overlanders, TCB, The Replicants, The Masters, Euro-Soft, 42-Crew,
CSS, STCS, ACF, Vectronix, Tristar & Red Sector, Quartex, Fairlight,
Paradox, Skid Row, Anthrox, Activision, Lucasfilm Games, Ubi Soft,
Coktel Vision, Titus, Delphine, Lankhor, Ere Informatique, Infogrames,
Eclipse, Gremlin, U. S. Gold, Ocean France, Argonaut, Domark, Accolade,
Sega, Nintendo, Microsoft, Stacker, IAAD, Brigade des Recherches, FAST,
ELSPA, Copylock Software, RATsoft ST, DMC, Codehead, Cachet, Chaos
Computer Club, Gravenreuth & Syndikus, Triton, Bobmark, Supercom
Partner... and many more.
90 pages of Interviews with Rob Northen of
Copylock Software // Tsunoo Rhilty of STCS // AN Cool of TCB // Axe of
Delight // Arthur Dent of CSS // Floyd of 42-Crew // Robocamp of VMAX //
Ellfire of Fuzion // Dom of The Replicants // EGB of Automation //
Orion of Fuzion // Yoda of The Marvelleous V8 // Ratboy of STCS //
Metallinos of Vectronix // Mr Fly of ICS // The Threat of ICS // Illegal
of The Replicants // Bacchus of Fairlight // Zippy of The Medway Boys
// Pan of Anthrox // The White Knight of Anthrox.