The Scene (subculture)
Under The Scene a computer subculture is understood that has essentially set the goal to spread music, movies and computer games within their own networks, usually before their official release. In German-speaking countries, the term “ Die Scene ” is often used. The scene members themselves mostly call themselves "Scener". The scene has its own structures, labels and rules and is divided into several, mostly internationally distributed release groups . The groups themselves are often specialized in the publication and distribution of certain data carriers, such as DVD scenes, MP3 scenes etc. They usually meet in anonymous and encrypted IRC and other chat channels, where they can find out about the individual's approach Exchange releases.
The scene is divided into three main scenes: The legit-scene, STR-scene and the str0-scene. These scenes include release groups and traders. The release groups are responsible for the initial distribution of all software, films and music and usually create them before their first release (summarized under the term warez ). Traders, on the other hand, have specialized in disseminating data. Many traders move the warez between the scenes so that the same content is available in all subscenes. File sharing is the final instance of dissemination , with file sharing users not being referred to as part of the scene. The file sharing scene is divided into further groups ( BitTorrent , Leecher , OneClick (WebWarez), FXP boards).
The first distribution of Warez happens via the sites or dumps. As soon as a release group has created its release, it is distributed to the sites. Traders move the releases to the sites where the release is not yet available. Within a few minutes, the release was distributed to almost all sites. The number of sites in the scene is unknown.
The FBI and the German authorities are following the activities of the scene. The FBI describes “The Scene” on its website as “highly organized” and as a “Syndicate” in the context of its Cyber Investigations department, summarized under the project name “Operation Buccaneer”.
The scene also descends from the demo scene , which later separated from the cracker's ideals in order to spread their skills and knowledge in creative, digital works of art ( demos ). They, too, still call themselves "Sceners" today.
history
The beginnings of the scene go back to the 1980s when the PC found its way into private households. The resulting demand for software, especially for computer games, meant that loners began to crack the built-in copy protection from data carriers. A short time later, groups developed from this that competed in cracking and distributing copies. The newly created scene exchanged its knowledge and especially the copies in private BBS ( Bulletin Board System ). The first BBS were in the US, while similar systems gradually spread rapidly in Australia and Europe. At that time, the BBS still exchanged their telephone numbers in more or a few private channels, from where interested parties could dial in via a modem. BBS usually hoarded several megabytes of copies. The largest BBS provided several hundred megabytes of data and several telephone lines for dialing in, which at that time were associated with high costs. Their exchange objects usually included programs or computer games whose copy protection had been cracked before being distributed within the scene. The coders decorated the software cracked by their groups before distribution with so-called cracktros , the file size of which was usually between 4 and 64 kilobytes. The cracktros were considered a kind of signature for the individual groups and ensured that the respective group earned the respect for the release.
From the art of making an eye-catching crack trophy before each release , the exclusively legal demo scene emerged, which only set itself the goal of creating digital works of art.
See also
Web links
- NO COPY - the world of digital piracy
- Computer Crime & Intellectual Property Section of the FBI ( Memento of March 5, 2009 in the Internet Archive )
Individual evidence
- ↑ Evrim Sen, Jan Krömer: NO COPY - The world of digital piracy , Klett-Cotta, p. 51 ff.
- ↑ Christopher A. Wray: Statement of Christopher A. Wray . March 23, 2004. Archived from the original on March 5, 2009. Retrieved December 16, 2014.
- ↑ United States Department of Justice: Operation Buccaneer . Archived from the original on March 5, 2009. Retrieved December 16, 2014.
- ↑ Adok / Hugi: http://www.scheib.net/play/demos/what/hugi/index.html (as of November 7, 2008)