Scene Art
Scene art are digitally produced images. Offcourse they are not just created by releasegroups. As a result of the artscene's early affiliations with hacker and software piracy organizations, the digital art is quite detached to the scene. There are two types of art types used for the scene. First here is ASCII art and second there is ANSI art.
ASCII art
ASCII art is an artistic medium that are graphics pieced together from the 95 printable characters defined by ASCII. ASCII art is used in the releasegroup's nfo file. The standard viewer for NFO files is Damn NFO Viewer, but you can also view them with notepad.
ASCII art is an artistic medium that are graphics pieced together from the 95 printable characters defined by ASCII. ASCII art is used in the releasegroup's nfo file. The standard viewer for NFO files is Damn NFO Viewer, but you can also view them with notepad.
NFO files were first introduced by the releasegroup THG (The Humble Guys) with their release of the pc game "Bubble Bobble". This nfo file was a replacement of the more common "readme.txt" files. Nowadays the nfo file is like a signature of the group, so it's important to have a cool and good-looking nfo. A typical modern day NFO file is elaborate and highly decorated, with ussually a large logo at the top with all the release-related information below.
ANSI art
As computer technology developed, monitors were available that could display color. Eventually, text artists began incorporating this new level of flexibility to the existing medium of ascii art by adding color to their text-based art, or animating their art by manipulating the cursor control codes. Quite simply, this is what is commonly referred to today as ANSI art.
As computer technology developed, monitors were available that could display color. Eventually, text artists began incorporating this new level of flexibility to the existing medium of ascii art by adding color to their text-based art, or animating their art by manipulating the cursor control codes. Quite simply, this is what is commonly referred to today as ANSI art.
The majority of the early created ANSI art in the IBM PC artscene were distributed as coded executables called loaders or intros/cracktro's rather than raw bitmap images. A crack intro, also known as a cracktro, loader, or just intro, is a small introduction sequence added to cracked software, designed to inform the user which releasegroup or individual cracker was responsible for removing the software's copy prevention and distributing the crack.
Cracking groups would use the intros not just to gain credit for cracking, but to advertise their bulletin boards, greet friends, and to give themselves recognition.
Cracking groups would use the intros not just to gain credit for cracking, but to advertise their bulletin boards, greet friends, and to give themselves recognition.
For more info and examples i refer you to the website of ROY from SAC
Scene art
Organization- Leader
The leader of the group is the "boss". He decides the main directions for the group. The leader is not a dictator, he won't decide everything by himself. He also has to keep the group together, and keep the individual members satisfied.
Supplier
The supplier is the group's source. He often has pre access to the game/movie/etc, but this is not necessary. It's also possible it's someone who sneaks into the cinema and films the movie. The top groups have pre access. Their supplier might work at a dvd plant, a dvd review magazine, or a dvd rental store. The supplier gives the game/movie/etc to the other teammembers.
Cracker
The cracker breaks the security. Not all groups have a cracker. Crackers are required to release games, applications and alike.
Encoder
The encoder rips and converts the movie so it's suitable for the web. Encoders are just in movies/dvdr groups.
Packager
The packager packs the release and adds the essential files and information.
Courier
The couriour pre's and spreads the release all over the world via FTP.
The leader of the group is the "boss". He decides the main directions for the group. The leader is not a dictator, he won't decide everything by himself. He also has to keep the group together, and keep the individual members satisfied.
Supplier
The supplier is the group's source. He often has pre access to the game/movie/etc, but this is not necessary. It's also possible it's someone who sneaks into the cinema and films the movie. The top groups have pre access. Their supplier might work at a dvd plant, a dvd review magazine, or a dvd rental store. The supplier gives the game/movie/etc to the other teammembers.
Cracker
The cracker breaks the security. Not all groups have a cracker. Crackers are required to release games, applications and alike.
Encoder
The encoder rips and converts the movie so it's suitable for the web. Encoders are just in movies/dvdr groups.
Packager
The packager packs the release and adds the essential files and information.
Courier
The couriour pre's and spreads the release all over the world via FTP.
This is just a global overview, it's not the same for every group. Music releases for example are often quite simple to create and multiple tasks can be done by 1 person.
Structure of a release group
A releasegroup simply is a group of people which releases warez such as movies, games applications, or music on the internet. IRC is the group's medium to stay in contact with eachother. The size of a group varies, some groups have just 5 people, others maybe 20. Mostly the members of the group don't know eachother in real life. Trust is a highly important issue. Since the group's activities aren't legal, the teammembers have to be able to rely on eachother. If one member gets caught, the other ones are in big trouble too, so security has high priority. This means that for example they talk on private irc servers or through a bouncer, and they connect to their sites through proxy's.
The life of a releasegroup has been an interesting subject for multiple well viewed tv-series. Go to the links page to check them out.
In the group, every teammember has his own task. You can read more about this on the structure page.
What is a release group
The tag is the name of the release. These often already give you a lot of information about the release. More detailed information is written in the nfo file. Often these tags contain a lot of words and definitions which you may not understand. Below you can find what certain words in the tags mean.
First possible sources for movies / dvd's. They are ordered according to which is released first:
CAM (Camera):
A cam is a theater rip usually done with a digital video camera. A mini tripod is sometimes used, but a lot of the time this wont be possible, so the camera make shake. Also seating placement isn't always idle, and it might be filmed from an angle. If cropped properly, this is hard to tell unless there's text on the screen, but a lot of times these are left with triangular borders on the top and bottom of the screen. Sound is taken from the onboard microphone of the camera, and especially in comedies, laughter can often be heard during the film. Due to these factors picture and sound quality are usually quite poor, but sometimes we're lucky, and the theater will be fairly empty and a fairly clear signal will be heard.
CAM (Camera):
A cam is a theater rip usually done with a digital video camera. A mini tripod is sometimes used, but a lot of the time this wont be possible, so the camera make shake. Also seating placement isn't always idle, and it might be filmed from an angle. If cropped properly, this is hard to tell unless there's text on the screen, but a lot of times these are left with triangular borders on the top and bottom of the screen. Sound is taken from the onboard microphone of the camera, and especially in comedies, laughter can often be heard during the film. Due to these factors picture and sound quality are usually quite poor, but sometimes we're lucky, and the theater will be fairly empty and a fairly clear signal will be heard.
TS (Telesync):
A telesync is the same spec as a CAM except it uses an external audio source (most likely an audio jack in the chair for hard of hearing people). A direct audio source does not ensure a good quality audio source, as a lot of background noise can interfere. A lot of the times a telesync is filmed in an empty cinema or from the projection booth with a professional camera, giving a better picture quality. Quality ranges drastically, check the sample before downloading the full release. A high percentage of Telesyncs are CAMs that have been mislabeled.
A telesync is the same spec as a CAM except it uses an external audio source (most likely an audio jack in the chair for hard of hearing people). A direct audio source does not ensure a good quality audio source, as a lot of background noise can interfere. A lot of the times a telesync is filmed in an empty cinema or from the projection booth with a professional camera, giving a better picture quality. Quality ranges drastically, check the sample before downloading the full release. A high percentage of Telesyncs are CAMs that have been mislabeled.
TC (Telecine):
A telecine machine copies the film digitally from the reels. Sound and picture should be very good, but due to the equipment involved and cost telecines are fairly uncommon. Generally the film will be in correct aspect ratio, although 4:3 telecines have existed. TC should not be confused with TimeCode , which is a visible counter on screen throughout the film. Click here to read more about telecine.
A telecine machine copies the film digitally from the reels. Sound and picture should be very good, but due to the equipment involved and cost telecines are fairly uncommon. Generally the film will be in correct aspect ratio, although 4:3 telecines have existed. TC should not be confused with TimeCode , which is a visible counter on screen throughout the film. Click here to read more about telecine.
SCR (Screener):
A pre VHS tape, sent to rental stores, and various other places for promotional use. A screener is supplied on a VHS tape, and is usually in a 4:3 (full screen) a/r, although letterboxed screeners are sometimes found. The main draw back is a "ticker" (a message that scrolls past at the bottom of the screen, with the copyright and anti-copy telephone number). Also, if the tape contains any serial numbers, or any other markings that could lead to the source of the tape, these will have to be blocked, usually with a black mark over the section. This is sometimes only for a few seconds, but unfortunately on some copies this will last for the entire film, and some can be quite big. Depending on the equipment used, screener quality can range from excellent if done from a MASTER copy, to very poor if done on an old VHS recorder thru poor capture equipment on a copied tape. Most screeners are transferred to VCD, but a few attempts at SVCD have occurred, some looking better than others.
A pre VHS tape, sent to rental stores, and various other places for promotional use. A screener is supplied on a VHS tape, and is usually in a 4:3 (full screen) a/r, although letterboxed screeners are sometimes found. The main draw back is a "ticker" (a message that scrolls past at the bottom of the screen, with the copyright and anti-copy telephone number). Also, if the tape contains any serial numbers, or any other markings that could lead to the source of the tape, these will have to be blocked, usually with a black mark over the section. This is sometimes only for a few seconds, but unfortunately on some copies this will last for the entire film, and some can be quite big. Depending on the equipment used, screener quality can range from excellent if done from a MASTER copy, to very poor if done on an old VHS recorder thru poor capture equipment on a copied tape. Most screeners are transferred to VCD, but a few attempts at SVCD have occurred, some looking better than others.
DVDSCR (DVD Screener):
Same premise as a screener, but transferred off a DVD. Usually letterbox , but without the extras that a DVD retail would contain. The ticker is not usually in the black bars, and will disrupt the viewing. If the ripper has any skill, a DVDscr should be very good. Usually transferred to SVCD or DivX/XviD.
Same premise as a screener, but transferred off a DVD. Usually letterbox , but without the extras that a DVD retail would contain. The ticker is not usually in the black bars, and will disrupt the viewing. If the ripper has any skill, a DVDscr should be very good. Usually transferred to SVCD or DivX/XviD.
WP (Workprint):
A workprint is a copy of the film that has not been finished. It can be missing scenes, music, and quality can range from excellent to very poor. Some WPs are very different from the final print (Men In Black is missing all the aliens, and has actors in their places) and others can contain extra scenes (Jay and Silent Bob) . WPs can be nice additions to the collection once a good quality final has been obtained.
A workprint is a copy of the film that has not been finished. It can be missing scenes, music, and quality can range from excellent to very poor. Some WPs are very different from the final print (Men In Black is missing all the aliens, and has actors in their places) and others can contain extra scenes (Jay and Silent Bob) . WPs can be nice additions to the collection once a good quality final has been obtained.
Retail DVD:
DVD's which are available in shops.
DVD's which are available in shops.
PAL / NTSC:
PAL and NTSC are two different video standards, the former being European, and the latter being American. PAL has a slightly taller screen (256 lines non-interlaced, non-overscanned) as opposed to NTSC (200 lines), so if you see the bottom portion of a program's screen getting cut off on your American machine, chances are the program was written for PAL, and is running on your shorter NTSC screen. PAL and NTSC differences are somewhat less important to European users; since their machines default to PAL, running an NTSC program is no more than a minor annoyance having the screen only appear in the top portion of the display.
PAL and NTSC are two different video standards, the former being European, and the latter being American. PAL has a slightly taller screen (256 lines non-interlaced, non-overscanned) as opposed to NTSC (200 lines), so if you see the bottom portion of a program's screen getting cut off on your American machine, chances are the program was written for PAL, and is running on your shorter NTSC screen. PAL and NTSC differences are somewhat less important to European users; since their machines default to PAL, running an NTSC program is no more than a minor annoyance having the screen only appear in the top portion of the display.
Other important tags for movies / dvd's:
COMPLETE:
A release is COMPLETE when it's a DVD5, so it didn't need any adjustments and therefore is untouched.
Most dvd's though are DVD9, so they need to be compressed to DVD5. DVD5 is much more wanted since all dvd player can read these dvd's, and almost every dvd burner can burn them. DVD9 discs are less popular, they are more expensive and not many people can burn a DVD9. When a release is DVD9 and not compressed, DVD9 is added to the release title. When it's a DVD9 and it's compressed nothing is added to the release title.
A release is COMPLETE when it's a DVD5, so it didn't need any adjustments and therefore is untouched.
Most dvd's though are DVD9, so they need to be compressed to DVD5. DVD5 is much more wanted since all dvd player can read these dvd's, and almost every dvd burner can burn them. DVD9 discs are less popular, they are more expensive and not many people can burn a DVD9. When a release is DVD9 and not compressed, DVD9 is added to the release title. When it's a DVD9 and it's compressed nothing is added to the release title.
LiMiTED:
A movie is LiMiTED when it has a limited theater run. Generally smaller films (such as art house films) are released as limited. The scene considers a movie limited when it has a generally opening in less than 300 UK theaters, or in less than 500 USA theaters. In the scene jargon, it's ussually called 300 UK screens, or 500 USA screens. Officially, it's not the opening weekend's number of theaters that counts, but the peak of the number of theaters. For example; when a movie has 275 UK screens in the opening weekend, and 1 week later it has 325 screens, it's not limited.
A movie is LiMiTED when it has a limited theater run. Generally smaller films (such as art house films) are released as limited. The scene considers a movie limited when it has a generally opening in less than 300 UK theaters, or in less than 500 USA theaters. In the scene jargon, it's ussually called 300 UK screens, or 500 USA screens. Officially, it's not the opening weekend's number of theaters that counts, but the peak of the number of theaters. For example; when a movie has 275 UK screens in the opening weekend, and 1 week later it has 325 screens, it's not limited.
iNTERNAL:
An internal release is done for several reasons. The most common reason is because it has already been release before, and with iNTERNAL in title, the release won't be nuked. I happens quite often with DVD's. Also lower quality theater rips are done iNTERNAL so not to lower the reputation of the group. An iNTERNAL release is available as normal on the groups affiliate sites, but they can't be traded to other sites without request from the site ops. Although some releases are iNTERNAL, they still can be very popular. Apart from DVD's also other types of warez are done internal. For mp3's the tag is different concerning internal. For mp3 releases it's releasetitle-year-Group_iNT. That way the internal release won't be calculated into the group's stats. This avoids mp3 groups from doing a lot of internal releases, since they would just do that to get better stats. Some groups rename iNTERNAL to iNT, since this much shorter.
An internal release is done for several reasons. The most common reason is because it has already been release before, and with iNTERNAL in title, the release won't be nuked. I happens quite often with DVD's. Also lower quality theater rips are done iNTERNAL so not to lower the reputation of the group. An iNTERNAL release is available as normal on the groups affiliate sites, but they can't be traded to other sites without request from the site ops. Although some releases are iNTERNAL, they still can be very popular. Apart from DVD's also other types of warez are done internal. For mp3's the tag is different concerning internal. For mp3 releases it's releasetitle-year-Group_iNT. That way the internal release won't be calculated into the group's stats. This avoids mp3 groups from doing a lot of internal releases, since they would just do that to get better stats. Some groups rename iNTERNAL to iNT, since this much shorter.
Subbed:
In the case of a VCD, if a release is subbed, it usually means it has hard encoded subtitles burnt throughout the movie. These are generally in malaysian/chinese/thai etc, and sometimes there are two different languages, which can take up quite a large amount of the screen. SVCD supports switch able subtitles, so some DVDRips are released with switch able subs. This will be mentioned in the NFO file if included.
In the case of a VCD, if a release is subbed, it usually means it has hard encoded subtitles burnt throughout the movie. These are generally in malaysian/chinese/thai etc, and sometimes there are two different languages, which can take up quite a large amount of the screen. SVCD supports switch able subtitles, so some DVDRips are released with switch able subs. This will be mentioned in the NFO file if included.
Unsubbed:
When a movie has been release subbed before, an unsubbed release may be released.
When a movie has been release subbed before, an unsubbed release may be released.
Custom.Subbed:
A release can also be custom subbed. Movies often are released earlier in the USA then they are released in Europe. These movies mostly contain a few subtitles, the ones that are spoken in the USA. European groups can create custom subtitles and add these to the dvd. For example, when Dutch subtitles were added to a NTSC DVDr: Madagascar.2005.Custom.NL.Subbed.NTSC.DVDr-Group. Offcourse, it's not just European, also Japaneese movies can be subbed english for example.
A release can also be custom subbed. Movies often are released earlier in the USA then they are released in Europe. These movies mostly contain a few subtitles, the ones that are spoken in the USA. European groups can create custom subtitles and add these to the dvd. For example, when Dutch subtitles were added to a NTSC DVDr: Madagascar.2005.Custom.NL.Subbed.NTSC.DVDr-Group. Offcourse, it's not just European, also Japaneese movies can be subbed english for example.
Dubbed:
If a film is dubbed, it is a special version where the actors' voices are in another language. Dubbed versions of English-language films are for people who don't understand English.
If a film is dubbed, it is a special version where the actors' voices are in another language. Dubbed versions of English-language films are for people who don't understand English.
STV:
STV stands for Straight To Video. These movies were never released in theaters, but they were immediately released on video/dvd. Therefore, a lot of sites do not allow these movies.
STV stands for Straight To Video. These movies were never released in theaters, but they were immediately released on video/dvd. Therefore, a lot of sites do not allow these movies.
SE:
SE stands for Special Edition. Like the name says, it's a special dvd edition of a movie. Often special editions contain extra material like trailers, interviews, making-of.
SE stands for Special Edition. Like the name says, it's a special dvd edition of a movie. Often special editions contain extra material like trailers, interviews, making-of.
DC:
DC stands for Director's Cut. A director's cut is a specially edited version of a movie that is supposed to represent the director's own approved edit of the movie. It is often released some time after the original release of the film, where the original release was released in a version different from the director's approved edit. 'Cut' is synonymous with 'edit' in this context.
DC stands for Director's Cut. A director's cut is a specially edited version of a movie that is supposed to represent the director's own approved edit of the movie. It is often released some time after the original release of the film, where the original release was released in a version different from the director's approved edit. 'Cut' is synonymous with 'edit' in this context.
DL:
DL stands for Dual-Language, meaning the dvd contains more than one audio language. Synonym: ML.
DL stands for Dual-Language, meaning the dvd contains more than one audio language. Synonym: ML.
FS / WS (Aspect Ratio Tags):
These are FS for FullScreen and WS for WideScreen (letterbox).
These are FS for FullScreen and WS for WideScreen (letterbox).
Language Codes:
The language of the movie and the language of the subtitles can also be mentioned in the release name. Sometimes the language is fully mentioned in the release name, such as DUTCH, NORDiC, GERMAN and iTALiAN. Sometimes it's shortened, then the ISO standard country abbreviations are used, those are the same which are used for www-domains, for example: NL (Dutch), NO (Nordic), DE (Germany), IT (Italian). For the full list of country abbreviations, click here. When there are multiple languages or subtitles, MULTi or MULTiSUBS is mentioned.
The language of the movie and the language of the subtitles can also be mentioned in the release name. Sometimes the language is fully mentioned in the release name, such as DUTCH, NORDiC, GERMAN and iTALiAN. Sometimes it's shortened, then the ISO standard country abbreviations are used, those are the same which are used for www-domains, for example: NL (Dutch), NO (Nordic), DE (Germany), IT (Italian). For the full list of country abbreviations, click here. When there are multiple languages or subtitles, MULTi or MULTiSUBS is mentioned.
Extended:
Sometimes movies are released again on DVD because now the movie is extended. They have put back deleted scenes. For example, E.T. was produced first in 1982 and years later it was brought on DVD again, but now digitally remastered and extended.
Sometimes movies are released again on DVD because now the movie is extended. They have put back deleted scenes. For example, E.T. was produced first in 1982 and years later it was brought on DVD again, but now digitally remastered and extended.
Digitally Remastered:
Digitally remastered means that an older not-digital movie has been re-editted, remastered and is released on DVD. Some really old movies look very bad compared to the new digital movies. Then they remaster it to make it look better, edit it, recolor it etcetera. Remastering generally implies some sort of upgrade to a previous existing product, frequently designed to encourage people to buy a new version of something they already own.
Digitally remastered means that an older not-digital movie has been re-editted, remastered and is released on DVD. Some really old movies look very bad compared to the new digital movies. Then they remaster it to make it look better, edit it, recolor it etcetera. Remastering generally implies some sort of upgrade to a previous existing product, frequently designed to encourage people to buy a new version of something they already own.
Rated/Unrated:
Rated means a movie is censored, unrated logically means uncensored.
Rated means a movie is censored, unrated logically means uncensored.
Recode:
A recode is a previously released version, usually filtered through TMPGenc to remove subtitles, fix color etc. Whilst they can look better, its not looked upon highly as groups are expected to obtain their own sources.
A recode is a previously released version, usually filtered through TMPGenc to remove subtitles, fix color etc. Whilst they can look better, its not looked upon highly as groups are expected to obtain their own sources.
R1, R2, R3, R4, R5, R6 (Region Code):
A DVD gets released in a certain geographical area, or region. This was designed to stop people buying American DVDs and watching them earlier in other countries, or for older films where world distribution is handled by different companies. A lot of players can either be hacked with a chip, or via a remote to disable this. The regions are:
Region 1 - U.S., Canada, U.S. Territories
Region 2 - Japan, Europe, South Africa, and Middle East (including Egypt)
Region 3 - Southeast Asia and East Asia (including Hong Kong)
Region 4 - Australia, New Zealand, Pacific Islands, Central America, Mexico, South America, and the Caribbean
Region 5 - Eastern Europe (Former Soviet Union), Indian subcontinent, Africa, North Korea, and Mongolia
Region 6 - Peoples Republic of China
A DVD gets released in a certain geographical area, or region. This was designed to stop people buying American DVDs and watching them earlier in other countries, or for older films where world distribution is handled by different companies. A lot of players can either be hacked with a chip, or via a remote to disable this. The regions are:
Region 1 - U.S., Canada, U.S. Territories
Region 2 - Japan, Europe, South Africa, and Middle East (including Egypt)
Region 3 - Southeast Asia and East Asia (including Hong Kong)
Region 4 - Australia, New Zealand, Pacific Islands, Central America, Mexico, South America, and the Caribbean
Region 5 - Eastern Europe (Former Soviet Union), Indian subcontinent, Africa, North Korea, and Mongolia
Region 6 - Peoples Republic of China
More general important tags:
PROPER:
Due to scene rules, whoever releases a certain release the first, has won that race. For example, when a group releases the CAM version of Titanic the first. If there is something "wrong" with the release (poor quality, out-of-sync, audio errors etc.) and another group has a better/correct version, it can release it and add PROPER to the release title to avoid being nuked. However, the source must be the same as the original release. For example: A poor quality CAM release by group A and group B releases their CAM release PROPER. A Telesync release doesn't PROPER a CAM release, because the source is different. PROPER is the most subjective tag in the scene, and a lot of people will generally argue whether the PROPER is better than the original release. The reason for the PROPER should always be included in the NFO.
Due to scene rules, whoever releases a certain release the first, has won that race. For example, when a group releases the CAM version of Titanic the first. If there is something "wrong" with the release (poor quality, out-of-sync, audio errors etc.) and another group has a better/correct version, it can release it and add PROPER to the release title to avoid being nuked. However, the source must be the same as the original release. For example: A poor quality CAM release by group A and group B releases their CAM release PROPER. A Telesync release doesn't PROPER a CAM release, because the source is different. PROPER is the most subjective tag in the scene, and a lot of people will generally argue whether the PROPER is better than the original release. The reason for the PROPER should always be included in the NFO.
Repack:
If a group releases a bad rip, they will release a Repack which will fix the problems. It's similar to PROPER but then done by the same group.
If a group releases a bad rip, they will release a Repack which will fix the problems. It's similar to PROPER but then done by the same group.
Rerip:
A previous rip was bad, now it's ripped again properly.
A previous rip was bad, now it's ripped again properly.
READNFO:
When something important is mentioned in the NFO or as a replacement for PROPER, READNFO can be added into the tag directory.
When something important is mentioned in the NFO or as a replacement for PROPER, READNFO can be added into the tag directory.
Important tags for mp3 releases:
TV: Audio from television material
Radio: Audio from radio material
WEB: Audio downloaded from an online music store
VLS: Vinyl Single (1-2 tracks)
EP: Vinyl Maxi-single (2-5 tracks)
LP: Vinyl Full-length Album
CDS: CD Single (1-2 tracks)
CDM: CD Maxi-single (2-5 tracks)
CDR: CD-Recordable (CD-R)
DVD: Audio from a DVD. Often cabaret shows or concert/music dvd's.
DVDA: Audio tracks which come on a DVD as a bonus. The DVDA part can't be played by normal DVD players.
MD: Audio from a MiniDisk
TAPE: Music from a tape
Promo: Promotional
XX: Imported
RETAiL: Retail
Liveset: A record of a DJ mixing live. Mostly recorded using:
- DAB: Digital Audio Broadcasting is a system used to broadcast radio programmes.
- SAT: Music broadcasted via satellite channels.
- CABLE: Music broadcasted by radio channels via cable radio.
Bootleg: Illegally recorded and pressed record. Often live recordings, sometimes studio out-takes. The name comes from people who hid a microphone in their boots!
Radio: Audio from radio material
WEB: Audio downloaded from an online music store
VLS: Vinyl Single (1-2 tracks)
EP: Vinyl Maxi-single (2-5 tracks)
LP: Vinyl Full-length Album
CDS: CD Single (1-2 tracks)
CDM: CD Maxi-single (2-5 tracks)
CDR: CD-Recordable (CD-R)
DVD: Audio from a DVD. Often cabaret shows or concert/music dvd's.
DVDA: Audio tracks which come on a DVD as a bonus. The DVDA part can't be played by normal DVD players.
MD: Audio from a MiniDisk
TAPE: Music from a tape
Promo: Promotional
XX: Imported
RETAiL: Retail
Liveset: A record of a DJ mixing live. Mostly recorded using:
- DAB: Digital Audio Broadcasting is a system used to broadcast radio programmes.
- SAT: Music broadcasted via satellite channels.
- CABLE: Music broadcasted by radio channels via cable radio.
Bootleg: Illegally recorded and pressed record. Often live recordings, sometimes studio out-takes. The name comes from people who hid a microphone in their boots!
Labelcode/Catnumber:
This is a code which is like a unique code for every music cd/vinyl/etc. The code isn't just some number, but it contains values which are recognisable. For example: Catnumber: WNRD2371 is a cd from WieNerwoRlD Ltd.
This is a code which is like a unique code for every music cd/vinyl/etc. The code isn't just some number, but it contains values which are recognisable. For example: Catnumber: WNRD2371 is a cd from WieNerwoRlD Ltd.
Clean: The music is censored. Generally sexual or violent words, which are replaced by 'bleeps' or stripped.
Explicit: The music is not censored.
Explicit: The music is not censored.
Now some tags just for movies/tv rips:
Sources:
DVDrip: A copy of the final released DVD. If possible this is released PRE retail (for example, Star Wars episode 2) again, should be excellent quality. DVDrips are released in SVCD and DivX/XviD.
VHSRip: Transferred off a retail VHS, mainly skating/sports videos and XXX releases.
TVRip: TV episode that is either from Network (capped using digital cable/satellite boxes are preferable) or PRE-AIR from satellite feeds sending the program around to networks a few days earlier (do not contain "dogs" but sometimes have flickers etc). PDTV is capped from a digital TV PCI card, generally giving the best results, and groups tend to release in SVCD for these. VCD/SVCD/DivX/XviD rips are all supported by the TV scene.
DVDrip: A copy of the final released DVD. If possible this is released PRE retail (for example, Star Wars episode 2) again, should be excellent quality. DVDrips are released in SVCD and DivX/XviD.
VHSRip: Transferred off a retail VHS, mainly skating/sports videos and XXX releases.
TVRip: TV episode that is either from Network (capped using digital cable/satellite boxes are preferable) or PRE-AIR from satellite feeds sending the program around to networks a few days earlier (do not contain "dogs" but sometimes have flickers etc). PDTV is capped from a digital TV PCI card, generally giving the best results, and groups tend to release in SVCD for these. VCD/SVCD/DivX/XviD rips are all supported by the TV scene.
Formats:
VCD (VideoCD):
VCD is a mpeg1 based format, with a constant bitrate of 1150kbit at a resolution of 352x240 (NTSC). VCDs are generally used for lower quality transfers (CAM/TS/TC/Screener(VHS)/TVrip(analogue) in order to make smaller file sizes, and fit as much on a single disc as possible. Both VCDs and SVCDs are timed in minutes, rather than MB, so when looking at an mpeg, it may appear larger than the disc capacity, and in reality u can fit 74min on a CDR74.
VCD (VideoCD):
VCD is a mpeg1 based format, with a constant bitrate of 1150kbit at a resolution of 352x240 (NTSC). VCDs are generally used for lower quality transfers (CAM/TS/TC/Screener(VHS)/TVrip(analogue) in order to make smaller file sizes, and fit as much on a single disc as possible. Both VCDs and SVCDs are timed in minutes, rather than MB, so when looking at an mpeg, it may appear larger than the disc capacity, and in reality u can fit 74min on a CDR74.
SCVD (SuperVideoCD):
SVCD is a mpeg2 based (same as DVD) video format which allows variable bit-rates of up to 2500kbits at a resolution of 480x480 (NTSC) which is then decompressed into a 4:3 aspect ratio when played back. Due to the variable bit-rate, the length you can fit on a single CDR is not fixed, but generally between 35-60 Mins are the most common. To get a better SVCD encode using variable bit-rates, it is important to use multiple "passes". this takes a lot longer, but the result
s are far clearer.
SVCD is a mpeg2 based (same as DVD) video format which allows variable bit-rates of up to 2500kbits at a resolution of 480x480 (NTSC) which is then decompressed into a 4:3 aspect ratio when played back. Due to the variable bit-rate, the length you can fit on a single CDR is not fixed, but generally between 35-60 Mins are the most common. To get a better SVCD encode using variable bit-rates, it is important to use multiple "passes". this takes a lot longer, but the result
s are far clearer.
XVCD/XSVCD:
These are basically VCD/SVCD that don't obey the "rules". They are both capable of much higher resolutions and bit-rates, but it all depends on the player to whether the disc can be played. X(S)VCD are total non-standards, and are usually for home-ripping by people who don't intend to release them.
These are basically VCD/SVCD that don't obey the "rules". They are both capable of much higher resolutions and bit-rates, but it all depends on the player to whether the disc can be played. X(S)VCD are total non-standards, and are usually for home-ripping by people who don't intend to release them.
XViD/DivX (Digital Video Express):
DivX is a format designed for multimedia platforms. It uses two codecs, one low motion, one high motion. most older films were encoded in low motion only, and they have problems with high motion too. A method known as SBC (Smart Bit-rate Control) was developed which switches codecs at the encoding stage, making a much better print. The format is Ana orphic and the bit-rate/resolution are interchangeable. Due to the higher processing power required, and the different codecs for playback, its unlikely we'll see a DVD player capable of play DivX for quite a while, if at all. There have been players in development which are supposedly capable, but nothing has ever arisen. The majority of PROPER DivX rips (not Re-Encs) are taken from DVDs, and generally up to 2hours in good quality is possible per disc. Various codecs exist, most popular being the original Divx3.11a and the new XviD codecs.
DivX is a format designed for multimedia platforms. It uses two codecs, one low motion, one high motion. most older films were encoded in low motion only, and they have problems with high motion too. A method known as SBC (Smart Bit-rate Control) was developed which switches codecs at the encoding stage, making a much better print. The format is Ana orphic and the bit-rate/resolution are interchangeable. Due to the higher processing power required, and the different codecs for playback, its unlikely we'll see a DVD player capable of play DivX for quite a while, if at all. There have been players in development which are supposedly capable, but nothing has ever arisen. The majority of PROPER DivX rips (not Re-Encs) are taken from DVDs, and generally up to 2hours in good quality is possible per disc. Various codecs exist, most popular being the original Divx3.11a and the new XviD codecs.
CVD:
CVD is a combination of VCD and SVCD formats, and is generally supported by a majority of DVD players. It supports MPEG2 bit-rates of SVCD, but uses a resolution of 352x480(ntsc) as the horizontal resolution is generally less important. Currently no groups release in CVD.
CVD is a combination of VCD and SVCD formats, and is generally supported by a majority of DVD players. It supports MPEG2 bit-rates of SVCD, but uses a resolution of 352x480(ntsc) as the horizontal resolution is generally less important. Currently no groups release in CVD.
Additional source info for TV Rips:
HDTV (High Definition Televison):
Digital recording from a source stream at either 1080i or 720p at a bitrate from 19,39mbps or higher.
Digital recording from a source stream at either 1080i or 720p at a bitrate from 19,39mbps or higher.
PDTV (Pure Digital Television):
Other resolution digital recordings from source streams at a bitrate of 10+mbps or higher. It is a label given to files that were ripped directly from a purely digital source, having less resolution than HDTV. This is accomplished by using a TV tuner card capable of receiving Digital Video Broadcasts or C-Band.
Other resolution digital recordings from source streams at a bitrate of 10+mbps or higher. It is a label given to files that were ripped directly from a purely digital source, having less resolution than HDTV. This is accomplished by using a TV tuner card capable of receiving Digital Video Broadcasts or C-Band.
SDTV (Standard Digital Television):
Digital recording or capture from a source stream at any resolution with bitrate under 10mbps.This includes DirecTiVo but also captures from digisat or digicable with analog capture cards.
Digital recording or capture from a source stream at any resolution with bitrate under 10mbps.This includes DirecTiVo but also captures from digisat or digicable with analog capture cards.
TVRip (Analoge TV Rip):
Recorded from analog TV, lowest quality of all TV rips.
Recorded from analog TV, lowest quality of all TV rips.
More TV info:
Season/Episode code:
A code which shows the season and episode of a tv show.
For example: S01E12 is season 1 episode number 12.
A code which shows the season and episode of a tv show.
For example: S01E12 is season 1 episode number 12.
DSR (Digital Stream Rip):
Digital stream rip is a rip that is captured from a digital source stream, such as a HDTV or DVB transmission.
Digital stream rip is a rip that is captured from a digital source stream, such as a HDTV or DVB transmission.
DVB (Digital Video Broadcast):
The standard for direct broadcast television in Europe and the US Based on MPEG2 Compression.
The standard for direct broadcast television in Europe and the US Based on MPEG2 Compression.
DSR (Digital Satellite Rip):
Recorded from Digital Satellite, quality is similar to PDTV.
Recorded from Digital Satellite, quality is similar to PDTV.
PPV (Pay Per View television):
Pay television programming for which viewers pay a separate fee for each program ordered.
Pay television programming for which viewers pay a separate fee for each program ordered.
(Console) Games, 0day and Applications don't have a lot of extra tags. Offcourse the app's version, and other tags like repack and proper can be used. Here are the other tags for 0day and applications:
AIO
AIO stands for All-In-One, means an all-in-one software pack. For example: Microsoft Office, which contains Word, Frontpage, Publisher, Access etc.
AIO stands for All-In-One, means an all-in-one software pack. For example: Microsoft Office, which contains Word, Frontpage, Publisher, Access etc.
RTM
RTM means Release To Manufacturing. This release is leaked before it's available in stores. A RTM version of a software title is the final retail version, the one that you will be seeing in stores.
RTM means Release To Manufacturing. This release is leaked before it's available in stores. A RTM version of a software title is the final retail version, the one that you will be seeing in stores.
VLM
VLM stands for Volume License Key. This means that the cracked application is already licensed, and therefore doesn't require an activation after installation.
VLM stands for Volume License Key. This means that the cracked application is already licensed, and therefore doesn't require an activation after installation.
Crack Type
For example crack or keygen.
For example crack or keygen.
Machine
On what machine is it compatible, such as Nokia phones, PDA etc.
On what machine is it compatible, such as Nokia phones, PDA etc.
OS
With which operation system is it compatible. For example Windows / Mac etc.
With which operation system is it compatible. For example Windows / Mac etc.
PlayStation:
PS2
A copy of a Playstation 2 game released to CD.
A copy of a Playstation 2 game released to CD.
PS2DVD
A copy of a Playstation 2 game released to DVD.
A copy of a Playstation 2 game released to DVD.
PS3
A copy of a Playstation 3 game released to DVD.
A copy of a Playstation 3 game released to DVD.
MULTi3 / MULTi4 / MULTi5 etc
This means the release contains multiple languages. The number at the end indicated the number of languages.
This means the release contains multiple languages. The number at the end indicated the number of languages.
PlayStation Portable:
UMDRip
This applies only to Playstation Portable (PSP) games, and it means that some stuff was ripped from the original game because that stuff was not required or was ripped to save space. For example languages or movie files.
This applies only to Playstation Portable (PSP) games, and it means that some stuff was ripped from the original game because that stuff was not required or was ripped to save space. For example languages or movie files.
UMDMovie
The Playstation Portable (PSP) is also capable of playing movies. Though a PSP can't playback DVD's or CD's, only UMD discs. So movies for the PSP get released on UMD discs.
The Playstation Portable (PSP) is also capable of playing movies. Though a PSP can't playback DVD's or CD's, only UMD discs. So movies for the PSP get released on UMD discs.
PSXPSP
This is a PSX (Playstation 1) game playable on a PSP (Playstation Portable) using custom PSP firmware.
This is a PSX (Playstation 1) game playable on a PSP (Playstation Portable) using custom PSP firmware.
USA, JAP, EUR
Especially PSP releases, but also other console releases, are sometimes tagged as USA, JAP and EUR. These are alternative regions, and they replace PAL and NTSC. USA are off course the United States of America, JAP is Japan and EUR is Europe.
Especially PSP releases, but also other console releases, are sometimes tagged as USA, JAP and EUR. These are alternative regions, and they replace PAL and NTSC. USA are off course the United States of America, JAP is Japan and EUR is Europe.
256MS, 512MS, 1GB and 2GB
These tags only apply to PSP releases, and they show the required size of an UMD disc. UMD discs can contain 2 gigabyte maximu. When a game is 100mb it fits on every UMD disc, but when a game is 900mb it will only fit on 1GB and higher UMD discs.
Examples
Here are some release examples:
Game:
Red.Faction.Guerrilla-RELOADED
App:
Search.Engine.Builder.Pro.v2.82.Regged-F4CG
0day:
Xilisoft.DVD.Audio.Ripper.v5.0.50.0821.Cracked-QUANTiZE
DVDr:
Notorious.2009.NL.PAL.DVDr-DELERiUM
Movie:
Battle.for.Terra.PROPER.DVDRip.XviD-DiAMOND
MP3:
Pete_Tong-The_Essential_Selection-SAT-11-09-2009-1KING
TV Rip:
Gooische.Vrouwen.S05E02.DUTCH.WS.PDTV.XViD-DiFFERENT
Wii:
Cloudy_With_a_Chance_Of_Meatballs_PAL_Wii-WiiZARD
Xbox:
NHL.10.PAL.XBOX360-LoCAL
XXX:
AbbyWinters.09.09.12.Emma.G.XXX.HR.MP4-RANK
These tags only apply to PSP releases, and they show the required size of an UMD disc. UMD discs can contain 2 gigabyte maximu. When a game is 100mb it fits on every UMD disc, but when a game is 900mb it will only fit on 1GB and higher UMD discs.
Examples
Here are some release examples:
Game:
Red.Faction.Guerrilla-RELOADED
App:
Search.Engine.Builder.Pro.v2.82.Regged-F4CG
0day:
Xilisoft.DVD.Audio.Ripper.v5.0.50.0821.Cracked-QUANTiZE
DVDr:
Notorious.2009.NL.PAL.DVDr-DELERiUM
Movie:
Battle.for.Terra.PROPER.DVDRip.XviD-DiAMOND
MP3:
Pete_Tong-The_Essential_Selection-SAT-11-09-2009-1KING
TV Rip:
Gooische.Vrouwen.S05E02.DUTCH.WS.PDTV.XViD-DiFFERENT
Wii:
Cloudy_With_a_Chance_Of_Meatballs_PAL_Wii-WiiZARD
Xbox:
NHL.10.PAL.XBOX360-LoCAL
XXX:
AbbyWinters.09.09.12.Emma.G.XXX.HR.MP4-RANK
Release tags and examples
How does an original release look like?
The way a release is build up is in some ways dependent on what section it belongs to. Common, for all releases except music, is that the release (i.e. the game, program, movie etc.) is always archived in a number of RAR-archives. This has been done to facilitate the actual download of the release, and in some cases is also due to tradition.
A release always contains:
A release always contains:
A main directory
All the files from a release are placed into 1 directory. The name of this directory is equal to the releasename.
There are certain rules concerning the releasenames. This is done so that all necessary information will be included in all releases. Uniformity creates a clear distinction - imagine if all groups would have their own ways of naming releases. This is also done to ensure the release on different kinds of platforms. Some of these can't cope with special letters, as Γ₯, Γ€, ΓΆ or blank spaces. To prevent the risk of getting an error only a certain set of symbols are allowed. These are:
All the files from a release are placed into 1 directory. The name of this directory is equal to the releasename.
There are certain rules concerning the releasenames. This is done so that all necessary information will be included in all releases. Uniformity creates a clear distinction - imagine if all groups would have their own ways of naming releases. This is also done to ensure the release on different kinds of platforms. Some of these can't cope with special letters, as Γ₯, Γ€, ΓΆ or blank spaces. To prevent the risk of getting an error only a certain set of symbols are allowed. These are:
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz
0123456789-_.
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz
0123456789-_.
SFV File SFV-file (.sfv)
SFV stands for Simple File Validator and is used to check files if they became corrupt after transfer. It does this by doing a CRC (cyclic redundancy check). After the check it displays which files contain CRC-errors and therefore are corrupt. It's also used on FTP servers / sites to check the progress of downloads or uploads.
NFO Info-file (.nfo)
A nfo file is a textfile with information about the release. The files are designed by ASCII artists and can be read with Damn NFO Viewer or simply with notepad. They contain release information like the runtime of a movie or an installation guide (if software).
WinRAR File WinRAR-file (.rar)
A rar file is a data compression archive format. The actual content is packed into a rar-archive. Ussually they are split to multiple rar volumes with a certain size (15 or 50 is standard). Scene releases are packed into rar files, but they are not compressed.
SFV stands for Simple File Validator and is used to check files if they became corrupt after transfer. It does this by doing a CRC (cyclic redundancy check). After the check it displays which files contain CRC-errors and therefore are corrupt. It's also used on FTP servers / sites to check the progress of downloads or uploads.
NFO Info-file (.nfo)
A nfo file is a textfile with information about the release. The files are designed by ASCII artists and can be read with Damn NFO Viewer or simply with notepad. They contain release information like the runtime of a movie or an installation guide (if software).
WinRAR File WinRAR-file (.rar)
A rar file is a data compression archive format. The actual content is packed into a rar-archive. Ussually they are split to multiple rar volumes with a certain size (15 or 50 is standard). Scene releases are packed into rar files, but they are not compressed.
Not all types of releases are created in the same way. There are a lot of resemblances between them, but there are also some differences. Some are essential for that type or release, other things are the way their are because of tradition. Let's have a look at the individuel releasetypes:
MP3:
The mp3 releases are the only ones which aren't tagged into rar files.
Mp3 releases are tagged with _ to replace the spaces, instead of . with most types of releases.
Most mp3 releases contain .JPG scans of the front/back/inside covers of the cd.
Mp3 releases contain mp3 files, and also a m3u files.
m3u playlist m3u playlist file (.m3u)
A .m3u file basically is just a textfile that lists all mp3 files. If the .m3u file is loaded to a media player, the player plays the list of media files in the order they are listed in the playlist.
The mp3 releases are the only ones which aren't tagged into rar files.
Mp3 releases are tagged with _ to replace the spaces, instead of . with most types of releases.
Most mp3 releases contain .JPG scans of the front/back/inside covers of the cd.
Mp3 releases contain mp3 files, and also a m3u files.
m3u playlist m3u playlist file (.m3u)
A .m3u file basically is just a textfile that lists all mp3 files. If the .m3u file is loaded to a media player, the player plays the list of media files in the order they are listed in the playlist.
Movies - DVDr - TVRip:
These releases are all rarred. Most common, they are split into 15 mb rar files. For DVD5 50mb is standard, and for DVD9 100mb. These releases (can) contain:
Sample Vob A subfolder "Sample"
This folder contains a sample the movie. This way it's easy to check the quality of a release. The size of the sample is most of the time the same as the size per rar, so 50mb for a DVD5.
JPG Cover A subfolder "Cover"
This folder contains the scan(s) of the cover of the source, most common in .JPG format.
Subtitles A subfolder "Subs"
This folder contains the sub(s) of a movie. This is only for DiVX, XviD etc and not for DVD. The subtitle files are textfiles which can be loaded onto the movie, using programs like BS Player.
When a DVD is more than 1 disc, there are sub folders in the main folder: DISC1, DISC2 etc.. Same goes for CD: CD1, CD2 etc.
These releases are all rarred. Most common, they are split into 15 mb rar files. For DVD5 50mb is standard, and for DVD9 100mb. These releases (can) contain:
Sample Vob A subfolder "Sample"
This folder contains a sample the movie. This way it's easy to check the quality of a release. The size of the sample is most of the time the same as the size per rar, so 50mb for a DVD5.
JPG Cover A subfolder "Cover"
This folder contains the scan(s) of the cover of the source, most common in .JPG format.
Subtitles A subfolder "Subs"
This folder contains the sub(s) of a movie. This is only for DiVX, XviD etc and not for DVD. The subtitle files are textfiles which can be loaded onto the movie, using programs like BS Player.
When a DVD is more than 1 disc, there are sub folders in the main folder: DISC1, DISC2 etc.. Same goes for CD: CD1, CD2 etc.
Games - Console Games - Apps:
Nothing new about this, they contain the .sfv file, .nfo file and the rar files.
Most games and applications are tagged with . and most console games are tagged with a _
0day apps are a little different though. Most of them don't contain a .SFV file, but a .diz file instead.
Also apps and games can contain subfolders like CD1/CD2.
.diz file file_id (.diz)
file_id.diz is a plain text file containing a brief content description of the archive in which it is included.
Nothing new about this, they contain the .sfv file, .nfo file and the rar files.
Most games and applications are tagged with . and most console games are tagged with a _
0day apps are a little different though. Most of them don't contain a .SFV file, but a .diz file instead.
Also apps and games can contain subfolders like CD1/CD2.
.diz file file_id (.diz)
file_id.diz is a plain text file containing a brief content description of the archive in which it is included.
How does a release look like
All those scene releases have to be ordered in a clear system, so it's easy to look something up.
Therefore the releases are catagorized in the catagories below.
The most important catagories are:
Therefore the releases are catagorized in the catagories below.
The most important catagories are:
TVRip: A rip from a television show
Movie: Movie in video format
- DiVX (A movie ripped in DiVX format)
- XViD (A movie ripped in XViD format)
- VCD (A movie ripped in VCD format)
- SVCD (A movie ripped in SVCD format)
Apps: Applications
Games: PC games
DVDr: DVDs
MP3: Music albums/singles/vinyls/livesets/etc
Console Games: Games for consoles, such as:
- XBOX (Xbox games)
- XBOX360 (Xbox360 games)
- PS2 (Playstation 2 games)
- NGC (Nintendo GameCube games)
- GBA (GameBoy Advance games)
- PSP (Playstation Portable games)
0day: 0day refers to software, videos, music, or information released or obtained on the day of public release. This contains:
- E-Bookz (Digital tutorials and howto's)
- Telephone/PDA Software
- Kids software
- Addons (all types of addons for utilities/games)
- Commerical fonts
- Screensavers
- XXX-imagesets (Imagesets from pornsites)
- Dox (single keygens/cracks/fixes)
- Covers (DVD/CD covers)
- Scene stuff
Stuff like scene messages (textfile messages to share something with people in the scene, f.e. messages about busts or when a releasegroup stops or when someone is suspected to be a fed), scene charts (which releasegroups did the most releases, published every month) and more.
Movie: Movie in video format
- DiVX (A movie ripped in DiVX format)
- XViD (A movie ripped in XViD format)
- VCD (A movie ripped in VCD format)
- SVCD (A movie ripped in SVCD format)
Apps: Applications
Games: PC games
DVDr: DVDs
MP3: Music albums/singles/vinyls/livesets/etc
Console Games: Games for consoles, such as:
- XBOX (Xbox games)
- XBOX360 (Xbox360 games)
- PS2 (Playstation 2 games)
- NGC (Nintendo GameCube games)
- GBA (GameBoy Advance games)
- PSP (Playstation Portable games)
0day: 0day refers to software, videos, music, or information released or obtained on the day of public release. This contains:
- E-Bookz (Digital tutorials and howto's)
- Telephone/PDA Software
- Kids software
- Addons (all types of addons for utilities/games)
- Commerical fonts
- Screensavers
- XXX-imagesets (Imagesets from pornsites)
- Dox (single keygens/cracks/fixes)
- Covers (DVD/CD covers)
- Scene stuff
Stuff like scene messages (textfile messages to share something with people in the scene, f.e. messages about busts or when a releasegroup stops or when someone is suspected to be a fed), scene charts (which releasegroups did the most releases, published every month) and more.
There are even more catagories like but they are less important. Such as: VHS (A VHS-videotape rip), PSP-movies, XVCD (A movie rip like VCD) and previous generation console games like PSX (PlayStation 1), DC (Dreamcast games).
MDVDr, XXX and Anime sometimes are also defined as a catagory. In fact it's a movie/dvdr genre, but since they are a little different from regular movies they are sometimes considered as unique catagories. The same goes for MDVDr (Music DVDr) which is different from regular movies but it's still DVDr, and the same story for MViD (Music Video) but then video.
MDVDr, XXX and Anime sometimes are also defined as a catagory. In fact it's a movie/dvdr genre, but since they are a little different from regular movies they are sometimes considered as unique catagories. The same goes for MDVDr (Music DVDr) which is different from regular movies but it's still DVDr, and the same story for MViD (Music Video) but then video.
Release types
Original releases are rips of movies, programs, games and music, all released by groups specialized in creating these kinds of releases, so called releasegroups.
A release is the full package of a ripped game, movie etc. (more release types). These releases are all created in a standard way, according to the scene rules. That way the tag (directory name) and the included info file directly give you a lot of information about the release type, the source and so on. More about tags here.
A release is the full package of a ripped game, movie etc. (more release types). These releases are all created in a standard way, according to the scene rules. That way the tag (directory name) and the included info file directly give you a lot of information about the release type, the source and so on. More about tags here.
First there is the actual content. Most big releases with the sice of a CD or DVD are released as a cd or dvd image, mostly in .ISO or .IMG format. Basically an image is a complete backup of a cd/dvd. They can be burned (Nero, Alcohol 120%) or mounted (Alcohol 120%, Daemon Tools). Apart from the actual content it's often packed into compressed files for easy spreading. Also it contains an info file which will tell the downloader all about what's in the release, how it's created and what the quality is. More about how a release looks like here.
To ensure the quality of a release, there are the scene rules which are set up by the releasegroups. These scene rules exactly tell how a release should be prepared for the scene. This is the big advantage of scene releases, you'll always get high quality. The whole scene system keeps it safe, clean, and ensures high quality only.
What is a release?
Leet (or 1337, l33t) is a custom language. Leet is derived from the word Elite. Leetspeak is used on the internet, and is especially prevalent in gaming communities, but it's also used a lot in the scene. The origin of the language is that it was quicker to type, and second is that back in these days only experienced users would understand this language. Nowadays this is not important anymore.
For the purposes of this text, leet is defined as the corruption or modification of written text. Therefore it's not a new language, it just modifies existing languages. It is a system whereby certain letters are replaced either by numbers or symbols which look like the letter being replaced. As you may have noticed 1337 uses numbers and symbols to replace letters, but often there is a re-spelling of word involved too. For example 'the' is in leetspeak 'teh', and owned is "pwnd" or "0wn3d". There are no rules to define how this works, but it is generally phonetic. A simple form or leetspeak is for example: i pwn u (I own you). A more complicated form of leetspeak is for example: j00 4r3 $tup1d (you are stupid). This complicated form is not used much by people in the scene, more often it's being used by young gamers or the so called 'br33z@h sluts'.
The most common leetspeak letter replacement in the scene is the 'I'. The uppercase 'I' letter is practically always replaced by the lowercase 'i'. The original reason for this was that the uppercase I and the lowercase l were so similar that it was very hard or not possible to see which one it was. Nowadays it's still being replaced, for the traditional reason and because it looks cool. Examples: iNTERNAL (releasetag), ADDiCTiON (releasegroup).
Here are some custom 1337-speak words and abbraviations:
Pwn / 0wn
Pwn is a common intentional misspelling of "own", a term indicating domination of something or someone.
n00b / newb
n00b is possibly one of the weightiest insults in leetspeak. The literal translation is newbie, and it is used to refer to both those who are literally new with the scene and also to insult those who in fact do know what they are doing but have slipped up somehow.
w00t
w00t is quite a difficult concept to describe, as after many years in the wilds of the internet, w00t has mutated from a four letter word into a meme of sorts. Without getting into intense debate, suffice to say that it indicates jubilation of sorts, either as a good natured cheer of excitement or as a modifier for insults, when combined with terms like n00b, amplifying their effectiveness
lol / lmao / rofl
These abbraviations stand respectivily for laughing out loud, laughing my ass off and rolling on the floor laughing.
Omfg
Stands for oh my fucking god
Stfu
Stands for shut the fuck up
h4x0r
This stands for hacker
pr0n
Stands for porn. The origin of this word is that by typing porn this way, the message/text wouldn't be filtered by content/language filters.
Pwn / 0wn
Pwn is a common intentional misspelling of "own", a term indicating domination of something or someone.
n00b / newb
n00b is possibly one of the weightiest insults in leetspeak. The literal translation is newbie, and it is used to refer to both those who are literally new with the scene and also to insult those who in fact do know what they are doing but have slipped up somehow.
w00t
w00t is quite a difficult concept to describe, as after many years in the wilds of the internet, w00t has mutated from a four letter word into a meme of sorts. Without getting into intense debate, suffice to say that it indicates jubilation of sorts, either as a good natured cheer of excitement or as a modifier for insults, when combined with terms like n00b, amplifying their effectiveness
lol / lmao / rofl
These abbraviations stand respectivily for laughing out loud, laughing my ass off and rolling on the floor laughing.
Omfg
Stands for oh my fucking god
Stfu
Stands for shut the fuck up
h4x0r
This stands for hacker
pr0n
Stands for porn. The origin of this word is that by typing porn this way, the message/text wouldn't be filtered by content/language filters.
The suffix "-z0r" (also "-x0r", or other variations thereof) can be used, like the standard English -er and -or, to derive an agent noun from a verb, such as "pwnz0r" or "h4x0r". It can also be suffixed to the stem of any verb, with no apparent change in meaning. It is rumored that it originates from the word for "king" in a different language.
The suffix "-age", can be used, like the standard English -ness, to derive an agent noun from a verb, such as "pwnage" or "suckage".
The suffix "-age", can be used, like the standard English -ness, to derive an agent noun from a verb, such as "pwnage" or "suckage".
Leetspeak
While sites are protected with technologically advanced schemes, law enforcement operations such as Operation Buccaneer and Operation Fastlink have been able to gain access and shut down sites by infiltrating the pirate groups that operate on them. Other significant law-enforcement attack on the warez scene were Operation Site Down and there were also busts in June 2006, with one US.biz site being busted.
Not all takedowns are successful. Operation Bahnhof failed miserably when the officials entered an area that their warrant didn't include. Although they found several servers and terabytes of illegal material, they ended up being sued for illegal tresspassing, harassment and accused of planting evidence, as one of the Swedish anti-piracy group employees was trying to infiltrate the scene to gather evidence, and in doing so violated Swedish laws against entrapment.
Operation Buccaneer
On December 11, 2001, in an international operation known as "Operation Buccaneer", law enforcement agents in six countries targeted 62 people suspected of software piracy, with leads in twenty other countries. Raids were conducted in the US, Britain, Australia, Finland, Norway and Sweden. Five people were arrested in England; in the United States, no arrests were made on the day of the raids, pending review of materials seized. Busted were the site DoD and a lot of it's members and people from the releasegroup Razor1911 and RogueWarriorz.
On December 11, 2001, in an international operation known as "Operation Buccaneer", law enforcement agents in six countries targeted 62 people suspected of software piracy, with leads in twenty other countries. Raids were conducted in the US, Britain, Australia, Finland, Norway and Sweden. Five people were arrested in England; in the United States, no arrests were made on the day of the raids, pending review of materials seized. Busted were the site DoD and a lot of it's members and people from the releasegroup Razor1911 and RogueWarriorz.
Operation Fastlink
In april, 2004, raids occurred in similar fashion to those from Operation Buccaneer. The operation led to the successful busts of nearly 100 individuals involved in piracy worldwide. There were around 120 total searches executed in 27 states and in 10 foreign countries. Foreign searches were conducted in Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, Israel, the Netherlands, Singapore, Sweden as well as Great Britain and Northern Ireland. This was the biggest operation against piracy ever. Among the prolific warez release groups targeted by Fastlink were Fairlight, Kalisto, Echelon, Class, DEViANCE (All games) and Apocalypse Production Crew and Chromance.
In april, 2004, raids occurred in similar fashion to those from Operation Buccaneer. The operation led to the successful busts of nearly 100 individuals involved in piracy worldwide. There were around 120 total searches executed in 27 states and in 10 foreign countries. Foreign searches were conducted in Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, Israel, the Netherlands, Singapore, Sweden as well as Great Britain and Northern Ireland. This was the biggest operation against piracy ever. Among the prolific warez release groups targeted by Fastlink were Fairlight, Kalisto, Echelon, Class, DEViANCE (All games) and Apocalypse Production Crew and Chromance.
Operation Site Down
Operation Site Down was the umbrella name for a law enforcement initiative conducted by the FBI and law enforcement agents from ten other countries which resulted in a raid on targets on June 29, 2005. The raid consisted of approximately 70 searches in the United States and approximately 20 others in Canada, the Netherlands, France, Belgium, UK, Germany and a few more. The bust was an effort to disrupt and dismantle many of the leading warez groups. Affected groups were RiSCiSO, Myth, TDA, LND, GFZ, HOODLUM, VENGEANCE, Centropy, WastedTime, AGCS, ThP, Corrupt, Gamerz, ADMiTONE, Hellbound, KGS, BBX, KHG, NOX, NFR, CDZ, TUN and BHP. Affected topsites were LAD, CHUD, SC, VS, TNA, and BB from the US, RSN and TWH from The Netherlands and LW from Lithuania.
Operation Site Down was the umbrella name for a law enforcement initiative conducted by the FBI and law enforcement agents from ten other countries which resulted in a raid on targets on June 29, 2005. The raid consisted of approximately 70 searches in the United States and approximately 20 others in Canada, the Netherlands, France, Belgium, UK, Germany and a few more. The bust was an effort to disrupt and dismantle many of the leading warez groups. Affected groups were RiSCiSO, Myth, TDA, LND, GFZ, HOODLUM, VENGEANCE, Centropy, WastedTime, AGCS, ThP, Corrupt, Gamerz, ADMiTONE, Hellbound, KGS, BBX, KHG, NOX, NFR, CDZ, TUN and BHP. Affected topsites were LAD, CHUD, SC, VS, TNA, and BB from the US, RSN and TWH from The Netherlands and LW from Lithuania.
European Raids Early 2007
On 25 january 2006, local police in a wide spread coordinated effort raided over 300 homes and offices associated with top warez providers. The raids took place in Germany, Austria, Holland, Poland and the Czech Republic. A total number of 30 individuals were arrested in the raids. Probably the GVU got in one of the sites by paying for at least for one of the servers hardware. It looks like the site IOH (Island Of Hope) was more or less a GUV honeypot, attracting the spread members of the release groups. The raids also yielded over 20 servers, all serving as FTP sites. The following top providers, mostly German groups, were eliminated; RELOADED, KNiGHTS, TFCiSO, Cinemaniacs, German-Friend, ParadieseBeach, Klapsmuehle, Unreality, DRAGON, Laboratory, Heaven, Code Talk, GTR, ECP, TRCD, AOS, MRM, SITH, GWL, Cine VCD, and AHE. kHz quit the scene after the news. In addition, the leader of RELOADED was reported as arrested during the raids. Click here for more info about the bust.
On 25 january 2006, local police in a wide spread coordinated effort raided over 300 homes and offices associated with top warez providers. The raids took place in Germany, Austria, Holland, Poland and the Czech Republic. A total number of 30 individuals were arrested in the raids. Probably the GVU got in one of the sites by paying for at least for one of the servers hardware. It looks like the site IOH (Island Of Hope) was more or less a GUV honeypot, attracting the spread members of the release groups. The raids also yielded over 20 servers, all serving as FTP sites. The following top providers, mostly German groups, were eliminated; RELOADED, KNiGHTS, TFCiSO, Cinemaniacs, German-Friend, ParadieseBeach, Klapsmuehle, Unreality, DRAGON, Laboratory, Heaven, Code Talk, GTR, ECP, TRCD, AOS, MRM, SITH, GWL, Cine VCD, and AHE. kHz quit the scene after the news. In addition, the leader of RELOADED was reported as arrested during the raids. Click here for more info about the bust.
Apart from the topsites and releasegroups, other groups in the scene also get bused. FXP boards seem to be rather safe, though hackers get busted from time to time. Peer-to-peer users, who relatively do much less harm than releasegroups and topsites, are a lot easier to bust and therefore often p2p-users get sued.
You can find A LOT more info on the defacto2 website.
Takedowns
The scene rules are the standards in the warez scene for releasing warez. These standards are the minimum requirements for a release. The scene rules are defined by groups of people who have been involved in its activities for several years and have established connections to large groups. These people form a committee, which creates drafts for approval of the large groups. In organized warez distribution, all releases must follow these predefined standards to become accepted material. The standards committee usually cycles several drafts and finally decides which is best suited for the purpose, and then releases the draft for approval. Once the draft has been signed by several bigger groups, it becomes ratified and accepted as the current standard. There are separate standards for each category of releases. The scene rules can be updated anytime, though it is most likely that the rules won't change more than 1 or 2 times a year.
Why these rules?
The scene rules may seem a little strict, but they certainly are not there to bother rippers. There are several reasons why these rules exist:
The scene rules may seem a little strict, but they certainly are not there to bother rippers. There are several reasons why these rules exist:
1. The rules enforce high quality releases only, so no worries about bad quality, error or other bad stuff.
2. Because the releases are divided into small parts you don't have to worry about re-downloading the whole release if something goes wrong. You can control that everything has been downloaded correctly by checking against the SFV-file. Hence you will always know whether you've gotten a complete uncorrupt release of what you were downloading.
This means that you will have the exact same files on your computer, when you've downloaded and extracted the release, as the person who first ripped the movie and created the release.
This means that you will have the exact same files on your computer, when you've downloaded and extracted the release, as the person who first ripped the movie and created the release.
3. The rules lead to a standarized way of sharing, which the downloads obviously benefits greatly from. You will learn to recognize a good release and be spared the inconvenient trouble/surprise of poorly ripped movies by amatures. Also it's much easier to compare releases to eachother.
4. Scene releases always contain all the information about how it's ripped, what the quality is etc. This way you always know what you're downloading.
You can find rulesets etc. here.
The scene rules
System
In the scene hierarchy we already explained what a topsite is. Here we'll provide some more detailed information about topsites and their system, and the scene system. Security ofcourse is a very important issue. Topsites are very private. A typical topsite configuration will only allow users to login from a certain ident and host (or ip range), with SSL encryption on all FTP sessions. FTP bouncers are commonly used to hide the topsite's real IP address, and to share network load. Most users will connect through proxy's. That way the sites won't see their real ip-addresses.
In the scene hierarchy we already explained what a topsite is. Here we'll provide some more detailed information about topsites and their system, and the scene system. Security ofcourse is a very important issue. Topsites are very private. A typical topsite configuration will only allow users to login from a certain ident and host (or ip range), with SSL encryption on all FTP sessions. FTP bouncers are commonly used to hide the topsite's real IP address, and to share network load. Most users will connect through proxy's. That way the sites won't see their real ip-addresses.
IRC
All site members are present in the site's irc channel. These channels are mostly located on private or very secure irc-servers, and you'll need to connect via SSL. Apart from SSL there are more security measures. You cannot just join the channel, you have to invite yourself, by using a command line when you are connected to the site. That way people who are not a member of the site, will not be able to join since it's secured with invite-only or with a channel key (password). Second, the channels are often protected with FiSH. FiSH is a irc addon which encrypts the messages in a channel. That way people who don't have the proper fish key, won't be able to read the messages. In that irc channel, the members and site ops can talk to eachother. Also there is a site eggdrop bot present, which will make an annoucements when a releasegroup publishes a new release on the site, or announces when a members starts to upload a release. Also most sites will have an announce channel. This channel automatically displays the lastest releases just after they're pre'd. More about this below.
All site members are present in the site's irc channel. These channels are mostly located on private or very secure irc-servers, and you'll need to connect via SSL. Apart from SSL there are more security measures. You cannot just join the channel, you have to invite yourself, by using a command line when you are connected to the site. That way people who are not a member of the site, will not be able to join since it's secured with invite-only or with a channel key (password). Second, the channels are often protected with FiSH. FiSH is a irc addon which encrypts the messages in a channel. That way people who don't have the proper fish key, won't be able to read the messages. In that irc channel, the members and site ops can talk to eachother. Also there is a site eggdrop bot present, which will make an annoucements when a releasegroup publishes a new release on the site, or announces when a members starts to upload a release. Also most sites will have an announce channel. This channel automatically displays the lastest releases just after they're pre'd. More about this below.
Credit system
The site works with a credit system. Site-ops and commonly affiliated are exempt from this system, they have a free leech account. This credit system works according to a ratio. Most common is 3:1, this means when you upload 3 GB, you can download (or fxp) 9 GB. When a member doesn't pass the minimum monthly required amount of upload, he'll automatically be deleted. Credits can be lost by uploading a bad release which gets nuked. Nuke multiplier affects the amount of lost credits.
The site works with a credit system. Site-ops and commonly affiliated are exempt from this system, they have a free leech account. This credit system works according to a ratio. Most common is 3:1, this means when you upload 3 GB, you can download (or fxp) 9 GB. When a member doesn't pass the minimum monthly required amount of upload, he'll automatically be deleted. Credits can be lost by uploading a bad release which gets nuked. Nuke multiplier affects the amount of lost credits.
Affiliates
There are basically three ranks in sitetrading: siteops, affiliates and racers. Siteops (Site-Operators) are the administrators. There are usually between two and five siteops per site. One is often the supplier of the site, another the person who found the supplier and guided them through the installation of the FTPD. The other will be friends and
people involved in the scene. One or more of the siteops will be the nuker. It is his job to nuke any releases that are old or fake. Affiliates are the releasegroups who post their releases there right after they are finished. Each affiliate has access to a private, hidden directory on the topsite. This directory is used for uploading new releases before they are made available to other users.When a new release has finished uploading on each of the group's sites, a command is executed to simultaneously copy it into a directory accessible by other users, and trigger an announcement in the topsite irc channel. This command is called the PRE-command. "To pre" refers to executing this command. Pre-releases may be also relayed to external pre-announce channels to inform other couriers/sitemembers/users from fxp-boards that a new release is available for racing.
There are basically three ranks in sitetrading: siteops, affiliates and racers. Siteops (Site-Operators) are the administrators. There are usually between two and five siteops per site. One is often the supplier of the site, another the person who found the supplier and guided them through the installation of the FTPD. The other will be friends and
people involved in the scene. One or more of the siteops will be the nuker. It is his job to nuke any releases that are old or fake. Affiliates are the releasegroups who post their releases there right after they are finished. Each affiliate has access to a private, hidden directory on the topsite. This directory is used for uploading new releases before they are made available to other users.When a new release has finished uploading on each of the group's sites, a command is executed to simultaneously copy it into a directory accessible by other users, and trigger an announcement in the topsite irc channel. This command is called the PRE-command. "To pre" refers to executing this command. Pre-releases may be also relayed to external pre-announce channels to inform other couriers/sitemembers/users from fxp-boards that a new release is available for racing.
The warez scene relies on strict release standards, or rules, which are written and signed by various warez groups.
Release database
DatabaseWhen a group pre's a release, the release will automatically be registered in the pre-database. This is huge database which contains all the releases ever release into the scene. This release databases records release names and their release date & time, although fields vary from database to database. Examples of other common fields include genres (for mp3 releases), sections, and nuke details. Release databases are maintained to provide release groups with a service for checking existing release titles, to avoid a dupe (duplicate). Also users are able to check whether or not, for example, a movie was already released, the releasedate, the status (nuked or not) and more. Release databases are updated by automatic processes that either recurse selected topsites searching for new releases (spidering), or catch pre-release announcements from site channels.
DatabaseWhen a group pre's a release, the release will automatically be registered in the pre-database. This is huge database which contains all the releases ever release into the scene. This release databases records release names and their release date & time, although fields vary from database to database. Examples of other common fields include genres (for mp3 releases), sections, and nuke details. Release databases are maintained to provide release groups with a service for checking existing release titles, to avoid a dupe (duplicate). Also users are able to check whether or not, for example, a movie was already released, the releasedate, the status (nuked or not) and more. Release databases are updated by automatic processes that either recurse selected topsites searching for new releases (spidering), or catch pre-release announcements from site channels.
Nukes
If a group publishes a release which already has been released by another releasegroup, it's a dupe (duplicate). Then the release will be nuked. This means that it's marked as a bad release. Releasegroup try to avoid nukes, since this will give them a bad reputation. Except for dupe, releases can be nuked for other reasons too. First of all, there are 2 types of nuke:
- Global Nuke
Nuked because of the release itself. It is nuked because something is wrong with the release, for example: sound errors, dupe, freezing video, bad rip, etc. If a group realise there is something wrong, they can request a nuke. Common nuke releases:
» Dupe
» Bad aspect ratio
» Bad inverse telecine, the process of converting framerates was incorrect
» Interlaced, black lines on movement as the field order is incorrect
- Local Nuke
Nuked because of the environement. Individual sites will nuke for breaking their rules, for example: no telesyncs, no dvd's subbed in languages other then english and dutch, etc. So there is nothing wrong with the release. Because of these releases are nuked locally, they can still be traded on other sites.
If a group publishes a release which already has been released by another releasegroup, it's a dupe (duplicate). Then the release will be nuked. This means that it's marked as a bad release. Releasegroup try to avoid nukes, since this will give them a bad reputation. Except for dupe, releases can be nuked for other reasons too. First of all, there are 2 types of nuke:
- Global Nuke
Nuked because of the release itself. It is nuked because something is wrong with the release, for example: sound errors, dupe, freezing video, bad rip, etc. If a group realise there is something wrong, they can request a nuke. Common nuke releases:
» Dupe
» Bad aspect ratio
» Bad inverse telecine, the process of converting framerates was incorrect
» Interlaced, black lines on movement as the field order is incorrect
- Local Nuke
Nuked because of the environement. Individual sites will nuke for breaking their rules, for example: no telesyncs, no dvd's subbed in languages other then english and dutch, etc. So there is nothing wrong with the release. Because of these releases are nuked locally, they can still be traded on other sites.
The scene / topsite system
The scene is build up in a certain hierarchy. To explain the structure of this, here is a global overview of the piracy food chain. Not all these 'layers' are considered as a part of the scene by everyone. The anti piracy organizations and most of the other parties which are not in the scene themself, do consider all these groups to the scene. Though they are not a part of the scene. In fact, the releasegroups and the people on the topsites hate these other groups. The reason for this is that fxp boards, irc traders but mostly peer to peer users bring the scene in danger. The sceners (people from the scene) want to keep the releases for a limited amount of people. Since everyone who knows how to use a computer knows how to user p2p-software, everyone would be able to download releases. This causes big losses for record labels, movie producers etc, what leads to the anti-piracy organisations, police/fbi-attention etc. On their turn, this brings the sceners in danger, so that's why they dissaprove these groups. FXP boards consider themselves in the scene. Irc-traders and newsgroups might now even know about the scene, and p2p-users defently don't know about the scene.
Here is the hierarchy:
Releasegroups - Groups of people who release the warez into the scene. Often linked with Site Traders.
Topsites - Very fast FTP servers with people who trade the releases from the above groups to other (top)sites.
FXP Boards - People who scan/hack/fill vulnerable computers with warez.
IRC Trading - Users of IRC who download from "XDCC Bots" or "Fserves".
Newsgroups - People who download from alt.binaries newsgroups.
Peer-To-Peer - Users of p2p (peer-to-peer) programs like KaZaA but also BitTorrent who share with eachother.
Topsites - Very fast FTP servers with people who trade the releases from the above groups to other (top)sites.
FXP Boards - People who scan/hack/fill vulnerable computers with warez.
IRC Trading - Users of IRC who download from "XDCC Bots" or "Fserves".
Newsgroups - People who download from alt.binaries newsgroups.
Peer-To-Peer - Users of p2p (peer-to-peer) programs like KaZaA but also BitTorrent who share with eachother.
We'll start at the bottom and we'll work ourselves up to the top.
Peer-To-Peer
Peer To PeerAt the bottom of the piracy food chain we have the peer-to-peer users. There seem to be two groups of peer-to-peer users. The first group are kids and downloading some music now and then because they can't afford cd's. Second are the older p2p users who use p2p for also for downloading games, programs, movies, etc. In the media, peer-to-peer are being labeled as dangerous pirates. They are a lot easier to bust for the RIAA/FBI and there are quite some of them who are being sued by the RIAA for thousands of dollars. The level of security is very low, and it's easy to get access to all warez. This is why they endanger the sceners. The download speeds are quite low since you download from other users. Most p2p-users don't have a clue about what a long way a release has made untill it's available for download in p2p software. It has been released, spread from topsites to fxpboards, then to irc/newsgroups and in the end it's available for the mass via peer-to-peer. The speed of p2p is the lowest, since users download from eachother.
Peer To PeerAt the bottom of the piracy food chain we have the peer-to-peer users. There seem to be two groups of peer-to-peer users. The first group are kids and downloading some music now and then because they can't afford cd's. Second are the older p2p users who use p2p for also for downloading games, programs, movies, etc. In the media, peer-to-peer are being labeled as dangerous pirates. They are a lot easier to bust for the RIAA/FBI and there are quite some of them who are being sued by the RIAA for thousands of dollars. The level of security is very low, and it's easy to get access to all warez. This is why they endanger the sceners. The download speeds are quite low since you download from other users. Most p2p-users don't have a clue about what a long way a release has made untill it's available for download in p2p software. It has been released, spread from topsites to fxpboards, then to irc/newsgroups and in the end it's available for the mass via peer-to-peer. The speed of p2p is the lowest, since users download from eachother.
A special kind of p2p system is BitTorrent. It uses a central location which coodinates the downloads but it doesn't host any downloads. The download itself consists of several pieces offered by various users. Such a coordinated group is called a torrent. BitTorrent is widely used, allthough it's rather insecure. It's also fairly accessible. The central distributionpoint is called the tracker. The tracker knows which users already have the file, and which users want to download it. The users who already have the download are called seeders, and the users who are downloading are called leechers. Every user who downloads a certain file, downloads a different part of the file. When the seeder goes offline, they can still download from eachother and all complete the file.
Newsgroups
NewsgroupsOnce upon a time when the internet was still young there were special interest groups that shared information and kept in touch by using a bulletin board type system. This system was designed to take advantage of the internet in a way an old bulletin boards couldn't; each location had a machine (news server) that would store all the messages of the newsgroups that were desired by it's users. A short time passed and the users of certain newsgroups thought that this system would be ideal to share files with each other. It's easy to access newsgroups but unless you are familiar with them, navigating and downloading files from the newsgroups takes more effort than p2p software. You can download from newsgroups using a newsreader, for example: NewsLeecher and Xnews. There are also pay newsservers, these are faster and can hold up the files longer than free newsservers. Free newsserver can be quite fast, and pay newsservers are even faster.
NewsgroupsOnce upon a time when the internet was still young there were special interest groups that shared information and kept in touch by using a bulletin board type system. This system was designed to take advantage of the internet in a way an old bulletin boards couldn't; each location had a machine (news server) that would store all the messages of the newsgroups that were desired by it's users. A short time passed and the users of certain newsgroups thought that this system would be ideal to share files with each other. It's easy to access newsgroups but unless you are familiar with them, navigating and downloading files from the newsgroups takes more effort than p2p software. You can download from newsgroups using a newsreader, for example: NewsLeecher and Xnews. There are also pay newsservers, these are faster and can hold up the files longer than free newsservers. Free newsserver can be quite fast, and pay newsservers are even faster.
IRC Trading
IRC TradingNot far up from peer-to-peer users we have the people who go to IRC for their warez. In general, these people intend to have a better knowledge about computers and the internet. Warez channels are often run by people who have access to a fair amount of pirated material.
IRC TradingNot far up from peer-to-peer users we have the people who go to IRC for their warez. In general, these people intend to have a better knowledge about computers and the internet. Warez channels are often run by people who have access to a fair amount of pirated material.
There are generally two types of these channels. These can often feed by people from FXP boards or bad sites. First there are Fserve (user-to-user) channels. They mainly use the mIRC client's File Server function and some scripts to share their warez directly from their hard drives. Second there are XDCC (server-to-user) channels. These are usually run by people who are into FXP boards or in the scene. They have access to fast, new warez. They employ people to hack into computers with fast internet connections and install XDCC servers (usually iroffer) which are used to share out pirated goods. There is a limited amount of people allowed to download a release at once, so when a release is populair you are placed into a waiting line. That way good download speeds will be guaranteed. The download speed is often very good.
FXP Boards
FXP is the File eXchange Protocol. It isn't an actual protocol, just a method of transfer making use of a vulnerability in FTP. It allows the transfer of files between two FTP servers. Rather than client-to-server, the tranfer becomes server to server. The fxp'er just gives a command to 1 server to send files to the other server. FXP usually allows very fast transfer speeds although it totally depends on the connection of the servers. Still it's ussually faster since the hackers are able to hack very fast servers. The fxp boards layer in the piracy food chain is quite unknown and therefore rather safe. Though the hacker's activities are very illegal, and therefore dangerous. Security is important. The members are ussually a lot smarter than irc-traders/p2p-users and have a greater knowledge about computers and internet.
FXP is the File eXchange Protocol. It isn't an actual protocol, just a method of transfer making use of a vulnerability in FTP. It allows the transfer of files between two FTP servers. Rather than client-to-server, the tranfer becomes server to server. The fxp'er just gives a command to 1 server to send files to the other server. FXP usually allows very fast transfer speeds although it totally depends on the connection of the servers. Still it's ussually faster since the hackers are able to hack very fast servers. The fxp boards layer in the piracy food chain is quite unknown and therefore rather safe. Though the hacker's activities are very illegal, and therefore dangerous. Security is important. The members are ussually a lot smarter than irc-traders/p2p-users and have a greater knowledge about computers and internet.
The boards usually run a vBulletin forum with custom hacks. The boards ussually don't work with a credit system. Though the admins do an user cleanup once in a while. The board's members consist of scanners, hackers, and fillers. They each have their own tasks:
The Scanner
The Scanner's job is to scan IP ranges where fast internet connection are knwon to lie (usually universities, company's, etc.) for vulnerable computers. We're talking brute forcing passwords from programs, or scanning on ports for certain programs which contain a bug. The scanner will oftten use slow previously hacked computers for his scanning (known as scanstro's), using remote scan programs. Once the scanner has gotten his results, he'll run post this at the board. This is where the Hacker" comes into play.
The Scanner's job is to scan IP ranges where fast internet connection are knwon to lie (usually universities, company's, etc.) for vulnerable computers. We're talking brute forcing passwords from programs, or scanning on ports for certain programs which contain a bug. The scanner will oftten use slow previously hacked computers for his scanning (known as scanstro's), using remote scan programs. Once the scanner has gotten his results, he'll run post this at the board. This is where the Hacker" comes into play.
The Hacker
HackingHackers are the people who break into computers. There are many easy-to-exploit vulnerabilities. Hackers get in to a computer using an exploit to get in via a program's bug. An exploit is a script which uses the bug to get in the pc. The program/exploit he uses (of course) depends upon the vulnerability the scanner has scanned for.When in, the hacker runs his rootkit (a modified version of Serv-U ussually). This rootkit is the server where other people can download from. Most likely he will also install remote administrator software (ussually Radmin), so he can get in to the computer easily. Once the server is installed and working he'll post the admin logindata to the FTP server on his FXP board. Depending on the speed of the compromised computer's (aka pubstro or stro) internet connection and the hard drive space, it will be used either by a filler or a scanner.
HackingHackers are the people who break into computers. There are many easy-to-exploit vulnerabilities. Hackers get in to a computer using an exploit to get in via a program's bug. An exploit is a script which uses the bug to get in the pc. The program/exploit he uses (of course) depends upon the vulnerability the scanner has scanned for.When in, the hacker runs his rootkit (a modified version of Serv-U ussually). This rootkit is the server where other people can download from. Most likely he will also install remote administrator software (ussually Radmin), so he can get in to the computer easily. Once the server is installed and working he'll post the admin logindata to the FTP server on his FXP board. Depending on the speed of the compromised computer's (aka pubstro or stro) internet connection and the hard drive space, it will be used either by a filler or a scanner.
The Filler
Filler Now if the pubstro is fast enough and has enough hard drive space, it's the filler's job to get to work filling it with the latest warez. The filler gets his warez from other ftp servers hacked/filled by other people. Fillers sometimes have site access, and fxp releases from there to their pubstro. These people who are in sites and in fxp boards are considered corrupt, and if other sceners find out, they will be scenebanned (banned from all his sites). Though it is said that it happens quite often. Once he's done fxp'ing his warez, the filler goes back to the board and posts leech logins for one and all to use. Fillers (with site access) all try to post a release the first. It's kinda like a race, who ever wins it get the most credit. The speed of these pubstro's depend on how fast the pc is they hacked. Though the hackers from these fxp-boards are rather good, and are able to hack 100mbit's.
Filler Now if the pubstro is fast enough and has enough hard drive space, it's the filler's job to get to work filling it with the latest warez. The filler gets his warez from other ftp servers hacked/filled by other people. Fillers sometimes have site access, and fxp releases from there to their pubstro. These people who are in sites and in fxp boards are considered corrupt, and if other sceners find out, they will be scenebanned (banned from all his sites). Though it is said that it happens quite often. Once he's done fxp'ing his warez, the filler goes back to the board and posts leech logins for one and all to use. Fillers (with site access) all try to post a release the first. It's kinda like a race, who ever wins it get the most credit. The speed of these pubstro's depend on how fast the pc is they hacked. Though the hackers from these fxp-boards are rather good, and are able to hack 100mbit's.
Pub/Pubbing
Pubbing is not so important anymore nowadays. This scan/hack/fill methodes are from the old days when many university and business ftp servers had write access enabled on anonymous ftp-servers. So instead of break ing into a computer, they would just upload their warez and give the IP address to their friends. This was very popular but died out for obvious reasons. It works like this; there is someone who scans for ftp servers with anonymous logins with write-access. Once found a pub would be tagged (a folder with the name "tagged.by.name"). The idea was that if a pub was already "tagged" other pubbers would leave it alone. This apparently worked for a while, with people respecting other people's tags and leaving the pubs alone. But it certainly hasn't worked for a very long time.
Pubbing is not so important anymore nowadays. This scan/hack/fill methodes are from the old days when many university and business ftp servers had write access enabled on anonymous ftp-servers. So instead of break ing into a computer, they would just upload their warez and give the IP address to their friends. This was very popular but died out for obvious reasons. It works like this; there is someone who scans for ftp servers with anonymous logins with write-access. Once found a pub would be tagged (a folder with the name "tagged.by.name"). The idea was that if a pub was already "tagged" other pubbers would leave it alone. This apparently worked for a while, with people respecting other people's tags and leaving the pubs alone. But it certainly hasn't worked for a very long time.
A method against retagging is dir locking. This is used in pubbing to stop people which are not allowed to get into the directory of the tagger (and slowing the server down). There are a couple or dir locking tricks. The first and easiest is to make a maze. When you make a maze you just make a lot directories and other people would never know in what map your stuff is since you would have to try them all out. Second is UNIX tagging. That's about a the magical character, the ΓΏ (alt+0255) which is an escape character on UNIX machines. When give a directory a name containing that character, the name will be displayed different then when you typed. The creator can get in by typing in the original name. Last is dir locking NT systems. More about this and other dir locking here.
Topsites
Next on the list and pretty much at the top or near the top are the site traders. Site trading is basically sending releases from one site to another. Releasegroups publish their releases on these sites, so they are the first stadium in the distribution of warez. From there on a release will be spread all over the world.
Next on the list and pretty much at the top or near the top are the site traders. Site trading is basically sending releases from one site to another. Releasegroups publish their releases on these sites, so they are the first stadium in the distribution of warez. From there on a release will be spread all over the world.
The Sites
TopsiteThese sites have very fast internet connections. 10mbit is considered the minimum, 100mbit good, and anything higher pretty damn good. The sites have huge hard disk drives. 200GB would probably be the minimum, and they can get up to 5 terabytes. These sites are often hosted at schools, universities, people's work. Also some countires have the preference. The Netherlands and Germany have fast internet connections, Sweden also but then a lot cheaper. These sites are referred to as being legit. This means that the owner of the computer knowns that they are there and being run, which is the opposite of pubstro's. Fast connections mean a lot to some people. If you have access to a 100mbit line (and are willing to run a warez server there), there are people who would quite happily pay for and have a computer shipped to you just for hosting a site that they will make absolutely no profit from. Commercial use of site access is not something common, most people do it just for fun, not to make money. Standard site software are GlFTPd and DrFTPd. As well as running FTPD, the sites run an eggdrop bot with various scripts installed. The bot will make an annoucement on an IRC channel when a directory is made or upload completed. It will also give race information, since just like on fxp boards, the site traders try to send a release as quick as possible to another site. That way he will earn credits. The more credits, the more he can download. The speed between topsites can reach about 15 MBps.
TopsiteThese sites have very fast internet connections. 10mbit is considered the minimum, 100mbit good, and anything higher pretty damn good. The sites have huge hard disk drives. 200GB would probably be the minimum, and they can get up to 5 terabytes. These sites are often hosted at schools, universities, people's work. Also some countires have the preference. The Netherlands and Germany have fast internet connections, Sweden also but then a lot cheaper. These sites are referred to as being legit. This means that the owner of the computer knowns that they are there and being run, which is the opposite of pubstro's. Fast connections mean a lot to some people. If you have access to a 100mbit line (and are willing to run a warez server there), there are people who would quite happily pay for and have a computer shipped to you just for hosting a site that they will make absolutely no profit from. Commercial use of site access is not something common, most people do it just for fun, not to make money. Standard site software are GlFTPd and DrFTPd. As well as running FTPD, the sites run an eggdrop bot with various scripts installed. The bot will make an annoucement on an IRC channel when a directory is made or upload completed. It will also give race information, since just like on fxp boards, the site traders try to send a release as quick as possible to another site. That way he will earn credits. The more credits, the more he can download. The speed between topsites can reach about 15 MBps.
The People
There are basically three ranks in sitetrading: siteops, affiliates and racers. Siteops (Site-Operators) are the administrators. There are usually between two and five siteops per site. One is often the supplier of the site, another the person who found the supplier and guided them through the installation of the FTPD. The other will be friends and people involved in the scene. One or more of the siteops will be the nuker. It is his job to nuke any releases that are old or fake. Affiliates are the releasegroups who post their releases there right after they are finished.
There are basically three ranks in sitetrading: siteops, affiliates and racers. Siteops (Site-Operators) are the administrators. There are usually between two and five siteops per site. One is often the supplier of the site, another the person who found the supplier and guided them through the installation of the FTPD. The other will be friends and people involved in the scene. One or more of the siteops will be the nuker. It is his job to nuke any releases that are old or fake. Affiliates are the releasegroups who post their releases there right after they are finished.
Racers are the people who will race releases between sites. Usually they will have access to a number of sites and will fxp release as soon as they're released. FXP'ing a release will gain credits. The ratio is usually 1:3, so fxp'ing 3 GB will get them 9 GB credits on the site. The race is to upload the most parts of the release at the fastest speed. Racing happends shortly after a release is released.
The scene hierarchy
The Scene
The scene aka the warez scene is the pretty unknown worldwide network where people trade pirated goods, like dvd's, movies, games, applications etc. Warez refers primarily to copyrighted material traded in violation of its copyright license. It does not refer to commercial for-profit software counterfeiting. First warez is released by releasegroups, groups which are specialized in publishing warez. They copy a dvd or break the security of game, and will make it available for other people, as a so-called release. When these releasegroups finish a release it will be uploaded to sites. These sites are very fast private ftp-servers, and the first stadium in the distribution of a release. Eventually, at the end of the distribution, the releases are available for everyone on p2p-software.
The speed of this worldwide network is enormous. Within minutes a release can be copied to hundreds of other sites. Within an hour, it's available on thousands of sites and fxp boards.
Within a day or two it's available on newsgroups, irc and in the end, on p2p-software. It's not all one big happy family. The warez scene consists of certain groups/layers. At the top we have the releasegroups and the topsites. These groups are the scene core. The other groups officially are not a part of the scene. Though most people consist them as a part of the scene. Read more about the scene hierarchy here..
The scene isn't just a distribution network, it's far more than that. There are the scene rules which are there to guarantee good quality releases. If not, a release will be nuked. This means it will be marked as bad. Nuked releases are not spread well and the releasegroup will get a bad status. More about how the scene works, and the scene system, click here.
Security is an important issue in the scene. Since their activities are illegal the sceners have to secure themselves, to be safe from the anti-piracy organisations (such as the feds, national anti-piracy organisations, etc) and avoid being caught in a takedown.
What is the scene?
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