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How to get in Contact with Warez Groups
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Author:  Summervox [ Wednesday, 20 Jul 2011, 15:39 ]
Post subject:  How to get in Contact with Warez Groups
Hey guys. I'm an anthropologist (it's kinda like being an investigative journalist, except nobody gives a shit if you get held hostage by terrorists) and I decided to do my thesis on software piracy. Unfortunately, as it turns out, the interesting pirates (i.e. the ones at serious risk of being arrested) are pretty hard to find.

I'm interested in talking to/interviewing anyone involved with Skidrow, Paradox, Reloaded, Razor-1911, aXXo, or any other major scene contributor.
So, does anyone have any ideas about how to contact them?
Author:  hegyak [ Wednesday, 20 Jul 2011, 16:02 ]
Post subject:  Re: How to get in Contact with Warez Groups
Summervox
Most warez groups are not public for a reason. As you have stated above. Also, I would think someone who is into sociology would be more interested in these groups versus an anthropologist.

Quote:
Anthropology's basic concerns are "What defines Homo sapiens?", "Who are the ancestors of modern Homo sapiens?", "What are humans' physical traits?", "How do humans behave?", "Why are there variations and differences among different groups of humans?", "How has the evolutionary past of Homo sapiens influenced its social organization and culture?"

Quote:
Sociology is the study of society. It is a social science—a term with which it is sometimes synonymous—which uses various methods of empirical investigation and critical analysis to develop and refine a body of knowledge about human social activity. For many sociologists, the goal is to apply findings directly to the pursuit of social welfare, while others seek purely academic or intellectual knowledge. Subject matter ranges from the micro level of the individual agency and interaction to the macro level of systems and groups social structures.


Anthropology is the study of man's evolution, while Sociology is the study of man and how they interact and behave.
Author:  shmelle [ Wednesday, 20 Jul 2011, 16:07 ]
Post subject:  Re: How to get in Contact with Warez Groups
Summervox wrote:
I'm an anthropologist (it's kinda like being an investigative journalist)

What a contradiction! Anyway, there are no such people here. If you have read forum rules, which you clearly stated by registering here

...
Quote:
By clicking on "I agree to these terms", you also confirm that you have read and understood the Forum Rules and that you agree with them.

...
then you would know that this is not a warez forum and that it's not likely you will find such people here.
Also, anthropology has always reminded me on biology.
Author:  Summervox [ Wednesday, 20 Jul 2011, 16:33 ]
Post subject:  Re: How to get in Contact with Warez Groups
Heh, nobody ever fully understands anthropology. Not even anthropologists.

hegyak wrote:

Anthropology is the study of man's evolution, while Sociology is the study of man and how they interact and behave.


That's not really true. Anthropology is the study of man, period. Nothing is off-topic. My tutor last year was a big metalhead, did his master's thesis on black metal. Bastard just went to Serbia, got high with a black metal band for a year, then came back and wrote about it. It's actually such a racket. And the department has already signed off on my thesis proposal (they were actually really enthusiastic, gave me an A), so that's not an issue.


Anywho, I realise this isn't a warez forum per se. But I'm not asking for warez. I'm asking for advice.
Author:  ChrisTX [ Wednesday, 20 Jul 2011, 16:47 ]
Post subject:  Re: How to get in Contact with Warez Groups
Do you really need the scene groups is the question. Getting in touch with these is not feasible at all.
However, if you want to study the phenomenon of piracy, you could also try to get to uploaders on Torrent or other warez sites. Ask them about their motivation.
Author:  Summervox [ Wednesday, 20 Jul 2011, 16:51 ]
Post subject:  Re: How to get in Contact with Warez Groups
ChrisTX wrote:
Do you really need the scene groups is the question. Getting in touch with these is not feasible at all.
However, if you want to study the phenomenon of piracy, you could also try to get to uploaders on Torrent or other warez sites. Ask them about their motivation.


Hm, that's a good idea. But see, a major theme of my research is power relations, specifically the relationship of pirates to authority. And also the whole altruism angle. But both of these are based on the idea that the pirate in question operates at significant risk to themselves. With scene groups like Razor-1911, that's readily apparent from all the FBI raids and such. But is it the same with torrent uploaders?

Put short, how much risk is there in uploading a torrent? Has anyone ever been arrested/received a prison sentence for doing so?
Author:  RessourectoR [ Wednesday, 20 Jul 2011, 17:09 ]
Post subject:  Re: How to get in Contact with Warez Groups
There's also the question of who you want to ask. You say scene groups, but do you really mean sceners? There can be quite a difference between the big fish from the scene, from a warez board or torrent tracker or the average pirate. At least in theory; I'm not sure scene groups are just about scene competition anymore, some of them could be pro-P2P as well.
What's your main focus? The cracking/ripping/supplying? The act of sharing? Motivations can be any of, for example: competition, fame, feeling powerful, rebelling against the MAFIAA, passion for anything technical that is related, different sorts of altruistic principles, but also egoism and greed (making money with warez sites), then cultural principles and principles of freedom of information and education, and so on.
It really depends on who you ask a lot.
Author:  Summervox [ Wednesday, 20 Jul 2011, 17:31 ]
Post subject:  Re: How to get in Contact with Warez Groups
RessourectoR wrote:
What's your main focus? The cracking/ripping/supplying? The act of sharing? Motivations can be any of, for example: competition, fame, feeling powerful, rebelling against the MAFIAA, passion for anything technical that is related, different sorts of altruistic principles, but also egoism and greed (making money with warez sites), then cultural principles and principles of freedom of information and education, and so on.
I really depends on who you ask a lot.


Well, that would be one of the key differences between sociologists and anthropologists: the former go in with a very specific idea of what they want to see, and gather data/evidence/statistics to support it, whereas the latter are all about qualitative research, immersing yourself in a culture and getting a "feel" for what's important and what isn't.

I'm sure there's a range of motivations, but the thing that interested me is that whatever they are, they usually don't involve money. Almost all other serious criminal activity is motivated by making quick cash, but pirating isn't. That means that either
A) whatever a pirate's motivation is, it's strong enough to overcome their fear of getting caught, or
B) they feel that authority figures are powerless to stop them.
Perhaps a combination.
So the questions I'd start with are something along the lines of "how worried are you about being caught? Do you know anyone who was busted by the authorities? If you were caught, how much trouble do you think you'd be in?"
Thanks for asking. Gets me thinking about this stuff.

RessourectoR wrote:
There's also the question of who you want to ask. You say scene groups, but do you really mean sceners? There can be quite a difference between the big fish from the scene, from a warez board or torrent tracker or the average pirate. At least in theory; I'm not sure scene groups are just about scene competition anymore, some of them could be pro-P2P as well.


Essentially, any one of the above who runs the risk of being imprisoned if caught would fall into the scope of my research. Especially when they make it a point to try to help random strangers, even ones outside their own subculture (e.g. Skidrow making their cracks as user-friendly as possible, etc.)
Author:  cYCyIYoRDf [ Wednesday, 20 Jul 2011, 20:36 ]
Post subject:  Re: How to get in Contact with Warez Groups
...
Author:  RessourectoR [ Wednesday, 20 Jul 2011, 20:44 ]
Post subject:  Re: How to get in Contact with Warez Groups
When making those assumptions, you already imply something that is not a given for the majority of pirates. You imply a sense of wrongdoing that more often than not is just not there. How much of a pirate one is depends more on the chance of being caught or rather the person's idea of that chance, as well as personal interests. If you're passionate about encoding movies and either your country lacks the laws and law enforcement or you know a way or site to spread your encodes safely, you'll do it. If you don't know much about filesharing and live in a country where people get busted just for uploading more often than in many other countries, you (should) think twice about what you're doing and where you're doing it. If you're a cracker in a scene group or an aministrator on a piracy-related website, you're either carefree or paranoid to very paranoid. It's about knowing your environment and knowing how far you can go with your current level of anonymity.
There are many variables that play a role here and I believe you will hear many different justifications for pirate activities, while they will all come from the same set of motivations and opinions, some of which I mentioned. Obviously.
The more expensive the products are and the bigger the companies that make them, the less you'll find people with a sense of guilt amongst those that pirate them. A lot of pirates I know buy indie music, indie games, special offers on Steam, applications with a small fee; private torrent communities often rely on donations - successfully; but it's hard to find people that buy blu-rays or DVDs, or Windows, or EA games.

It's possible to ask all kinds of pirates for their opinions, but you probably won't get a hold of scene crackers. They're not part of the whole sharing thing and they mostly stay put. They're still the main source for most of the stuff that's being shared, so they do good in being the most paranoid.

Edit: The site peshkohacka mentioned has good articles. Definitely check them out.
Author:  .Rar [ Wednesday, 20 Jul 2011, 21:03 ]
Post subject:  Re: How to get in Contact with Warez Groups
I'm not much into this stuff, but I do know it's going to be pretty tough for you to get in touch with the scene groups you mention. They're very "paranoid" (the word doesn't really apply in its normal definition when they are out to get you), and so it makes sense to refuse to do interviews about their motivations with complete strangers; I'd act the same way if I were on their shoes.

Some of the smaller groups are a bit more open to contact, though. Look through their NFOs and you may see an e-mail address you can send your inquiries to. Good luck!
Author:  ChrisTX [ Wednesday, 20 Jul 2011, 23:41 ]
Post subject:  Re: How to get in Contact with Warez Groups
Summervox wrote:
Put short, how much risk is there in uploading a torrent? Has anyone ever been arrested/received a prison sentence for doing so?

Are you kidding? There are companies dedicated to bust uploaders. (not only on BitTorrent, but all kinds of networks).

At my school, there was once a presentation about piracy and illegal downloads by a lawyer who presented several - although unnamed - students of it in cases of illegal downloads.

What I find most interesting, I know more than enough people who pay for RapidShare accounts because they don't want to get busted on Torrents. You pay for piracy? Sounds strange to me, too.
Author:  arez [ Wednesday, 20 Jul 2011, 23:49 ]
Post subject:  Re: How to get in Contact with Warez Groups
Quote:
You pay for piracy? Sounds strange to me, too.


still cheaper than buying overpriced crappy games... better pay less, get them fast and delete them if they suck too hard

(no, iam not one of those, but i think thats why they do it)
Author:  .Rar [ Thursday, 21 Jul 2011, 00:20 ]
Post subject:  Re: How to get in Contact with Warez Groups
I think they'd rather pay some extra bucks (electricity and Internet connectivity are already not free) and have some piece of mind, since file hosters and Usenet do not require uploading. They could rent a seedbox instead, but if you're already paying, why not go for a more direct solution? Not to mention many providers ban public torrents, and the invite system on private sites can be a letdown for a newcomer.
Author:  Tom [ Thursday, 21 Jul 2011, 01:53 ]
Post subject:  Re: How to get in Contact with Warez Groups
you could try
Spoiler
bacchus@fairlight.to from http://www.fairlight.to/


He may be able to link you to the right ppl :)
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