Warez is an Internet slang term meaning copyrighted material (usually software) traded in violation of its copyright license. The term generally refers to releases by organized groups, as opposed to file sharing between friends.
"Warez" is a deformed derivation of the word "wares" as in produce. Initially, it was a leet term used in underground circles, but today it is commonly used among mainstream Internet users. "Warez" is most common as a noun ("He downloaded 10 gigs of warez yesterday"), but can also be used as a verb ("The new Photoshop was warezed as soon as it was released"). People engaging in warez production and distribution are referred to as warezers, warez groups. They are also sometimes pejoratively called warez d00dz (this is leet speak) and warez kiddies. The collection of warez groups is referred to globally as the warez scene, or simply the scene. Warezers are also often called pirates, figuratively referring to the pirates of ocean commerce, though the use of this term is controversial: see Copyright infringement of software for details.
Warez is a large-scale and international phenomenon. Well-organized pirate groups, often based in China and Russia, illegally produce millions of copies of copyrighted software, which if sold at retail would be worth several billions of dollars annually. Warezers exploit the international nature of the Internet to avoid law enforcement from specific countries. For example, in Russia, the copying of software was once explicitly permitted by law when such software was not in the Russian language; this is no longer true, but prosecutions for copyright infringement are still very rare. While most copies of pirated software are manufactured in Asian factories, their distribution more often than not begin in Western nations such as the US and the European countries, where the largest international software companies are located.
Software cracking groups (not to be confused with the mostly Asian-based illegal CD manufacturers and the street vendors that sell warez), who are often highly efficient and highly tech savvy, delegate tasks among their members. These members are mostly located in first-world countries where high-speed Internet connections and powerful computers are readily available. For example, suppose a popular new piece of commercial software is released in the United States. A cracking group might first use one of its contacts in America to obtain a pre-release copy, then send it to a skilled programmer in Australia to remove copy protection (see software cracking), who will then send it to a distributor in the Netherlands for release as warez. As a result, distribution of illegally copied programs on the same day as the commercial release ('0-day warez'), or even before ('negative-day warez'), is common. Beginning in the late 1990s, feature films have been frequently released by warez groups prior to their official release, a notable example of which was The Matrix.
Distribution of warez is usually handled between groups using topsites. The groups also have private sites for internal purposes, such as archiving their own releases and transferring the unmodified material between their members. Through the users of these sites the warez is delivered to people outside groups where it starts spreading through peer-to-peer networks, like KaZaA, and becomes available to the public.
Unlike the pirated CD manufacturers and street vendors, cracking groups obtain no monetary profit from their actions. The motivation of these groups varies. Warez groups are competitive amongst each other, and a fast warez release is viewed as a social accomplishment. The morality of copyright infringement is also much more disputed than that of conventional property theft, and members of warez groups often view their actions as socially positive. Justifications include the alleged impossibility of copyright enforcement and the perceived injustice of not sharing information with those who could not afford to obtain it otherwise. They also claim that warez may actually increase the value of software through the network effect.
The production and/or distribution of warez is illegal in many jurisdictions. See Copyright infringement of software for legal details.
Sometimes, in addition to actual illegally copied data, warez dealers distribute Free software and documentation, copyrighted works whose copyright license specifies that the work may be legally redistributed. The free software community generally doesn't have any relation to the warez scene.
Some warez groups have included:
See also
where are the valid links? Curious.
External link
Where are the valid links. Just curious.