Introduction
There are three uses of the Internet in the 21st century which generate the most discussion/flamage/negative publicity/lost bandwidth. The most well known of these is Internet porn, a subject which is beyond the scope of this book, while the other two are the trading of MP3 files and the distribution of pirated software.
There is a major difference between the distribution of MP3 files and of pirated software and that is that the MP3 files are not necessarily breaching copyright. Although the MP3 scene gained early notoriety through the mass copying and distribution of tracks "ripped" from CDs, nowadays many sites offer legal MP3s.
Warez Kidz and MP3 Pirates
Pirate software, or "warez", has been around as long as there have been computers. Just as soon as companies started to produce software for sale, so a small group of users immediately started to copy it onto blank disks, or even cassette tapes, and pass the software around. As companies realized that they were losing revenue, they began to develop increasingly sophisticated software protection methods to prevent copying. As fast as the companies developed methods of protection, the warez pirates developed techniques to "crack" the software protection and distribute the software.
Once modems began to be common across America, small Bulletin Boards (BBSs) sprang up offering a warez section where users could upload and download software. As the Internet spread, so the warez pirates followed, exploiting world readable anonymous ftp directories to create "hidden" directories containing many hundreds of megabytes of pirated software. Keeping up with the times, warez pirates soon began running "fsp" servers on university machines, closely followed by warez web sites where software could be downloaded directly from the Internet. With the recent crackdowns on warez on the Internet, sites have become harder to find, but they still exist.
Some warez groups, for example, Radium, Core, Zor and others, have made a name for themselves churning out hundreds of programs to generate keys for registration, patches to register software, and patches to prevent software registering that the "dongle", a physical device to prevent software piracy, is missing.
MP3 has not been around as long, but its rapid growth came about due to the rapid expansion of the World Wide Web. At one time, audio files of music could be many hundreds of megabytes in size, preventing all but a few ardent music fans from exchanging tracks over the Internet, and mostly restricted to university sites where fast links with adequate bandwidth were freely available. With the invention of MPEG Level 3 (MP3) compression, file sizes were cut down drastically, allowing downloads of music even using 28.8K or 14.4K modems. Hundreds of sites sprang up as MP3 aficionados obtained CD "ripping" software and MP3 encoders and started to trade copyrighted tracks across the Internet. Of course, the record companies were *not amused*, fearing a stream of lost revenue worse than any foreseen during the "home taping is killing music" campaign.
Legal Disclaimer
Software piracy is theft. No, really. Yes, I know most people think that they're not "stealing" anything because what they have taken is still there, but a software company sees it differently, and do does the law. Depending on which part of the world someone is in, penalties vary from non-existent to extremely severe. If anyone is making money from selling warez, they could be prosecuted, fined a large amount of money and possibly sent to prison, not to mention possibly facing bankruptcy as a RICO charge strips them of all their assets. Don't do it.
Making MP3s is fun, if you own the copyright. If you don't, you are in breach of the copyright laws and the record companies will not like you very much. As with the controversy over home taping, the use of CDs you own to make MP3 copies for your personal use is a contentious area, and similarly unlikely to be resolved real soon now. Again, for anyone who makes money by selling or trading in copyright-breaking MP3s, the full weight of the legal system can be ranged against them for criminal acts, possibly resulting in their loss of liberty and a ruined life. Don't do it.
Warez Copz and MP3 Guardians
Different countries have different organizations which attempt to stamp out the copyright violations caused by software and music piracy, and there is no world-wide agreement on intellectual property rights. This makes some third-world and far-east countries a hotbed of piracy.
Guarding the copyright of musicians who have their music distributed in MP3 format, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has been active against mp3.com, for its my.mp3.com site, and more recently against the Napster software, which provides a global database of MP3 recordings. In the UK, the British Phonographic Institute (BPI) has tried hard to dispel the myths about what is permissible in the copyright domain, while coming out in favour of MP3 as a distribution mechanism - provided the distribution of music in MP3 format does not violate artists' and producers' rights.
Created to combat software piracy in 1988, the US organization Business Software Alliance (BSA) is a watchdog group that represents a consortium of the world's leading software developers. BSA has been very active in promoting anti-piracy initiatives, and quick to crack down on offending web sites. In the UK, the Federation Against Software Theft (FAST) was formed in 1984 to fulfil a similar role, campaigning to increase public awareness about software piracy while taking steps to find and prosecute offenders.
Organizations like these often use free-phone lines to encourage people who know of software or music copyright violations to inform on the offenders. They are also known to be actively monitoring the Internet so that they can act promptly against offending web sites, often by applying pressure to the local ISP who can ill afford a lawsuit. The legal risks are real, and so are the people who are trying to catch MP3 and warez pirates, so anyone should think hard about the legal implications before they get involved in any of this stuff, and they really shouldn't get involved in anything illegal at all.
What is MP3?
MP3, or to give it its full name MPEG-3, which in turn is short for Motion Picture Experts Group Audio Level 3, is a technique used to compress audio files down from large multi-megabyte files to something much smaller, typically around 10 per cent of the original size. MP3 works by discarding the information that the human ear cannot hear, but which is still sampled along with the rest of the information in the original audio file. Variable levels of MP3 encoding give various levels of audio quality, meaning that you can opt for a smaller file with poorer quality, sounding like a cheap transistor radio, or a larger file with higher audio quality, more like that of a CD.
Making an MP3 File
If you want to make your own MP3 files, it is very easy - just follow the steps below. In order to make MP3 files you first need to make the audio files that you want to encode as MP3s, and then you encode them. There are two ways to make audio files: from CDs using digital track extraction, or from music recorded via a sound card's "in-line" socket.
Digital track extraction from CDs ("ripping")
Digital track extraction from a CD involves getting a CD of your favourite band or tunes, placing the CD into your PC or Mac CD-ROM drive, extracting the audio file from the CD and copying it onto your hard disk. This is often called "ripping" the track, and the digital copy from the CD that you need can be made using a piece of software called a "ripper". For anyone making music using their computer, a CD ripper is an essential tool for digitally copying samples from copyright free sample CDs to use in ACID, CUBASE or whatever music software is being used. There are many rippers out there on the Internet, either free or shareware, while many audio programs, such as CoolEdit, also support CD track extraction. My favourite is CD-Copy, but anyone using a ripper should try several until they find a program that works well and which they like. Note that not all CD-ROM drives support digital track extraction, so a user might need to upgrade their CD-ROM if they cannot rip tracks successfully. Once the extraction is complete and track is in a .wav file, it is time to move on and encode it into an MP3. Of course, if you choose to rip a track from a copyrighted CD, then it is incumbent on you to ensure that it is not distributed in any way, and that the only purpose of having that track in .wav format is for your own personal use only.
Recording in-line from your sound card
This technique is useful for creating MP3s of tapes, records, and, if you are lucky, your own music. The results of this operation will depend how good a sound card there is in the system, because a cheap sound card, like an SB16, will add noise to the recorded input in the form of hiss. Try it anyway, and if the results are not to your liking, then think about upgrading your sound card. To make the audio recording, attach the output of your tape machine, record player or mixing desk to the line-in. Note that you might have to use some form of pre-amplification, such as a DJ mixer, in the signal path between the output of the tape recorder or record player and the line-in socket of your sound card. Do not use the microphone socket as the impedance mismatch will swamp the recording and "max-out" the audio levels in the sound card. Now fire up a copy of CoolEdit or similar, and hit the record button while pressing play on the tape recorder or record player. Make sure that the levels of the audio signal do not exceed the levels in the recording program - most of them give you a way of monitoring this via virtual vu level monitors - or again you will get distortion as the audio levels max-out. Once you have your audio file, save it as a .wav file and we are ready to encode to MP3.
MP3 Encoding Software
The process of MP3 encoding can be slow on an older computer, but only needs to be done once. Choose an MP3 encoder on the same basis you select a CD ripper. There are many to choose from on the Internet, and once you find a reliable and robust encoder that is easy to use stick with it. Fire up the MP3 encoder - my preferred encoder is the Fraunhofer .mp3 producer, but the principles remain the same. Open up the input file in the encoder and choose your output file and the level of encoding. Preview the encoding if necessary to ensure that the audio quality of the encoded MP3 is adequate for your needs. You might have to make a trade-off at this point between file size and audio quality depending on what you intend to do with the MP3 once you have got it. Now begin the encoding and go and make coffee - depending on the speed of your machine, the software and the size of the .wav file you are encoding, you could be waiting for some time.
MP3 Players
There are dozens of software MP3 players on the Internet, and choosing one is a matter of personal preference. A short trip to mp3.com will provide you with a large number to choose from, but the most popular at the moment seems to be WinAmp.
Hardware MP3 Players
Relatively new, and much touted as the "wave of the future", hardware MP3 players resemble a small Walkman. A cable attaches the player to your PC and you can download MP3 files into the memory of the player. Some players provide memory cards for storage to widen your choice of music. Because MP3 players are digital in operation, they should theoretically be non-skip and shock-proof, so ideal for jogging or running. There are about a dozen models to choose from so, if you get into MP3s in a big way and can't live without your MP3 "fix", you might find one of these devices attractive.
Finding MP3s
The following hints and tips apply equally to finding legal MP3s and illegal, copyright-breaking ones. How you use the information is up to you, but look at it this way: if you really like that band, buy their music, because depriving them of sales could well mean they don't get to make that second album you are so eagerly looking forward to. These tips can also be used by representatives of the record companies searching for evidence of copyright violation, so like all knowledge it can be used for good or ill.
MP3 Groups on IRC and USENET
One easy way of finding MP3s is to fire up your favourite IRC client on whatever platform you have, connect to EfNet or UnderNet and hunt down some MP3 discussion groups. Once you're in, people will often DCC the MP3 file straight to you without any problems at all. Finding MP3s on USENET is a little different, as most of the MP3 binary newsgroups don't get distributed widely, but there are still NNTP servers out there that contain them. Try looking for the following:alt.binaries.mp3.bootlegs
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.bootlegs
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.indie
alt.music.mp3.
Web sites that offer discussion groups are always worth checking - on one well-known site there were at least half-a-dozen groups discussing MP3 songs, with a fair amount of trading going on. Don't forget to use normal search engines as well, especially the automated ones, because a large amount of weird stuff gets indexed by these engines, sometimes without the owners intending it.
MP3 Web Sites
There are a lot of web sites on the Internet that give away free MP3 tunes. Some of them distribute unsigned bands, while some record companies give away tracks in MP3 as promotions. A good example of this is the fine site at Pork Records, (www.pork.co.uk) which gives away excellent MP3 versions of tracks by Fila Brazilia among others. If you like modern electronic dance music, there are huge numbers of original tracks out there, coming out of small studios all over the world. Likewise, musicians have started putting demos onto MP3 in the hope that they are discovered, and DJs are making copies of their sets and turning them into streaming MP3 media which is distributed across the web. A lot of this stuff is terrible, but it is there, it is free, and it has the advantage of being non-copyright-breaking. On the upside, MP3 distribution is well suited to experimental and underground music which has a limited commercial appeal, so you could find music which you would never hear anywhere else.
Pirate Software ("Warez")
The term warez is the name given to software that is copied illegally and either sold, traded or given away across the Internet. The warez trade exists because people just can't resist trying out new software, especially expensive new software, even if they never use it more than once. Most accomplished collectors of warez have many megabytes of the stuff, hardly any of which is used, but which they have to have just because they can. Successfully tracking down warez can be a tedious and time-consuming business if a person is not part of the warez community. Becoming a "warez d00d" requires a lot of hard work - sourcing warez, cracking warez, trading warez and talking about warez. The following discussion on joining the warez "community" is designed to alert the reader to the ways and means warez traders operate, and can be used by representatives of software companies seeking out evidence of copyright violation across the Internet, or systems administrators keeping an eye of their Internet connected systems.
Gaining Acceptance
In order to get accepted into the magic circle of warez d00ds a person has got to have to have something to trade. Novice warez d00ds normally start by getting something big and expensive from school, university or work. Something very expensive, and very specialized so that it's as rare as hen's teeth. Then they get a Hotmail address with some smart hacker handle that can be easily remembered, so that they can start hanging out in warez newsgroups and IRC channels. Anonymous web-based email is one of the commonest tools used by warez d00ds to communicate with each other. Their aim now is to trade their way into the warez community so that they can get access to better warez, which can then traded with lesser warez d00ds and so on. Experienced warez d00ds know that there is no privacy on the web either - so to avoid any legal implications of their warez trading they learn about anonymous proxy servers on the web very early on.
Finding Warez Sites
Once a novice warez pirate begins to talk to people on IRC and USENET, they will soon get offered sites or even DCC'd bits of software, but in most cases the sites they are offered are already dead, which is why the sites were offered to them, or they go down really soon after the sites are found. At this point serious warez traders keep plugging away, because eventually they *will* find a live site and at this point they increase their stash of warez even more. Traders will make sure that they surf the web regularly, especially in the more murky backwaters where there are "great opportunities for webmasters" and more pop-ups than they can shake a stick at. When a warez trader finds a good site, they upload and download like hell to keep the site going and to increase their warez stockpile even more, because any serious trader is going to need it real soon now.
Running a Warez Site
Many warez sites last hardly any time at all, but the large amount of free webspace now available means that this is not a problem. A site providing pirate software will find somewhere that offers free space and then use it. The warez traders then put their warez up on the site and make sure that the mailto: line points to the Hotmail address and not their real email address. Now the warez traders can hang about on IRC and brag about their "hot warez web site", offering to trade the address for other sites. Sites carrying warez are "here today, gone tomorrow" affairs because providers of free web space are well aware of this kind of abuse and will delete anything dubious at the drop of a hat.
If the warez trader has access to a university computer, running a warez web site is even easier, as they can compile a copy of "fsp" to distribute warez on a 24/7 basis, or run a copy of Personal Web Server on all those Win95 machines in the computer lab - or, if they are very lucky, install apache on a computer science LINUX box. But there is a good chance that any warez d00d who knows enough to do that won't be messing around with warez anyhow. Sites based on university or company computers tend to last longer than web based sites, but the penalties for discovery are more severe.
In areas of the world with unmetered local access, such as the US, it is possible to use Personal Web Server or attach a LINUX box to the Internet for long periods of time. This enables warez to be hosted on home computers although, as most ISPs are not now providing fixed IP addresses, this is becoming harder. Another problem with this approach is the limited bandwidth offered by most home Internet connections. Unless a warez trader is fortunate enough to have ISDN or ADSL, the potential bandwidth for warez distribution down a standard 56K modem line is limited to say the least.
Learning to Crack Software Protection
If a warez trader can program and wants to learn about cracking software protection, they start by getting hold of a copy of SoftIce, which seems to be the cracker's debugger of choice. Once they have that, they learn about x86 assembly language, PC hardware and a good chunk of the Windows API as well. This is why good crackers are hard to find, but for anyone serious about cracking software copy protection then there are several good tutorials on the Internet to help them get started. The only legitimate purpose for cracking copyright protection in this way is to make backups of copyright protected software that you have purchased. Out of all the warez d00ds, the role of the cracker is the most technically inclined, and many crackers soon lose interest and wander off to design arcane real-time systems in machine code as this is deemed more challenging than merely cracking software protection.
Crack Sites and Crack Search Engines
There are many sites on the Internet which specialise in distributing serial numbers, software that generate key codes for packages, and other software that patches programs to bypass copy protection routines. It is very easy to download "crippleware" versions of shareware programs and find the right crack within minutes to "register" the software and obtain full functionality. It is also possible to obtain "time-limited" versions of fully functioning, very expensive software and run programs that remove the time-limiting from within the software, rendering it fully usable. Although these sites exist, it is recommended that you do not make use of their facilities unless you wish to commit a criminal offence as this is still software piracy and the legal penalties could mess up your life for a long time if you do this.
Joining a "Warez" Group
A warez group is like any other organization, with different members responsible for different areas of warez distribution. While some members procure new warez, others will be cracking copy protection, developing web sites, trading warez with other groups, and even creating distribution CDs in some cases. Being a part of a warez group is like having a job, with all the responsibility and none of the perks, and the dropout rate is huge, as members burn out, grow up or get jobs.
If this is really what a warez trader really wants, they first establish themselves self as a serious warez d00d in the first instance, and then specialize in a skill that warez groups need. If they are really good at programming and like a technical challenge they try cracking copy protection. If they have access to storage and bandwidth because they are a CompSci student, then they learn to run a warez site. Once a trader has a speciality, they keep an eye open for a group that is recruiting. Once the warez trader has proved their bona fides to the warez group and demonstrated their speciality, the group will decide to accept the warez trader as a new member or not.
Conclusion
In this chapter we have looked at the Internet trade in both copyrighted MP3 audio files and pirated software. Despite this trade being illegal, it continues to flourish, and big business is now geared up to find and prosecute offenders, especially where they are making large sums of money from their illegal activities. Anyone considering becoming a copyright violation pirate should think carefully before committing themselves to actions they may later regret, and hopefully turn to more fulfilling legal methods of computer hacking, rather than just spending their time ripping off the hard work of other people. Every year people are caught participating in copyright violation piracy, and although most anti-piracy groups concentrate on larger scale piracy operations, periodic sweeps of the Internet turn up many small scale offenders who are often prosecuted to set an example and as a warning to other traders. Getting caught trading warez can mess up your life, leading to loss of education, loss of employment, and in extreme cases loss of liberty, so the reader is advised to have nothing to do with the warez scene.
