The Dark side of Warez (moved from ATSNN), page 1

It's a given that the real warez action goes on in the vacuum of deep, deep cyberspace, not the oxygenated atmosphere of the Net where 99% of the online population surf.

In those far reaches, warez enthusiasts trade in movies, software. music, you name it. But whatever the file being traded, it�s all about getting there. First!

Money doesn�t come into it - unless you're talking about the secret fees some people pay to become a part of the 'elite'.

�Once a file is posted to a topsite, it starts a rapid descent through wider and wider levels of an invisible network, multiplying exponentially along the way,� writes Jeff Howe in Wired Magazine�s January, 2005, The Shadow Internet.

A �topsite� is one of about 30, �underground, highly secretive servers where nearly all of the unlicensed music, movies, and videogames available on the Internet originate,� he says.

Please visit the link provided for the complete story.

Hackers are, for the most part, people with an insatiable need to know what, where and how. They�re clever, often brilliant, and they find cool ways to explore interesting systems. Surreptitiously. .

Unfortunately, a handful use their knowledge for illicit purposes and the activities of these few have meant �hacker� is now synonymous with �crook� to many people, particularly if they�re members of one or other of the government or corporate enforcement agencies.

The same applies to warez traders.

Although 99% of them do what they do for the thrill, eventually going onwards an upwards and becoming �normal' members of society, a tiny handful are either recruited by organized crime gangs to produce �product� for the underground markets, or they set themselves up as suppliers.