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---=[ Introduction ]=----------------------------------------------------------
Welcome to Inquisition issue #11.
Welcome back to Inquisition. Some have pondered and even said that we
were dead, well to your dismay, we're not dead. This issue includes
several interviews and articles. We are also sorry to inform you that
we no longer carry Ionizer's Game Review. This decision was justified
by his ignorance of publishing that we were dead, and by the conclusion
that he used us as a method to distribute his reviews. Best of luck to
Ionizer.
Other things you will see missing from this issue is Jimmy Jamez Bias
Util Report. Jimmy had to concentrate on his studies, so look forward
next week for the Utils report.
We still want YOU to write in comments on our publication, even if they
are negative. We prolly will publish them in our next issue and one of
the editors or writers will reply to them.
To state to the scene, we are a news publication here to bring you the
latest in the scene, whether good or bad. It's best to keep everyone
informed, even the lamers.
We also offer a subscription now - look for info in the Internet Section
Please welcome our new staff members in INQ!
- Raptor & Lester
Send your articles, comments or suggestions to:
- na407822@anon.penet.fi -
---=[ Contents ]=--------------------------------------------------------------
1. Letters to the Mag........INQ Members
2. Reviews...................Various Writers
3. Interviews................Various Writers
A. Technic [PWA Cracker]
B. The Speed Racer [Razor 1911 Leader]
C. Ordnance [RtS Leader]
D. Blitzkrieg-X [TDU-Jam Member]
4. Articles..................Various Writers
A. Autonomy & Austhetics.....Darwin
B. Ware Maker Information....CyberPhreak
C. Scene News................Judge DRedd
D. If Your a Lamer...........Lester
E. You Might be Leet.........Lester
F. Personal Opinion..........Gorefest
G. Hybrid and TDU-Jam........Judge DRedd
H. Master vs. MAliCE.........Everclear
5. Announcements
A. AP Press Release - Blackhawk
B. Microsoft Press Release - Blackhawk
C. RoR Verification
6. Games Ratings.............Ukyo
7. Internet..................INQ WEB Site, subscriptions, and more
8. Warez Listing.............Lurch
9. Closing...................Raptor & Lester
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|o _|___|_. |___|__| |____|_|: |___| |____| _______|O__ |____|
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---=[ 1. Letters to the Mag - INQ Members ]-----------------------------------
> Welcome to Inquisition issue #9.
>PWA (Pirates With Attitude) - Strong week as always, but not perfect. PWA
>shows this time some store pickup but also their store things were confusing
>some times.. such titles as Toy Story Screen Saver & Internet in a Box for
>Kids. I dont really find it cool to release kiddyware and screensavers
under >such respected label as PWA. Anyway god will judge them :)
Nice little write-up; but next time you might use god's name: Orion
Excellent magazine BTW. Keep up the good work. Anyway god will judge you :)
Mooncrow [PWA Member... retired PWA Council Member and veteran old fart]
Raptor - Whoa-ho! Never thought that this guy would write in. Well
Mooncrow, I am sure Jimmy will take that into consideration and
Orion will use that comment to bolster his inflamed ego.
Dudes!
I love the mag! Keep it up. Don't listen to the fucking lamerz who say you
ain't doing a good thing. I'll do all I can to help you out. I remember back
when INQ was the WWN. I was on AOLame and we thought we were the shit when we
got a copy of WWN. I remember the IMaGe dudes and all those fools. I heard
IMaGe was dead. That sucks. Sorry to ramble on, just want you to keep up the
good work.
Layterz!
Blackdeth on Undernet!
Raptor - Well Blackdeath, we appreciate the comment. I am glad to hear that
our mag is fluent on the Undernet. You guys keep reading on!
Hey guys, figured I'd follow official channels to submit a letter this time.
I'd like to submit a few feelings about releases, and the dupe war. Firstly,
let me state for the record, that releases are won on the boards. As much as
I hate to say that, that's the facts. The way to win a release is to get it
to the others WHQ, or a majority of the boards. Slowly and surely sites are
beginning to hold the same importance as boards, but that will still take
more time. I've had many conversations and complaints on this matter. For a
group to be able to win then they must be allowed access to the others WHQ.
In cases like Hybrid and Park Central, when we try to upload on multiple
accts, all our people are mysteriously knocked offline. I would think a
Major board like that would have solved the odd line noise problem months
ago. I was given a suggestion the other day that maybe using an account of a
neutral person may help this line noise problem. An odd fix, but one we must
try. And for that matter HBD has yet to beat us on our boards. They want to
insist that PC is the end and where withall of the race. I have a hard time
believing that one board makes the scene. One person does not make the
scene. As soon as you give one person, or a small group that much power,
then the scene is too tightly controlled. I WILL not allow this to happen.
I will not have some over-inflated windbag tell me since it's not on PC that
we lose. Now if others want to try and rewrite how releases are sent and
won, then they better start to address the Net as a major factor. I've
talked with many people from the competition, and they agree that the Net is
the future no matter how much they hate to admit it. The biggest complaint
is that there is no division between lamers and elites. There they are
wrong. Lets face it, lamers can't access the cool sites like SCuMSite, LA,
or RiSCSite. Most netters drool over the thought of accessing these
stockpiles. That in itself shows seperation. Also the lamers don't have
OPS, in #Razor only razor members have OPS so again seperation. No matter
how hard the Old Schoolers fight, I will drag them into this century and onto
the net. Just don't make the mistake of underestimating someone like me. ;)
And as a closing, I'd like to state that INQ has really blossemed into a
great mag. No fancy artsy, fartsy loaders, just good clean info. Ask any of
my people on mass email list, they get a copy in email hot off the presses.
:)
Keep up the great work, DruidKin - Razor Net Director
Raptor - Thank you Druidkin, and sorry for the lateness of this submission.
I figured that this needed to be said, I went ahead a put it in
the mag. I am also glad to hear that we have the support from Razor
and that your mass email helps us even more.
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______________________________ ________________ ____\__ \
{____ _ \ __ \ |-------\ \ __ \ / / \
/ / _/ ________/\ | / / ________/\ _/\_ \
/____/ \___________/\___________/______/\___________/_____/\ \
~~~~~\________/~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~syc\______\~
---=[ 2. Reviews ]------------------------------------------------------------
Title = Pinball 4000 (c) Expert
Group = Legacy
Disks = One
Article by = Minor Threat [DGt]
Pinball 4000 provides nothing new to the pinball genre. But for a CD-Rip,
which is only 1 disk, it is definitely worth grabbing; especially when you
don't feel like playing a long complex game. Well Pinball 4000 is a pinball
simulator; there are four themes of pinbball machines. Codename-X, a secret
agent type machine, sucks considering the backround really has no relation to
the name of the theme. Second, Fender Bender is a western car shop setting
where you basically hit bumpers and other little gadgets that do certain
things. Tennis is probably the most orginal theme; bumpers are tennis balls
and, there is a nice scene of a stadium match in the backround. And finally
Casino, this has one cool feature though there are little sub-games like
blackjack and roulette. The negatives of the game are that the levels are
way too simple, no real design seemed to be taken on the levels. I would
have liked to see multilevel pinball machines with alot of different things
to interact with; all this game provides are a couple bumpers and some
hit-all-the-letters and get more points stuff. The game does have nice
graphics and sound though, reminds me of a demo. My favorite level was
Fender Bender; I liked the music. I tested the game on a 486DX/2 66, 12MB
RAM, SB16, and Win95 (DOS Mode). The game installed easily, and I found no
bugs. The setup is easy, the menu is real easy and the game takes no
screwing around with. I suggest grabbing this 1 disk game which is pretty
fun for a couple of hours. The company who made it seems to think there tilt
feature is revolutionary, but I didn't even use it. I give the game a 4 out
of 10. Nothin new, nice music and graphics.
---=[ 3. Interviews - Various Writers ]=--------------------------------------
A. Technic [PWA]
Technic is one of the formiable crackers in the scene. His cracking abilities
can be found in both PWA and DoD warez along with some individual cracks.
INQ : To begin with, many people do not even know who Technic is. Can you
give the readers a brief run-down of yourself?
Technic : I am main cracker of PWA (Pirates With Attitudes). I also have
cracked some stuff for DOD (Drink or Die) and other groups.
INQ : How long have you been in PWA?
Technic : I am unsure. Perhaps it has been only 6 months, but it seems like
forever.
INQ : So you were in PWA before the SCuM merge?
Technic : Yes, quite a bit before that.
INQ : Was there anything before PWA?
Technic : There were many small, rinky-dink cracking operations, such as
cracking requests for local boards. This, of course, is only on the
PC. My cracking history goes way back to 1980 Apple ][ days. :)
INQ : Some say that you are the best cracker in the scene. Not to be
conceited, but do you think this true?
Technic : No, I believe there are several equally good crackers out there, as
well as several who are better than myself.
INQ : Have you ever ventured to crack games?
Technic : I have cracked many games on my own (not for groups); this is a
side-effect of many groups releasing fuck-ups in the past.
Basically, if I want to play something and it's not cracked, away I
go at cracking it.
INQ : So you can indeed crack games like the many utilities you have
cracked?
Technic : Yes, certainly. Games are generally easier to crack than
applications. CD checks, as long as one knows MSCDEX very well, are
trivial in nature.
INQ : So why have you not decided to committ to a games group as a
cracker?
Technic : It's because of the downward trend of games releases. CD Rips are
mostly shit (missing usually too much of the game and maybe not even
working). Plus, I've always been more interested in cracking and
using applications. Games get deleted once you win anyway. It
really makes one wonder about the eventual fate of groups like Razor
and Hybrid; will they follow TDU-JAM?
INQ : When did you start cracking for DoD?
Technic : I cracked a few things recently for DoD, maybe a few weeks ago.
Cool applications like Soundforge 16, Soundforge 32, Speed Razor
Mach III, and even a reg. key personalizer for SAW 5.1.
INQ : Are there any problems with PWA concerning your cracking abilities
with DoD.
Technic : No, I don't think so. Because PWA and DoD are friendly rivals;
there seems to be no problem.
INQ : How much are crackers worth these days?
Technic : Crackers are extremely valuable to groups these days. A good
cracker, coupled with good suppliers, makes for an excellent group.
Crackers are necessary to remove protection, remove serial #'s (or
change them) to protect suppliers, et cetera.
INQ : As a cracker, what is some of the hardest programs you came across
to crack?
Technic : Without a doubt, the hardest stuff to crack has been (and I stress
the words 'has been') the notorious Sentinel Super Pro Dongle.
Programs protected with such a dongle send strings to the hardware
protection key, which are encrypted by the key, and returned to the
program.
INQ : What about Visual Basic programs?
Technic : Visual Basic programs are tricky because they really aren't
"programs" per se, but merely interpreted scripts. Misha, another
famous cracker, will be working lots on this area. While I
concentrate on Dongle protection with another cracker friend, Slava.
INQ : Going back to PWA, what are your thoughts on the retirement of
Orion?
Technic : It's like it never happened, I'm happy to say, the reason it seems
this way is that Orion never ruled with an iron glove. Nowadays,
Orion still hangs out frequently, and everyone gets along like
equals as always.
INQ : What are your thoughts are the merge of SCuM and PWA?
Technic : The merger was a necessary step to revitalize PWA. Many of the
members of both groups seemed burned out on the scene. Some good,
'new blood' in a group stimulates older members.
INQ : How many groups that are ran by 16 year olds are successfull though?
Technic : Very few, as we see groups coming and going all the time.
INQ : Indeed - Do you think it is best for a person to join a respected
group before venturing on their own to form a new group?
Technic : It depends on what that person wants to do for a group. If he wants
to crack software, it makes no difference as long as he can crack
stuff and show others his ability. If he wants to courier stuff,
chances are that the person will be unable to join a top group from
the beginning so he has no choice. And finally, being a senior
doesn't mean shit if it's in a 5 person group. In fact, being a
senior shouldn't carry all the weight that it does.
INQ : Really? When you see Senior in a group, how much authority does
that carry with you?
Technic : I wouldn't really know the answer to that question, because I'm not
a senior. From my point of view, seniors are like politicians, and
the rest are filling various niches that need to be filled.
INQ : Well Technic - you think we missed anything important?
Technic : Yes, several things - let me address them:
Technic : 1. Crackers need to be understood better and get more leeway from
others. People constantly ask, "How long it will take to crack"
something. This is unknown until we look at that thing. Plus,
if we are using our bandwidth to download stuff to crack for the
scene and furthermore tying up our machine with a debugger. We
cannot do any leeching of files while cracking. We are generally
100% offline when debugging (there are exceptions, but mostly).
Therefore it seems logical that they be granted more leeway in
leech access on sites. ;)
2. The dongle movement is EXTREMELY important to all of us with the
new generation of protection upon us, we will all need to
cooperate more with each other. Several of the last cracks I did
were shit. The only reason they were shit was because I had no
dongle to work with when cracking the programs. These programs
incude: all the Cubasis stuff, Speed Razor, 3DS Max pre-rel (both
0.10 PWA and 0.19 DOD and 0.24 if I release it), and finally one
that wasn't released due to dongle crap: Real 3D v3.0 (and
v3.3). Obviously, these are all killer applications that many of
us drool over. Why don't they work? As I said earlier, the
top-of-the-line dongles contain an encryption engine, with
individual cells in the dongle memory holding seed values (algo
descriptors). A program sends a string to a dongle and receives
an encrypted string back, big deal? Yes. Suppose I send the
dongle "1234" and it sends back some unknown?. The program then
jumps to whatever ???? equals. Need that info in a bad way.
Technic : Anyway, to cut to the chase, Slava and I are working on a way to get
the dongle's goodies to crackers without the dongle ever leaving the
rightful owner's hands.
INQ : To the layman - what exactly is the dongle?
Technic : A dongle is a hardware protection key that plugs onto your parallel
port. It contains 128 bytes of EEPROM memory and some sort of
controlling logic.
INQ : What do you think about the mag INQ?
Technic : I think it's great to read while taking a shit, calms the bowels.
Seriously, I believe that INQ is a cool idea and, you & the rest of
the staff are doing a great job. :) The fact that INQ is present
on so many people's netscape bookmark list speaks for itself. As
for the competition, hah! I haven't seen any! There's this guy
named Reanimatr who has 170 bookmarks stored, all of the same site,
Inquisition. Reanimatr is one of the fastest couriers I have ever
seen, 2nd only to the great Hosis.
INQ : It is a small rumor that PSX (Sony Playstation) will be soon
available to everyone, how true is this?
Technic : The PSX, if someone is able to send me some development tools, I'll
be able to look into being the first, PSX cracker out there.
Otherwise, the future of PSX lies in duplicating the software EPROM
of a Developer Model of Playstation. In that way, the uncopyable
lead-in area of the disc will make no difference.
INQ : And for those who say they can duplicate PSX - What are the only
way they can legitimately dupe PSX?
Technic : Much is known about Playstation protection. If any readers have
questions, they can do a Lycos Search and look up "CD2CD" for more
information.
INQ : Well Technic - I think that about does it, anything else?
Technic : Nah, that wraps it all up.
* This interview was conducted by Raptor on Saturday, December 23, 1995. *
B. The Speed Racer [Razor 1911]
INQ : Do you think that now as Cyber Angel and Tyranny are retired the floppy
scene is dead?
TSR : As far as the floppy scene goes it does look dead.
INQ : As for Hybrid?
TSR : Hybrid, I don't see releases from them in over 2 weeks, I know they owe
some suppliers, including Zeus money for his phone bill. :)
INQ : Well we CAN NOT assume; it is not official is what you're saying, right
TSR : I havent seen anything from them in over 2-3 weeks let us assume they
are.
INQ : So now as TDU is gone and so is Hybrid, do you and the Razor crew see
any more serious competition?
TSR : At this moment, we see no visible competition but who is to say what
lies in the future. I am not really worried about other groups coming
out.
INQ : Yes, I have to admit myself I think Razor's member list grows day by
day? Any new patential suppliers?
TSR : We are always on the lookout for potential suppliers and people who can
contribute to the group in a positive way.
INQ : What do you think about some new groups like LEGACy, ENERGY, NAPALM,
et cetera? Do you think there will be any competition?
TSR : Energy is a group that supplies sporadically mainly because they are
only German; they have no contacts in the US or UK which is where most
games come from.
TSR : We have a diverse group of suppliers and talents managed along with
great resources at our hands that makes us a force to be reckoned ith
INQ : There was a rumour that you were gonna quit the scene after 1995; you
did not what are your plans now?
TSR : OK, what I did do however is distribute a lot of my duties around to
other members giving them some added chores which would help the group
out, so that nothing would be lost since I dont have the time to do so
much.
INQ : Now back to Hybrid, what do you think was the major reason they're
dead?
TSR : Well they don't have to many "decent" suppliers and financially they are
BANKRUPT. I heard that they were going to file a petition to Chapter
13; I'm still waiting on the final word on that subject; fortunately
under my guidance we have successfully maintaned a great budget, due to
creative financing at RAZOR Industries. We find that we are in the
positive side financially with money saved. :)
INQ : Yes, that's a very important aspect. Well good luck to you and Razor in
the future. It's not that often we can find you on IRC anything you'd
like to add to our readers?
TSR : Yes, actually.
INQ : Please.
TSR : I would like to especially thank the fans who worldwide download our
games and play them, as we enjoy putting out these games for them. :)
INQ : OK, I'm sure there are a lot of people who do play the games you put
out, and before I let you go, I have one more question.
INQ : A lot of readers are wondering, now as it's 1996 and things change who
is the REAL leader of RAZOR 1911? As a leader I mean a person making
the most importanat decisions, now that EOS is gone who's left? You
and...
TSR : Well we don't look at it as a single leader, because it is a group
effort, and we are a team where we draw from each other's stregnths and
patch each others weaknesses, but if you wanted to look at it that way it
would be Pharaoh, Third Son, The GEcko, and myself. :)
INQ : OK, we wish you luck in 1996. Thanks for your time!
TSR : Thank you very much :) We enjoy getting every issue of yours since
Druidkin ALWAYS puts out your issue on email to all the RAZOR guys on
the net
INQ : And as always RAZOR 1911 is on the top of the scene. This was an
interview taken on the IRC with The Speed Racer. We all wish him good
luck and health in 1996 and I guess we'll finish it right here. Thanks
for you time.
TSR : My pleasure.
* This was conducted by by Judge DRedd on January 7, 1996 *
C. Ordnance [RtS]
On Saturday January 20th I conducted a short 2 hour interview with Ordnance,
the Request to Send Senior (leader). Ordnance is a great guy who contributed
greatly to the scene over the period of the last five years. During out last
interview we felt that we circled on the RTS breakup and dispute, in turn we
decided to do an interview with Ordnance strictly concerning RTS. Enjoy.
- Lurch (apd@openix.com)
INQ : To start off, i'd just like to ask you how RTS is doing right now.
Ordnance : Certainly.
Ordnance : We are currently stronger on the boards than we have been in a long
time. Amazingly enough, we are accomplishing this through the
dedication of our board traders rather than a board coordinator.
We have not yet found someone suitable enough to handle RTS' board
presence full-time. On the European front, however, Blacksmith is
our coordinator and things are well taken care of.
As far as boards, we have received a number of applications, but
have not been pursuing any of the Big-10 boards just yet. The
strength of our board team is steadily increasing, and I hope soon
to earn some of the major board on that merit.
Ordnance : As far as our Internet presence goes, the main sites are being
handled very well by Eclipse and the dedication of our site
operators and affiliates. People should expect to see much more of
RTS on the Net lately -- we have the stability and resources to
start spreading outwards.
Ordnance : On the down side, Alice is on a leave of abscence and until his
return or replacement, the European site team is on hold.
The kind of turmoil now in the scene makes me feel it is not the
best time to approach some groups. We may soon resume discussions
with ROR, but otherwise our relationship with them is
excellent -- many of their members have joined and are contributing
to RTS. As far as PWA/RZR/CORP, we are in extremely good relation.
And there is no reason not to extend that kind of relationship to
DOD/etc, which I consciously intend to do.
INQ : When you say that your board presence is currently one of the
strongest it's ever been for RTS, do you mean RTS Affiliated boards
or just the general presence of RTS tagged files on boards
throughout the world?
Ordnance : I would not say the strongest it has *ever* been. Rather, the
strongest it has been in quite a while. We are having our share of
achievements, but there is much more to be desired.
Ordnance : By our board presence, I mean the major boards. The RTS board list
has not grown much. Boards have been applying, but once
again -- the top boards are in a stable state and nothing we are
pursuing right now. That may soon change.
Ordnance : Things are improving very much in the group lately, both in
performance and morale. As long as we keep improving, I have no
qualms about the size of our board list. Our presence is many
times larger.
INQ : When looking over RTS top charts, who would you say are currently
RTS's most notable couriers?
Ordnance : I recognize those who consitently stand above the rest with Senior
Courier status. All those in our 01-01 have retained that
position, with the addition of Tiger Claw, who has already caught
the attention of our competitors on PC.
Ordnance : It is inevitable that these people get offers from other groups.
I have no problem with this tactic, am kept informed when it
happens and what was discussed. I am very proud to say that none
of our top traders have even considered leaving.
Ordnance : With our current success and constant improvement, not to mention
the attention and recognition we try to give each other, there is
a true sense of brotherhood. And after all, it's this kind of
group dedication which keeps the scene fun.
INQ : Now I'd just like to ask you a few general questions about RTS and
the way you run it.
INQ : How do you keep in touch with RTS couriers,and do you know/evaluate
each and every one personally?
Ordnance : We have our irc channel, of course. I am very accessible through
bot notes, try to keep the irc process open to receive messages.
Often I am too busy to chase down complete strangers, but I will
always make the time for any member.
Ordnance : Once in a blue moon, and at request, I will make a series of calls
to some of the couriers. I feel that the down-to-earth nature of
a real human conversation can be the best reinforcer, or motivator.
Ordnance : Of course, with a group this size, it is very important that the
members make an effort to keep me informed. I deal with so many
things in one day, and even at one time, that I cannot be aware of
everything and go after people.
Ordnance : As far as evaluating the couriers, they usually have either the
sysop of a board or other RTS member to vouch for their performance,
or lack thereof. If I see a member, I will ask how they are in
general, and how they are doing on the board.
Ordnance : I understand that not every response is going to be positive, the
real world rightfully demands precedence over the scene. If they
have the time but not the will, then I can only do my best to
motivate them and try and discover where I and RTS have failed to
keep them motivated.
Ordnance : If the response is positive, and I'm glad that most are, the guys
make it very well known. Without a dedicated BBS Coordinator, we
do not have the luxury of critically looking at everyone's
statistics. Then again, we are prospering without one -- and even
so, would be responding the same way to the couriers whether we had
the numbers in front of us or not. There is of course some
checking where it is critical.
INQ : In general what do you consider a disfunctional courier? Or rather,
what are the minimum requirment of RTS in terms of meggage or
uploads per a given ammount of time?
Ordnance : A disfunctional courier is someone who cannot maintain a lot of
effort over a decent period of time. Most everyone experiences
brownouts, or find other priorities, but this is quite acceptable.
If I have actually seen someone live up to their potential, but
then have to take time off or all but retire, RTS will still
accomodate them for a resonable amount of time. This varies on the
person and situation.
Ordnance : Those who do finally slip through the cracks, for whatever reasons,
including inability to perform, are welcome to remain on the social
side of RTS. This usually does not come with benefits, but we all
enjoy the company. RTS tries to be a very friendly place. The
standards are strict and high, but there is more to a group than
knocking files here and there.
Ordnance : As far as minimum requirements, RTS has none. All applications are
considered on a case-by-case basis. It would be foolish to
approximate the ups and downs of a trader with a straight-line
minimum.
INQ : To elaborate further on the current status of RTS's board
couriering, exactly what places does RTS hold in specific regions
of the world? (i.e. Europe, Asia, Australia, and the US)
Ordnance : Some of our best traders are in Europe, notwithstanding the
excellent way Blacksmith handles things. Australia is much
overlooked by everyone, and deserves more, but we have presence
there. On that note, I'd like to send a personal apology to Inf.:}
As far as Asia, we have not at all come into contact or explored
that scene. We do not have an interest in foreign releases, but I
very much encourage the Asian scene to come forward and involve
themselves. RTS will certainly do all we can when presented with
that opportunity.
Ordnance : Uncle Sam seems satisfied with our performance on the home
continent. There's not much to elaborate on about the US, since
it is almost always the perspective of my replies.
Ordnance : I would like to see more activity in Canada. We have not had a
suitable presence in Canada for quite awhile and appreciate those
Canadian members we have. Consider us interested in others.
Ordnance : As far as what we "hold" in these various regions of the world, I
will not comment. I have knowledge of everything in RTS. Until
other people from all sorts of different vantage points come
forward and uphold that, there is no reason to try and define the
breadth of our success.
INQ : RTS has been a dominating force in the scene for many years.
Through all of these you had been the leader, so I would venture
to say that you had been on top of things for the past few years.
What is your comment on the current direction taken by both Util
and Game warez scenes, and more importantly your feelings about
CD-RIPS from a courier's point of view?
Ordnance : In RTS' second season I made a serious promise to not burn out, and
re-iterate that promise regularly. I haven't been through enough
catastrophe to change my relationship with RTS. It's a matter of
maintaining my integrity through the thick and thin of the scene
and life. By overcoming the pressures of RTS combined with the
real world, I have only become a stronger person. I believe every
ounce of time I put into RTS gives a return. I could care less
about the non-profit nature of things. I am being education at the
highest level through RTS, and all that's required is commitment.
Ordnance : I don't feel like commenting on the performance of Util and Games
groups, even in general. Releasing groups focus on the
time-specific events of a release, as opposed to the clockwork
machinery of a couriering group.
Ordnance : They certainly do not garner the respect and support they deserve,
and this both disappoints and upsets me. Everyone should take some
time to reflect on the amount of time and effort groups put into
handing them a finished product on a silver platter. Whether you
enjoy the release or not, whether or not there was a mistake
somewhere along the line, all of us in the couriering and releasing
groups put in ceaseless time and effort.
Ordnance : As far as the notion of CD-Rips, they are certainly a problem, but
they are also a necessity. Unless they split the load of a cd-rip,
couriers are very hard-pressed to handle an entire CD-Rip on their
own. After all, no one wants to be associated with an incomplete
upload. And with the large size of releases, these same board
traders are finding that instead of themselves and their group
competiting to get a hold of many small releases from here and
there, they must be the first to those few large rips. So one
could say that, for a board courier, the stakes are exponential.
Ordnance : Conversely, trading over the iNet is exponentially *easier*. But
the accessibility makes it that much more competitive. Not to
mention the fact that, just like RTS, many other people are on
absolute private or near-private systems.
Ordnance : A lot of Net trading is a matter of convenience. Getting to the
right people at the right places. And not all the right places
will roll out the red carpet. RTS is going to bring its own
carpet whenever possible.
Ordnance : As far as those who actually Rip the CDs, I appreciate their time.
The best of rippers know how to extract that wonderful 20mb
animation that we don't care to see more than once. I encourage
them to be minimalists and try to preserve the functionality or
playability of a CD, rather than the glitz and burden of trading
and using one.
INQ : At this point I'd like to thank you for your time. It's been a
pleasure talking to you, and we are all looking forward to seeing
even more RTS tags in the near future. I'd like to also personally
wish good luck to the entire RTS crew.
Ordnance : Thank you for the sentiment.
Ordnance : I've very much enjoyed being interviewed and appreciate the time
you spend to bring INQ to all of us.
D. Blitzkrieg-X [TDU-Jam]
Out of all TDU-Jam's members, the only person I could find around was
Blitzkrieg-X. A lot of you probabaly know him from being in RAZOR 1911
floppy. Since I was very interested of what had happened with TDU, this
interview was very valuable for me.
INQ : There were rumors that TDU-Jam is making a great comeback. Is that
true?
Blitz : Well, I spoke with Fanfan La Tulipe before the holidays. He said that
there was some stuff he had to take care of in school, after that he
was planning to make a comeback after vacations.
INQ : Hmm, go on.
Blitz : Well when I spoke to him again about 2 weeks later he confirmed that
yes, TDU-Jam might come back in the scene, but The Digital Underground
will not be it World HQ anymore, as the board is officially retired
now.
INQ : In last NFO's there were a lot of changes in TDU's NFO file, what's
the story with its membership?
Blitz : Well none of big suppliers went to any other groups, so basically
it's gonna be the same membership listing with the leaders Fanfan La
Tulipe and Wayward.
INQ : Well thanks for the information. Since we are already here lemme ask
you why EOS and you had quit RAZOR 1911 for TDU-Jam. And will EOS
come back in TDU if it will make a comeback.
Blitz : Well we went to TDU-Jam, as in cd game group we never actually quit
Razor 1911 until floppy and CD sections merged in one RAZOR 1911
again, and we have chosen to stay in TDU-Jam. As for EOS, he will not
come back on the scene at least for a while, because he have moved to
a different state.
INQ : OK. Good luck to you guys.
Blitz : Thanks, same to you.
* This interview was conducted by Judge DRedd *
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
.___________ .____________ /^\__.________._________.__________
l \_________l__ \ \ \ l \
| \ \ \____/ \ | |
| __. \___ : \ \____ . \ | .__|
| \| _| \ . \ | \.____/ /_____ \
| | __/ :____/ _| \ | \ .___|
| _. | ú \ | | \ : \ \
| : | \ \ | |_ / . | |
| | | | | \ | / | |
|_______|_______|____/|______|_____|_______|_________/_[MaNoWaR!]__|______/
---=[ 4. Articles - Various Writers ]-----------------------------------------
Autonomy & Austhetics for the Internet Scene
Hey, guess what? It's Darwin with a few words on a subject that's close to
the hearts of many of you scenemonkeys out there : "The Internet And it's
Effect on the Scene." Consider this a brief elaboration on that section in
the Christmas Inquisition. This segment will focus on a very specific topic
- what can be done to make FTP sites and the net more entertaining,
competetive and generally fun for everyone involved. I think that there are
specific steps that need to be taken, and I'll briefly discuss them here.
First, the interface that files are traded through needs to change. This was
started with the re-writing of unix ftpds, essentially hacking them to pieces
in an attempt to institute ratios and STATS. This is a step in the right
direction, because it shows that this scene is about more than just the
software that is released. People care about groups, because the STATS that
show up in the Top Uploader's list are often a direct result of the strength
of the release groups a given courier trades for. For example, a PWA courier
will have a ready supply of releases on a daily basis, allowing them to get
files to sites first. The Weektop and Who's online recently pioneered by
some excellent coders is also a great thing for the net scene. It makes
people feel like they are directly competing with their fellows in the scene,
minute by minute, hour by hour. We've seen how effective this is on the
board scene, it's simply insane not to do it on the net.
Continuing the interface, I think that the aesthetics of the sites needs some
improvement. On most sites, you upload and the only feedback you get is a
change in your stats and a warning if the files are corrupt. That's not much
feedback, and it's not especially easy on the eyes. On the board scene, we
have ANSi's, color menus, MODS, et cetera. Maybe it's because PPL is fairly
simple to program, but I would suggest it's because there is a *standard*. I
know it took quite a while to establish a standard for BBS's, but PCBoard is
the clearly superior choice. Now, the challenge, as it was for those who
hacked LSD in twenty-nine-thousand different ways, is to make a product that
the scene will want to use and has many features and is easy to use. I
believe a lesson should be taken from PCB, and make a standard way of
databasing STATS and filenames (even file listings since last login?). If we
have a standard way of handling data, then we can have a modding scene as
prolific as PCBs, and the best design will succeed and be useful to the scene
in the same way. This requires a choice and would only really be useful for
those using ncftp or ftp, but those can be hacked by skillful coders as well.
Second, I believe that the scene needs to be more selective in the amount of
people given access to a given echelon of sites. The BBS scene had a barrier
to entry - the difficulty of calling long distance and the balls to do it.
The net scene has *no* barriers to entry, basically, anyone and their sister
can do this, and do passably. However, when you have a pie being divided
fifty ways, each individual trader gets less satisfaction. For example,
group leaders functioning as traders, uploading to sites? What the hell?
This makes no sense! A release should go to the group HQs, and then be
spread from there by couriers! It just makes sense! If you take trading out
of the hands of couriers, see how many motivated couriers you have. It's
okay if it's the supplier, it's his software and his right, but leave the
couriering to the couriers, guys.
Lastly, I think that the proliferation of Courier groups is just plain
ridiculous. There are people running groups who have done nothing more in
the scene than hang out on #warez5 and #siteZ-ph0r-Lamers and think that they
can compete? This isn't about a no-quota account, guys. It's about a scene,
about networking people in release groups and the bbs scene, not just taking
applications and calling yourself a leader. If you've never worked in a
support role, you shouldn't even be considering a leadership role. Think
about it, does a company hire a CEO that's never worked as a manager? I know
you people think you're all pioneers and that you can pull a Bill Gates on
the scene, but it's not going to happen. You have to spend time doing
something, learning the ropes, before you jump into it. Consider yourselves
amateur boxers - jump into the ring without training, and you're going to get
beat to a pulp.
Anyway, it's Darwin rapping to you all in there in the scene. You can reach
me on irc if you want, you can find me in #INQ or wherever, mail INQ and I'll
get it, et cetera. I've gotten some feedback from you all out there on my
musings, and I really appreciate it. This is the stuff that I think about
whilst trading, and I'd appreciate any interesting ideas you all have.
Peace and fast trading to you all.
-darwin [rts/pwa/xforce/razor/inquisition]
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ware Maker Information
I'm back! I know you all care. Well, I wrote one article in INQ before, and
I'm back for MANY more! So RCN can step aside and all you other lame emags
too. None of you compare to INQ. Now that is out of my system, I bring some
of you disturbing news, and to others of you, this is what you already knew.
INQ brings you the story of Ware Maker aka Charles ____.
Yes, the one who used to call you and bother you for hours on his MCIs. It
wouldn't have been a big surprise if he DID get busted, but the sad truth is
that he quit the scene shamefully. Some say he quit to play Magic, and
others say he quit because of grades. Well, according to Charles himself,
the pressures of real life just got to him. When asked why he would lie to
everyone, he replied that he didn't want everyone to call and bother him.
Sounds funny coming from the boy who defines the word "bother." Well, when he
found out that all the boards he was on deleted him, he came forward to a
small group of people, and admitted that he had never been busted.
The Warp Zone deleted his access after learning that he had been busted, and
hearing that he was turning in numbers. Rumor has it that he is aching to be
back on right now. All I can say is that it was his fault for lying to the
scene. Well, Charles is feeling pretty sad without his console games and his
warez, so if you want to get in touch with him, mail ____@netcom.com or you
could always call him, but I'm not mean enough to put that info here. You
could always weasel it out of me on IRC though.
Anyways, Charles told me he will buy his software now that he can't get on
TWZ. He also told me this TOP SECRET info : he is coming back this summer to
the scene! Shhhh, don't tell anyone! I asked him why he thought the scene
would accept him back, and he kept babbling about whether or not he would use
the handle Ware Maker.
Oh well, he was supposed to call me. I'm so sad he didn't, but I bet after
he reads this, he calls me. ;) --CyberPhreak
Editor's Note: This article was edited to keep Ware Maker's last name and
email address secret since this information is not important to the reader.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Scene News
As for current news, BIG upsets in both utilities and games. We don't see
any games at all, but we certainly see a lot of utilities, and like 25% of
them are more than 45 disks! Yes, and they have been released by big groups
too such as PWA, DoD and REBELS. The only games we have seen came from
Legacy and Razor. Razor didn't show us anything REALLY good yet, as for LGC
they do release, but mostly either budget small games or huge cd rips.
Another yet game group entered the scene, Arcade; let's see what will
happened to them. Also NaPaLM is entering the game competition; it's lead by
Prophet and DaViolator.
Couriering groups are entering the scene as well some new names are Master,
Blitzkrieg and MiRACLE couriers. Let's see what they can do. fATE is
definitely doing a great job giving RiSC competition. You can add to it
MaLiCe as well. Unfotuanetly those guys do not have much to spread yet this
year.
In the conclusion, let's hope that it's just January, which never had been a
great month for the scene, hopefully we'll see something good next month.
Good luck.
- Judge DRedd -
P.S. If there any artist who would like to help out and make a logo for DIZ
and NFO for ARCADE'96, please join #ARCADE or MSG me on IRC.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
You Might Be A Lamer If..
I'm sure you all have your definitions of what a lamer is.
But, I felt I would tell you why you MIGHT be a lamer.
Webster's defines lame as: 1. crippled.
2. stiff and painful.
3. poor and inefectual.
But, in Lester's Dictionary you might be a lamer if:
You might be a lamer if you think DOOM 2 is a new ware.
You might be a lamer if you start 4 groups in the span of 6 months.
You might be a lamer if someone in #warez950 tells you they are Roland of
The Wall, and you believe him.
You might be a lamer if you run a courier/release/cracking/coding/ppe group.
You might be a lamer if you run a 1 node 14.4 board.
You might be a lamer if you run a 10 node PD front warez board.
You might be a lamer if you had to change your handle to make yourself look
cool.
You might be a lamer if you think FATE is the best couriering group.
You might be a lamer if you hang out in #fatefiles.
You might be a lamer if you are an AOL Pirate out for equal warez.
You might be a lamer if you pay for a netcom account.
You might be a lamer if you have a shareware releasing group.
You might be a lamer if you have been interviewed in RCN.
and the final reason you might be a lamer is!
If you think RCN is a good magazine!
And in closing, I'd like to define to you what Reality Check Network means
in Webster's opinion.
- Reality: The quality or fact of being real.
- Check: a sudden stop.
- Network: Radio, TV, a chain of transmitting stations.
Now, in my dictionary Reality Check Network means:
A bunch of people who jumped on the bandwagon of warez mags, but are complete
and total lamers(see above to find out for sure), and provide no real service
or information that is important to the scene. The things they print are
meaningless and have no real story to them. So!
- Reality: a lamers view of the scene.
- Check: a sudden stop.
- Network: a chain of lamers transmitting worthless information.
-Lester [DOD/MALICE/RAZOR/INQ]
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
You might be leet if..
I thought I would give you another installment of Lester's Warez Dictionary.
You might be leet if you are interviewed in INQ.
You might be leet if you have 5+ nodes.
You might be leet if you are a kiss ass.
You might be leet if you run a 15 node all warez board.
You might be leet if you pay a group leader money.
You might be leet if you are on my friends list.
You might be leet if you win the weektop on those fastah warez boards.
You might be leet if you get greeted in a leet groups nfo file.
You might be leet if another group tries to steal you.
You might be leet if you get busted.
-Lester [DOD/MALICE/RAZOR/INQ]
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Personal Opinion
In my personal opinion, RCN is an all around decent magazine. IF you are
just getting into the scene and want a scoop on what is going on. But if you
frequent any decent channels on IRC and actually talk with the people that
are sometimes written about and/or mentioned in RCN you will quickly wade
through the line of shit that is written in this magazine and notice that
what the authors are writing about is just simply for the masses.
That is just a brief summary of what the magazine consists of. My only real
complaint about the magazine is their lack or unwillingness to actually take
forth and contact such groups as DoD, PWA, MAliCE, Razor 1911, et cetera and
get the latest in NFO's. I have went from being in DTC to moving on and
joining MAliCE and DoD, which took place close to 3 weeks ago. I have since
then been taken out of the latest DTC NFO and have been put in the latest DoD
NFO and MAliCE NFO, which I have yet to see appear in RCN. I personally
believe if RCN is trying to gain respect on the scene, and write/interview
certain people, I think they should first look at what they are offering
(group NFO's, Warez lists, credits, et cetera) before they try and fuck
anyone over or write about meaningless bullshit...
Gorefest [.oOo.DOD/MALiCE.oOo.] -01/21/96
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hybrid and TDU-Jam
Another issue is Hybrid and TDU-Jam. There was a lot of rumors about TDU's
come back. Well am I missing something big or it was just another rumor. I
believe it was. Now we have to make a conclusion that TDU-Jam after doing a
great job on CD games is finally gone.
But, the big question is....is Hybrid gone too? Well read the RCN issue 9
and see how unprofessionally Rebel Chicken writes about the Hybrid leaders.
If he wants to make a joke of them, I do not think he can. After all Legacy
is not that good to be proud of, although I have to admit that quantity of
releases is high, but later about it.
Back to RCN, when RC tries to say that Hybrid's leaders are on welfare and if
they will not eat a lot they will be back by the middle of February. Common!
What kind of statement is that? I personally think that Hybrid was the
cleanest group EVER! Which tried to be CLEAN in competition, avoid any
fights, and they did! They were also definitely on the very top of games
last year. My opinion and prediction is that most likely Hybrid will not
come back as HYBRID anymore. We can expect suprises, but I do not think
there is a chance. There could be another new group coming that would
contain crackers and/or suppliers from Hybrid (whoever wished to stay) and
there are some more people as far as I know from TDU that are still
"unemployed."
- Judge DRedd -
P.S. January 17th, Hybrid had released their first game supplied by ZEUS
which was called Space Dude. It also contained a message in NFO
that over the vacation, Celestical Wizard and BlueWater were married.
I am not sure if it was a fake release or not, simply because I didn't
get a chance to check it. Sorry!
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Master vs. MAliCE
As you may probably know, Master challenged malice to an upload contest
on malice's courier hq, malevolence. The results are as follows :
ÕÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÑÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ͸
³ [MS] CWTU v1.00: Custom Weekly Top Users PPE/ULs ³ [01/01/96] -> [01/08/96] ³
³ 6 Day Total: 880 Files / 1,197,263,586 Bytes úúú ³ ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ> [DAY 7/7] ³
ÆÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÑÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÏÍÍÍÍÍÑÍÍÍÍÍÑÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ͵
³ ##. User Name ³ CITY/STATE ³Files³ Upload Bytes ³
ÃÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ´
³ 1. Dxfer ³ MALiCE/PNC/CORP/STR/LSPD ³ 184 ³ 264,458,682 ³
³ 2. Over Drive ³ -MALICE/PINNACLE/MSQ- ³ 171 ³ 256,490,934 ³
³ 3. The Dealer ³ -=MALICE/MASQUE=- ³ 130 ³ 178,236,693 ³
³ 4. Nytemyst ³ -=MALICE/ROR=- ³ 105 ³ 125,297,336 ³
³ 5. Duke Nuke ³ -=MALiCE=- ³ 79 ³ 114,268,639 ³
³ 6. White Cracker ³ -=[RAZOR 1911/MASTER]=- ³ 65 ³ 89,800,307 ³
³ 7. Egoistic Fate ³ .:[ sYsOp ]:. ³ 39 ³ 45,737,468 ³
³ 8. Viper Krynn ³ =]$[= RAZOR.MASTER =]$[= ³ 40 ³ 40,940,528 ³
³ 9. Captain Blood ³ RAZOR PWA MALICE ³ 23 ³ 32,563,586 ³
³ 10. Lightning ³ .:[ MASTER / PANTERA ]:. ³ 16 ³ 20,045,299 ³
ÔÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÏÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÏÍÍÍÍÍÏÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ;
The contest definetly proved that when push came to shove, malice was going to
rise to its potential. Being a member of MAliCE, I'd like to give all those
couriers a big pat on the back for kicking ass.
But this is old news, the big news is the alleged fATE vs MAliCE upload
contest. This is not a total rumor; as I was in the channel where they were
(Leodlion, G0D, Dorian, and a few others) planning an actual upload contest,
to prove once and for all who was the best. In this channel, tempers were
flying as the groups tossed insults at one another. If the contest was have
to actually taken place, it was to have be set for now. I do not know if the
contest is going on, but I do know for a fact that all the couriers in MAliCE
were ready. Also Sys-Ops of specified boards WERE offering accounts to the
fATE members to upload for the week. Personally, I think two of the best
spreading groups out there, going after each others throats to prove who is
better is very childish.
You also have to consider the price the loser of this contest would pay, total
humilation in the scene is probably the biggest thing. Wheter the contest was
held or not is still uknown to me, but if anyone has any knowledge or
comments, I would be very interested and would appreciate you to MSG me on the
IRC.
- Everclear
----=[ 5. Announcements ]=----------------------------------------------------
AP Press Release - Blackhawk
Many of you probably have read this or at least seen it. Bascially, we
getting a copy of this out to everyone to read and make your own judgement of
what the press has to say about this incident.
By TIM KLASS - Associated Press Writer
SEATTLE (AP) -- After three years of building what he billed as the nation's
biggest electronic pirate bulletin board service, Scott W. Morris was bored.
The 25-year-old decided he would soon quit offering access to hundreds of
pirated software products through his Assassins' Guild Bulletin Board
Service, and instead use his 13 computers, 11 modems and satellite dish to
start an Internet provider service.
Morris didn't move fast enough. In April, his Lexington, Ky., home was
raided by U.S. marshals who seized all his gear under a lawsuit filed by
Microsoft Corp. and Novell Inc.
And under a settlement announced last week, Morris agreed to pay $70,300 in
cash and forfeit the computer hardware, valued at more than $40,000. He will
also work as an unpaid consultant for the companies, assisting in other
similar investigations.
Microsoft and Novell are touting the settlement as the largest ever, and many
industry analysts consider it groundbreaking in an area where there are few
rules and regulations.
"This case sets an important precedent for this industry," said Bob Kruger,
enforcement director for the Business Software Alliance. "It sends a clear
message to operators of bulletin boards who are illegally distributing
copyright-protected software that they will be investigated and sued or
criminally prosecuted."
About 35 percent of business software in the United States is pirated,
resulting in more than $2.8 billion in losses annually, according to the
software alliance.
Computer bulletin boards range from simple forums for information and opinion
to highly sophisticated and complex exchanges for software programs.
On pirate BBSs like the Assassins' Guild, linked with a loosely formed group
of traders called Pirates with an Attitude, traders upload software they have
acquired and download programs that have been uploaded by others. The
traders, in turn, operate similarly with individual users.
Through Morris' operation, interested parties had access to hundreds of
programs from dozens of manufacturers, including Microsoft Windows for
Workgroups, Microsoft Office, Microsoft Bob and Novell Netware.
Morris had amassed 9 gigabytes of on-line data and more than 40 gigabytes of
off-line data storage. He said he had 300 "very active users," accepted new
ones only on reference from those already with him and purged all who went
more than a month without logging on.
"I did not cater to the individual user," Morris said in a telephone
interview. He continues to work as a computer systems manager for a
Lexington telephone installation company.
Jim Lowe, a Microsoft lawyer, says all the material downloaded from
Assassins' Guild amounted to more than $1 million in off-the-shelf prices.
"This is the biggest one we've ever done, and I believe this is bigger than
any one that law enforcement has shut down (in a criminal case)," Lowe said.
"If you believe his own ad, he was sort of the king of the hill of computer
(BBS) piracy."
But Morris contends that his operation will be quickly replaced by others.
"Taking my board down had absolutely no impact at all on the quantity of
material moved," he said.
Morris also claims that the pirate scene is a "valuable marketing tool for
software manufacturers."
"You have a much more mature audience ... who would download material to
test it out," he said. "If the product really was good, they'd go out and
buy it."
But many manufacturers see no positive aspect of piracy, instead considering
it a major threat to their businesses.
Lowe said pirate bulletin boards pose a much larger threat in the future,
partly as a source of software for counterfeiters who are relying
increasingly on CD-ROM.
Last fall, for example, a San Jose (Calif.) Mercury-News reporter found
programs worth $700 in U.S. retail prices on illegally made composite
CD-ROMs selling for about $4 each in Beijing.
Programs downloaded from the Assassins' Guild were used in European-made
composite CD-ROMs, Lowe said.
Morris said one way to cut piracy losses is to make software that stops
functioning within a set period of time, like the popular Wide World
Web-surfing programs distributed over the Internet by Netscape Communications
Corp.
"They have that capacity," he said. "There's been a lot of moving towards
that."
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Microsoft Press Release - Blackhawk
Once again, those who have read this carry on. This is Microsoft's Press
Release of their so-called victory. Such a big birthday gift for them, they
put the article on the Web Site - big ego boost for Billy.
REDMOND, Wash., Jan. 12 -- Microsoft Corporation and Novell, Inc. jointly
announced today they have reached a settlement with Scott W. Morris, who was
doing business as the Assassins' Guild Bulletin Board Service (BBS), in what
is believed to be the largest settlement ever with the systems operator of a
pirate electronic BBS. The settlement concludes litigation filed by
Microsoft and Novell in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of
Kentucky. Under the agreement, Mr. Morris will pay $70,300 in cash and
forfeit computer hardware valued at more than $40,000. Mr. Morris also
agrees to assist Microsoft and Novell in their continuing BBS investigations.
The Assassin's Guild billed itself as the worldwide headquarters for two
large pirate groups, Pirates with an Attitude (PWA) and Razor 1911. U.S.
Marshals raided Mr. Morris' residence last April on the basis of plaintiffs'
claims of illegal reproduction and distribution of copyright-protected
software. The BBS had been offering access to hundreds of pirated software
products, including those published by Microsoft and Novell, to users
throughout the U.S. and around the world over its state-of-the-art system.
Marshals seized 13 computers, 11 modems, a satellite dish, 9 gigabytes of
online data and over 40 gigabytes of off-line data storage dating back to
1992.
"This case sets an important precedent for this industry," said Bob Kruger,
Director of Enforcement for the Business Software Alliance (BSA). "It sends
a clear message to operators of bulletin boards who are illegally
distributing copyright-protected software that they will be investigated and
sued, or criminally prosecuted. It also sends a message to our industry
that, large or small, no software publisher is immune from bulletin board
piracy."
"Online piracy is a growing concern for software publishers around the
world," said Jim Lowe, Microsoft Corporate Attorney. "We are committed to
working with industry representatives and law enforcement agencies to stop
this trend. Pirates such as the Assassins' Guild are stealing intellectual
property that represent years of development time and investment on the parts
of publishers large and small."
Both Novell and Microsoft are members of the BSA, an industry alliance formed
to promote the growth of the software industry through public policy,
education and enforcement initiatives. In 1994, the BSA estimates that
software publishers lost over $15.2 billion as a result of software piracy.
In the United States alone, the BSA estimates that 35 percent of the business
software in use is pirated, resulting in losses of more than $2.8 billion.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
RoR Verification
Well another thing that I'd like to point out is the conflict and the scandal
in RoR. For those of you who don't what's going on nor have read RCN, I just
want to refresh your memory. Gahn and Incarnate were planning on kicking tKLP
out of RoR and run the group by themselves. RCN brings some facts that are
very interesting, in the same time doubt. I really doubt that they could
really get MSG's between Incarnate and Gahn for a 3 day period, and I'm very
sure that neither of them (In. or Gn.) would give it to the public to view.
Basically here is my side of the story and opinion.
I didn't know anything about it until I read RCN's issue, but since I did, I
did alittle of investigation work. I also know Gahn, Incarnate and tKLP, and
here is my opinion. I personally never liked iNCARNATE, and although I don't
know him well enough, I really have no respect for him. Gahn on the other hand
has my respect and sympathy, and I also know for fact that he did cover tKLP
a lot as he tried to save RoR's reputation. In the same time tKLP was not
really that careful and had a lot of people dislike him for that. But, when
it to a decision, all of RoR's best people stayed loyal and didn't want to be
in a group without tKLP, and I think he deserves respect for it. Finally RCN
was very careless on some info and got people confused as Hitex's article
clearly states that Gahn stayed with RoR, but iNCARNATE was thrown out; the
NFO of RoR states the same, but RoR's NFO which was in all latest releases
doesn't have neither Gahn nor Incarnate. Therefore, I decided to call tKLP
and ask him what happened. When I called him he was on the phone with
Incarnate! Yep! So next issue expect FULL story from RoR, plus an interview
with Cyber Angel, which will be definitely a #1 topic. Read INQUiSiTiON
every sunday!
- Judge DRedd -
---=[ 6. Games Ratings ]=-----------------------------------------------------
Game : Tempest 2000
Group : Razor 1911
Number of Disks : One
Great game, good graphics, not too hard. Old arcade goers will love this
game. Too bad there had to be two releases. Music is good, sound effects
are cool also.
80/100
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Game : Prophecy
Group : Warez Pro
Number of Disks : Five
Adventure, point & click game. Good graphics, along with aood story which
make an average game worth playing. Reminds me of a shrunken down monkey
island. People who like these games would like Propehcy.
75/100
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Game : NCAA Demo
Group : Reflex
Number of Disks : Four
Virtual Reality basketball. Looks VERY GOOD and waiting for the full version.
Characters look much bigger and more detailed than those of NBA JAM and
overall looks kick ass. Non-Playble.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Game : TimeGate
Group : ROR
Number of Disks : Fifteen
Sequal to Alone In The Dark 3. Didn't work on my machine. No fucking clue
why! Works on other systems and heard it was just OK.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Game : Need 4 Speed Plus
Group : MNW
Number of Disks : Thirty-Five
Same Exact version as before, except this one works! Looks just like the 3DO
version, and if you have the space (80 megs!) get it.
70/100
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Game : Abuse
Group : ?
Number of Disks : Three
Contra + Metroid = KICK ASS! Get this game if you are an action fan! Just
plain rules!
85/100
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Game : William Arcade Classics
Group : Hybrid
Number of Disks : Two
Well, not too much too say - old games that are identical to the older
versions of the arcade games. If the graphics were improved like Tempest
2000 it would rule, but it's just too little, too late. At least in my
opinion. Old arcade goers will love it.
70/100
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Game : 2 Fast 4 You
Group : ?
Number of Disks : ?
Similar to Super Karts, a cool game especially with the english patch. If you
enjoy racing games, this is a must have.
80/100
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Game : Thunder Hawk 2
Group : Razor 1911
Number of Disks : Fourteen
If you like the helicopter point and shoot simulator type of the game, you
should enjoy this one. Not like other simulators, this one doesn't take a
year and a half to start the game. Sequal to PSX game of the same name.
80/100
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Game : Williams Fun & Games Deluxe
Group : 4 Kids Only
Number of Disks : Nine
Pretty much a kid game, but enough cool stuff for all of us. Lots of cool
music & puzzle stuff to keep you entertained. This game is not to shabby.
60/100
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Well, as we KNOW the most Anticipated game EVER is going come out and i hope
to God that the group who grabs it will rip it and have it work! (Razor
PLEASE GET IT!) Of Course we all know we are talking about
Magic: The Gathering.
Game Of The Month (My Opinion):
Abuse!
Thanx for your leet time for reading this.
Greets:
Lester - Download Something!
Hellraiser - #sweden shall feel our terror!
D-Eagle - The Man With The Master Plan
Devast - A.K.A. Bot Man
StudSter - Coolio PS-X Fewl
HOSER KING - You Should All Know Who This Is!
Archimede - King Of The Console, on the Net!
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
.__________ .___________ .__________ _________. .____________
l |___l___. \_____| \ \ l___l__ \
| / \ | \ \ . \___\ l \ \
\ |___\ | \ | : \ \ | | \
| | \ | . \ ._| | / \ | ._| . \
| | | :____/ \ __/ | \ :____/
| | \ | | .__| . \ \ | .__| |
| | \ | | / \ \ \ \ | / \ |
| \ \ | | | | | \ | | |
/ \ \./ \ | | | \__/ | \
/___________|_____\_______/__________/___/|______\_____\_[MaNoWaR!]/_____/
---=[ 7. Internet ]=----------------------------------------------------------
INQUiSITION has a World Wide Web page site. Please come by and check it out.
You can grab the Previous issues of INQUiSITION there plus the WWN archives.
OUR NEW KICKASS PAGE IS UP! New design, new everything! Check it out!
INQUiSITION - http://www.terminalp.com/inq
Here is list of other excellent pages:
DOD - http://spl.co.il/zino
Razor 1911 - http://ionet.net/~razor/razor1911.html
The Review Board Online - http://www.bcpl.lib.md.us/~wdaddino/trb.html
fATE - http://www.ceic.com/fate
. .
______ ______ .
.:_\_ . \\_ . \_::. Featuring Super Nintendo Piracy Information,
. .::./ ./ // ./__/.:::. . Password defeations, PSX Piracy (SOON) and
:_<_____/<____ >_:. other gray area information
. \/ .
WWW: http://www.goodnet.com/~staheli
Damaged Cybernetics
If your group has a WWW page, please leave us a note and we'll advertise here.
If you would like an E-MAIL subscription to INQuisition, please e-mail Lurch
at apd@openix.com and ask for one. All I really need is your e-mail address
(if it is not the same as the return address), and I need to know how you want
to recieve the mag. If no specifics are there, I assume plaintext, and send
you the mag that way, however you can ask for a UUENCODED copy.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
:::::::|\::::::::/|:::::::::::::::::::::|\:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
::____:| |_____:| |_________________________ ____________________________::
:/____:| |_____:| |______________________ /::/____________ ____________/::
:::::::| |::::::| |:::::::::::::::::::::/ /::::::::::::::::| |:::::::::::::::
:::::::| |::/\::| |:::::_____::::::::::/ /|::::/-\:::::::::| |:::::::::::::::
:::::::| |:/ \:| |/\::| _ \______::/ / |::::\_/:::________|:::::::::::::::
:::::::| |/ /\ \| | \:| |_) ) __/:/ /| |::::___::/ _____/|:::::::::::::::
:::::::| /::\ |/\ \| _ _/| (_::/ /:| |::::| |:( /__::| |:::::::::::::::
:::::::| /::::\ |__) \ |\ \:| _>/ /::| |::::|_|::\_ \:| |:::::::::::::::
:::::::| /:::::/\ |---\ \|:\ \| (_/_/:::| |___________) /:| |:::::::::::::::
:::::::|/:::::/_/\|::::\_\::\_\____/::::|_______/______ /::| |:::::::::::::::
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::/ /::::::::::::::::::::::::| |:::::::::::::::
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::/ /___________________________________::::::::
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::/______________________________________/:::::::
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::| |:::::::::::::::
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::\|:::::::::::mdn:
---=[ 8. Warez Listing ]=-----------------------------------------------------
Well, hey folks. Another edition of the warez list is here. This one is
thanks to our friend Shatter [RiSC]. He's been a busy guy this week, trying
to make a warez list and do his exams all at the same time, so if there are
any screwups, cut him some slack. I am currently in shittly Linux PICO, so
sorry about no hi ascii borders and the simple organization of the chart -
but it's the best I could do in 1/2 an hour. Enjoy.
- Lurch (apd@openix.com)
- 01/17/96 -
Airborne Express Shipping Software TUB 6 Disks tub-abs1.zip
The Prophecy WPZ 5 Disks wpz-pro1.zip
DEC Netview XFORCE 20 Disks xfnvnt01.zip
500 Nations SCSI 15 DIsks scs-na01.zip
Kais Power Tools 3.0 FN 3 Disks fn-kpt31.zip
TZ Mini Golf VIA 3 Disks via-tz01.zip
Majjong Win95 ??? 1 Disk exl-mjg.zip
Total Distortion For Win95 CD-RiP NFS 39 Disks nfs-td01.zip
Space Dudes HYBRID 4 Disks spdude-1.zip
Crystal Reports for Visual C TO 9 Disks to-crvc1.zip
- 01/18/96 -
Microsoft Golf Win CCG 7 Disk sccg-msg1.zip
Exceed 5 for NT XDK ??? 16 Disks x5ntxdk1.zip
- 01/19/96 -
DMatch For Doom 1 And 2 ??? 19 Disks tub-dm01.zip
Sideline Sports LGC 7 Disks l-sidel1.zip
Ladies Poker CNA 34 Disks cnamov01.zip
Web Compass MHM 13 Disks ????????.???
Card Collector 96 CD-RiP ??? 4 Disks cc96-1.zip
C Rexx And Tools OS2Warp Enchanced ??? 18 Disks warptk01.zip
Personal TaxEdge 95 Final CD_Win95 PWA 8 Disks ????????.???
Novell Appware ALM Builder SDK Win DRS 43 Disks drs-na01.zip
Doom 95 ??? 3 Disks doom95-1.zip
Exceed 5 NT XDK ??? ? x5ntxd1.zip
MS Technet International TO 30 Disks to-tnd01.zip
- 01/20/96 -
SVGA Harrier ??? 2 Disks via-h01.zip
Power BBS 5.3 ??? 3 Disks via-pb01.zip
Touch DGN 7 Disks dgn-tou1.zip
Crack dgn-touc.zip
Nascar 3D Win95 ??? 5 Disks bbnasd1.zip
ODBTalk For VisualAge C 2.5 NFS 5 Disks nfs_dev1.zip
Civnet Smaller RIP ??? ? civnet-1.zip
Airforce Commander ??? 5 Disks air1.zip
Mystery Of The Museum ??? 3 disks mystery1.zip
Watcom C v10.5 for OS2 MSQ 28 Disks msq-wc1.zip
Reflection Suite v5.5 MSQ ? ????????.???
- 01/21/96 -
Director Academic v4.0 for Windows CORP ? tc-dir01.zip
Autocad C4 WinNT Win95 DOD 28 Disks dodac401.zip
Solid Edge RC 3 PWA 48 Disks pwasde01.zip
Netware Mobil PNT 5 Disks pnt-nwma.zip
PaperMaster v2.0 PWA 3 Disks pm2pwa1.zip
GNAT 301 ADA95 Compiler RAD 4 Disks rad-gd31.zip
AntiVirus For Win95 DOX 1 Disk dox-aw95.zip
AntiVirus For DOS DOX 1 Disk dox-ados.zip
AntiVirus For OS2 DOX 1 Disk dox-aos2.zip
Magneto PNT 1 Disk pnt-magn.zip
CEMA Guide to Home Theater Win95 ??? 26 Disks cemaht01.zip
- 01/22/96 -
Stonekeep Full Voice Pack ??? ? vee-skp1.zip
The Mask ROR ? rormsk01.zip
Bill English Lesson CD ??? ? bill-01.zip
MS Foundation Class Library Tech ??? ? msfclt01.zip
Sound Blaster Program Kit ??? ? PR-SB01.ZIP
Internet Yellow Pages ??? ? red-yw01.zip
WinNT 4.0 Beta Build 1175 ??? ? EDG-NT01.ZIP
Alien Invasion ??? ? rix-aiv1.zip
Thors Hammer ??? ? l-thor1.zip
Total Distortion Addon NFS ? nfstdao1.zip
American Pie TUB ? tub-aap01.zip
Impressionsts Calendar For Win CORP ? tc-imp01.zip
Expert Astronomy ??? ? did-as01.zip
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
)\_________ _____ _________________ ____ ________
( ( | ) ) |____)\____/ (_____/ \
\ \ | / / \ o O ) \ \ )
| / ) |(____/( | )___/ ) ) (___ /_
| ( / _|___ \ |____ |____/ \_ / / / )
/ \____( / ( _) ) \ \ | ( ( (___ /
( | | \ / ) ) | \ | | |
\__________|___________)_____(___________/______|____)_____|_________|
----=[ 9. Closing ]=-----------------------------------------------------------
Another issue is produced to the masses.
Hopefully you enjoyed this issue of INQUiSITION. We have plenty of
interviews to cover and other other topics to touch. If you wish
to join INQ - please send us your EMAIL address and a SAMPLE.
Look forward next week to articles over various technology that affects
the scene, such as 3D graphic card and an update on DVD. We will also
cover PSX duplication. Also look forward to RoR news and the interview
with Blackhawk (TAG Sys-OP) and Cyber Angel.
If you want an EMAIL subscription to INQ, E-Mail: apd@openix.com
INQUiSITION will have weekly meetings on Wednesday's at 9pm Central.
All members should attend. The meeting will be held on the bot, but
all are welcome to come to #INQ and voice your suggestions.
The Inquisition Staff:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Raptor [Editor] Lester [Editor]
[Temp. Editor]
Lurch
[Staff]
Avalon Blue ú Cyberphreak ú Darwin ú Dealer ú Jimmy Jamez ú Judge DRedd
Lotug ú Mercy ú Minor Threat ú Mr.ZigZag ú Operator ú Ukyo