<s>
The	O
Warez	B-Application
scene	I-Application
,	O
often	O
referred	O
to	O
as	O
The	B-Application
Scene	I-Application
,	O
is	O
a	O
worldwide	O
,	O
underground	O
,	O
organized	O
network	O
of	O
pirate	O
groups	O
specializing	O
in	O
obtaining	O
and	O
illegally	O
releasing	O
digital	O
media	O
for	O
free	O
before	O
their	O
official	O
sale	O
date	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	B-Application
Scene	I-Application
distributes	O
all	O
forms	O
of	O
digital	O
media	O
,	O
including	O
computer	O
games	O
,	O
movies	O
,	O
TV	O
shows	O
,	O
music	O
,	O
and	O
pornography	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	B-Application
Scene	I-Application
is	O
meant	O
to	O
be	O
hidden	O
from	O
the	O
public	O
,	O
only	O
being	O
shared	O
with	O
those	O
within	O
the	O
community	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
However	O
,	O
as	O
files	O
were	O
commonly	O
leaked	O
outside	O
the	O
community	O
and	O
their	O
popularity	O
grew	O
,	O
some	O
individuals	O
from	O
The	B-Application
Scene	I-Application
began	O
leaking	O
files	O
and	O
uploading	O
them	O
to	O
filehosts	B-Application
,	O
torrents	B-Protocol
and	O
ed2k	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	B-Application
Scene	I-Application
has	O
no	O
central	O
leadership	O
,	O
location	O
,	O
or	O
other	O
organizational	O
conventions	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
groups	O
themselves	O
create	O
a	O
ruleset	B-Application
for	O
each	O
Scene	O
category	O
(	O
for	O
example	O
,	O
MP3	O
or	O
TV	O
)	O
that	O
then	O
becomes	O
the	O
active	O
rules	O
for	O
encoding	O
material	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
These	O
rulesets	O
include	O
a	O
rigid	O
set	O
of	O
requirements	O
that	O
warez	B-Application
groups	I-Application
(	O
shortened	O
as	O
"	O
grps	O
"	O
)	O
must	O
follow	O
in	O
releasing	O
and	O
managing	O
material	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
groups	O
must	O
follow	O
these	O
rules	O
when	O
uploading	O
material	O
and	O
,	O
if	O
the	O
release	O
has	O
a	O
technical	O
error	O
or	O
breaks	O
a	O
rule	O
,	O
other	O
groups	O
may	O
"	O
nuke	B-Application
"	O
(	O
flag	O
as	O
bad	O
content	O
)	O
the	O
release	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
First	O
appearing	O
around	O
the	O
time	O
of	O
BBSes	B-Application
,	O
The	B-Application
Scene	I-Application
is	O
composed	O
primarily	O
of	O
people	O
dealing	O
with	O
and	O
distributing	O
media	O
content	O
for	O
which	O
special	O
skills	O
and	O
advanced	O
software	O
are	O
required	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
warez	B-Application
scene	I-Application
started	O
emerging	O
in	O
the	O
1970s	O
,	O
used	O
by	O
predecessors	O
of	O
software	B-Application
cracking	I-Application
and	O
reverse	O
engineering	O
groups	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Their	O
work	O
was	O
made	O
available	O
on	O
privately	O
run	O
bulletin	B-Application
board	I-Application
systems	I-Application
(	O
BBSes	B-Application
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
first	O
BBSes	B-Application
were	O
located	O
in	O
the	O
United	O
States	O
,	O
but	O
similar	O
boards	O
started	O
appearing	O
in	O
Canada	O
,	O
the	O
United	O
Kingdom	O
,	O
Australia	O
,	O
and	O
mainland	O
Europe	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
BBSes	B-Application
typically	O
hosted	O
several	O
megabytes	O
of	O
material	O
,	O
with	O
the	O
best	O
boards	O
having	O
multiple	O
phone	O
lines	O
and	O
up	O
to	O
one	O
hundred	O
megabytes	O
of	O
storage	O
space	O
,	O
a	O
considerable	O
expense	O
at	O
the	O
time	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
the	O
world	O
of	O
software	O
development	O
evolved	O
to	O
counter	O
the	O
distribution	O
of	O
material	O
,	O
and	O
as	O
the	O
software	O
and	O
hardware	O
needed	O
for	O
distribution	O
became	O
readily	O
available	O
to	O
anyone	O
,	O
The	B-Application
Scene	I-Application
adapted	O
to	O
the	O
changes	O
and	O
turned	O
from	O
simple	O
distribution	O
to	O
actual	O
cracking	O
of	O
copying	O
restrictions	O
and	O
non-commercial	O
reverse	O
engineering	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
programs	O
containing	O
the	O
group	O
promotional	O
material	O
(	O
coding/graphical/musical	O
presentations	O
)	O
evolved	O
to	O
become	O
separate	O
programs	O
distributed	O
through	O
The	B-Application
Scene	I-Application
and	O
were	O
nicknamed	O
Intros	O
and	O
later	O
Cracktros	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
After	O
encoding	O
,	O
they	O
upload	O
the	O
files	O
to	O
a	O
topsite	B-Application
,	O
an	O
FTP	B-Protocol
server	I-Protocol
with	O
a	O
large	O
amount	O
of	O
bandwidth	O
where	O
all	O
the	O
files	O
originate	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
When	O
the	O
upload	O
is	O
complete	O
,	O
they	O
execute	O
a	O
command	O
that	O
causes	O
the	O
name	O
and	O
category	O
of	O
the	O
release	O
to	O
be	O
announced	O
in	O
the	O
topsite	B-Application
's	O
IRC	B-Protocol
channel	O
using	O
a	O
IRC	B-Protocol
bot	O
hosting	O
an	O
IRC	B-Protocol
script	O
which	O
keeps	O
track	O
of	O
activity	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
FTP	B-Protocol
server	I-Protocol
and	O
IRC	B-Protocol
are	O
hidden	O
and	O
closed	O
to	O
the	O
public	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
However	O
,	O
if	O
there	O
is	O
a	O
technical	O
error	O
or	O
the	O
file	O
breaks	O
the	O
ruleset	B-Application
for	O
the	O
category	O
,	O
the	O
original	O
"	O
pre	O
"	O
release	O
will	O
be	O
nuked	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Release	O
groups	O
are	O
exempt	O
from	O
FTP	B-Protocol
Share	O
ratios	O
in	O
most	O
cases	O
,	O
while	O
"	O
racers	O
"	O
in	O
Topsite	B-Application
IRC	B-Protocol
channels	O
will	O
be	O
given	O
a	O
ratio	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Racers	O
use	O
FXP	B-Protocol
software	O
and	O
custom	O
auto-trading	O
software	O
to	O
transfer	O
releases	O
from	O
one	O
FTP	B-Protocol
to	O
other	O
FTP	B-Protocol
's	O
and	O
FTP	B-Protocol
Site-Rings	O
(	O
group	O
of	O
dedicated	O
servers	O
linked	O
together	O
)	O
around	O
the	O
world	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
IRC	B-Protocol
site	O
channels	O
will	O
use	O
modes	O
such	O
as	O
+s	O
(	O
secret	O
)	O
+p	O
(	O
private	O
)	O
and	O
+i	O
(	O
invite	O
only	O
)	O
to	O
avoid	O
detection	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Each	O
release	O
in	O
The	B-Application
Scene	I-Application
consists	O
of	O
a	O
folder	O
containing	O
the	O
material	O
(	O
sometimes	O
split	O
into	O
RAR	O
pieces	O
)	O
,	O
plus	O
an	O
NFO	B-Protocol
and	O
SFV	B-Algorithm
file	I-Algorithm
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
NFO	B-Protocol
is	O
a	O
text	O
file	O
which	O
has	O
essential	O
information	O
about	O
the	O
files	O
encoded	O
,	O
including	O
a	O
reason	O
for	O
the	O
nuke	B-Application
if	O
the	O
file	O
is	O
a	O
PROPER	O
or	O
REPACK	O
release	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
robust	O
NFO	B-Protocol
file	I-Protocol
may	O
contain	O
a	O
group	O
's	O
mission	O
statement	O
,	O
recruitment	O
requirements	O
,	O
greetings	O
,	O
and	O
contact	O
info	O
;	O
many	O
groups	O
have	O
a	O
standard	O
ASCII	O
art	O
template	O
for	O
the	O
file	O
,	O
with	O
the	O
most	O
prolific	O
exhibiting	O
elaborate	O
artistic	O
examples	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
SFV	B-Algorithm
file	I-Algorithm
uses	O
checksums	B-Algorithm
to	O
ensure	O
that	O
the	O
files	O
of	O
a	O
release	O
are	O
working	O
properly	O
and	O
have	O
not	O
been	O
damaged	O
or	O
tampered	O
with	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
is	O
typically	O
done	O
with	O
the	O
aid	O
of	O
an	O
external	O
executable	O
like	O
QuickSFV	O
or	O
SFV	B-Algorithm
Checker	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Failure	O
to	O
include	O
an	O
NFO	B-Protocol
or	O
SFV	B-Algorithm
file	I-Algorithm
in	O
the	O
release	O
will	O
generally	O
result	O
in	O
a	O
nuke	B-Application
,	O
as	O
these	O
are	O
essential	O
components	O
of	O
the	O
warez	B-Application
standard	I-Application
to	O
which	O
The	B-Application
Scene	I-Application
adheres	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
2012	O
,	O
the	B-Application
Scene	I-Application
had	O
over	O
100	O
active	O
groups	O
releasing	O
material	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Cracking	O
has	O
been	O
the	O
core	O
element	O
of	O
The	B-Application
Scene	I-Application
since	O
its	O
beginning	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
part	O
of	O
The	B-Application
Scene	I-Application
community	O
sometimes	O
referred	O
to	O
as	O
the	O
crack	O
scene	O
specializes	O
in	O
the	O
creation	O
of	O
software	B-Application
cracks	I-Application
and	O
keygens	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
game	O
cracking	O
group	O
SKIDROW	O
described	O
it	O
as	O
follows	O
in	O
one	O
of	O
their	O
NFO	B-Protocol
files	I-Protocol
:	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
game	O
ripping	O
group	O
MYTH	B-Application
expressed	O
it	O
as	O
follows	O
in	O
their	O
NFO	B-Protocol
files	I-Protocol
:	O
</s>
<s>
David	O
Grime	O
,	O
former	O
DrinkOrDie	B-Application
member	O
,	O
describes	O
the	O
motivation	O
of	O
the	O
warez	B-Application
scene	I-Application
as	O
follows	O
:	O
"	O
It	O
's	O
all	O
about	O
stature	O
.	O
</s>
