Say No to Software Piracy - Downloading Serials or Cracks from Internet Could be Dangerous

Talk about self-serving... I would like to see this article appear on a hacker's blog.

Two possible solutions:

1. Use a firewall so you know when a program is trying to connect to internet that shouldn't.

2. Use a safer browser like Firefox and/or Opera.

wow, that's a bunch of crap, i download cracks all the time, i've never had a trojan. If a group released a crack with a trojan, they'd get flamed by other groups, and you probably wouldn't hear from that group anymore.

And yes, they do come with spyware sometimes, but it is always added in from the web site hosting them, and always, it is a seperate file. Andr.net

I have been downloading crack and serials for long time, and let me just tell you that whatever you just said is COMPLETE BULLSHIT. For me a crack has never included a spyware or a trojan or any other sort of crap. I guess you are the only dumb person who uses his computer without Protection and gets his computer messed up on internet. My advise stay off the internet buddy. :) [doe404@gmail.com]

Amit is right. I downloaded a crack for NFS 5 before a couple of years and it was only detected as a trojan after more than a year... meaning, "Most crackers will include trojans that they have written themselves and are therefore not detected by virus scanners."

Ofcourse, you can use firewall as a protection, but what do you do when it's an online game or lan game? You would obviously allow the 'game' to connect to internet ..and the hacker. ;)

So, John if you think "a crack has never included a spyware or a trojan or any other sort of crap", it's just that it may have not been detected!

lemme tell you first, i agree with you that certain cracks do have trojans, virus and spywayre stuff. But there are good anti virus like kaspersky, Mks_vir 2005 which detect them promptly. so there is nothing to worry about it.

secondlt about serial numberes, i have Mks_vir 2005, whenever i visit these serialz site they promptly detect trojan horse, so there is no need for me to panic.

My advice to you is stop using craps like norton and mcafee instead use kaspersky, Mks_vir 2005, Avast or AVG...these AV are much better

I want to know what is the name of the programm with extension lfk. [n_dumea@yahoo.com]

What utter and absolute drivel!
Crack sites try and foist malware on you, not the crack itself.
They sometimes add a trojan in with the actual zipped crack but only a spoon would run them.
Okay, it would be possible to wrap a trojan into the crack, such as back orifice but I've never seen this done.
Some anti-virus programs detect false positives when .exe's are PEcompacted and even when not. BTW, false positive is often called heuristic by AV scanners (ie:- not sure if it is or not).
The majority of keygen/crack release groups are actually very professional and would never tarnish their own reputation.

Arse.

hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahah spoken by someone who obviously doesnt know a damn thing about the warez underground. Yes there are sites with "loaded" cracks and serial packages but an experienced person knows how to get the original items in a virgin state. The cracking groups DO NOT ADD TROJANS !!!

As far as visiting webpages with exploits installed - DON'T use Internet Explorer...plain and simple.
A good firewall and AV is all you need to protect yourself.

P2P sharing ?? Who needs it !!! oh thats right a NEWBIE who knows nothing about warez......

ok back to LMAO at the moron who wrote this article..........hahahahahahahahahahahahaha

I've been in this 'cracking' field for a very longtime. You want to download cracks or serials? Use Opera or Firefox.. Scared of using cracks? Wat's the use of personal firewall like ZoneAlarm? Mcafee? Outpost? etc etc.. They can detect those softwares (cracks) which are transmitting information onto the net. You can juz block it off to prevent it from transmitting onto the net. :o)

Whose the one with the bad intentions? The guy with the spyware, or the software company charging outragious prices for buggy, incomplete software for which you need to PAY hundreds per call for support.
When Prices where reasonable, I supported the industry.

Actually the biggest pirates are the software makers. It is them along with the socalled antivirus makers who are responsible for all viruses, trojans and all these kinds of ware.

omg, is this guy a moron or what?

"In the new study, eDonkey accounted for 51 percent of the file-sharing traffic, compared with 34 percent for BitTorrent.

FastTrack, the network tapped by users of the Kazaa file-sharing program, accounted for 10 percent of file-sharing traffic, while Gnutella, popular for swapping audio, carried 6 percent, according to the study."

these 4 networks hold 101% of the market... I don't know if it is a sloppy rough estimate by cachelogic or the author, but since there is no link to the source, and in consideration to the rest of the article, ... moron...

It's sad when the decision is made to stretch the truth to make a point, no matter how legitimate that point might be. Regardless of the attitude many of our leaders are expressing these days, the ends never justify the means, period.

Those who feel that fear-mongering is an effective way to limit piracy forget that users are rational beings who base decisions on personal experiences. When a user downloads a crack and then does not suffer the consequences described in this article the user quickly forgets the message and goes on about their business.

The well-intenioned anti-piracy message is lost, because the writer who brought the message lost credibility when the user had a satisfying piracy experience. In fact, the writer's message could be very easily mis-read as a cautionary tale about stealing safely. Yeesh!

There are lots of very good reasons to not steal, you don't need to make up any new ones.

Amit you don't know anything about software cracking. Why talk about something that you are not aware of?

Ive not read so much bullshit in a long time.
Oh well, gave me and housemates a chuckle while doing our uni work :)

why use p2p? ftp is way better

You can get trojans, spyware, malware and such but use kaspersky like someone said and a good firewall like zone alarm and you will be fine i doubt the trojans do anything anyways sites like www.seriall.com have trojans and they dont do anything from what i have seen. Spyware doesnt brake your computer whoever wrote this stuff doesnt know what he is talking about.

benburge1@gmail.com

Finding AV software? Can they be taken from the www via downloaded cracks, or is this something one has to spend money on to operate safely right from the start?

This article is an example of opaque ignorance. It is about as rational as those anti-smoking campaigns where they tell smokers that second hand smoke will kill everyone else and not them (yet they breathe both the second hand and first hand smoke.... ummm). Any rational person should question the creditability of an author that does not state his sources. It is a bunch of propaganda and bias opinions. I am not supporting stealing software; I am simply stating that this article is poorly written. One last thought, I sell software for a living and if anyone contacted me and asked for a price break as an alternative to steal it, I’d laugh at them. I don’t worry about piracy because overall I still make money from the vast majority of the computer populace who don’t even know what a warez site is… I also charge FAIR rates for my apps, to discourage the need for stealing.

As far as I can see you don't know anything about piracy. Cracking groups don't add trojans or stuff like that. If they did, they would be outcasted from the scene.

And if running cracks is risky (which I agree), one can use them on VMWare.

Bad intentions - BULLSHIT!
The only bad guys are the ones selling software at outrageously high prices. They are not only bad they are MORAL CRIMINALS - they are abusing the patent and copyright laws. The moral and practical intention of these laws was to ensure that new discoveries would be marketed without the fear of a pirate stealing the discovery. Implicit in this is the obligation to market the item at a REASONABLE PRICE. Whats a reasonable price? Thats hard to answer. But what is an UNREASONABLE PRICE? Well that's pretty easy to answer. If you are unsure - then it may be reasonable and it may be unreasonable - but when it gets so high that even a fool knows that it is a rip-off then its unreasonable.
When the price is unreasonable then the moral justification for protection falls away. The laws were never intended to support MORAL CRIMINALS and you should also not support them. Dont pay outrageous prices - do the morally correct thing and CRACK the MORAL CRIMINALS.

Amit ya tembul get off your moral high ground and go look for the thousands of people who had money taken from their credit cards after downloading a crack. If you find one - just ONE single person like that then I will be amazed. BUT there are definitely many thousands who have downloaded cracks and have not had money stolen from their credit cards. Fear is not a good moral argument.

Fear not the wrath of the MORAL CRIMINALS - guard your credit card detail from rip-off corporations with bad intentions. Above all trust in the laws of morality. What is evil is what you feel bad after - and what is good is what you feel good after. I always feel very good when a crack defeats a MORAL CRIMINAL.

What are you, an idiot, a spokesman for a software company, or both?

I'm happy with the money I saved by using my downloaded software - I can't imagine how I will save money later when I can just format and reinstall the OS if, on the odd chance, I happen to install a trojan on my computer (which would be a first).

Stop spreading misinformation.

"these 4 networks hold 101% of the market... I don't know if it is a sloppy rough estimate by cachelogic or the author, but since there is no link to the source, and in consideration to the rest of the article, ... moron..."

Its called a rounding error. For example, say you have two things one at 45.5% and one at 54.5%. You don't want to have a decimal point in your figures. So, you decide to round to the nearest whole number. 45.5% becomes 46% and 54.5% becomes 55%. What is 56 + 55? 101. Next time know what you are talking about before calling somone a moron...

Posted 22.2.06 by bannyboy

Finding AV software? Can they be taken from the www via downloaded cracks, or is this something one has to spend money on to operate safely right from the start?

AVG has free virus protection which you can google for easily, it is a great program that was recommended to me by a good friend of mine who is an IT and a programmer.

no not always cracks came with trojans or spywares this is boolshit and poor people like me cannot buy all the software which cost's the earth eg: if you learning 3d max or adobe cs suite you have to stick to the pirated version
not every one can buy a personal copy of 3d max and adobe cs suite we can't afford it so piracy is the only way.

this article is such bullshit... did the BSA pay you to write this or something? what ridiculous scare tactics.

They way I see it, set up a seperate old PC for downloading cracks and serials, install software such as bittorent and others. Then transfer the files using ur USB thumb drive to your NEW SUPER comp. Volla, problem solve.

Many industry standards like 3DSMax and Photoshop would not be where they are today if people didn't crack and share them in their developmental infancy. User communities, be they paying or not, are the most important entity to a successful application lifecycle, second only to competent development team. By using and propagating useful apps, we help your software go from a no-name freeware to an Autodesk acquisition. Don't insult us with BS journalism like this article.

ya Right No cracks,no life baby!

I am very in favour of Amit because most of cracks I downloaded were detected as trojens and each serial page as exploit even using Opera. so don't blame him. Do as you wish until you get hacked...........

Your point of view on this matter is quite biased as i'll have to say bro, good software at the cost of few hours is not a deal you can find anywhere. We download trial versions for free and crack it to make full functional, dont you think its something very attractive to take a little "risk". Well you are right when you say that they have got no right intentions in providing uswith the cracks but if you have good firewall and a good anti-virus software installed its quite safe, trust me. Recently i have cracked the 3d Studio max from "anycracks.com", well i notice that wen i try searching for a crack in that portal it opens a pop-up and download some .exe, but its easy to get rid of it by simply by cancelling the DL. And can u imagine wat the benefit i m having from it? the full 3ds max cost around $3500 or so, 3500x46=?
"0"
because it is the crack cracked!

NB: dont try to integrate any crackportal to your browser...if you do then all your nightmares will come true.
Happy Cracking
bye

All of the flamer comments are hilarious! If software companies are stealing from you and are immoral according to your standards, why are you still using their evil software?

Instead of stealing, which actually is immoral, why not just use free and/or open software? I find that much of the time this is the better route anyway, and you will be sure not to have any bad things happen to you, whether it be a virus, or the Almighty casting judgment upon you for your software theft.

You may want to try Ubuntu, or another flavor of Linux. Most distributions are similar and all easily allow you to add thousands of extremely useful and intuitive software packages for free. There are also many FOSS packages available for Windows OS as well, including GIMP (Photoshop replacement), Open Office (MS Office replacement), Audacity (Acid/Protools replacement).

You really have no excuse for stealing/pirating software. Anybody is free to charge whatever they want to charge for their work, at least in America. Nobody is putting a gun to your head, and forcing you to use anything. By the way, Microsoft is not a monopoly. A monopoly suggests that someone or something has complete control over how you, the consumer, uses a good or service. A monopoly also suggests that there is no alternative to said good or service. In the case of Microsoft, this is absolutely untrue. Only hardcore liberal socialists who worship Bill Clinton would think so. I suggest you study economics 101, to grasp a shred of perspective on the subject.

Microsoft is not a monopoly because there ARE many alternatives to Windows and Office. There are also many alternatives to Microsoft codecs and file formats. It is completely asinine to suggest otherwise. The only reason Microsoft is so big now, is because they were able to make a user-friendly operating system for the masses, at a very cheap cost. Sure Windows costs $250.00 USD per license, but there is virtually no learning curve to use it. Any idiot can figure out how to use it quickly, especially with one of the thousands of books available. However, this does not mean that it is a monopoly, therefore, your argument that you must pirate software, in order to be able to use your computer, because otherwise you cannot afford to pay for it, is asinine and completely void of logical and rational reasoning. In other words, it is a completely immature, and unintelligent thing to say.

How on Earth do you justify your theft? It costs too much, according to my standards, therefore, I will instead just take it without anybody's permission? Who are you? Does the world revolve around you?

To the idiot who said that commercial software like that which Adobe manufactures 'would never have taken off, if not for pirating' [paraphrasing], is just the most absolutely asinine argument, that sounds as if it was coming from a 16 year old (probably, actually)! Are you unaware that this is software designed for BUSINESSES? It is not designed for teenagers to use on Daddy's desktop PC.

By your comments and language which includes obvious anger and childish vulgarity, I am easily able to conclude that there is not a professional among you. My advice is stay in school and stay off of drugs. Don't ruin your life. If you are truly angry, join the Armed Forces after your graduation, and put your anger to good use, by helping us defeat global terrorism.

I don't think that legitimate software companies are authoring viruses, but go ahead and keep living inside your bubble of a fantasy world if you wish. I choose to live in the realm of reality.

The type of people who make viruses are the same type of people who hate big business --like PIRATERS and hackers!

And I dare for someone to tell me that I don't know what I'm talking about. Perhaps my college degrees (Computer Science) and certifications, along with years of experience will tell a different story than the ones you might suggest.

Lastly, are you dumb enough to think that someone doesn't know that you have been doing this? I assure you that SOMEONE knows.

I welcome anyone's stupid and asinine response.

People will use cracks and serials until software price gets low, for exmaple a new computer can be 899-1099 USd a new Windows XP + Adobe CS2 cost more than 1500 USD, so people says "screw it!" and use pirate things.

And now the only "fix" to this trouble from software makers is "do not use my program" which is a complain not a solution. I used to use a pirated audio editor program until someone did me a copy of audacity, and now the crack is gone and I'm happy with this free tool. People is not stupid, if there are real options available they will choose the best for them. Legal or illegal.

So if you are a such moron that can't use firefox or google cache (surprise! just a big text file with tons of serialz and no dangers) for be "naughty" then you are just a lamer with a big mouth and blog.

I think Amit is misinformed about crackers. They never include a crack/trojan...

I have been using cracks etc for over 3 yrs now.. never I got crack..( but u need to use little sense bfore downloading)

Microsoft Corp. is the founder and developer of all types of Viruses,Spywares,Malwares and other security related risks.
Because he only knows about the Windows(R) Operating System(R).

Microsoft Corp. is the founder and developer of all types of Viruses,Spywares,Malwares and other security related risks.
Because he only knows about the Windows(R) Operating System(R).

Huh? How does this make any sense at all? Microsoft develops viruses that exploit it's own code? Think about how utterly stupid that sounds!

I think Amit is misinformed about crackers. They never include a crack/trojan...

I have been using cracks etc for over 3 yrs now.. never I got crack..( but u need to use little sense bfore downloading)

Huh? Crackers never include cracks? You've been using cracks for three years and never got crack?

Here is the more relevant question: How long have you been smoking crack?!

And now the only "fix" to this trouble from software makers is "do not use my program" which is a complain not a solution.

Hmm, an interesting perspective. Also, this is a very Marxist perspective, if you weren't aware. Basically, what you're saying, is that you disagree with what the developers ask for their work, therefore, you will demand that they lower the cost, otherwise you will steal it. How would this be any different than me going to a car lot and driving off in a car that I did not pay for, simply because I refuse to pay what they ask of me? This argument is childish, asinine, thoughtless, and unintelligent from all angles!

If people really couldn't afford this software, like Adobe, then how can you explain that they are one of the biggest software companies in the world? If nobody could afford the software, nobody would buy it, therefore their business would be non-existent. Your perspective is plain silly, but funny. The funny part, is that you actually believe this!

Some people hate to hear the truth, because it contradicts their outlandish outlook on things. In other words, some people hate to be challenged, because they refuse to admit that they might be wrong! This contradiction thus disallows their justification for their wrongdoing.

As I mentioned before, since most commercial applications do have an alternative which is free, you have no excuse.

So if you are a such moron that can't use firefox or google [to search]
Why would this not also apply to using free software?

Do you realize that business software is for.......businesses?!

Children, where are your parents?

"Just searching on the web for web pages that contain serials can damage your computer, can give the crackers access to your credit card, and can install spyware that tracks everything you do."
Yor blog seemed reasonably up to date with technology until I read that above line.
Disgraceful.
If you are not sure how the web works, I would suggest atleast not misleading your readers (and I use that term loosely).

Bent, sorry, Brent Roos(sounds like an aussie made up name to me) is just the dumbest most boring person on the 'net, go get a life and leave the normal people alone. Mr asinine...

I remember when I tried to download silent hill for like 1 week and it wouldnt work, damn, those mega corporations stumped me.

I went and stole the game from wal-mart 2 days later

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

Brent you neo-con condensending cock sucker, if you want to pay 100s of dollars for software, go right a fucking head, but dont expect ppl who work minimum wage jobs to be so quick to do the same thing. espessally when the huge faggity mega corporations could afford to price them lower
ive downloaded
1000s of dollars in software :))))
Ive had viruses and trojans fuck up my computer before! guess what, I reformatted my comp, in 50 minutes i was up and running again and learned from my mistakes, so take your little faggotiy ass neo con morality trip somewere else, go get your ass blown off by a freedom fighter in Iraq. Its great that we are winning this war on terror that u mentioned before. its great to see all that great success in iraq, and its great to know that making iraq into a democracy would prevent terrorist attacks on america, because that sort of thing doesnt happen today! yep, no terrorist attacks here in america recently, no drive bys, no robberys, no mugging, none of that sort of terrorism at all. The wonders of the right wing. Fucking dipship

well i have personally cracked over ten sofs and put them to popl. sites but never included trojan i remember

Amit Agarwal, G'day mate
thanks for the comedy in two parts
the first being your article/propaganda. its naive. I do have three trojans stored on my machine at the moment and yes they are in warez archives but they ain't included by the crackers but by third party sites who collect and host stuff for warez junkies. I've also got a few rootkits which I've collected through the same sources. It ain't for the naive. You'll find out there a survey which says 50% of businesses use warez.
The second part of your comedy is that you leave all these "flames" here from the idiots for all the world to see. It really gets me that the people who justify theft on the basis of poverty would have no problem with seeing a shoplifter or a burglar before the courts, unless it was their mother... again!
I have no functional use for a computer. I probably have more software than all the above posters including the one who sells the stuff. I download it and install/crack it, see how it works. I'm considered a font of knowledge amongst a wide circle of people. I'm an unpaid assistant to every software developer on the planet. I don't sell it... I'm just a computer junkie.
All you people who have a problem with poverty or the morality of the capitalist world then I suggest you use your bandwidth to get knoppix. Install it and enjoy it. Get involved rather than just being a victim of your own self-justifying delusions.

Listen, he's right! I used a pirated sn to register WinZip and 2 days later, my goldfish died. How freaky is that!

thought i'd better say something abusive...um... you suck.

Retail purchased software is for newbies and idiots.

altogether now:
war-ez (clap,clap,clap), war-ez (clap,clap,clap), war-ez (clap,clap,clap)

if it can be made digital, it should be free.

source code too, please.





oh and "cracking/warez groups" never include any form of malware or virusses in their releases. certain "underground websites" often put this potentially dangerous shit in with the original release.

now that that's cleared up...

use firefox, get the adblock extension, use your eyes, use your brain. i've never unintentionally gotten a bug of any sort from any of these sites, and the ones i've run intentionally, out of curiosity or whatever, i've removed in a matter of seconds, because like someone else posted, they rarely do anything other than run and clone themselves ad nausium.

if it can be made digital, it should be free.

power to the proletariate!

You poor sorry people against warez and cracks. Some people can not afford legit copies of software. They need to learn how to use the software they can not afford so they can get better paying careers. Once they start making better money then they can afford to buy a legit copy. Some software is way over priced and should not be bought or used.

Microsoft is a monopoly, umm the antitrust lawsuit against them. I have never see an alternative OS on store shelves, have you? "Many alternatives"? Don't make me laugh. God you are retarded.
Microsoft is against open source, but use it themselves. I mean comeon... they used and still use FreeBSD for ummmm... hotmail.

"Only hardcore liberal socialists who worship Bill Clinton would think so." How big a cocktard are you? I hate that fucker. He was and always will be the worst President in our history. He has stained us. Bush has to fix all Clinton fucked up. Clinton was more worried over his cock getting sucked and being caught in a lie that he didn't deal with the problems overseas and at home. If he would have done his job 9-11 never would have happened, the huge stock market/economy slump, many people who lost their jobs because of that would still have them. Dude just blow me.

I am not some uneducated prepubescent kid either.

Time for a beer.
So you know what? Fucking blow me.

wow... its just funny that how you guys are fighting over this.. just do what you do.. stop posting here..

Also, there are alot, i mean ALOT of games, proggys, etc out there that dosen't have viruses, etc. you just have to be careful and aware where you are.. if there are pron as banners or ads, don't go there. its around 80% that you Will get a virus just by getting to the website.. places like OSCARia gives non-virus proggys.
---------------------------------
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END OF STORY!

i am using cracks and serials...since ages..still now i havent faced any problem i love reverse enginering..why the hell whe should pay for crap..without testing..there are lot of cracking team like teamicu..and loads more.so there is lots of community..
www.forum.andr.net
www.sharestation.com
www.projectw.org
www.warez-bb.org
www.t-warez.org
www.jeqq.com

HAHA don't flame ppl. I think the writer here is very clever. He says just what the people want to hear, and for some it is good advice. I have met some that mess up legit software. They would kill there computer to try to install a hack or crack.
Notice, the author covered his butt first, then tells everyone where to get the most warez and cracks... think about it.

hm... many files on crack sites contain virus or spyware,
but cracking groups dont add trojans or spyware!
just use:
firewall like zone alarm,
antivirus like kaspersky, NOD32
Use browser like Firefox, Opera

AND DON'T USE MS IE!!!!

I personally use freeware, shareware, and cracked programs on my computer. I have only had one problem with viruses and that was when I was using IE, now that I run FF, life is glorious. I mean to think that these big companies won't even give a decent break to schools. They want you to pay the full amount for every copy that you install on a computer. Its utter BS>

I am a big supporter of GNU or "Freeware" replacements for big monopolies like adobe.

However, you obviously don't have alot of experience with trojans, viri and just plain malware in general.

A. You should scan ANY download, even if from a "trusted" source with you anti virus apps (I said apps, as in plural, at least three). Seems like overkill? Try downloading the "Hackers.Toolkit.Suite.2006.rar".

B. NEVER use those shite cracks, serials, warez sites. They are a breeding ground to sucker the n00bz into a DL of some bad "stuff".

C. Don't sh!t where you eat. In essence don't install hacks or warez (even if from a trusted BT source) on your main partition or even on your primary PC. At the very least run your stolen ware in a VMware player first.

D. Don't be a retard. Hack to learn.

Good luck with all that "don't DL any warez shpeel."

Probably not as good as a more gentle hint to run the sweat blood and tears coded freeware like GIMP, GAIM, FireFox, FooBar etc etc. Or if you do p!rate software and you like it, then buy it. Programmers will disappear and so will the programs if everyone steals everything.

Peace out,
TRDQ

therealdonquixote well put! As others have said (some in the actual scene and who reverse engineer software for fun) and rightly so, the site hosting in shady crack archives (usually the ones littered with porn ads and looking to make money out of greed...and no not the "cracker group" sites on which are mostly non-public or not hosting releases btw) are the ones passing off bastardized releases which sometimes incomplete and not legit and addign their own trojan-downloaders or trojan-spys and ad-ware, badware, malware, ect. to further their own ends to make $$$ money off spam, ads, backdoors for identity theft, and other stupid methods of screwing the naive ignorant downloads of such warez. They spoil the scene and give it a bad name and will go on doing so as they have for so many years. This is all nothign new adn not news to anyone but a total newbie to P2P, warez, IRC, BBS, FTP, and all other routes of warez/crack/keygen/serial sharing. Sad thing is so many people are still suckers and just to trusting of spurious sources. When will people learn? Well, many won't that is the fact.
In the author of this blog's defense, I will say he has written many useful articles, unfortunately this is not one of them and maybe he was just out of ideas on this day. ;-) As a reminder to soem most of these evil adulterated "cracks" are merely packed with adware or spyware most of the tiem but on rare occasion something worse. Stayign an informed and savvy downloader and using multiple lines of security defense and protection is an obvious must and arrogance and doubt of the possiblity of malware infected files is both foolhardy and dangerous to the rest of the community if you spread infection. Ignorance is no excuse and if you don't take the logical precautions you shouldn't be allowed to use the internet in any form. I personally research, collect and sometimes dissect malware as a hobbyist (but I'm against malicous spreading) and I run into these files all the time. It is my belief that public education about malware is the key and not just hype and irrational fear that some in the secuirty and anti-virus industry propogate to keep pc users scared and in the dark to boost sales. Demonizing malware does not help our understanding but studying samples in a safe manner does. The AV community frowns upon anyoen but theri inner circle havign access to live samples and this just furthers the problem rather than assisting in fightign the underlying problem. No matter what you think malware will always be in the hands of the malicious spreaders. One could use the analogy that gun control does not keep guns out of the handws of criminals but only out of the hands of the average citizen and his right to protect himself and his family. It is unfortunate that in some countries (not mine) some don't have the luxury of furtherign their defenses and knowledge do to the fact that collecting malware (for good purposes or not) is illegal. Thinking measures such as these, as I said already, keeps them out of the hands of the real criminals out there is simply stupid logic. Sorry for the rant and the tangent as well as any mispellings herein.

- Azag

I use cracked stuff. and gw is the worst president. and 'global terrorism' isn't real (but global warming is), it's just to scare the less intelligent into patriotism. and if it was, iraq would still have nothing to do with it, and bush's bin-laden buddies would(technically, he has several links to al-qaeda you know). saddam is going to die for killing less of his own people than bush has. and gates does have a monopoly, it's just your definition that's wrong. For real, look it up. and freeware is awesome, often better than the paid counterpart (take open office) but the kind of money i make developing (i'm not rich but i get the rent paid, which in cali is a lot of money), i owe, in part, to my knowledge of programs like photoshop and flash (which now I own legally, but had no hope of affording in highschool). did i pretty much cover everything?
what it boils down to is this, i pay for bandwidth, which i will use as i see fit. if you don't want me getting your software, just make sure it doesn't come onto my internet, simple as that. I always like the brick and mortar analogy, "its like stealing from a store, would you steal from a store?" to which i answer: 'if the store exists inside my home, then yeah, i'm going to take my cut.'
and by the way, which do you have copywrighted, the 1 or the 0?
just let me know and i'll stop using that one

I disagree with George Bush on many accounts. However, it is an insult to the memory of all the innocent people who died during terrorism attacks to say that terrorism doesn't exist. The victims of 911 didn't just fall of the face of the earth. They were brutally killed.

If people want to download cracks. They can, it isn't harming the economy. If they get viruses, it is their own fault. If they don't I congratulate them.

If you have a problem with downloading hacks then don't do it. We are not asking you to.

Really; you do need to know who you are dealing with when you are downloading cracks, make sure you have a good firewall, and that your anti-virus software is up-to-date, and ready to catch any trojans right away that do come along. I have dealt with some software owners, and if you are nice about your request, they will give you a discount, and sometimes, if they really want your business, they will be willing to throw in the software for free. I am not kidding. Some of these guys are really cool (some are jerks to, but that does not have to be pointed out). I have gotten some free keys from the distributors of the software themselves. But then you have others who will make you pay for the software every time you get a new computer (i.e. Hyperbowl for example) I have paid them, but if they come out with anything else I'm giving them a bad name (like I am here).

It's funny all this crazy talk about right and wrong. U all haven't even learned to think outside the box, let alone grasp the scene that encompasses it! LOL!
Oh and ummm....Microsoft AND Autodesk (3ds max makers) were both busted for software piracy themselves! LOL! yea...google it! hehehe...giggling off into the sunset....*POOF*

99.9 % of the real scene people (hackers/crackers and keygen folks etc. ) would NEVER put a virus in their uploads! It is considered the "height" of bad taste! For the ones who do throw a virus into their uploaded package....they are quickly 'shat' upon by the real scene folks. And all who are 'in the know'(the Kings of The Scene) spread their name around....and the said germ starter is left to fumble thru life lost and confused. BTW these same virus people also think MAC computers are a Godsend......when us 'real folks' know better than to play around with those Fisher-Price MAC toys. LOL!! *POOF* Ace rides off into the night!

Useful article for common internet surfer.
Piracy is crime, but who follows?

True, try opening astalavista with a good virus scanner running and see how many warning messages pop up

I will say this like it simply is. It is true that their are cracks which has virusses in them. But there are only very few who do that for one simple reason. Most people who make cracks are trying to get theirselves a name and they will not trow away everything by putting a virus in it. Let's take a example from the bluelist their XP keygen, the program is working fine and is a good keygen however if you try to download it from let's say bearshare or kazaa their will be a virus with it. Not because of the bluelist but because some idiot inserted a virus into it. It is also true that many websites who host such things have bad countersides however a decent anti-virus *with other words everything except norton and mcafee* will be able to stop most from it. Also by surfing with firefox or operah you will have a higher grade of security. To the creater of this text i have one thing to say...original software isn't always the best, let's think about the sony toolkits and on shall we... original is not always better, a simpel keygen can make a software "original" remember that

If use "bearshare or kazaa" you deserve whatever happens to you 'virus-wise'. Limewire is just as bad EXCEPT for songs. If you look at the file sizes of mp3's on Limewire, you know if it's good or not. If it's 814.4 kb or something, it's an ipod ad. And whoever uploaded those damn things in the fist place needs a good ass kicking.
And if you don't scan your downloads and fully inspect them before installing them (i.e. checking files,folders, .dlls. for authenticity, you deserve a virus and you should not be allowed to play with computers!)

BTW...Torrents are where it's at! That's the real 'scene'!!

If you use Limewire,Kazza etc. for downloading apps. progs., etc. you are asking for trouble.

Here's another thing: If you download an app. and like it and use it a lot... BUY IT! That is the "Torrent Creed" and should never be broken!
Many software co.'s don't have trialware versions of their apps. that are FULLY functional and/or they're watermarked. By grabbing a torrent of it, you can give it a full test run to see if you like it or not and if it even runs on your machine.(min. system requirements are usually wrong)
Remember the Torrent Creed! If you like it and use it a lot...BUY IT!
If you don't like it, delete it...and you just saved yourself $$$...cuz software co.'s don't accept returned 'opened' CD's.

The question of:
..."Is it right or wrong"...

...is laughable at best!
For I have written before:
U all haven't even learned to think outside the box, let alone grasp the scene that encompasses it!
(hint:you are a hypocrite no matter how hard you deny it!)
You must accept that statement as the gospel. Study it, learn it and accept it.


And remember, Microsoft pirates too!
And Sony might have put a rootkit on your PC and you may never find it!
It's a big game.....so play the game or stay off the internet! You are bothering us who know what they are doing!
The truth is always painful, and I cannot apologize for that.
Ace has spoken.
Ace is wise.
Listen to Ace, for he will never forsake you.
*POOF*

This has without a doubt gone so out there that I am about to die laughing.

Poor, can't afford it, if you cannot find freeware then do without. Get a part time job if you just have to have that particular software.

All of the justification in the world does not make stealing ok. Try as you might it is still wrong and immoral

I agree 100% with Brent and to anonymous on 7/19, where did you go to school, I would love to be able to talk and write JUST like you.

Almost forgot, Amen Ace.

As someone who has been using computers since the Radio Shack TRS-80, The Atari 800 and has been on dozen of crack and warez sites. Here is my take on this.

I have used much pirated software in my life. I am also an author and I don’t like to see my products pirated. But there are times with people can not afford to buy the software and need to use it to learn or even for work.

When I was a kid I could not afford it I pirated it. Then later I got into business and I bought software. Once time I paid $900 for a macromedia suite that I almost never used. I decided from that point on I would crack software and then if I really liked it I would buy it, if did not I would uninstall it and get rid of it. To me that is Ethical piracy.

If I am in a pinch and need a copy of something and I can get it cracked or free I will, then once again when the cash comes in I buy a version of it. Either Student, or get a buddy that works for a company to get me a discount, if I can’t I buy the whole thing and pay retail.

Now as a business person If I am making money using somsone’s software it’s only fair to pay for it. And it is a TAX right off, and I would much rather give my $1200 to Adobe or Microsoft that has made some great products that enable me to make a living than to the IRS and Govt. to run this country is a way I do not agree with.

B.S. JUSTIFACATIONS BASED ON IGNORANCE PIRATERS USE:

1. They are ripping up off. No they are not you don’t want to pay for it, don’t use it. PERIOD. If you can’t afford and you pirate it. Pay later when you can.

2. Software companies are the ones stealing from us. B.S! It takes thousands of man hours to design and build the software you are using.
3. If it’d digital is should be free…Lol what a ignorant ass! LOL That makes no sense. You are discount all of the months of work that went into it, weather it be a book or software or even a picture. Just because it’s not physically produced product it should be free…lol That is the stupidest thing I have ever heard!

Now if any of you feel like you don’t agree with me try this. Spend months of your own time developing a game, writing a book, developing software and then, not working on anything else, this is how you pay your bills, and tell me how you going to survive when you just give it away for free? Do you want to do it again?

If every one pirated, there would be NO MORE SOFTWARE, the companies would closer their door, no profit = no business = no more software.

1, If you use it and make money from it you should pay for it.
2. If it brings value to you life you should pay for it.


There is only on justification I use and have used when pirating and only with thing I can not afford at all.

“I can’t truly afford it, there for there are NOT losing a sale, by me using it.” Then when I can afford it I buy it.

One thing you guys don’t understand is the more you steal and say I can’t afford you are creating that reality in your life and you will always be in that position of not being able to afford.

My goal create a reality where I can afford anything and it my pleasure to pay full prices for everything because I have so much. STOP HACKING SOFTWARE and START HACKING REALITY and create a reality in which you can afford everything. Take the red pill and wake up. Visit http://www.thesecret.tv, pay the 5 bucks and watch the movie it will change you life. If you can find he old version (pirated) it is better, this is one time I support pirating as you cant get access to the original version of the movie because they got greedy and cut out one of the best speakers because they did not want to pay her. But I have purchased several copies of this movie as it gives true value to those who watch it.

Please excuse the typos.

trial software doesnt always last long enough. i probly woulndnt of bought pc halo if i hadnt pirated it
pirating gives a bigger user base and word of mouth
i cant afford things like photoshop and office AND i BARELY use them
i dont wanna keep paying for windows when i hav had it installed on the same computer at least three times
in keygens and cracks (usually in the nfo file) they say "if you like this software then buy it"
“I can’t truly afford it, there for there are NOT losing a sale, by me using it.” to this quote my response is exactly they are not losing a sale however they are gaining user-base , popularity and the higher chance someone will recommend it
plus wat if you want an older version or a game with a no-cd file

and i have NEVER gotten any viruses or spyware of anything from my 'trusted' source

The piracy thing is probably why companies like www.endeavors.com are going to be a success.

You can stream an app without changing the code for trial purposes under a time expiring license.

Piracy could become vurtually outdated once this becomes mainstream.

ROTFL ! Amit, your intentions may be otherwise, but google seems to be servings ads -quite on the contrary.
It's just one of those times when google has "actually" used section targeting. see screenshot

Man Brent roose you are kicking there ass's,It is so funny, anybody know where i can get a good C++ compiler?

Instead of just browsing the web for serials cracks etc and visiting unsafe sites like astalavista , better use softwares like serials2000available at www.serialz.to ,, this is just a database application . every week serial updates are released with the extension .seu .. use the update button in serials2000 to update the program and get the latest serials for free without any virus or sypware etc..I have about 2 lakh serials aof all softwares and not a single virus !!! Another site i found very interesting is www.serialsafe.ca ,, it is a legal site without any spyware or virus and it has great serials !! ENJOY !!!

If you are a computer science student and you need to learn a lot of things (and obviously can't pay 200$ for each of 500 sotwares you use), piracy is the only way out. Software companies need to price their products more realistically..

That Brent Roos guy who is defending the software companies is the only "cracker" on here. The guy watches Fox News! He's full of racist conspiracy theories.

Clearly, Brent will take any BS that Fox news give him

From his site:

This video series will open your eyes to the threat that we as Americans face. Unfortunately, with the exception of Fox News, you will not see this anywhere in the mainstream press.

Warning! This will shock you! However, you must watch this –all six of these videos. This may be the most important thing you will ever watch.


http://brentroos.com/the-threat-of-radical-islam/

Written by Anonymous at 22/9/06 1:47 PM

i am using cracks and serials...since ages..still now i havent faced any problem i love reverse enginering..why the hell whe should pay for crap..without testing..there are lot of cracking team like teamicu..and loads more.so there is lots of community..
www.forum.andr.net
www.sharestation.com
www.projectw.org
www.warez-bb.org
www.t-warez.org
www.jeqq.com

i use projectw.org, Bs that there are viruses... if you are unsure, then go buy the programs yourself and waste all your money.. unfortunately projectw has closed..

You gotta knoaw where to look....

I've been always downloading cracked software, and never had a problem with it. The software producers are just trying to monopolize the markt, they are the real criminals. I'm sorry, but I'm a student, who pays as a whole less than 500€ for a living, now how am I supposed to buy a windows for 100€ and ms office for 400€, lets not mention the other utilities and applications. even if I had the money, I wouldn't buy the software, because they are incredibly expensive. I'm convinced that these people have to earn a living from selling software, but that doesn't mean that they have to empty our pockets to the last cent.

Why do I even read this stuff?

Pirated software can sometimes be shonky, although I never had a problem. I guess you need to just be aware of the risks. I used to waste a lot of energy cracking and hacking my way into various packages...

However I eventually just got jack of the dishonesty that I felt forced into by ridiculous prices and licensing conditions. So now I use Linux and as much Open Source as I can.

This is a good place for YOU to start: www.theopencd.org or www.ubuntu.com

Don't waste your time and money on dysfunctional overpriced software!

I think its depend on your need & who you are. Means, if you really need some s/w, you r some institute/big organization/company u will need to buy s/w. If you r normal ppl, who don't want to waste money for a s/w u can go for crack. if u r experienced internet user, you can easily find out a way to deal with all trojens etc. & get ur working crack. also, many ppl r not aware of all crack sites and most of user (Not so much experienced in computer/internet terminology) r still ready to pay for any s/w. & they even don't know, how to crack?

Depends on whether you are a novice or pro when it comes to internet and browsers. I can name at least 20 different sites/forums from which illegal stuff can be downloaded. Everything is perfectly safe. I've been doing so since 5 yrs and my computer is still working fine :p

This article sounds like it was designed to scare computer illiterates from downloading cracks/serials. That's about the only people it will stop...

I'm not promoting piracy or anything, but damn, that's a load of FUD. In reality, most cracks are just what they say they are, and malicious fake cracks are usually obvious to the discerning criminal. Usually, even the most malicious web pages are safe to visit if you have good security settings on your browser (even IE, traditionally the most insecure browser, is safe 9/10 of the time if you keep it patched). And software developers will not give you free software or a discount because you call them and whine.

Well said, pirated pieces are max time virus effected, below quality!
If software company fix a reasonable price tag, then no one will go to pirated at least.

hey every1

who knows very good software of any kind that is free or pirated i just bought Bitdefender and after a week of going into websites i downloaded Spyware Doctor, Turns out that i had over 100 Infections!!! Bitdefender has a spyware check, but finds nothing! Plus it said on the CD "does NOT slow computer down" i tried it out on my other computer and it took 10 minutes to oad up with a 512mb ram and the hard drive was nearly empty!!! I tried removing Bitdefender but it took 3 hours on the same position, so i cancelled it. i wanna sue Bitdefender, that cd was $100

If you bought a toaster and it failed to make toast one day each month it is considered a product failure and the company is required to fix it or take the item back. The world was duped into paying for failed product while someone made 10’s of billions off of us while they blamed us or the hardware. Google, Yahoo, firefox, and others make money just fine by not charging for their products. They have already learned what the film, music, and software industry know but refuse to implement. That is to charge for the inclusion of someone else’s content into yours. Ad’s in search engines, product placements in film and TV shows, product or political messages in music. Those are the methods to finance the labor of creative content.

All this stealing talk is just the last cries of an obsolete business model.

If I am buying a “license” for the software then why can I not get a replacement CD or DVD of a movie, music, or software app at the cost of production of just the physical item?

Sony is the Japanese getting their revenge with high paid lobbyists in DC upon the American people.

And oh, by the way, Thanks to all of you for such good information! Sweeeeet

One more thing. If the software companies paid my 165 an hour rate to help THEM test and refine their immature products I would be happy to pay them for it.

I am all for the whopping big class action suit agnist each of these producers of untested and not ready for the market software that will charge for all of the lost time doing their jobs!

that's funny. if you buy (certain) CDs from sony they put a freakin ROOTKIT on your system. grabbing the torrent would avoid such nonsense.

i can appreciate the fact that copyright enfringement is, in a very limited amount of cases, a (very minor) form of theft.

how about a 'Say No to DRM' page to go along with this one?

I find it funny that the article is warning against cracks/serial sites and yet the Googleads on the page is linking to a site for serials.

(quote)
It's sad when the decision is made to stretch the truth to make a point, no matter how legitimate that point might be. Regardless of the attitude many of our leaders are expressing these days, the ends never justify the means, period.

Those who feel that fear-mongering is an effective way to limit piracy forget that users are rational beings who base decisions on personal experiences. When a user downloads a crack and then does not suffer the consequences described in this article the user quickly forgets the message and goes on about their business.

The well-intentioned anti-piracy message is lost, because the writer who brought the message lost credibility when the user had a satisfying piracy experience. In fact, the writer's message could be very easily mis-read as a cautionary tale about stealing safely. Yeesh!

There are lots of very good reasons to not steal, you don't need to make up any new ones.
(end quote)

I knew there would be people like you.

But, that's not the message that the person is trying to send out. In fact, it could actually be the "cautionary tale about stealing safely" you're talking about.

If the author (no offense to him) really wanted to spread the message not to steal, then why does he never include any mention of theft in the article?

In fact, I don't think the author is trying to limit piracy at all, since there is also no mention of music piracy. The message he sends is genuine, don't download cracks because they have bad stuff on them that might damage your computer. That's the part you miss. You think the message really is to simply stop piracy because it's bad.

Anyway, I don't pirate software. I get the open-source "alternatives". The only thing I "pirate" is music, since I don't have a credit card, and don't want to go to HMV to buy an overpriced CD (around $25 where I live, up to $40 for hits) every time I want to buy a song or two, which I could easily do from iTunes or AllOfMP3, if I had a credit card. (In fact, if I really did have a credit card, I'd stop "stealing" altogether.)

(quote)
Bad intentions - BULLSHIT!
The only bad guys are the ones selling software at outrageously high prices. They are not only bad they are MORAL CRIMINALS - they are abusing the patent and copyright laws. The moral and practical intention of these laws was to ensure that new discoveries would be marketed without the fear of a pirate stealing the discovery. Implicit in this is the obligation to market the item at a REASONABLE PRICE. Whats a reasonable price? Thats hard to answer. But what is an UNREASONABLE PRICE? Well that's pretty easy to answer. If you are unsure - then it may be reasonable and it may be unreasonable - but when it gets so high that even a fool knows that it is a rip-off then its unreasonable.
When the price is unreasonable then the moral justification for protection falls away. The laws were never intended to support MORAL CRIMINALS and you should also not support them. Don't pay outrageous prices - do the morally correct thing and CRACK the MORAL CRIMINALS.

Amit ya tembul get off your moral high ground and go look for the thousands of people who had money taken from their credit cards after downloading a crack. If you find one - just ONE single person like that then I will be amazed. BUT there are definitely many thousands who have downloaded cracks and have not had money stolen from their credit cards. Fear is not a good moral argument.

Fear not the wrath of the MORAL CRIMINALS - guard your credit card detail from rip-off corporations with bad intentions. Above all trust in the laws of morality. What is evil is what you feel bad after - and what is good is what you feel good after. I always feel very good when a crack defeats a MORAL CRIMINAL.
(end quote)

Both sides of the argument. I knew there'd be people like you.

I don't believe this is being used as a scare tactic. Maybe this guy has general evidence that downloading this stuff is bad.

Big corporations aren't moral criminals, they're just money hoarders. And I'm guessing the only reason that the prices are unreasonably high is because the market is too big and they're not making much profit from the cheap prices. (I mean, look at Visual Studio for an example. The most expensive edition costs more than $10,000! How unreasonably high skies are the limit?)

And I don't think it's either right or wrong to "pirate" software, it just depends on your opinion.

It's only a bunch of zeroes and ones, people. (I mean, who really wants to pay for a bunch of zeroes and ones?)

It may be illegal, but that doesn't mean it's wrong. I mean, would you kill someone who was raping your spouse? Or would you rather pay $250,000 for him/her to leave and then call the cops?

And it doesn't mean it's right either. Would you steal a $400 collector's CD from your best friend?

It's just...neutral.

All that being said, if you really are going to pirate software, the best thing to do is to lock down the base first.

I'll be like one of those "conditional instructors". I'm not advising you do it, just telling you how if you want to.

OK first i cant afford $4000 for a goddamn prog
second (i wont lie ) went to a site OK OK porno site shit who dont but anyways banner popped up
looked cool Clicked on it Boom
a fucking software company NOT CRACK SITE installed all this shit on my comp (Im not a noob i installed on purpose) just to shove this shit up the company's ass LOGGED everything didn't hear from them needless to say but u get the picture.....not saying to pirate by any means but who (now think hard )who are the goddamn "bad guys"? Some cracks are bundled with
crap but if u want to run an exe with no description when the file usually is in separate rar within folder then hay i guess u will learn the hard way...and yes like the one person said some do generate false positives with av progs but its up to ur discretion to allow this to run ....ok im done iv said my peace

I got tired of the outrageous proces of M$ crappy products and the way M$ (and some others) use this "guilty until proven otherwise" crap on me, so I did the smart thing, I said the "screw you greedy mo*fuckers" and went linux. And you can all do that if you wanr. Just go here www.kubuntu.com, download the iso and burn it to a blank CD or search for their "shipit" link which is an online ordering form by which you can reqeust a free installer CD (they pay the shipping costs too) which doubles as a boot CD (like a legal BartPE) which will be shipped to you, and install it.
And say no to crappy, dysfunctional, overpriced, propietary comercial apps.

Peace out linux fellas.

i am using pirated windows for so long. i never came across a trojan or any thing you are talking.

Pirated softwares may be dangerous, but definitely NOT the serials. I actually got one serial from a VERY SAFE website (clue: that's the no. 1 in alexa ranking worldwide, and i bet you know what it is).

Amit, I was very impressed with you and your article until I got to the part where your obviously trying to scare people about viruses, worms (and bears oh my). I am not going to explain every little detail so pay attention ok?  I am of the opinion and from what I saw today I am not alone, the anti-viral industry is a HUGE scam! There is no need for any of it, I run my machine bare naked and in over 20 years of connectivity (I was online with the BBS services before the net) I have only ever gotten 1 stupid trojan and that was just last week when I went to a porn site and knew better but one shot looked too good at that second so I went to install the flash ICU add in or whatever it was called.I was DUMB enough to run Norton AntiVirus because my friend asked me to install it on his machine, so I said ah what the heck, you know what I don't think that was a coincedence, but Norton didnt even get a whiff of it, neither did Windows Defender and all I had to do was something too simple to even mention here! (You can link to my site and pay ME first) lol All anyone has to do is have alot of good common sense, like learning NOT to execute ANY .exe or .com that you don't understand! If you don't know why then just DON'T do it without asking someone first, thats how you learn also! And I'm NOT talking about cracks! I agree with them that their not the culprits, its the criminal minded who do these things, the crack groups just do it like a dog licks his you know what, cause they can! As far as websites sneaking things through IE, that is also embellished malarkey (how about some mustard on that liverworst) yuckkk! Your bowing down to all the big guys and kisses their fat arses for what? An award here, an award there, we call all see through the BS anyway, so don't think your fooling anyone out here that has a half a nerd in his back pocket! How about you get your self respect back and tell everyone the TRUTH for a change! One thing I will tell you, I made over 6 million dollars on yahoo back in the day and you don't see ME selling all this glorified BS your pushing here! People must really be jackarses to ever click through and really buy things like the snagit tool and I suspect the advise you gave about saving flash files will have problems working so they go back and buy that right?  lol 

This is bull. I myself make cracks and know a few ppl from crack teams and none of them would dare risk their reputation by including spyware. It is the sites u download the cracks from.

Warez is safe...just download it from shady sites...

Also how can changing bits and bytes illegal? I'm not allowed to look in my computers memory? Not my fault thts also where valid serials are. BS is u ask me.