‘Warez’: The Good, Bad and
Ugly of Computing
Say
the word ‘Warez’ to someone who is into
computers and what will most of them say? That’s
right, piracy. This isn’t strictly the case as you’re
about to be told. You don’t have to agree just
listen! Many so-called ‘Warez’ sites hold legal
or at least, ‘decriminalised’ software.
There
are different types of ‘Warez’, all with
varying legality.
The
Good (relatively speaking).
Abandonware – Software which is no longer
available to buy and is usually hard to get hold of.
Usually, these sites include a disclaimer to allow
distribution until the copyright holder complains or
permission from the copyright holder for distribution.
Sometimes though this still falls on it’s face and a
classic example was that of the original Elite. Ian Bell,
co-author of the original Elite, allowed the game to be
freely distributed but his partner in the production of
the game, David Braben threatened legal action. So the
game was eventually withdrawn and to be honest, I think
that battle is still going. Some Abandonware is given for
download only if you own the originals but then if you
own the originals, all ‘warez’ are OK.
Abandonware is sometimes used to disguise piracy. I can’t
imagine ‘Daytona USA’ from SEGA ever being
allowed into the public domain but on plenty of sites, it’s
there. In fact, you could say that all downloads for
emulators from pre-around five years ago could be termed
Abandonware. Preserving software, which is the main point
of Abandonware, is a good thing but you should be
careful.
The
Bad
MP3 - Sites holding MP3s of copyrighted material
are often ’Warez’ sites. These tend to be
pirate dumps from legitimate recordings (CD, Vinyl etc.).
I have downloaded some legally to replace damaged tracks
on my own CD collection, the only time this sort of
action is legal without permission from the copyright
holders. Bootleg and rare recordings can also be found to
the objection of many artists/publishers. According the
Iron Maiden newsgroup, Steve Harris is said not to object
to distribution but not sale of IM bootlegs. This is due
to the man having a large collection himself. Lets face
it, it’s hard to tape a concert while you’re
playing bass! Not really ‘Warez’ but when you
have a server with a large amount of space, this is a way
to fill it. A bad thing but on occasion, some good can be
found.
The
Ugly
New Software - Unless you own the original and
sometimes even then, this is highly illegal. I've already
seen sites with AmigaOS 3.5 and Windows 2000 on them.
There is also a high amount of software which isn't even
released yet. Many hold cracks ('Crackz') and bogus
serial numbers ('Serialz') which allow coverdisk and
downloaded demos to be illegally converted to the
registered/full versions. This sort of thing is uglier
than a person who has spent their entire life rubbing
themselves with sandpaper, sleeping on a bed of nails,
and bathing in sulphuric acid. Yuk!
So
there you go. And I didn't even mention porn once. Doh!
Coagulus
/ Rob
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