Warez d00dz
Sunday, October 21, 2001 by koop | Discussion: WinCustomize Talk
This is an update to Frogboy's earlier post. I am the one that tried to shut down the warez site. Since the web master of the site posted my Stardock email address and websites, there have been several attacks. I have received confirmation of my subscription to several porno sites (thank you) and several virus infected emails (no, thank you.) For those who know me, the decision to take action against the warez site was taken with grave reservations.
I am a free speech advocate in the extreme ( a perfect foil to Frogboy's ethical conservatism) and a supporter of civil liberties. I think software should be free. An unusual attitude for the sales person of a software company? Not really. I also think food, my childrens' education, DVD's and a new Volvo should be free. I just can't get everyone to agree with me.
Having said that, the Warez site posted a link to the full version of our software. They posted an article about it on their front page. I emailed them, told them to take it down and offered to let them post a shareware version instead. 24 hours passed. My blood pressure rose. I contacted their ISP, who blew the whole thing off. Now the site contacted me, told me the link was taken down. Then they posted another link on their message board, telling their community that they would not be stopped. Well, for a week we played games. Ultimately, I did what I had to do.
I learned two lessons this week. The first is that we live in a time that permits small crimes everyday. As I said to a one of the people I met on the warez scene this week, he would follow someone a mile to return their wallet, but sees nothing wrong with stealing software. This isn't just about the software. ISP's have to turn a blind eye to these sites. I am not kidding, I had three virii mailed to me, threats sent to me, etc. Come on guys, you know that this is wrong. When we (yes all of us) do little things wrong many times a day, is it any wonder that big wrong things happen?
The second thing I learned is about community. These warez d00dz (am I so old that I am the only one to remember that phrase?) found a community on that site. They were prepared to defend their home. I hope that they keep that enthusiasm of youth, but transfer it to a more socially acceptable community- like skinning.
Peace, y'all.
I am a free speech advocate in the extreme ( a perfect foil to Frogboy's ethical conservatism) and a supporter of civil liberties. I think software should be free. An unusual attitude for the sales person of a software company? Not really. I also think food, my childrens' education, DVD's and a new Volvo should be free. I just can't get everyone to agree with me.
Having said that, the Warez site posted a link to the full version of our software. They posted an article about it on their front page. I emailed them, told them to take it down and offered to let them post a shareware version instead. 24 hours passed. My blood pressure rose. I contacted their ISP, who blew the whole thing off. Now the site contacted me, told me the link was taken down. Then they posted another link on their message board, telling their community that they would not be stopped. Well, for a week we played games. Ultimately, I did what I had to do.
I learned two lessons this week. The first is that we live in a time that permits small crimes everyday. As I said to a one of the people I met on the warez scene this week, he would follow someone a mile to return their wallet, but sees nothing wrong with stealing software. This isn't just about the software. ISP's have to turn a blind eye to these sites. I am not kidding, I had three virii mailed to me, threats sent to me, etc. Come on guys, you know that this is wrong. When we (yes all of us) do little things wrong many times a day, is it any wonder that big wrong things happen?
The second thing I learned is about community. These warez d00dz (am I so old that I am the only one to remember that phrase?) found a community on that site. They were prepared to defend their home. I hope that they keep that enthusiasm of youth, but transfer it to a more socially acceptable community- like skinning.
Peace, y'all.
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paxx
Reply #22 Tuesday, October 23, 2001 2:19 PM
Reply #22 Tuesday, October 23, 2001 2:19 PM
Come on, haven't we read enough harsh words and insults in the past few days? The first half of your post was good, the last part was uncalled for, Tandis.
razorborg
Reply #23 Tuesday, October 23, 2001 3:50 PM
Reply #23 Tuesday, October 23, 2001 3:50 PM
Developer Tandis
You are a very poor judge of character.
I honestly hope that you are not an executive personnel officer somewhere.
Actually I was given the impression that this board was somewhat more "mature".
Still I would very much like an answer to my question.
Thank You.
You are a very poor judge of character.
I honestly hope that you are not an executive personnel officer somewhere.
Actually I was given the impression that this board was somewhat more "mature".
Still I would very much like an answer to my question.
Thank You.
JayG
Reply #24 Tuesday, October 23, 2001 3:52 PM
. Didn't you just make a post comparing removing warez to a declaration of war?
Reply #24 Tuesday, October 23, 2001 3:52 PM
. Didn't you just make a post comparing removing warez to a declaration of war?
migellito
Reply #25 Tuesday, October 23, 2001 5:36 PM
Reply #25 Tuesday, October 23, 2001 5:36 PM
what companies use warez postings of their software to their advantage?
sorry, i'm just baffled..
how does one declare war on 'the internet?' other than, perhaps, calling out al gore...
and your question was 'why would a company request that warez postings of their software be removed from a website?' .. [?]
sorry, i'm just baffled..
how does one declare war on 'the internet?' other than, perhaps, calling out al gore...
and your question was 'why would a company request that warez postings of their software be removed from a website?' .. [?]
Jafo
Reply #26 Tuesday, October 23, 2001 5:52 PM
Reply #26 Tuesday, October 23, 2001 5:52 PM
Citizen razorborg....if some drug-crazed junkie 'borrows' your car from your garage, wouldn't you perhaps expend a little effort in its retrieval?
Gosh...you probably were still paying it off and now you no longer have it....and in the back seat is your youngest child, about to be dumped on some kerbside as useless baggage to die of exposure. Never mind, lad, you can always breed another...
Gosh...you probably were still paying it off and now you no longer have it....and in the back seat is your youngest child, about to be dumped on some kerbside as useless baggage to die of exposure. Never mind, lad, you can always breed another...
razorborg
Reply #27 Tuesday, October 23, 2001 6:04 PM
Reply #27 Tuesday, October 23, 2001 6:04 PM
I have two little girls age 2 and 4.
And i have just realized what kind of board this is !
And i have just realized what kind of board this is !
razorborg
Reply #28 Tuesday, October 23, 2001 6:32 PM
Reply #28 Tuesday, October 23, 2001 6:32 PM
Starduck style:
"you probably were still paying it off and now you no longer have it....and in the back seat is your youngest child, about to be dumped on some kerbside as useless baggage to die of exposure. Never mind, lad, you can always breed another"
"you probably were still paying it off and now you no longer have it....and in the back seat is your youngest child, about to be dumped on some kerbside as useless baggage to die of exposure. Never mind, lad, you can always breed another"
craeonics
Reply #29 Tuesday, October 23, 2001 8:23 PM
Reply #29 Tuesday, October 23, 2001 8:23 PM
Minor point, Jafo has nothing to do with StarDock and is much older than you might think (as are most people around here). Not much teens here.
Jafo
Reply #30 Tuesday, October 23, 2001 8:35 PM
Reply #30 Tuesday, October 23, 2001 8:35 PM
Note to self....sarcastic analogy may be lost on 1337 warez-geeks...
paxx
Reply #31 Tuesday, October 23, 2001 10:30 PM
Reply #31 Tuesday, October 23, 2001 10:30 PM
Ya well, I don't quite get the analogy myself, I must confess... OK, I see where your going with the car anology, although I disagree with it, but how did you get to throw a kid on the backseat?
Larry Kuperman
Reply #32 Tuesday, October 23, 2001 10:30 PM
Reply #32 Tuesday, October 23, 2001 10:30 PM
Citizen Razorborg, any reference to your children was made in haste and was not meant to be hurtful. I am sure that your little girls are lovely and that you work hard to be the best daddy that you can. Jafo is as kind a human as you are likely to meet anywhere. We are all feeling a little defensive these days. Add to that his being from Australia and walking around upside down all the time with the blood flowing to his head, and, well I am sure that you can understand.
Wincustomize is a good place. It is more than these message boards, it is more than the discussions. It is a place where artists create beauty from the void. The apps- well, the apps are just tools. Sure if the Sistine Chapel didn't have a roof, Michelangelo would not have had a place to put his work. But the art is MORE than paint on the ceiling. Look at our WindowBlinds skins, at our DesktopX themes, at our wallpapers. That is what it is about! Beauty where there was none, man! That is the legacy we make for our kids.
Peace.
Wincustomize is a good place. It is more than these message boards, it is more than the discussions. It is a place where artists create beauty from the void. The apps- well, the apps are just tools. Sure if the Sistine Chapel didn't have a roof, Michelangelo would not have had a place to put his work. But the art is MORE than paint on the ceiling. Look at our WindowBlinds skins, at our DesktopX themes, at our wallpapers. That is what it is about! Beauty where there was none, man! That is the legacy we make for our kids.
Peace.
BlazerRW
Reply #34 Wednesday, October 24, 2001 5:03 PM
Reply #34 Wednesday, October 24, 2001 5:03 PM
I actually can't believe that jafo,one of the most well respected people of the skinning community would post a comment such as he did.Well, he just lost my respect for him
Jafo
Reply #35 Wednesday, October 24, 2001 6:16 PM
Reply #35 Wednesday, October 24, 2001 6:16 PM
BlazerRW...
The analogy just worked better in my head than on paper...
It was a [failed] attempt to show the severity of property theft of a product from Stardock with the stealing of a car by some low-life who has no regard for anything but his personal persuit of his drug habit, at the expense of collateral damage...innocent people suffering as victims....
Just remind me never to be quite so 'clever' and analogous as it obviously screwed up....
The analogy just worked better in my head than on paper...
It was a [failed] attempt to show the severity of property theft of a product from Stardock with the stealing of a car by some low-life who has no regard for anything but his personal persuit of his drug habit, at the expense of collateral damage...innocent people suffering as victims....
Just remind me never to be quite so 'clever' and analogous as it obviously screwed up....
treetog
Reply #36 Wednesday, October 24, 2001 6:30 PM
Reply #36 Wednesday, October 24, 2001 6:30 PM
I know Jafo for a long time, and I am sure he was just making an analogy and was completly missundertood.
I know his character and can put my hand on the fire by him, without being afraid of burnning it.
I know his character and can put my hand on the fire by him, without being afraid of burnning it.
Jafo
Reply #37 Wednesday, October 24, 2001 6:33 PM
Reply #37 Wednesday, October 24, 2001 6:33 PM
Bum....'pursuit'....
As a motor-racing official, I officiated in about 1993 at Albert Park in Melbourne...a promotional sprint race/speed trial as a lead up to the Grand Prix being held there [in '96].
There were no proper crowd control fencing at the corner where I was posted...although it was a 'controlled motor race event'.
Now, when mum and dad walks their kids across a road...jay-walking, you'd expect them to at least hold the rug-rat's hand so it didn't run off and get squished by a car.....
Now, just imagine a race-track....with testosterone-mad racing drivers of varying capability...at near-race-speed....and parents jay-walking with their kids....accross a Race circuit!...You guessed it, not even holding the kid's hands....and there is me, trying to convince them that they are too f***ing stupid to be allowed to breed.
In the end, I said to their parting backs, much to the approval of other horrified parents...."Never mind, if you kill this one, you can always breed more".
At least on that occasion my sarcasm and abject disgust sank in.
You haven't lived till you have jumped out in front of a Formula 5000 racing car [similar to an Indycar] at full-song, to flag down Bib Stillwell as his car approaches a blind corner where 2 little kids have strayed into its path on bicycles, thanks to the knuckle-dragging morons who should not have been their parents.
When the 5000 had passed....then at about 30 kph, I said to the 2 kids..."well, you got to see a race car up real close, didn't you?".....about two feet away....
As a motor-racing official, I officiated in about 1993 at Albert Park in Melbourne...a promotional sprint race/speed trial as a lead up to the Grand Prix being held there [in '96].
There were no proper crowd control fencing at the corner where I was posted...although it was a 'controlled motor race event'.
Now, when mum and dad walks their kids across a road...jay-walking, you'd expect them to at least hold the rug-rat's hand so it didn't run off and get squished by a car.....
Now, just imagine a race-track....with testosterone-mad racing drivers of varying capability...at near-race-speed....and parents jay-walking with their kids....accross a Race circuit!...You guessed it, not even holding the kid's hands....and there is me, trying to convince them that they are too f***ing stupid to be allowed to breed.
In the end, I said to their parting backs, much to the approval of other horrified parents...."Never mind, if you kill this one, you can always breed more".
At least on that occasion my sarcasm and abject disgust sank in.
You haven't lived till you have jumped out in front of a Formula 5000 racing car [similar to an Indycar] at full-song, to flag down Bib Stillwell as his car approaches a blind corner where 2 little kids have strayed into its path on bicycles, thanks to the knuckle-dragging morons who should not have been their parents.
When the 5000 had passed....then at about 30 kph, I said to the 2 kids..."well, you got to see a race car up real close, didn't you?".....about two feet away....
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Reply #21 Tuesday, October 23, 2001 2:11 PM