:: wikimiki.org ::

The ISO News

The iSO News

right The iSO News is a warez news website originally created by David Rocci. The iSO News supplies release details and NFOs of warez games and programs, without actually supplying them, or information on where to find them. The site was located at "iSONEWS.com" until David Rocci's house was raided by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) on February 27th, 2003. The FBI targeted Rocci because he was selling modchips on the web site. The raid, ostensibly at least, had nothing to do with the fact that his site contained detailed releases (in the form of text files .nfo) by warez groups. Rocci gave up the iSONEWS.com domain name as part of his plea bargain. The legality of the domain name seizure is questionable as Rocci himself was no longer in ownership of iSONEWS.com when he offered to give it away. This infuriated many free speech activists. For approximately one year following the seizure, visitors to iSONEWS.com were redirected to the United States Department of Justice [http://www.cybercrime.gov/ Cybercrime.gov] web site. A number of iSO News mirrors sprung up as a result, including izonews.com, theisonews.com, and stolemy.com, an expression of frustration amidst the iSO News community at the Department of Justice's actions. As of November 16, 2004 the domain is owned by DomainSpa, LLC and used to advertise video game sales and rentals. Release sites such as iSONews and NFOrce, have always been frowned upon from the scene groups, as they (the groups) mean release sites exposes too much of the scene to the public. One could ask if it isn't the purpose of the scene to hand out to the masses? Other than being a mere release site for the warez community, it has evolved into a more broad message board, which concentrates mostly on PC gaming. With everything from rumours, news, hints and tweaks to various games. The original iSO News continues to operate under several mirrored URLs.

External links

isonews.com mirrors

- [http://www.theisonews.com/ THEISONEWS.COM]
- [http://www.izonews.com/ IZONEWS.COM] - domain seems expired
- [http://www.stolemy.com/ STOLEMY.COM] - named out of frustration at the Department of Justice's action. (now defunct)

In the press

- The Register: [http://www.theregister.co.uk/2003/02/26/doj_seizes_isonews_site_over/][http://www.theregister.co.uk/2003/04/10/put_a_z_in_isonews/]
- BBC: [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/2803927.stm]
- CNET: [http://news.com.com/2100-1023-986225.html]
- [http://www.cybercrime.gov/rocciPlea.htm Justice Department Seizes Top Internet Site Involved in Copyright Piracy] US DoJ press release on bust Category: Warez

Website

Website.]] A website, web site or WWW site (often shortened to just site) is a collection of web pages, typically common to a particular domain name or sub-domain on the World Wide Web on the Internet. A web page is an HTML/XHTML document accessible generally via HTTP. All publicly accessible websites in existence comprise the World Wide Web. The pages of a website will be accessed from a common root URL called the homepage, and usually reside on the same physical server. The URLs of the pages organise them into a hierarchy, although the hyperlinks between them control how the reader perceives the overall structure and how the traffic flows between the different parts of the sites. Some websites require a subscription to access some or all of their content. Examples of subscription sites include many Internet pornography sites, parts of many news sites, gaming sites, message boards, Web-based e-mail services and sites providing real-time stock market data.

Overview

A website will may be the work of an individual, a business or other organization and is typically dedicated to some particular topic or purpose. Any website can contain a hyperlink to any other website, so the distinction between individual sites, as perceived by the user, may sometimes be blurred. Websites are written in, or dynamically converted to, HTML (Hyper Text Markup Language) and are accessed using a software program called a web browser, also known as a HTTP client. Web pages can be viewed or otherwise accessed from a range of computer based and Internet enabled devices of various sizes, examples of which include desktop computers, laptop computers, PDAs and cell phones. A website is hosted on a computer system known as a web server, also called an HTTP Server, and these terms can also refer to the software that runs on these system and that retrieves and delivers the web pages in response to requests from the web site users. Apache is the most commonly used web server software (according to Netcraft statistics) and Microsoft's Internet Information Server (IIS) is also commonly used. A static website, is one that has content that is not expected to change frequently and is manually maintained by some person or persons using some type of editor software. There are two broad categories of editor software used for this purpose which are
- Text editors such as Notepad, where the HTML is manipulated directly within the editor program
- WYSIWYG editors such as Microsoft FrontPage and Macromedia Dreamweaver, where the site is edited using a GUI interface and the underlying HTML is generated automatically by the editor software. A dynamic website is one that may have frequently changing information. When the web server receives a request for a given page, the page is automatically generated by the software in direct response to the page request; thus opening up many possibilities including for example: a site can display the current state of a dialogue between users, monitor a changing situation, or provide information in some way personalised to the requirements of the individual user. There are a large range of software systems, such as Active Server Pages (ASP), Java Server Pages (JSP) and the PHP programming language that are available to generate dynamic web systems and dynamic sites also often include content that is retrieved from one or more databases or by using XML-based technologies such as RSS. Static content may also be dynamically generated periodically or if certain conditions for regeneration occur (cached) to avoid the performance loss of initiating the dynamic engine on a per-user or per-connection basis. Plugins are available for browsers, which use them to show active content, such as Flash, Shockwave or applets written in Java. Dynamic HTML also provides for user interactivity and realtime element updating within Web pages (i.e., pages don't have to be loaded or reloaded to effect any changes), mainly using the DOM and JavaScript, support for which is built-in to most modern browsers.

Types of websites

There are many varieties of websites, each specialising in a particular type of content or use, and they may be arbitrarily classified in any number of ways. A few such classifications might include:
- Archive site: used to preserve valuable electronic content threatened with extinction. Two examples are: Internet Archive which since 1996 preserves billions of old (and new) Web pages, and Google Groups which in early 2005 was archiving over 845,000,000 messages posted to Usenet news/discussion groups.
- Blog (or weblog) site: site used to log online readings or to post online diaries; may include discussion forums.
- Business site: used for promoting a business or service.
- Commerce site or eCommerce site: for purchasing goods, such as Amazon.com.
- Community site: a site where persons with similar interests communicate with each other, usually by chat or message boards.
- Database site: a site whose main use is the search and display of a specific database's content such as the Internet Movie Database or the Political graveyard.
- Development site: a site whose purpose is to provide information and resources related to software development, Web design and the like.
- Directory site: a site that contains varied contents which are divided into categories and subcategories, such as Yahoo! directory, Google directory and Open Directory Project.
- Download site: strictly used for downloading electronic content, such as software, game demos or computer wallpaper.
- Game site: a site that is itself a game or "playground" where many people come to play, such as MSN Games, Pogo.com and the MMORPGs Planetarion and Kings of Chaos.
- Information site: contains content that is intended merely to inform visitors, but not necessarily for commercial purposes; such as: RateMyProfessors.com, Free Internet Lexicon and Encyclopedia.
- News site: similar to an information site, but dedicated to dispensing news and commentary.
- Pornography site: a site that shows pornographic images and videos.
- Search engine site: a site that provides general information and is intended as a gateway or lookup for other sites. A pure example is Google, and the most widely known extended type is Yahoo!.
- Shock site: includes images or other material that is intended to be offensive to most viewers.
- Vanity site (or "personal site"): run by an individual or a small group (such as a family) that contains information or any content that the individual wishes to include.
- Web portal site: a website that provides a starting point, a gateway, or portal, to other resources on the Internet or an intranet.
- Wiki site: a site which users collaboratively edit (such as Wikipedia). Some sites may be included in one or more of these categories. For example, a business website may promote the business's products, but may also host informative documents, such as white papers. There are also numerous sub-categories to the ones listed above. For example, a porn site is a specific type of eCommerce site or business site (that is, it is trying to sell memberships for access to its site). A fan site may be a vanity site on which the administrator is paying homage to a celebrity. Many business Websites have the appearance of brochures—that is, an advertisement that can be strolled around. Some websites act as vehicles for users to communicate with other people via webchat. Websites are constrained by architectural limits (e.g. the computing power dedicated to the Website). Very large websites, such as Yahoo!, Microsoft, Google and most other very large sites employ several servers and load balancing equipment, such as Cisco Content Services Switches

Mousetrapping

Mousetrapping is a technique employed by some "aggressive" commercial websites, especially ones that are pornographic in nature, which prevents the user from leaving the site, depending on Web browser settings. Typically, this form of trapping is employed by the use of Javascript code (or Dynamic HTML) that detects a user's attempt to either close the browser window or leave the Website to view another site. These attempts may easily fail if the user disabled javascript on their Web browser; however, disabling Javascript may also impact how well certain pages on the current site or other Websites load. Tools such as pop-up blockers can help in preventing this annoyance but by no means will solve the problem entirely. [http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/M/mousetrapping.html]

Prizes

The Webby Awards are a set of awards presented to the world's "best" Websites.

Spelling

As noted above, there are several different spellings for this term. Although "website" is commonly used (particularly by some newspapers and other media), Reuters, Microsoft, academia, and dictionaries such as Oxford, prefer to use the two-word, capitalised spelling "Web site". An alternate version of the two-word spelling is not capitalised. As with many newly created terms, it may take some time before a common spelling is finalised. (This controversy also applies to derivative terms such as "Web master"/"webmaster".) The Associated Press Stylebook, a guide to newspaper style, suggests "Web site" and "Web page". "WWW site" is rarely used.

External links

- [http://www.w3.org/ World Wide Web Consortium]
- [http://www.isoc.org/ The Internet Society (ISOC)]
- [http://www.icann.org/ Internet Corporation For Assigned Names and Numbers]
- [http://www.useit.com Useit.com Internet Usability]
- [http://www.cgisecurity.com/questions/securewebsite.shtml How do I secure my website?] CGISecurity.com - Website Security Portal
- ko:웹사이트 ja:ウェブサイト simple:Website

Warez

Warez (pronounced or ) is a derivative of the plural form of "software". It refers primarily to copyrighted material traded in violation of its copyright license. The term generally refers to releases by organized groups, as opposed to peer-to-peer file sharing between friends or large groups of people with similar interest using a Darknet. It usually does not refer to commercial for-profit software counterfeiting. This term was initially coined by members of the various computer underground circles, but has since become commonplace among Internet users and the media. Prior to the 1990's, pirated software was simply known as "wares". The rise of "l33t sp34k" (leet speak or elite speech) lended to the subsitution of the "z" for the "s". "Wares" was used to indicate more than one pirated software application, as the plural of "software" is "software" and it lacks clarity when referring to more than one "ware". Due to the low rate of speed in transferring pirated software over telephone modems and bulletin board systems (BBSes), pirates would typically ask for one for one trades from other pirates. Hence, software pirates adopted a merchant-like attitude with their software collections and the term "wares" was apt. "Warez" is used most commonly as a noun: "My neighbor downloaded 10 gigs of warez yesterday"; but can also be used as a verb: "The new Windows was warezed a month before the company officially released it". People engaging in warez production and distribution are often referred to as pirates, in this sense being defined as "One who makes use of or reproduces the work of another without authorization". Although the use of this term is controversial, it is embraced by some groups such as Pirates With Attitude. The collection of warez groups is referred to globally as the "warez scene" or more ambiguously "The Scene".

The history of warez

Product piracy

The Scene, purchased on the streets of Chinatown in New York City.]] Before there were computers and software, piracy existed; At the time, piracy was usually, though not always, profit-oriented. During the 1980s, one of the most famous products targeted were Lacoste shirts. This type of product counterfeiting was and still is done by organized crime groups often based in countries like China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Thailand, and Russia. These groups illegally produce millions of counterfeit copies of clothing, electronics, microchips, music CDs, VHS & DVD movies, and software applications. While most copies of pirate software are manufactured in Asian factories, their distribution often begins in first-world nations such as the United States and Western Europe, where the largest international publishers of proprietary software are located. These pirate copies are regularly sold on city streets throughout most of South America, Asia, the Middle East and Eastern Europe. In some countries they are sold at retail price which can be worth several billion dollars annually. While the selling of pirate copies is less common in Western nations, its popularity is growing. In Western nations, pirate products are usually sold in specific areas, such as Chinatown in New York and Pacific Mall in suburban Toronto. Unlike Asian countries where pirate goods can be even sold in retailers, this kind of distribution is rare in Western nations.

The rise of software piracy

Toronto" in the "Don't Copy That Floppy" video.]] Software piracy has been an issue from the day the first commercial software program hit store shelves. Whether the medium was cassette tape or floppy disk, software pirates found a way to duplicate the software and spread it amongst their friends. Thriving pirate communities were built around the Apple II, Commodore 64, the Atari 400 and Atari 800 line, the ZX Spectrum, the Amiga, the Atari ST among other personal computers. Entire networks of BBSes sprung up to traffic illegal software from one user to the next. Machines like the Amiga and the Commodore 64 had an international pirate network; software not available on one continent would eventually make its way to every region through the pirate network via the bulletin board systems. Copy protection schemes for the early systems were designed to defeat the casual pirate, as "crackers" would typically release a pirated game to the pirate "community" the day they were earmarked for market. However, until the early 1990s, software piracy was not yet considered a serious problem. In 1992, the Software Publishers Association began to battle against software piracy, with its promotional video "Don't Copy That Floppy". It and the Business Software Alliance have remained the most active anti-piracy organizations worldwide, although to compensate for extensive growth in recent years, they have gained the assistance of the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), as well as American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) and Broadcast Music Incorporated (BMI). These are some causes which have accelerated its growth: :Popularity of computers ::In the late 1990s, computers became more popular. This was attributed to Microsoft and the release of Windows 95, which greatly decreased the learning curve for using a computer. Windows 95 became so popular that in developed countries nearly every household has at least one computer. Similar to televisions and telephones, computers became a necessity to every person in the information age. As the use of computers increased, so had software and cyber crimes. The problem of warez became so serious that it had adversely affected software writers and companies. :Improvements in networking ::In the mid-1990s, the average Internet user was still on dial-up, with average speed ranging between 28.8 and 33.6 kbit/s (with a maximum speed of 56 kbit/s). If one wished to download a piece of software, which could run about 20 MB, the download time could be longer than one day, depending on network traffic, the Internet Service Provider, and the server. Around 1997, broadband began to gain popularity due to its greatly increased network speeds. As "large-sized file transfer" problems became less severe, warez became more widespread and began to affect large software files like animations and movies. The next generation of networking is optical fiber network, whose speed can reach up to 1.6 Tb/s in field deployed systems and up to 10 Tb/s in lab systems, with this seemingly unlimited bandwidth it is virtually impossible to imagine a limit as to what could be pirated. :Invention of swarming download technology ::In the past, files were distributed by point-to-point technology: with a central uploader distributing files to downloaders. With these systems, a large number of downloaders for a popular file uses an increasingly larger amount of bandwidth. If there are too many downloads, the server can become unavailable. The same is true for peer-to-peer networking; the more downloaders the slower the file distribution is. With swarming technology as implemented in eDonkey2000 and BitTorrent file sharing systems, downloaders help the uploader by picking up some of its uploading responsibilites. When one downloads files, one is not only a downloader, but also an uploader. To a point, the more downloaders there are, the faster the file distribution becomes.

Types of warez

There is generally a distinction made between different sub-types of warez:
- apps – Applications: Generally a retail version of a software package.
- crackz – Cracked applications: A patch designed to turn a trial version of a software package into the full version, or bypass anti-piracy protections.
- gamez – Games: This scene concentrates on both computer based games, and video game consoles.
- moviez – Movies: Pirated movies generally released while still in theaters.
- mp3s – MP3 audio: Pirated albums, singles, or other audio format released in the compressed MP3 audio format.
- books/ebooks – Books: These can include pirated ebooks, scanned books, scanned comics and manga.

Organized groups vs. Disorganized distribution

Organized groups operate with strict ruleset of what can be released and in which format each release should be. The groups may also have private sites for internal purposes, such as archiving their own releases and transferring the unmodified material between their members. Communication within a group is usually handled through encrypted channels (with Blowfish, AES, or some other cipher & key method), using SSL secured private Internet Relay Chat (IRC) servers. Communication within a group is important in coordinating their releases. Groups usually focus on some specific area of expertise and release material from their field. These groups usually transfer material using between Topsites. Disorganized distribution usually consists of average computer users, who are using some form of p2p to transfer material. These users often rely on Usenet binaries newsgroups, BitTorrent or IRC XDCC bots to distribute their material. These new releases typically don't spread far, but since there's no real way to track what was released and where, this is hard to do. Disorganized groups rarely release software, since releasing usually requires a competent programmer to patch the original program. Usually these types of releases are MP3, cloned game images and movies.

Software piracy

Software cracking groups delegate tasks efficiently among their members. These members are mostly located in first world countries where high-speed internet connections and powerful computers are readily available. Software cracking groups are usually quite small. Only a few skilled people usually do the cracking work, since the programming skills required to reverse engineer and patch code usually takes years of training and talent.

Effect of piracy on "free" and "open source" software

Piracy can also affect free and open source software. Since it is hard to monitor the distribution of software, malicious individuals and groups can take their software away with different evil uses: :Credit Theft: People simply take the free software away and claim it is their work. If it is open source software, it is even easier for them to remove any tracks which can identify the original author(s). They then add their own names and/or logos so as to pretend the work is their own. :Repackaging and Resale: In order to make a profit out of freeware, they resell their products after stealing works from the original software authors. An example is the Kuwaiti company OnlinePcFix, which offers a software named SpyFerret. This software's internal database was later revealed to have been stolen from the complete database of Spybot - Search & Destroy. To hide the fact that the company stole Spybot's database, they make use of encryption. :Modification and Resale: It has occurred most with "open source" software, where the source code is freely available and modified. An example of this was CherryOS. Its authors took the source code from PearPC and sold it as their own creation. Although the group was later discovered to have copied source code, they still have not publicly acknowledged the theft. This act is against the principles of the GNU General Public License, under which PearPC was released.

Movie piracy

Movie piracy was looked upon as impossible by the major studios. When dial-up was common in early and mid 1990s, movies distributed on the Internet tended to be small. The techniques that were usually used to make them small were to use compression software and lower the video quality. At that time, the largest piracy threat was software. However, along with the rise in broadband internet connections beginning around 1998, higher quality movies began to see widespread distribution – ISO images copied directly from the original DVDs were slowly becoming a feasible distribution method. Today, movie piracy has become so common that it has caused major concern amongst movie studios and their representative organizations. Because of this the MPAA is often running campaigns during movie trailers where it tries to discourage young people from copying material without permission. Unlike the music industry, which has online music stores supported by music programs such as iTunes, the movie industry is still currently lacking an alternative against the illegal distribution.

Different release types

The first and most well-known form of pirated movies is known as a "Cam" recording. These rips were the first attempts at movie piracy, but as these recordings often have low quality, alternative methods were sought. Beginning in 1998, feature films began to be released on the internet by warez groups prior to their theatrical release. These pirated versions came usually in the form of VCD or SVCD. SVCD]] A prime example was the EViL release of American Pie. This is notable for three reasons: #It was released in uncensored workprint format. The later theatrical release was cut down by several minutes and had scenes reworked to avoid nudity to pass MPAA guidelines. #It was released nearly two months prior to its release in theaters (CNN Headline News reported on its early release). #It was listed by the movie company as one of the reasons it released an Unrated DVD edition. In October 1999 DeCSS was released, this program allowed anyone to remove the CSS encryption on a DVD so that one could copy the content perfectly; combined with the "DivX ;-) 3.11 Alpha" codec released shortly after, the new codec increased video quality from near VHS to almost DVD quality when encoding from a DVD source. The early DivX releases were mostly internal for group use, but once the codec spread, it became accepted as a standard. It quickly became the format for scene. With help from associates who either work for a movie theater, movie production company, or video rental company, groups were supplied with massive amounts of material, and new releases began appearing at a very fast pace. When a new release of DivX came out (Version 4.0), the codec went commercial, and the need for a free codec XviD emerged. Today, XviD has replaced DivX almost entirely, DivX isn't even allowed as a format for scene releases anymore. Although DivX codec has evolved from version 4 to 6 during this time, it is considered obsolete due the commercial nature of the codec. XviD)]] XviD XviD Here is a list of movie ripping methods and sources, ranging from the worst quality to the best. Some sample images are provided for visual comparison. Note: Screeners make a small exception here, since the content may differ from a retail version, it can be considered as lower quality than a DVD-Rip (even if the screener in question was sourced from a DVD).
- Cam (denoted by "CAM", very common) – A copy made in a cinema using a camcorder, possibly mounted on a tripod. Sound source is the camera microphone. Cam rips can appear online fast, after first preview, or premiere of the film, but the quality is always quite horrible.
- Telesync (denoted by "TS" or "TELESYNC", common) – A copy made in a cinema using a camcorder mounted on a tripod for a more steady shot. Synchronized with a secondary audio recording, either done with a professional microphone in an empty cinema, fed directly from the cinema's sound system, or captured from an FM radio transmission intended for hearing-impaired customers. Often, a "Cam" is mislabelled as a telesync. Telesync usually has certain angle in the image, because the camera is below and possibly off from the center of the screen.
- Telecine (denoted by "TC" or "TELECINE", somewhat rare) – A copy captured from a film print using a machine that transfers the movie from its analog reel to digital format. These were rare because the telecine machine for making these prints is very costly and very large, however, recently they have become much more common. Telecine is basically same quality as DVD, since the technique is same as digitizing the actual film to DVD, but the result is inferior, since the source material is usually lower quality copy reel. Telecine machines usually cause a slight left-right jitter in the picture, and the color levels are inferior compared to DVD.
- Workprint (denoted by "WP" or "WORKPRINT", rare) – A copy made from an unfinished version of a film produced by the studio. Typically a workprint is missing effects overlays, and may not be identical to its theatrical release. Some workprints have a time index marker running in a corner or on the top edge; some may also include a watermark. Workprint might be uncut version, and missing some material that would appear in the final movie.
- Screener (denoted by "DVDSCR", "SCR", "SCREENER", "DVD-" or "VHS-SCREENER", common) – Somewhat less common than DVD-Rips, these are early DVD or VHS releases of the theatrical version of a film, typically sent to movie reviewers, Academy members, and executives for review purposes. A screener normally has a message overlaid on its picture, with wording similar to: "The film you are watching is a promotional copy, if you purchased this film at a retail store please contact 1-800-NO-COPIES to report it." Apart from this, some movie studios release their screeners with a number of scenes of varying duration shown in black-and-white. Aside from this message, and the occaisional B&W scenes, screeners are normally of identical quality to a retail DVD-Rip.
- DVD-Rip (denoted by "DVD-Rip" or "DVD-R", very common) – a final retail version of a film, typically released before it is available outside its originating region. Often after one "release group" releases a high-quality DVD-Rip, the "race" to release that film will stop. Because of their high quality, DVD-Rips generally replace any earlier copies that may already have been circulating.
- DSRip (denoted by "DS", "DS-Rip" or "DVBRip", currently rare as HDTV is still itself rare) – Digital stream rip is a rip that is captured from a digital source stream, such as HDTV or DVB transmission. With HDTV source, the quality can sometimes even surpass DVD. Movies as DSRip are quite rare, more often the source is used for TV show ripping.

Distribution methods of warez

DVB There are several methods warez creators can distribute their material. The methods include, but are not limited to: Hyper Text Transfer Protocol (HTTP), File Transfer Protocol (FTP), File eXchange Protocol (FXP), BitTorrent (BT), Peer-to-peer (P2P), and Usenet. The typical warez scene release process is as follows: # A popular new piece of commercial software is released. # A warez group might use one of its contacts to obtain a pre-release copy, steal it from a DVD/CD pressing plant, or obtain it from a retail store. # It is then sent to a skilled software cracker/programmer to remove copy prevention. # It is packed in proper format, and uploaded to private FTP servers which act as a group's archive. # The packs are uploaded to Topsites, and once they are complete on all the sites, the group PREs. # It is then moved by couriers to many smaller and possibly slower FTP servers around the world. Steps 4, 5, and 6 can be used to describe all types of Warez, since the distribution format is defined in standards. Many, if not all, release groups claim to look down on peer-to-peer networks and protest against users making their warez available on such networks. However, the most widespread way to release warez is to leak it through peer-to-peer file sharing networks like the Warez Network (Warez P2P), FastTrack (KaZaA), eDonkey (eMule), the Gnutella/Gnutella2 network (Limewire, Bearshare, Shareaza, iMesh, etc.), and Soulseek. In this way, warez becomes available to the general public. P2P release process can be as follows: # A popular game is released. It has strong copy protection mechanism, and scene groups are working hard to bypass it. # Some enthusiast has been waiting for hours in front of the store, and as clock turns 8, the doors open, and he rushes in to buy the game. # He takes his game home, and makes an image of the DVD with CloneCD # While the torrent generator is calculating chunk checksums, he posts a message on his local forum, telling he has new game and image # Some people wouldn't believe that he actually has the game, since there's no scene release yet, so he takes a picture of the game DVD and posts it on the forum, among with a link to the torrent file which he already uploaded to his favourite tracker, and where he's seeding the image # The torrent starts spreading, since many people are reading the forum, and it gets reposted on other trackers as well # As people complete their downloads, they start other p2p softwares to resume or start new downloads, and share the game image to other p2p networks By now, there's hundreds of copies being spread around in various different networks, and it is relatively easy to find a download for the game, even with www search engine.

File formats of warez

:For more specific information see Standard (warez) The modern warez scene deals with petabytes of data and thus the need for an efficient system of handling files was apparent. A typical CD software release can contain up to 700 megabytes of data, which presents challenges when sending over the Internet. This was especially true in the early days when everything was done via dial-up connections. These challenges apply to an even greater extent for a single-layer DVD release, which can contain up 4.7 GB of data. The warez scene made it standard practice to split releases up into many separate pieces, called disks, using several file compression formats: (historical LZH, ACE, ARJ), ZIP and RAR. This method has many advantages over sending a single large file:
- The two-layer compression could sometimes achieve almost a tenfold improvement over the original DVD/CD image. The overall file size is cut down and lessens the transfer time and bandwidth required.
- If there is a problem during the file transfer and data was corrupted, it is only necessary to resend the few corrupted rars instead of resending the entire large file.
- This method also creates the facility of downloading from many sources. File verification is accomplished using SFV files, which is usually integrated into the topsites FTP server software so that files are verified automatically as they are uploaded. Ironically, the distribution methods used by the warez scene are so efficient that they are sometimes superior to the ones used by actual software producers. Releases of software titles often come in two forms. The full form is a full version of game or application, generally released as CD or DVD-writable disk images (BIN or ISO files). A rip is a cut-down version of the title in which important additions included on the legitimate DVD/CD (generally Portable Document Format (PDF) manuals, help files, tutorials, and sample media) is omitted. In a game rip, generally all game video is removed, and the audio is compressed to MP3 or Vorbis, which must then be decoded to its original form before playing.

Motivations and arguments

Pirates generally exploit the international nature of the copyright issue to avoid law enforcement in specific countries. In Russia, the copying of software was once explicitly permitted by law when such software was not in the Russian language. This is no longer the case, but prosecutions for copyright infringement are still very rare. The production and/or distribution of warez is illegal in most countries. However, it is typically overlooked in poorer third world countries with weak or non-existent IP protection. Some first world countries have loopholes in legislation that allow the warez scene to operate almost legally as compared to P2P-distribution, since it can be proven that shared material was targeted to a limited group.

Pro-warez argument

The morality of copyright infringement is also disputed, with members of warez groups often viewing their actions as "socially positive". The following are their justifications: # Difficulty of implementing copyright enforcement – Warez groups believe that they are allowed to continue their activities due to the nature of Internet globalization, inconsistent worldwide laws and technical difficulties in tracking warez groups. # Difference between copyright infringement and conventional property theft – Cracking software is different from theft or stealing other people's property, namely, it does not deprive the use of the software from the original owner. For example, if A steals B's car, B will no longer be able to use that car; but if A copies B's software, B can still use that software with no trouble. # Difference between legally wrong and morally wrong – Although copyright laws state that it is illegal to crack people's software, there is a difference between "legally wrong" and "morally wrong". To them, it is indeed morally right to do so. It is beneficial to the world, at least to the users of warez. # Criticism on copyright laws – Some warez groups may regard copyright as harmful to society. For example, it hinders creation and over-protects the rights of copyright holders too much. Sometimes the protection is even ridiculous or unnecessary. For instance, it is ridiculous to regard "a legitimate backup copy of a purchased CD" or "a format transfer of music (eg. from
- .wav to
- .mp3)" as illegal in some countries. # Criticism of copyright holders – There are various reasons, including: some warez groups may hate copyright holders or their companies. They distribute software as a form of revenge possibly because they have had bad experiences with the software company(s). The copyright holder is unjust or greedy in that it exploits its own staff. # Philosophy of freebies – All software should be distributed free of charge. Reasons include: the effect/cost of creating software is just one-off. It is wrong to charge every copy of the software. # High price – Since copyright holders sell their products and services at a unacceptably high prices, users should not pay for these companies or holders. # Perceived injustice of the poor – This point is simliar to the above reasons. Warez groups feel it is bad not to share products and services with those who could not afford to obtain it otherwise. These groups compare themselves to Robin Hood. # Full trial before buy – Some software owners only give function-limited demo or do not give demo at all. Users need to fully trial them before deciding whether to buy it or not. # Deprivation of Individual Rights – Laws such as the Digital Millennium Copyright Act may also contribute to the motivations of those involved in warez, as user rights are increasingly threatened in the United States and rights holders attempt to lock out consumers. # Increase popularity of some codecs – Codecs such as DivX, XviD, and MP3 might not have become so widespread were it not for warez. # Increase market share – Companies such as Adobe, Borland, and Microsoft have gained big market shares due to vast numbers of warez users, such as college students and working people who adopted applications as they were readily available. Later when they find out that the software is useful, these people purchase legitimate licenses for future uses. This helps companies with software familarity and dominancy. # Victimless crime – If the warez user truly never would have purchased the product, it is argued that the copyright holder does not incur a loss. # Monopoly and cartel strategies – Many companies use their position in the market to ensure that they have full control over it, making it impossible for other companies to provide alternatives. That privileged position is then used to inflate the prices.

Anti-warez arguments

People opposed to warez typically argue that the motivating factors given by cracking groups are not authentic: # High price is not an excuse to piracy – They argue that "unreasonable price" or "could not afford the price" is not an excuse to steal other people's property, whether it is intellectual or tangible. An analogy used asks if one should take goods away from shops if that person believes that the prices are too high. For that argument, if one believes that the prices are too high, the person is advised to visit other shops or to not buy the goods in question. # Harm is larger than benefits – Although they may agree that there are some positive effects of warez on the world, they argue that its benefits cannot offset its harms. For example, copyright holders need to sell their intellectual property to earn a living. What those in the warez community do is equal to burning money from their pockets. When the business becomes hardly profitable, no one is willing to make any software, games, or music. Consequently, the public will suffer. # Law is indisputable – They claim the morality of copyright infringement is not disputed in the legal community or mainstream society. #
- As long as cracking groups are citizens of a society, it is not for them to violate laws at will. They would further argue that cracking and warez have no relation to civil disobedience, which is often considered legitimate. #
- They typically justify enforcing copyright for the same reasons that laws against burglary are enforced. # Fallacy of ambiguity – Some people feel that many pro-warez arguments are often just variations of the same "compositional fallacy" theme argumentatively; for example, many warez people in "the scene" see themselves as operating under the "Robin Hood" agenda, where they "take from the rich and give to the poor". However, in reality it is generally irrelevant how "rich or poor" are those whose works are being copied, or what is the economical situation of those who take their works without compensation. Most of the time, almost everything that can be illegally distributed in the scene, will be. # Morality – There is a wide range of alternative software available for free. Many people find it easier to use the legal alternatives instead of using illegal copies. # Professional pride – Taking the work of others without compensation is almost like stealing from yourself.

Legality

Copyright infringement is sometimes a civil wrong or a crime, depending on the country and jurisdiction. However, there are exceptions and loopholes in some countries.

Notes

#[http://www.bartleby.com/61/73/P0327300.html The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition "Pirate"]. #[http://www.safer-networking.org/en/news/2005-04-14.html Patrick M. Kolla (14. April 2005) Here's another database thief]. Spybot Search&Destroy. #[http://www.theisonews.com/release.php?releaseid=4262 Video CD: American Pie]. iSONews. #[http://www.gpl-violations.org/index.html GPL Violations]

References

- Warez - The Jargon Wiki
- [http://old.wheresthebeef.co.uk/show.php/guide/ 2600 A Guide to Piracy] – An article on the warez scene (ASCII plaintext and image scans from 2600: The Hacker Quarterly)
- [http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/13.01/topsite.html "The Shadow Internet"] – An article about modern day warez "top sites" at Wired News.
- [http://www.bearcave.com/misl/misl_tech/msdrm/darknet.htm The Darknet and the Future of Content Distribution]
- [http://www.bsa.org/globalstudy/upload/2005-Global-Study-English.pdf BSA - Global Piracy Study - 2005] (PDF)
- [http://www.bsa.org/globalstudy/upload/Global-Software-Piracy-Study-English.pdf BSA - Global Piracy Study - 2004] (PDF)
- [http://www.pinkmachine.com/PMP/nr12.pdf Ordered Misbehaviour – The Structuring of an Illegal Endeavor] by Alf Rehn. A study of the illegal subculture known as the "warez scene". (PDF)

External links

- [http://www.defacto2.net Defacto2] – A very complete archive of scene news, historical information with an extensive nfo, emag and cracktro database.
- [http://www.textfiles.com/piracy/ Piracy Textfiles] – A historical collection of documents released by warez-related individuals.
- [http://www.etext.org/Zines/ASCII/LowSelfEsteem/LSE-11.TXT How to Become an Elite Warez Trader] – A humorous take on the mid-1990s scene.
- [http://www.welcometothescene.com www.welcometothescene.com] – A monthly internet show based upon the "scene".
- [http://www.welcometotehscene.com www.welcometoTEHscene.com] – A parody of the above.
- [http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=487163 Warez Trading and Criminal Copyright Infringement] – An article on warez trading and the law, including a recap of US prosecutions under the No Electronic Theft Act. Category:Cracking Category:Internet slang Category:Software Category:Software licenses Warez ja:Warez

Game

A game is a (often, but not always recreational) activity involving one or more players. This can be defined by either a goal that the players try to reach, or some set of rules that determines what the players can or can not do. Games are played primarily for entertainment or enjoyment, but may also serve as exercise or in an educational, simulational or psychological role. psychological

Definition

psychological in history. It is available in localized versions in many nations, such as this one in German.]] Although many animals play, only humans confirmably have games. Whether some animals are intelligent enough to game is debatable, though a game has ritualistic elements (such as rules and procedures) that are voluntarily acted upon, rather than as a result of instinct. The existence of rules and criteria that decide the outcome of games imply that games require intelligence of a significant degree of sophistication. Non-human animal species may, however, engage in games whose rules and sophistication may be of such a nature as to be incapable of detection by humans in their present state of knowledge. It would, for example, seem incongruous that large brained species such as many Cetaceans and the larger hominids did not play games. Our inability to observe and understand such games should not be taken as a confirmation that they do not exist. Some courtship displays by some species of bird, such as the Black Grouse, appear to have a component which, from an anthropolgical view, might appear to be a game in which there are clearly winners and losers. Games can involve one player acting alone, or two or more players acting cooperatively. Most often involve competition among two or more players. Taking an action that falls outside the rules generally constitutes a foul or cheating. All through human history, people have played games to entertain themselves and others. There are an enormous variety of games; for specific information about different types of games, see the links at the end of this article. Philosopher David Kelley, in his popular introductory reasoning text The Art of Reasoning, defines the concept "game" as "a form of recreation constituted by a set of rules that specify an object to be attained and the permissible means of attaining it." This covers most cases well, but does not quite fit with things like war games and sports , which often are not played for entertainment but to build skills for later use. The recent popularity of video game studies has lead to [http://www.half-real.net/dictionary/#game renewed interest in game definitions].

Games in philosophy

In Philosophical Investigations, philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein argued that the concept "game" could not be contained by any single definition, but that games must be looked at as a series of definitions that share a "family resemblance" to one another. Games were important to Wittgenstein's later thought; he held that language was itself a game, consisting of tokens governed by mutually agreed upon rules that governed the usage of words. Stanley Fish, looking for a clear example of the sorts of social constructions, cited the balls and strikes of baseball as example. While the strike zone target is governed by the rules of the game, it epitomizes the category of things that exist only because people have agreed to treat them as real. No pitch is a ball or a strike until it has been labelled as such by an appropriate authority, the plate umpire, whose judgment on this matter cannot be challenged within the current game. Many technical fields are often applied to the study of games, including probability, statistics, economics, ethnomathematics, and game theory.

Anthropology of games

Games, being a characteristic human activity strongly determined by custom and the frequent subjects of folklore, have been the subject of anthropological investigations.

Classes of games

While many different subdivisions have been proposed, anthropologists classify games under three major headings, and have drawn some conclusions as to the social bases that each sort of game requires. They divide games broadly into:
- Games of pure skill, such as hopscotch and target shooting;
- Games of pure strategy, such as checkers, go, or tic-tac-toe;
- Games of chance, such as craps and snakes and ladders. In addition to these basic classifications, there are mixed games; such as football, partly a game of skill and partly a game of strategy; poker, partly a game of strategy and partly a game of chance; and baseball, which combines elements of all three. Baseball Hall of Famer Casey Stengel underscored this point when he remarked, "I had many years when I was not so successful as a ballplayer, as it is a game of skill." Casey Stengel Games of pure skill are likely the oldest sort of game, and are found in all cultures, regardless of their level of material culture. They are associated with cultures that place a high value on individual performance and prowess. Games of strategy require a higher material basis. They are associated with cultures that possess a written language: not surprising, since most strategy games are based on mathematics and feature the manipulation of symbols. They often require special equipment to be played. They are associated with hierarchical societies that place a high value on obedience. Games of chance appear at a variety of levels of material culture; what they seem to share generally is a sense of economic insecurity. They are associated with cultures that place a high value on personal responsibility, keeping one's word, and maintaining personal standing in the face of misfortune; in other words, with "cultures of honor".

Games and sex roles

Anthropologists have also noticed relationships between natural sex roles and the sorts of games played by members of the two sexes. Music, including communal chanting and hand clapping, is frequently a component in games played by human females; it seldom plays an important role in the games played by human males. The games played by men and boys often require more physical space and involve more physical contact than those played by women or girls. Games played by males tend to be of a sort that result in a clear winner and a clear loser; games played by girls sometimes lack this feature, and are played for the sake of playing.

Games and sports

girl)]] There is no clear line of demarcation between games and sports. Generally, sports are athletic in nature, and have an element of physical prowess, but then so do many games. For cultural anthropologists, the distinction between games and sports hinges on community involvement. Sports, as opposed to games, often require special equipment and playing fields or prepared grounds dedicated to their practice, a fact that often makes necessary the involvement of a community beyond the players themselves. Most sports can have spectators. Communities often align themselves with players of sports, who in a sense represent that community; they often align themselves against their opponents, or have traditional rivalries. The concept of fandom began with sports fans. Games amuse the players; sports amuse a broader public; in advanced material cultures, sports can be played by paid professionals. When games like chess and go are played professionally, they take on many of the characteritics of a sport.

One-person games

One-person games or one-player games are sometimes called solitaire games, but this term can be easily confused with the peg game and the card game of same name. Types of one-player games include:
- many arcade games
- most computer and video games
- juggling
- most types of puzzles (logical, mechanical, mathematical, etc.)
- solitaire card games

Types of games

main article: Game classification
- Alternate reality game
- Board games
- Business games
- Car games
- Card games
- Collectible card games
- Casino games
- Children's games
- Clapping games
- Computer and video games
- Computer board games
- Computer puzzle games
- Internet games
- Online skill-based games
- MUDs
- MMORPGs
- Conversation games
- Counting-out games
- Creative games
- Dice games
- Drinking games
- Educational games
- Economics games
- Game shows
- Games of chance
- Games of dare
- Games of logic
- Games of physical activity
- Games of physical skill
- Games of skill
- Games of strategy
- Games of status
- Global Positioning System-based games
- Group-dynamic games
- Guessing games
- Letter games
- Locative games
- The Losing Game
- Mathematical games
- New Games
- Open gaming
- Party games
- Parlour games
- Pencil and paper games
- Play-by-mail games
- Playground games
- Political games
- Puzzles
- Quizzes
- Role-playing games
- Singing games
- Spoken games
- String games
- Table-top games
- Tile-based games
- Theater games
- Traditional games
- Unclassified games
- Wargames
- Win-win games
- Word games

References

- Avedon, Elliot; Sutton-Smith, Brian, The study of games. (Philadelphia: Wiley, 1971), reprinted Krieger, 1979. ISBN 0898740452 ko:놀이 ja:ゲーム simple:Game th:เกม

Federal Bureau of Investigation

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is a Federal police force and intelligence agency which is the principal investigative arm of the United States Department of Justice (DOJ). Title 28, United States Code (U.S. Code), Section 533, which authorizes the Attorney General to "appoint officials to detect... crimes against the United States", and other federal statutes give the FBI the authority and responsibility to investigate specific crimes. At present, the FBI has investigative jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crimes and thus has the broadest investigative authority of any federal law enforcement agency. The FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list has been used since 1949 to notify the public of wanted fugitives.

Mission

The mission of the FBI is to uphold the law through the investigation of violations of federal criminal law; to protect the United States from foreign intelligence and terrorist activities; to provide leadership and law enforcement assistance to federal, state, local, and international agencies; and to perform these responsibilities in a manner that is responsive to the needs of the public and is faithful to the United States Constitution. Information obtained through an FBI investigation is presented to the appropriate U.S. Attorney or DOJ official, who decides if prosecution or other action is warranted. Top priority has been assigned to five areas: counterterrorism, foreign counterintelligence, combating drugs/organized crime and investigating violent crimes and white-collar crimes. The FBI has had a mixed history, both in upholding the law and sometimes in breaking it.

Personnel

- Special Agents - The force of Special Agents has grown over the years, and now exceeds 11,000 out of a total workforce of 17,000. Some of these Special Agents are stationed in foreign countries and work in U.S. Embassies as "Legal Attaches", or as they are known in the FBI: LEGATS. Both new and veteran agents are routinely trained at the FBI Academy in Quantico, Virginia.
- The FBI Police - The FBI also maintains a force of 1,000 uniformed Security police officers in the FBI Police for protecting the J. Edgar Hoover Building, FBI Academy at MCB Quantico and the New York Field Office.

Present mission of the FBI

MCB Quantico As of June 2002, the FBI's official top priority is counterterrorism. The USA PATRIOT Act granted the FBI increased powers, especially in wiretapping and monitoring of internet activity. One of the most controversial provisions of the act is the so-called "sneak and peek" provision, granting the FBI powers to search a house while the residents are away, and not requiring them to notify the residents for several weeks afterwards. Under the PATRIOT Act's provisions the FBI also resumed inquiring into the library records of those it suspected of terrorism, something it had supposedly not done since the 1970s. The bureau is also charged with the responsibility of enforcing compliance of the United States Civil Rights Act of 1964 and investigating violations of The Act in addition to prosecuting such violations with the United States Department of Justice (DOJ). The FBI also shares concurrent jurisdiction with the DEA in the enforcement of the Controlled Substances Act of 1970. As of July 2005, the FBI's counterterrorism duties are to be consolidated in the new National Security Service, remotely similar to the UK's MI5.

History of the FBI

The FBI originated from a force of Special Agents created on July 26, 1908, by Attorney General Charles Joseph Bonaparte during the presidency of Theodore Roosevelt. At first it was named the Bureau of Investigation (BOI) and it did not become the FBI until 1935. Under J. Edgar Hoover, who became director of the Bureau on May 10, 1924, the agency spent much of its energy on investigating political activists who were not accused of any crime (e.g., Albert Einstein as a socialist). The FBI Scientific Crime Detection Laboratory (better known as the FBI Crime Lab) officially opened on November 24, 1932. During the 1930s, the agency played a prominent role in apprehending a number of well-known criminals who had conducted kidnappings, robberies and murders throughout the nation. These included John Dillinger, "Baby Face" Nelson, Kate "Ma" Barker, Alvin Karpis and George "Machine Gun" Kelly. It also played a decisive role in reducing the scope and influence of the Ku Klux Klan. Beginning with the 1940s and continuing into the 1970s, the agency investigated cases of espionage against the United States and its allies. Eight Nazi agents who had planned sabotage operations against American targets were arrested. Although Hoover initially doubted the existence of a close-knit organized crime network in the United States, the bureau later conducted operations against known organized crime syndicates and families, including those headed by Sam Giancana and John Gotti. Hoover's investigation of Martin Luther King was also notorious. The FBI found no evidence of any crime, but attempted to use tapes of King involved in sexual activity for blackmail. Further, the FBI sent anonymous letters to King encouraging him to commit suicide. In the 1990s, it turned out that the FBI's crime lab had repeatedly done shoddy work. In some cases, the technicians, given evidence that actually cleared a suspect, reported instead that it proved the suspect guilty. Many cases had to be reopened when this pattern of errors was discovered.

Bureau of Investigation (BOI) Directors (1908–35)

- Stanley Finch (1908–12)
- A. Bruce Bielaski (1912–19)
- Acting director: William E. Allen (1919)
- William J. Flynn (1919–21)
- William J. Burns (1921–24)
- J. Edgar Hoover (1924–72)

Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Directors (1936–present)

On July 1, 1932, the Bureau was renamed the United States Bureau of Investigation. One year later on July 1, 1933, it was linked with the Bureau of Prohibition and became known as the Division of Investigation. Finally, in 1935, the bureau was renamed the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). After J. Edgar Hoover's death, the FBI imposed a policy limiting the tenure of future FBI directors to a maximum of ten years. The FBI Directors from this period on are:
- J. Edgar Hoover (1924–72)
- Acting director: Clyde Tolson (May 2–3, 1972)
- Acting director: L. Patrick Gray (1972–3)
- Acting director: William D. Ruckelshaus (1973)
- Clarence M. Kelley (1973–78)
- Acting director: James B. Adams (1978)
- William H. Webster (1978–87)
- Acting Director: John Otto (1987)
- William S. Sessions (1987–93)
- Acting Director: Floyd I. Clarke (1993)
- Louis J. Freeh (1993–2001)
- Acting Director: Thomas J. Pickard (2001)
- Robert S. Mueller III (2001–present)

Publications of the FBI

- Uniform Crime Reports

Flim is avaible

PBS - National Geographic Special: The FBI, does provide important footage of the FBI's headquaters exspecially of the Strategic Information and Operations Center (SIOC) [http://www.fbi.gov/hq/siocfs.htm]. There is information in this that is hard to get elsewhere. It does not have everything.

External links

- [http://www.fbi.gov Official FBI website]
- [http://www.fbi.gov/mostwant/topten/fugitives/fugitives.htm Official FBI ten most wanted list]
- [http://www.fbi.gov/mostwant/topten/tenfaq.htm Frequently asked questions] This has been used as a source.
- [http://www.fbi.gov/mostwant/topten/topten.pdf History of the Top Ten List]
- [http://www.fbi.gov/fbihistory.htm The history of FBI]
- [http://foia.fbi.gov/ FBI Disclosures under Freedom of Information Act]
- [http://www.fas.org/irp/agency/doj/fbi/index.html Federal Bureau of Investigation] at fas.org

	North:RCMP
West: N/A	FBI	East: Scotland Yard
	South: N/A

Category:U.S. intelligence agencies Category:United States Federal law enforcement agencies Category:United States Department of Justice Category:Anti-communism Category:Political repression zh-min-nan:Liân-pang Tiāu-châ-kio̍k ja:連邦捜査局

2003

2003 (MMIII) is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. It was designated the:
- International Year of Freshwater
- European Disability Year
- Blog Year See also Wikipedia's almanac of events for this year.

Events

January

- January 1 - Luíz Inácio Lula Da Silva becomes the 37th President of Brazil.
- January 1 - Pascal Couchepin becomes President of the Confederation in Switzerland.
- January 8 - US Airways flight 5481 crashes at Charlotte-Douglas International Airport in Charlotte, North Carolina killing all 21 people aboard.
- January 15 - The United States Supreme Court hands down its decision in Eldred v. Ashcroft allowing the extension of copyright terms in the U.S.
- January 24 - The new United States Department of Homeland Security officially begins operation.
- January 25 - Central Line train crashes into the tunnel wall at Chancery Lane station in London, injuring 34 people.
- January 25 - An international group of volunteers left London and headed for Baghdad to act as voluntary human shields, hoping to avert a U.S. invasion.
- January 30 - Iraq disarmament crisis: The leaders of Britain, Spain, Italy, Portugal, Hungary, Poland, Denmark, and the Czech Republic release a statement, the letter of the eight, demonstrating support for the United States' plans for an invasion of Iraq.

February

February
- February 1 - The Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrates over Texas upon reentry, killing all seven astronauts onboard.
- February 1 - In Northern Ireland, The Protestant UDA Belfast leader John Gregg is killed by a loyalist faction.
- February 3 - The worldwide movie premiere of Shanghai Knights was held at the El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood.
- February 5 - Iraq disarmament crisis: U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell addresses the UN Security Council on Iraq.
- February 9 - Cricket World Cup begins in South Africa.
- February 15 - Global protests against Iraq war - more than ten million people protest in over 600 cities worldwide, the largest war protest to take place before the war occurred.
- February 17 - Antwerp Diamond Center in Belgium opens its vaults after weekend and discovers that unknown burglars had stolen diamonds worth $100 million - largest diamond theft so far.
- February 26 - An American businessman is admitted to the Vietnam France Hospital in Hanoi, Vietnam. WHO doctor Carlo Urbani reports the unusual highly contagious disease to WHO. Both the businessman and Carlo Urbani die of SARS in March.

March

- March 1 - Iraq disarmament crisis: The United Arab Emirates calls for Iraqi president Saddam Hussein to step down to avoid war. The sentiment is later echoed by Bahrain and Kuwait
- March 1 - The Turkish parliment vetos the access of the U.S troops to airbases in Turkey in order to attack Iraq from the north. The Bush administration starts working on the B Plan, namely attacking Iraq from the south, through the Persian Gulf.
- March 1 - The Federal Law Enforcement Training Center, the United States Customs Service, and the United States Secret Service moves to the United States Department of Homeland Security
- March 1 - Boxer Roy Jones Jr. beats John Ruiz to become WBA champion
- March 1 - War on Terrorism: Authorities in Pakistan capture Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the suspected mastermind of the September 11, 2001 Terrorist Attacks along with money man Mustafa Ahmed al-Hawsawi.
- March 1 - Ohio celebrates its bicentennial statehood.
- March 5 - The Supreme Court of the United States by a 5-4 margin upholds California's "three strikes and you're out" law.
- March 11 - Iraq disarmament crisis: Iraqi fighters threaten two U.S. U-2 surveillance planes, flying missions for U.N. weapons inspectors, forcing them to abort their mission and return to base.
- March 12 - Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Đinđić assassinated in Belgrade
- March 12 - WHO issues a global alert on SARS.
- March 12 - Iraq disarmament crisis: British prime minister Tony Blair proposes an amendment to the possible 18th U.N. resolution, which would call for Iraq to meet certain benchmarks to prove that it was disarming. The amendment is immediately rejected by France, who promises to veto any new resolution.
- March 13 - Human evolution: The journal Nature reports that 350,000-year-old upright-walking human footprints had been found in Italy
- March 15 - Hu Jintao becomes president of the People's Republic of China, replacing Jiang Zemin.
- March 16 - Iraq disarmament crisis: The leaders of the United States, Britain, Portugal, and Spain meet at a summit in the Azores Islands. U.S. President Bush calls Monday, March 17th, the "moment of Truth", meaning that the "coalition of the willing" would make its final effort to extract a resolution from the U.N. Security Council that would give Iraq an ultimatum to disarm immediately or to be disarmed by force.
- March 17 - Iraq disarmament crisis: U.S. President George W. Bush gives an ultimatum: Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein and his sons must either leave Iraq, or face military action at a time of the U.S.'s choosing
- March 19 - First American bombs dropped on Baghdad, Iraq. President Saddam Hussein and his sons do not comply with President Bush's 48 hour mandate demanding their exit from Iraq.
- March 20 - 2003 Iraq war: Land troops from United States, United Kingdom, Australia and Poland invade Iraq.
- March 22 - The United States and the United Kingdom begin their shock and awe campaign with a massive air strike on military targets in Baghdad.
- March 23 - Cricket World Cup ends as Australia wins over India in Centurion, South Africa.
- March 29 - WHO doctor Carlo Urbani, who first identified SARS, dies of the disease.
- March 30 - The Undertaker defeated the Big Show and A-Train in a handicap match, boosting his Wrestlemania record to 11-0.

April

April.]]
- April 3 - Passenger bus hits remote-controlled land mine in the Chechen capital, killing at least 8.
- April 9 - U.S. forces seize control of Baghdad, apparently ending the regime of Saddam Hussein.
- April 14 - Human Genome Project successfully completed with 99% of the human genome sequenced to 99.99% accuracy.
- April 17 - The Stevens Report concludes that members of the RUC and British Army cooperated with the UDA in the killings of Catholics in Northern Ireland
- April 21 - Retired U.S. Army General Jay Garner becomes Interim Civil Administrator of Iraq.
- April 30 - The last American owned vehicle frame manufacturer, [http://web.archive.org/web/20010623093543/www.immsp.com/index.htm Midland Steel Products] goes [http://www.newsnet5.com/news/2166844/detail.html out of business] after almost 110 years in business, laying off almost 250 people.

May

- May 1 - George W. Bush landed on the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, in a Lockheed S-3 Viking, where he gave a speech announcing end of major combat in the Iraq war.
- May 2 - Monkeyman superhero hoax begins in Tunbridge Wells, Kent, UK
- May 3 - Old Man of the Mountain, rock formation in New Hampshire, crumbles after heavy rain
- May 4-10 - A major severe weather outbreak spawned more tornadoes than any week in U.S. history. 393 tornadoes were reported in 19 states.
- May 11 - Benvenuto Cellini's Saliera is stolen from the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna.
- May 12 - Suicide truck-bomb attack kills at least 60 at a government compound in northern Chechnya.
- May 12 - In Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, 26 people are killed in the Riyadh Compound Bombings.
- May 14 - Female suicide bomber blows up explosives strapped to her waist in crowd of thousands of Muslim pilgrims, killing at least 18 people in Chechnya.
- May 16 - In Casablanca, Morocco, 33 civilians are killed and more than 100 people are injured in the Casablanca terrorist attacks.
- May 19 - Pen Hadow becomes the first man to walk alone, without any outside help, from Canada to the North Pole
- May 23 - The birth of Dewey, the first cloned deer by scientists at Texas A&M University
- May 26 - A draft of the proposed European constitution is unveiled.
- May 28 - The birth of Prometea, the first cloned horse by Italian scientists.
- May 31 - Eric Rudolph, the suspected person to have carried out the Centennial Olympic Park bombing is captured in North Carolina behind a Save-A-Lot store.

June

- June 1 - The People's Republic of China begins filling the reservoir behind the massive Three Gorges Dam, raising the water level near the dam over 100 metres.
- June 4 - Martha Stewart and her broker are indicted for using privileged investment information and then obstructing a federal investigation. Stewart also resigned as chairperson and chief executive officer of Martha Stewart Living.
- June 5 - Female suicide bomber detonates bomb near a bus carrying soldiers and civilians to a military airfield in Mozdok, a major staging point for Russian troops in Chechnya, killing at least 16 people.
-

The iSO News

External links

isonews.com mirrors

In the press

Website

Overview

Types of websites

Mousetrapping

Prizes

Spelling

See also

External links

Warez

The history of warez

Product piracy

The rise of software piracy

Types of warez

Organized groups vs. Disorganized distribution

Software piracy

Effect of piracy on "free" and "open source" software

Movie piracy

Different release types

Distribution methods of warez

File formats of warez

Motivations and arguments

Pro-warez argument

Anti-warez arguments

Legality

See also

Notes

References

External links

Game

Definition

Games in philosophy

Anthropology of games

Classes of games

Games and sex roles

Games and sports

One-person games

Types of games

See also

References

Federal Bureau of Investigation

Mission

Personnel

Present mission of the FBI

History of the FBI

Bureau of Investigation (BOI) Directors (1908–35)

Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Directors (1936–present)

Publications of the FBI

Further reading

Books

World Wide Web sites

Flim is avaible

See also

External links

2003

Events

January

February

March

April

May

June