Comments on: Microsoft Windows Genuine Advantage http://www.barik.net/archive/2005/07/28/000000/ Work hard. Laugh often. Keep your honor. Sat, 30 Aug 2008 02:13:26 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.1 By: Luke Olbrish http://www.barik.net/archive/2005/07/28/000000/#comment-211 Luke Olbrish Tue, 02 Aug 2005 23:32:14 +0000 /?p=965#comment-211 <p>The release group hierarchy seems very much to be a "king of the nerds" mentality. They gain reputation and respect from other people interested in scene for their ability to crack or control the distribution. I don't really hold contempt for release groups as I think they often cause more people to find software, music, movies, etc. that these people will then go out and purchase as any sort of elastic demand that is taken away by having the pirated data available.</p> <p>I think the only exception to this may be software that commercial companies would want to purchase if they couldn't steal it (Windows, Photoshop, Office, etc.). I remember downloading Futurama episodes before the DVDs came out, but I was more than happy to buy the DVDs when they were released. Many released items are also unpurchasable. Where can I get the later seasons of Upright Citizens Brigade?</p> <p>A group of people I do hold contempt for is many of the zero-day computer security people. They are the people that find vulnerabilities in all sorts of software and then beat their chest about finding the vulnerabilities (king of the nerds mentality). Perhaps they cannot do much when it comes to closed-source software, but these people don't really have a track record of helping fix the open software either.</p> The release group hierarchy seems very much to be a "king of the nerds" mentality. They gain reputation and respect from other people interested in scene for their ability to crack or control the distribution. I don’t really hold contempt for release groups as I think they often cause more people to find software, music, movies, etc. that these people will then go out and purchase as any sort of elastic demand that is taken away by having the pirated data available.

I think the only exception to this may be software that commercial companies would want to purchase if they couldn’t steal it (Windows, Photoshop, Office, etc.). I remember downloading Futurama episodes before the DVDs came out, but I was more than happy to buy the DVDs when they were released. Many released items are also unpurchasable. Where can I get the later seasons of Upright Citizens Brigade?

A group of people I do hold contempt for is many of the zero-day computer security people. They are the people that find vulnerabilities in all sorts of software and then beat their chest about finding the vulnerabilities (king of the nerds mentality). Perhaps they cannot do much when it comes to closed-source software, but these people don’t really have a track record of helping fix the open software either.

]]> By: Titus Barik http://www.barik.net/archive/2005/07/28/000000/#comment-207 Titus Barik Tue, 02 Aug 2005 03:51:09 +0000 /?p=965#comment-207 <p>I have a valid key, so it's not really an issue. But I do have an interest in copy protection mechanisms and the entire piracy industry (especially the formation and organization of release groups) has always had a certain level of underground appeal.</p> I have a valid key, so it’s not really an issue. But I do have an interest in copy protection mechanisms and the entire piracy industry (especially the formation and organization of release groups) has always had a certain level of underground appeal.

]]> By: Scott D. Strader http://www.barik.net/archive/2005/07/28/000000/#comment-206 Scott D. Strader Tue, 02 Aug 2005 03:36:26 +0000 /?p=965#comment-206 <p>I've used <a href="http://serials.ws/">this site</a> for software that my employers own -- I swear -- but whose <i>original</i> serial numbers were lost. It's hit-and-miss but makes up for it by ranking the results. Sort of like an illegal <a href="http://www.bugmenot.com/">BugMeNot.com</a>.</p> I’ve used this site for software that my employers own — I swear — but whose original serial numbers were lost. It’s hit-and-miss but makes up for it by ranking the results. Sort of like an illegal BugMeNot.com.

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