How to Find Warez on the  
           Internet

A Newbie's Guide to finding warez on AOL and beyond...

Welcome to the Newbie's Guide! I, your guide, will be taking you on a tour of the AOL warez scene, the Hotline warez scene, IRC warez scene and pretty much every other way of getting warez.

There is a glossary of terms located at the end of this article. It will define any terms I did not outline in the document.

Before we get started, let me point out that I really hate warez. If I'm going to use a program just once or twice, such as a game, I will download it. But if I plan to use a program very often, such as all my graphics applications, I will buy it.

As a rule, NEVER DOWNLOAD ANY COMMERCIAL APPLE SOFTWARE. Apple is in enough trouble as it is without people trying to rip them off.

Now that we have that out of the way, lets go...

Chapter 1. Finding warez on AOL

When most people want to get on the Internet, they take the easiest way...AOL.

AOL is the world's most popular Online Service. This is because they are the cheapest, fastest, and easiest around. (Take one look at Compuserve and you will think AOL is great)

Allow me to go over the history of "Macwarez" on AOL. 

(Excerpt from "My Time on AOL" an unreleased text file written by myself)

"In the beginning of AOL, there was a private room called "Mac Chat". It was a place where Mac users could come together and talk about Macintosh issues. After awhile, some people became "regulars" and got to know each other pretty well. They thought
it would be okay if they shared software (shareware and commercial) with their friends. In a few months, this turned into sharing with everyone. A technique used in the PC warez world called "mass mailing" was introduced. This involved mailing a software program to the entire room. As usual, AOL had to cancel the party by a series of raids on Mac Chat.

After this, the regulars started the private room "Macwarez". This was around for a very long time, but was never the same as Mac Chat. The room was invaded by "lamers" (lamer and newbie are two VERY different things. For my definitions, see the glossary)
who were only after warez. It wasn'tabout talking Macintosh anymore, but began to be about politics. Warez groups began to form. At first, these were great. They would upload the latest software and mass mail regularly. They gained many people's respect. But as more and more groups began to form, fights and quarrels began to break out.

Meanwhile, AOL had launched a new campaign call CATwatch which stood for "Community Action Team". CATwatch had already cleaned out the PC room "warez" and started raiding Macwarez. This caused an uproar and a move to yet another room. This room was, at
first, much more secret than Macwarez. Even I had trouble finding it. The new room was called "Macfilez". 

It was great at first, but more and more lamers began finding out about this new room and soon all it was was scrollers asking for the "NeWeSt PhAt HeLL". Many people, myself included, began to abandon this room and look for other places in which to satisfy our needs. Because I left, I do not know all the details as to how macfilez fell."

The newest AOL room is "Zelifcam". (Macfilez backwards, duh) The first thing you need to know is that YOU ARE A NEWBIE. You are new here and that is okay. Just follow the rules and you'll be fine. 

What you need to do when first entering Zelifcam is watch. Don't type anything, just watch. If you know the answer to someone's question, answer it. (By IM, if possible) This is a great way to make friends. After a few days, you will get to know how things are done. During this time, you will want to be getting on as many mass mailings (MMs) as possible. (Someone will type something to the extent of "Free MM in 5 mins! Send one IM to get on!" You should send the guy one IM)

You can start to download some or all of the software sent to you. Your choice. This is one way to get your warez. Just be quiet and don't talk to anyone.

But for those of you who want to become popular (or have WAY too much time on your hands) you can start forwarding programs you have in your box to people who ask for them. You can also start participating in the chat and talking to people. Just remember the 
basic rules...

1. DO NOT TRADE. I could not say this enough. This seems to be the hardest thing for newbies to understand. The definition of "trade" in real life is "to exchange one good or service for another good or service". When you forward a file to someone, you didn't lose the file. It is still right there in your box. You sent them a copy. Trading doesn't work because you don't HAVE the file. You don't OWN the file. It is just in your box. This is why FREE WAREZ works.

2. Don't aggrivate people who have been around longer than you. (Almost everyone)

3. Don't scroll. This is the ultimate in lameness. (And don't tell people to stop scrolling, that is what the ignore button is for)

4. Don't ask for anything more than once in the same half hour. They either don't have it or don't want to give it to you. This IS rude, but they have a right to do it.

5. Don't type iN k-RaD eLeTe w@ReZ speak like you are 10 years old. I don't care if you are 10 years old, just don't act like it.

6. Do give back to the rest of us. It is what makes this work. Give some, take some.

Chapter 2. Finding warez on Hotline.

(There is a getting started in Hotline chapter located elsewhere in this issue. Someone else wrote that and I am only describing how and where to get warez on Hotline)

Hotline is, in my opinion, one of the best Internet software programs that wasn't written by Peter Lewis. (Joke. Please laugh)

I assume that you already know how to use a tracker and set up the software. (Not that hard) If not, refer to the other chapter on Hotline.

When looking in your tracker, look at the description of the server and look for the ever beautiful words, "warez", "free", "fast", "guest on", etc. Log onto this server and look at the files. If you see something you like, download it. If not, go to another server. If the file you are downloading is large, the polite thing to do would be to upload another file in the "Uploads" folder. If it is a administrator-requested file, you could get an account. 

There are other kinds of servers besides free ones. The best servers are private or semi-private which means guests cannot download. You have to get an account which means upload the specified ammount or kind of file into the uploads folder. When you are done,
ask the admin for an account if he is online or leave a message in the "Account Drop Box" folder telling what you uploaded, your requested login pass, and your e-mail address. If there is no Account Drop Box folder post a message in the news saying what
you uploaded, and your e-mail. If you can't post to news, you will have to come back later when the admin is on. 

Being polite on Hotline is VERY important because the admins can boot you off the server. (They also have your IP, so if you were REALLY rude, they will ping you out of your mind) Politeness includes: Answering admin's questions, answering other people's
questions, not spamming the chat, and most of all QUEUEING YOUR DOWNLOADS. 

Chapter 3. Finding warez on IRC.

I'm not going to go into what IRC is or how to use it because you can read about that anywhere online.

You will first need to download Ircle from http://www.xs4all.nl/~ircle (You can download the other big client, "Homer", but it is not scriptable and isn't as good as Ircle.

After you download Ircle, you will want to go to the preferences and change the name settings. (Nick, Username, etc.) What we are most interested in is the server settings. There are a million different "networks" of IRC servers such as UnderNet, DALnet, and
EFnet. What we will use is EFnet. Select any of the EFnet servers in Ircle's server settings and try to get one close to you. Now select "Open Connection" from the File menu. A bunch of stuff about the server will come up in the Console window. Now in the input type "/join #macfilez" or "/join #macsitez" (without quotes, of course) Now a new window will come up with a list of names at the top. These names are the users in the channel. 

Now DO NOT TALK. Some ops (operators) are not very forgiving and you can get kick/banned from the channel. Just watch and learn. You will notice that there are three types of users in the channel. Users whose names start with @ like @Weasel, users whose names 
end with DCC or CTCP like Weasel-DCC, and users who don't have anything funny about their name like Weasel.

Users whose names begin with @ are "Operators" and have "Ops". This means that they are gods in this channel. They can kick users, ban users, make users silent, and generally keep us peons in order.

Users whose names end with DCC or CTCP are "bots". Bots are not really people, they are scripts that serve files. Every once in awhile, you may see one of the bots say in the chat some to this end:

Weasel-DCC- ** 4 packs ** 1 of 10 slots open Min: 0.5kb/s, Record: 5kb/s

Weasel-DCC- #1 2056x[315k] HackAddict 1.0 - The very first

Weasel-DCC- #2 1562x[506k] HackAddict 2.0.1 - The bad second

Weasel-DCC- #3 3095x[295k] HackAddict 3.0 - The great third

Weasel-DCC- #4 62x[400k] HackAddict 4.0 - <=NEW! Hot off the presses

Weasel-DCC- Total Offered: 1.5 MB Total Snagged: 70 MB

Here is what it all means:

"** 4 packs ** 1 of 10 slots open" This means that the bot is offering 4 files and that 9 of 10 download spots are taken leaving 1 spot for you.

"Min: 0.5kb/s" This means that if you can't maintain a transfer of 0.5k/sec, the bot will cut the connection. 

"#1 2056x[315k] HackAddict 1.0" The file number, the number of times it has been downloaded, the file size, and the file name.

You can also find this information out by sending the DCC bot this message (where Weasel-DCC is the bot name):

/msg Weasel-DCC xdcc list

When you want to get a file type:

/msg Weasel-DCC xdcc send #x

(x is the file number. #1 will send you the file in slot 1, #2 will send you the file in slot 2, etc.)

Now look at the DCC window in Ircle. The file should be there and all you have to do is click "get".

I also mentioned CTCP. This is just another kind of bot other than DCC. To see a CTCP bot's file list type:

/ctcp Weasel-CTCP xdcc send list

And to get a file, type:

./ctcp Weasel-CTCP xdcc send #x

I will now go over the basic rules for #macfilez and most other IRC channels (as taken from the #macfilez FAQ).

DO NOT ask for ops, since a waiting list is in effect.

DO NOT try to hack ops, do so repeatedly and you will be banned.

DO NOT flood the channel (with nick changes, multiple lines of text, or joins)

DO NOT flood other users, that never works anyway. Don't make a fool of yourself.

DO NOT use ircle colors in the channel.

DO NOT use inverse or bold in the channel (plists are an exception).

DO NOT use excessive CAPS or punctuation in the channel.

DO NOT ask for sites (requests will be answered with a kick and/or ban).

DO NOT mass invite, message, notice, or ctcp (version, xdcc, etc.) the
channel.

DO NOT repeat yourself, if no one replies, they either don't know or don't care.

DO NOT advertise any sites or FirstClass,TeleFinder, Hotline, FTP systems or any other such places which require usernames and passwords.

DO offer warez and filez to others if you would like to.

DO help people out looking for a program or information.

DO ask for help on setting up a BBS, Hotline, or FTP.

DO share programs that you have leeched.

DO advertise a site which YOU own or operate.

DO offer anonymous sites, anonymous sites having no username/password.

DO offer filez at least once a year. Don't be a leech.

Chapter 4. Finding warez in other places.

There are several other places to find warez on the Internet though these are not as interactive as the others I have mentioned. One way is Newsgroups. To access Newsgroups, make sure that your ISP supports them and download a copy of Newswatcher. You can mess
around with it for a bit, but you are after warez so scroll down the Group List window to the newsgroup alt.binaries.warez.mac. Open this up and begin reading messages that look interesting. Message subjects that begin with "-" such as -Norton Utilities 3.5 CD
are binary files meaning you can download them. Open this message up and click the icon that looks like a document near the top of the window. Save the file and wait for it to download! A list of Mac warez newsgroups is listed here:

alt.macintosh.warez
alt.hackintosh
alt.macintosh.warez.applications
alt.macintosh.warez.utilities
alt.macintosh.warez.games
alt.binaries.warez.mac
alt.binaries.warez.macintosh

Another place is FTP sites. These are MUCH more rare and they are fairly hard to get into. If you do find an FTP site, do the regular stuff. (Upload if you download, etc)

You may be wondering why there are no warez sites on the WWW. This is because the WWW is too public and alot of people are not willing to take that risk.

Chapter 5. Closing remarks.

By writing this file, I am in no way saying that warez are okay and I support them. I wrote this so I would stop getting questions as to where they can find the latest program. I would like to end with the basic rules that apply to almost every kind of warez site on the planet.

1). Respect people in authority.

2).Upload when you download.

3).Don't make trouble.

4). Trading is bad. Free the warez.

Thank you for reading,

The Weasel

7/21/97

weasel@yatho.com

Appendix A. Gloassary (terms are in the order in which they appear)

warez: Most commonly, any commercial or illegal software program that is publicly distributed

AOL: America Online. The world's biggest, baddest, online service. 

Hotline: The client-server software that is like a BBS for the Internet. Hotline's claim to fame is it's use of "trackers".

IRC: Internet Relay Chat. The most populat way of chatting on the Internet.

newbie: Anyone who is new in a certain area. I leave these alone.

lamer: Anyone who breaks rules out of ignorance or stupidity. Usually a cocky newbie.

mass mailing: The process of sending a file or files to an entire group of user or an entire room.

mac chat: The original mac warez room on AOL.

macwarez: The second mac warez room on AOL.

macfilez: The third mac warez room on AOL.

zelifcam: The fourth (and hopefully final) mac warez room on AOL.

CAT: Community Action Team. Sponsored by AOL and used to clean up the illegal use of
AOL's chat rooms.

tracker: Part of the Hotline software, this tracks registered servers who do not have static a static IP. This allows the servers to be easily found.

queue: On Hotline, it means making your downloads sequential as opposed to downloading four files at once.

Ircle: The best IRC client for Macintosh. At the time of this writting, the most current
version is 3.0 beta.

Homer: The other IRC client. MUCH less popular than Ircle.

ops: When applied to a user, it means the user is god over a certain channel.

Newswatcher: The most popular Macintosh newsgroup client.