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==Phrack Inc.== Volume Four, Issue Forty, File 5 of 14 Pirates Cove By Rambone Welcome back to Pirates Cove. My apologies for not providing you with this column in Phrack 39. However, in this issue we take a look at some recent busts of pirate boards and the organization most to blame for it all... the Software Publishers Association. Plus we have news and information about Vision-X, game reviews, BAD Magazine, and more. Enjoy. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - FBI Raids Computer Pirate; SPA Follows With Civil Lawsuit June 11, 1992 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ BOSTON -- The Federal Bureau of Investigation raided [on June 10] "Davy Jones Locker," a computer bulletin board located in Millbury, Massachusetts, which has allegedly been illegally distributing copyrighted software programs. The Davy Jones bulletin board was a sophisticated computer bulletin board with paying subscribers in 36 states and 11 foreign countries. A computer bulletin board allows personal computer users to access a host computer by a modem-equipped telephone to exchange information including messages, files, and computer programs. The system operator (or sysop) is generally responsible for materials posted to the bulletin board. For a fee of $49 for three months or $99 for one year, subscribers to Davy Jones Locker were given access to a special section of the bulletin board that contained copies of more than 200 copyrighted programs including popular business and entertainment packages. Subscribers could "download" or receive these programs for use on their own computers without having to pay the copyright owner anything for them. The business programs offered were from a variety of well-known software companies, including: AutoDesk, Borland International, Broderbund, Central Point System, Clarion Software, Fifth Generation, Fox Software, IBM, Intuit, Lotus Development, Micrografx, Microsoft, Software Publishing Corp., Symantec, Ventura Software, WordPerfect and X-Tree Co. Entertainment programs included Flight Simulator by Microsoft, and Leisure Suit Larry by Sierra. Seized in the raid on Davy Jones Locker were computers, telecommunications equipment, as well as financial and other records. "The SPA applauds the FBI's action today," said Ilene Rosenthal, director of litigation for the Software Publishers Association (SPA). "This is one of the first instances that we are aware of where the FBI has shut down a pirate bulletin board for distributing copyrighted software. It clearly demonstrates a trend that the government is recognizing the seriousness of software copyright violation. It is also significant that this week the Senate passed S.893, a bill that would make the illegal distribution of copyrighted software a felony." For the past four months, the Software Publishers Association has been investigating the Davy Jones Locker bulletin board and had downloaded business and entertainment programs from the board. The programs obtained from Davy Jones Locker were then cross-checked against the original copyrighted materials. In all cases, they were found to be identical. Subscribers to Davy Jones Locker not only downloaded copyrighted software, but were also encouraged to contribute additional copyrighted programs to the bulletin board. The system operator limited subscribers to four hours on the bulletin board each day. He also limited the amount of software a subscriber could download to his or her own computer each day. Those who "uploaded" or transmitted new copyrighted software to the bulletin board for further illegal distribution were rewarded with credits good for additional on-line time or for additional software. "Imagine a video store that charges you a membership fee and then lets you make illegal duplicates of copyrighted movies onto blank video tapes," explains Ilene Rosenthal, SPA director of litigation. "But it limits the number of movies you can copy unless you bring in new inventory -- copies of new movies not already on the shelves. That was the deal at Davy Jones Locker." Davy Jones Locker was an international concern with paid subscribers in the United States and 11 foreign countries including Australia, Canada, Croatia, France, Germany, Iraq, Israel, Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom. Whether it's copied from a program purchased at a neighborhood computer store or downloaded from a bulletin board thousands of miles away, pirated software adds to the cost of computing. According to SPA, software pirates throughout the world steal between $10 and $12 billion of copyrighted software each year. "Many people may not realize that software prices are higher, in part, to make up for losses to the pirates," says Ken Wasch, executive director of the SPA. "Pirate bulletin boards not only distribute business software, but also hurt the computer game publishers by distributing so many of their programs illegally. In addition they ruin the reputation of the hundreds of legitimate bulletin boards which serve an important function to computer users." The Software Publishers Association is the principal trade association of the personal computer software industry. Its 900 members represent the leading publishers in the business, consumer and education software markets. The SPA has offices in Washington, D.C., and Paris La Defense, France. CONTACT: Software Publishers Association, Washington, D.C. Terri Childs or Ilene Rosenthal, 202/452-1600 _______________________________________________________________________________ PC Bulletin Board Hit by FBI Raid June 14, 1992 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ By Josh Hyatt (Boston Globe)(Chicago Tribune, Section 7, Page 3) BOSTON -- In one of the first reported crackdowns of its kind, six FBI agents raided a computer bulletin board based in a Millbury, Massachusetts, home last week. Authorities said the bulletin board's operator had been illegally distributing copyrighted software. Executing a criminal search warrant, the agents seized several computers, six modems and a program called PC Board, which was used to run the bulletin board. Authorities also seized documents that listed users of the service. No arrests were made, according to the Software Publisher's Association, a trade group that brought the case to the FBI's attention. The association estimates that, as of March, the bulletin board had distributed $675,000 worth of copyrighted software; software pirates, it says, annually steal as much as $12 billion this way. The FBI will not comment on the case except to confirm that a raid had taken place and that the investigation is continuing. The alleged operator of the bulletin board, Richard Kenadek, could not be reached for comment. Around the same time as the raid, the software association filed a civil lawsuit against Kenadek, charging him with violating copyright laws. Ilene Rosenthal, the group's director of litigation, said that "the man had incriminated himself" through various computerized messages. "There's plenty of evidence to show that he was very aware of everything on his bulletin board," she said. Bulletin boards let personal computer users access a host computer via modems. Typically, participants exchange information regarding everything from computer programs to tropical fish. They may also, for example, obtain upgrades of computer programs. The association said its own four-month investigation revealed that this bulletin board, called Davy Jones Locker, contained copies of more than 200 copyrighted programs. Rosenthal said users also were encouraged to contribute copyrighted software programs for others to download or copy. According to Rosenthal, subscribers paid a fee, $49 for three months or $99 for one year. She said Davy Jones Locker had nearly 400 paying subscribers in 36 states and 11 foreign countries. _______________________________________________________________________________ Cracking Down On Computer Counterfeiters July 1992 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ By B.A. Nilsson (PC-Computing Magazine)(Page 188) Popular bonding rituals usually aren't criminal. Admire a friend's new car, and you're likely to swap a few stories and a can of STP. You may be invited to take the car for a spin. You can pass recipes back and forth or lend your copy of the latest best-seller to a fellow fan. Sharing computer programs is another common practice among friends. It's great to help someone who's daunted by the challenge of learning to use a new machine, and sometimes that includes a gift of some of your favorite software. "Here. Why don't you get started with WordPerfect?" And, later, inevitably, "The Norton Utilities will get that file back for you." Copying a set of disks is so simple and such a private action that you'd hardly think it's also illegal. The legality part is easy to overlook. The copyright notice is a complicated critter, often printed on the seal of the software package that is torn away as you dig for those floppy disks. You may not even be the one who ripped the original package open (in which case, you're yet another who's ripped the program off). But whether or not you're aware of it, unless you either broke the shrink-wrap or received the package with all disks, documentation, and licensing information intact, you're breaking the law. The good news is that if you're an individual with pirated software on your home computer, you probably won't get caught. But if you're a boss with an angry employee, the Software Publishers Association (SPA) may get tipped off. When the SPA comes to call on your business, it's with U.S. marshals and lots of official paperwork. And the association has an annoyingly good history of winning its copyright- infringement cases. Perspectives on Piracy "Computers give us a kind of technical sophistication that never used to exist," says Ken Wasch, the voluble head of the SPA. "In the old days, if you wanted to make your own copy of something like a pencil, you'd need a complicated manufacturing center. But the very fact that you can run a computer program means that you can make a flawless copy of it. This is the only industry in the world that empowers every customer to be a manufacturing subsidiary." The regulations are spelled out again and again in the software manuals: You're allowed to make one or two copies of the program for backup purposes. Other rules vary slightly from company to company. Some license agreements demand that the software package be used only with a single machine; others, most notably Borland's, let you use the program on as many computers as you wish, provided no two copies of the program are run concurrently, just as a book can be read by only one person at a time. "If all software developers took the same approach as Borland International, people wouldn't steal so much," says avowed pirate Ed Teach. (Note: The names and locations of all interviewed pirates have been changed.) "Borland gives you that book license. Of course, they'll drive you insane with upgrades. They wholesale the software, then make their money on all the subsequent releases." Teach is the systems administrator for a residential health-care company in the Southeast. "I believe in piracy," he says. "I like to borrow something to play with it. If I like it, I'll buy it." He dismisses demos and limited versions of programs as inadequate for the testing he prefers; similarly, he considers the typical 30-day return agreement too restrictive. "It's not a realistic time period for an evaluation," Teach says. "I just got a copy of FormTool Pro, and it's a powerful program with a very steep learning curve. I can't devote myself to it and learn what I'd need to know in 30 days." Teach has spent six years recommending and configuring programs for his company. He does not fit the image of a lawbreaker, and he believes that what he does is morally justified. "I buy the software eventually. My company bought licenses to use WordPerfect 5.1 after starting with a pirated copy of the program. Everything on the company machines is legit." Copying wasn't always so easy. Old-timers remember the copy-protection schemes that pervaded the computer industry, requiring key disks or special initialization procedures. But users unanimously demanded an end to it, and when Lotus, the last significant holdout, gave in, that era was over. Today you find protection only on games and niche-market programs. How much has the end of copy protection cost software companies? It's impossible to figure accurately. In August 1991, the indefatigable Software Publishers Association released figures on corporate-use losses that suggest both a staggering financial loss and a possible decline in piracy. In 1987, 1.31 DOS-based software programs were sold for every office computer. The expected proportion is three packages per computer, meaning that more than half of the programs in use were probably pirated. In 1990, the number of legitimate packages jumped to 1.78. But prices have gone up, too, so that the dollar losses haven't changed much: The 1987 liability was $2.3 billion, and the number rose to $2.4 billion in 1990. The numbers for private-use piracy, on the other hand, can't be calculated. If all the computer users who have never pirated software got together, they wouldn't need a very large hall. Wasch concedes that it's difficult to actually catch and prosecute the individual pirate. "Nobody is actually doing time for piracy," he says, citing the exception of a retailer who was caught running what amounted to a pirated-software storefront. The Software Police Although the SPA is targeting home abuse in a current study, Wasch believes that the greatest financial losses are due to corporate piracy. And corporate pirates are easier to apprehend because an angry employee is frequently willing to turn in the boss. "We get about 20 calls a day," says Wasch, who set up a special number (800-388-7478) for reporting piracy. "Ninety percent of the calls we follow up on come from disgruntled employees." It's the kind of visit most of us have only seen in the movies, and it's usually an unexpected one. A receptionist with one targeted company was so shocked by the arrival of the SPA posse that she asked if it was a "Candid Camera" stunt. Founded in 1984 as an educational and promotional group, the SPA evolved into a software police force five years ago as more and more software vendors joined. Now almost 800 are in the fold. The SPA began to woo whistle-blowers in earnest about two years ago, after a tip led to the successful bust of a large corporation in the Midwest. "Business is too good," Wasch says. "We're doing far more lawsuits and far more audits than ever before, and the numbers are continuing to grow." If your corporation is busted by the SPA, hope that it's done by mail. "What happens then is that we write the CEO a letter explaining that we want to do an audit," Wasch says. "If we find illegal software, the company pays twice: Once for the pirated copy, once for a new one. "That's a lot better for the company. The fine is much lower, and they don't face the adverse publicity that results from a lawsuit. Still, 60 percent of them promise they won't destroy software before they report it, and then they go and do it anyway." That was the case with a recent SPA visit to a medium-size defense contractor in Washington, DC. "They agreed to an audit, and then they tried to wipe pirated programs off all the hard disks," Wasch says. "But we knew. Why do they think we called them in the first place? Someone on the inside was talking. I couldn't believe they'd sit there and lie to us about it, we had them over a barrel!" The increasingly ominous specter of the SPA breaking down the door is making more companies go legit, but some continue to spout excuses. "I don't want to break the law, but I also don't want to go out of business," says Howell Davis, the CEO of an accounting firm in a New England capital. "We can't afford to work without computers, but I can't pay the high price of registering every copy of every program we use. I had to borrow a lot of money to get this business off the ground, and I think of this as just another form of borrowing. It's another loan I'll repay when I can afford to." Some corporate pirates operate with a sense of entitlement. "Nobody's going to catch us," says Charles Vane, the managing director of a nonprofit theater company in the Northwest, "and nobody should even be trying to. We're on the brink of bankruptcy. Companies should be giving us software packages as a gesture of support for the arts." He admits that almost all of the software his theater uses is pirated. "We have some nice programs, including an accounting package developed for Ernst & Young that we swiped and a copy of SuperCalc with a bunch of extra modules. And WordPerfect, of course," Vane says. Where do the packages originate? "Our board members get them for us," Vane says. "Of course, that means we can't be choosy. We have to wait until a particular program comes our way. And what they like to give us the most are games. We have a kazillion games." Games and piracy are natural partners. Games themselves encourage piracy. Unlike business-oriented programs, they engender intense, short-lived relationships. Or as pirate-BBS operator John Rackam puts it, "Games get boring. That's why you see so many of them on the pirate boards." Online Piracy Rackam runs a BBS straight out of "The Man from U.N.C.L.E." It looks like any other medium-size board in the country, with a standard collection of shareware and message bases. Gain special access which only takes $50 and a friend's recommendation and you pass through the secret door into a 600MB collection of the latest applications, including 10 zipped files of the complete dBASE IV, 11 of AutoCAD, and 6 of MS-DOS 5.0. "Most of the people who use my board are collectors," he says. "They have to have the latest copy of everything." Rackam isn't deterred by the threat of getting caught. "I don't think it's going to happen to me. I'm not doing anything that's really terrible. I mean, I'm not hacking up bodies or anything. I make no money off this. The fee is just for keeping up my equipment. I consider myself a librarian." Novell takes a dim view of that attitude, as evidenced by an August 1991 raid of two California bulletin board systems accused of distributing Novell NetWare files. Such systems are another target the SPA would like to hit, and Wasch is looking for FBI cooperation. That makes the Humble Guys Network ripe for the picking. Study the high- resolution GIF file of these buccaneers, and you see a collection of ordinary- looking folks who happen to traffic in pirated game software. The founder, a hacker who called himself Candy Man, has since skipped the country; now The Slave Lord, a student at a southern college, is at the helm. "The whole point of the network is to get games before the stores have them," says Bill Kidd, a computer consultant in Manhattan. "This is like proof of manhood, how fast you can get them." Kidd professes little personal involvement with piracy, but he knows where the bodies are buried. "First there are the suppliers who can get a program from a manufacturer well before it's released," Kidd says. "Often the supplier works for the manufacturer. The game goes to the head person, who delivers it to the crackers. They're the ones who remove the copy protection. From there it goes to the couriers, and each has a list of pirate BBS's. The program then makes it all over the country in minutes." Speed is an obsession. These pirates are armed with 9,600-bit-per-second modems and a must-have-it-now mentality. "The week before MS-DOS 5.0 hit the stores," says Kidd, "most of the pirate boards had already deleted it because they had been offering beta versions six months before." As far as revenues are concerned, pirate bulletin boards may be more of a nuisance than a threat. "Those people are never really going to buy that software," says John Richards, a product manager with Lotus. "Nominally, it's bad, but it's not as if they're buying one copy of 1-2-3 to put on the office workstation for ten users." Pirates at Home While an office environment allows for regular, rigorous audits, the home user gets away with pirating software. Peer under the hoods of a few hard disks, and you're liable to find something illicit. "It can happen innocently enough," says Symantec's Rod Turner. As general manager of the Peter Norton Group, Turner has the distinction of overseeing one of the most frequently pirated pieces of software: The Norton Utilities. "Someone puts a copy of the software on someone else's machine to test it out and leaves it behind. The other user assumes it's there legitimately," Turner says. "Often, someone gets software from a friend who got it at work," says Tony Geer, service manager at Computer Directions, a retail outlet in Albany, New York. Geer looks at hundreds of user-configured hard disks every month. "Someone buys a machine from us, then turns around and calls us to say that he's got all this software now, could we tell him how to run it," Geer says. "What am I supposed to do? The customer wants me to spend hours on the phone teaching him or he gets mad. When I tell him he has to buy the program, too, he gets annoyed." Geer also receives a huge number of requests for pirated software. "A lot of users think that we can load up their hard disks with programs, even though they know they ought to be paying for them and just want to duck the fee." A few requests come from the truly naive, Geer says. "I'll get a call for software support and I'll ask, What did the manual say?' I didn't get a manual,' the person tells me. A friend gave this to me.' And then I have to explain that software isn't free." High software prices are a common user complaint. Former WordPerfect executive vice president W.E."Pete" Peterson thinks the $495 list price of WordPerfect's best-selling word processing program is justified, however. "WordPerfect sells about 150,000 copies a month at that price, so quite a few users think the price is justified, too," says Peterson. "A computer costs anywhere from a few hundred to a few thousand dollars. Without the software, the computer is worthless. WordPerfect goes to a lot of work to write and support the software." The latter includes a costly policy of toll-free phone support, handled by operators who would just as soon not ask for a registration number. It's an expensive way of showing trust, but it has paid off in excellent public relations. "We try to sympathize with people," says Jeff Clark, public relations director at XyQuest, the company that publishes XyWrite, a word processing program popular among journalists. "We sell replacement manuals as a service to registered users, but there's a call at least once a week from someone who's obviously trying to get manuals to go with a pirated copy." The challenge then is to educate the caller, who may not even know that a law has been broken. "All we ask of a registered user is to run the program on one machine at a time," Clark explains. "If you're using it at work, yes, you can use it at home. But don't buy one copy to use in an office of eight people." "A lot of people seem to think copying disks is OK because it's easy to do," says Turner, who is also chairman of the SPA's companion organization, the Business Software Alliance, which fights international piracy. "Then they call our tech line, and we're in the delicate position of telling them they're using a product illegally." Microsoft is even more benevolent. "We like to know where the pirated copy originated," says Bill Pope, associate general counsel for the company. "It's not always possible to learn over the phone who's pirating something, because we don't require that registration cards be returned. But if we do identify a pirated copy, we'll help the user get it legally, and we may even supply a free copy of the program if we can learn where it came from." A highly publicized amnesty program was launched by the XTree Company in July of 1982. For $20, anyone with a pirated copy of an XTree program was allowed to buy a license for the entry-level version of the program, thus getting access to the upgrade path. Response was enthusiastic during the 90-day period, but the offer won't be repeated. "You can't offer amnesty over and over," says Michael Cahlin, who markets the XTree products. "You lose the respect of dealers and users who paid full price for it." Turner is more blunt about it. "Amnesty encourages piracy. I don't think it's been successful." While the SPA will continue to make headlines with Untouchables-style raids of corporate offices, Wasch also acknowledges that education is the key to fighting piracy. A 12-minute, SPA-produced videotape entitled It's Just Not Worth the Risk spells out the message as a congenial corporate manager is made wise to the ways of the company pirate. "That tape has been a huge success," says Wasch. "American Express bought 300 copies, and Kimberly-Clark just ordered 100. We've distributed about 10,000 of them so far." A self-audit kit, also available from the SPA, includes a program that determines what software is in use on your PC as well as sample corporate memos and employee agreement forms to promote piracy awareness. Seeing the Light Fear of being caught keeps many people honest, but some pirates will wait until they're forced to walk the plank before giving up. John Rackam says his BBS users are innocent. "They can't afford the software, and they shouldn't have to pay," he says. "They're downloaders. They un-ARC it and say, This is nice!' Then they never use it again." Charles Vane believes that software companies should give nonprofit organizations like his theater a break. "If they give us packages, we'll give them publicity. We'll print it in the program, we'll post it in the lobby. It's an upscale crowd that comes through here. We just don't have the luxury of money. I bought one program, ReportWriter, because it was cheap and good." For casual users, piracy may simply be a phase. "I own 90 percent of the programs I use," says systems administrator Ed Teach. "That's a big reverse from about four years ago, when 90 percent of them were bootlegs." And there's always the problem of well-meaning friends. Henry Every, a journalist at a Florida newspaper, received pirated programs from friends when he bought his first computer five years ago. "I had all these programs and no idea how to use them," Every says. "Fortunately, the bookstore had guides that were even better than the manuals, and I became something of a power user. Then I became the guy that a friend of a friend would call for help with his machine. Next thing I know, I'm the one giving away pirate copies. "But I won't do it anymore. I'm sick and tired of getting those calls all hours of the day and night asking me how to use the damn things." No Excuses Accepted "When I'm sitting across the table from them and they're looking really dog-faced, when I can see the whites of their eyes, it's hard to pull the trigger," says Ken Wasch, the head of the Software Publishers Association. "Nevertheless," he says, "I pull the trigger." Wasch is not a tender man when it comes to dealing with software pirates. He has no patience for the typical excuses given by those who copy and use unlicensed software, and he offers the following responses to the common complaints he hears from the outlaws: * The price is too high. "Hey I don't own a Mercedes Benz. Why? The price is too high. If you can't afford it, don't use it." * It's better to test the real thing than a crippled or demo version. "The demos are normally very good. They limit the number of records, or they don't save to the disk, or something. It's enough." * I'll pay for it later. "I doubt it." * I won't get caught. Wasch laughs. When he does so, you can't help but hope that he's laughing with you, not at you. "Sooner or later . . ." How Microsoft Foiled the Pirates Imitation is flattering only when you don't lose money over it. Many software packages are copied by clever pirates who duplicate disks, manuals, even packaging. Microsoft has been hit often enough by counterfeiters that recent software releases, including the Windows 3.1 and MS-DOS 5.0 upgrade packages, were specially designed to be bootleg-proof. "Every component part was carefully designed or hand-picked for that reason," says Kristi Bankhead, who works with Microsoft's general counsel on piracy issues. "To the user, it should just look like an attractive box, but it allows us to tell at once if it's legitimate or not." That strategy paid off in March when FBI agents raided a quartet of Silicon Valley companies that were pulling in up to $600,000 a month distributing bogus copies of MS-DOS and Windows. Key components of the official, bootleg-proof box designs are colorful artwork and the use of holograms. On the MS-DOS 5.0 upgrade box, a silver circle on the side offers an iridescent image of the logo. A second hologram, a small rectangle on the side of the program manual shows through an expensive die-cut hole on the other side of the box. The interlocked letters D-O-S are printed in a four-color process that results in complicated mixtures that defy reproduction. Even the way the box is folded and the flaps are glued and tucked is unique, it's not a common style, and counterfeiters must either spend time and money to copy it or risk quick discovery. Even as the DOS upgrade package was being readied for market last year, police detectives uncovered a Los Angeles based pirate ring that was already working on full-scale knockoffs of it. "We got them while they were in the process of completing the DOS 5.0 artwork," said Bankhead, "but we could tell how bad it would look. For instance, they were using a piece of foil for the hologram, and it had no three-dimensional image." Top 10 Pirate BBS Downloads 1. Windows 3.1 (Microsoft) 2. Excel 4.0 (Microsoft) 3. Norton Utilities 6.0 (Symantec) 4. WordPerfect for Windows 5.1 (WordPerfect) 5. Stacker 2.0 (Stac Electronics) 6. AutoMap (AutoMap) 7. Procomm Plus 2.0 (Datastorm Technologies) 8. PC Tools Deluxe 7.1 (Central Point Software) 9. QEMM-386 6.0 (Quarterdeck Office Systems) 10. WordPerfect 5.1 (WordPerfect) It looks familiar. It's very close to a recent Top 10 list of legitimate programs. That's not surprising, since popular programs are also the most- often swiped. The list above was compiled from a survey of pirate BBS's, with help from John Rackam. He explains that activity is so brisk the profile changes from week to week, with games being the most transitory items (which is why they're impossible to track). Because non-disclosure doesn't exist in the pirate world and exchanging beta copies of software is a pirate tradition, Windows 3.1 won a strong position even before its official release. By the way, there's only a cursory interest in OS/2 2.0, which is ominous news for IBM if pirate interest is any barometer of sales. _______________________________________________________________________________ Software Publishers Association: Nazis or Software Police? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ An Investigative Report by Rambone The Software Publishers Association (SPA) is the principal trade association of the microcomputer software industry. Founded in 1984 by 25 firms, the SPA now has more than 750 members, which include major businesses, consumer and education software companies, and smaller firms with annual revenues of less than $1 million. The SPA is committed to promoting the industry and protecting the interests of its membership. The SPA has two membership categories: Full and Associate. Software firms that produce, release, develop or license microcomputer software and are principally responsible for the marketing and sales of that software are eligible to apply for full membership status. Firms that develop software, but do not publish are also eligible. Associate membership is open to firms that do not publish software, but provide services to software companies. These members include vendors, consultants, market research firms, distributors and hardware manufacturers. Lobbying The SPA provides industry representation before the U.S. Congress and the executive branch of government and keeps members up-to-date on events in Washington, D.C., that effect them. The fight against software piracy is among its top priorities. The SPA is the industry's primary defense against software copyright violators both in the United States and abroad. Litigation and an ongoing advertising campaign are ways in which the SPA strives to protect the copyrights of its members. This is the impression that the SPA wants to give the general public, and for the most part, I have no problem with it. During a lengthy conversation with Terri Childs of SPA, I was informed of several things. The association's main source of information is from their hot-line and the calls are usually from disgruntled employees just waiting to get back at their former bosses. An example of this is a company that had bought one copy of Microsoft Works, and with over 100 employees, they all seemed to be using the same copy. One particular secretary had gotten fired, for what reason I do not know, so she called the SPA police and spilled her beans. Once that happened the SPA got the balls rolling by instructing the Federal Marshals to get a warrant and storm the building like they own the place. With a nifty little program they have that searches the machines for illegal copies of the software, they came up with the programs not registered to that machine. *Bam!*, caught like a dead rat in a cage. The SPA declined to comment on what has happened to that company since the raid, but they did say the company would be fined "X" amount of dollars for each illegal copy. Ms. Childs was very helpful though, she explained the idea behind the association, and what they stand for. I was very impressed with what she had to say. However, when I brought up the case concerning the Davy Jones Locker bust. She told me she was not qualified to answer questions involving that case and directed me to Elaine Rosenthat. So a few hours later I called her, and for a few brief moments she seemed to be quite helpful, but then decided to put me on a speaker phone with the founder of the "Association," Ken Wasch. >From the start I knew I would not get a straight answer out of him. The first thing I asked him is if someone not in SPA obtained an account to get onto DJL, and then gave it to them with log captures from the BBS. He would not give me a straight answer, just that SPA was able to obtain the information. I then asked him what actions are being taken toward DJL and received another run around. Finally, I asked what type of fine would be likely to be handed down in this case. He refused to give me an answer. But I did learn one very interesting little fact from all of this. The money obtained by this incident and others like it do not go to the software companies who the SPA claims to be protecting. Instead it goes right into the coffers of the SPA itself! I guess they like to try those Mercedes. And here is a few more interesting little tidbits about the SPA. Not only do they fine the companies for having illegal software and then pocket the money, but the annual charge for membership on the software companies can range anywhere from $700 to $100,000! It seems to me that it is much more profitable to eradicate piracy than to participate in doing it. For those of you currently operating or considering operating a pirate bulletin board, I would suggest that you not charge your users for access. Even if you claim that the money is only for hardware upgrades, in the long run, if you get busted, the money you collected will be evidence that suggests you were selling copyrighted software for financial gain. _______________________________________________________________________________ Vision-X Backdoor Nightmare ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ By Rambone There seems to be a fallacy in the pirate world that all BBS software is untouchable. However, about a month ago a few people associated with the Oblivion team took apart .93 (a version number of Vision-X) and found backdoors. The unfortunate problem with this is that the V-X team put those backdoors in so they could trace down which Beta site was giving out Beta copies. Well, they found the backdoors and called up several boards and used them. 1. The story from the people who hacked the boards is this, one of the two involved was irate becuase he wrote a registration for .93 so anyone could run it, whether they paid for the software or not. When the V-X team found out about it, they blacklisted him from being able to logon into any V-X system. This was done hard-coded, so no sysop could let him in with that handle. Anyway, the story is they got into several of the BBSes, and even dropped to DOS to look around, but did not have any intentions on destroying data. Basically, they wanted to expose the weaknesses of the software. The problem started when they posted the backdoors on a national net, which means that now any lamer could use this backdoor for their own purpose. According to the Oblivion guys, they did not destroy the data, but some of the lamers that saw the backdoors on the net did. They regret posting the backdoors. They didn't realize that there are some people who are malicious enough to destroy data. 2. The Vision-X team are positive that the people who did take down the BBSes were the Oblivion team, some say they even admitted to doing it. There is a major paradox in these stories, and at this point it doesn't look like anyone will ever be able to get the entire truth about what had happened. Backdoors have never been a good idea, even if the authors are positive they will never be found. The recent barrage of system crashing prove that the backdoors will indeed be found eventually. On the flip side of the coin, even if backdoors in BBS software are found, they should be left alone to be used for their original intent. Most authors who put the backdoors into the systems do it to protect their investment and hardwork. Most BBS programers these days work on the software for the benefit of the modem community, and expect a little money in return for their hard work. It is wrong for sysops to use it without permission. You guys need to stop being cheap asses, and support a software you want support from. What is the point of running a cracked piece of software since you cannot get support from the authors and not get the net they are involved in. The nominal amount of money involved is a good investment in the future of your bbs. _______________________________________________________________________________ "BAD" Magazine Lives Up To Its Name ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ By Rambone I had never read Bad Magazine until recently. Everywhere discussion about it had erupted, all I saw were comments that it was a waste of harddrive space. However, when Bad's eighth issue surfaced, I heard that there were a few disparaging remarks made about me and a spew of other loose information. So I went ahead and took a look at it, and what I found was one lie after another. I have never seen a magazine so full of shit as BAD #8. Apparently they seemed to think I mentioned them in Phrack magazine, "Bad Magazine got their first mention in the magazine Phrack." The funny thing is, the only mention of BAD Magazine ever to appear in Phrack before now was a remark attributed to The Grim Reaper that I reprinted. I could care less about a pathetically lame magazine such as BAD and I never mentioned them and never intended on mentioning them until they raised the issue by taking a pot shot at me. "The Boys of Phrack however did not do their homework when mentioning this though." This is a quote from BAD regarding comments made about Vision-X, which the article was not even about. What they don't know is that I personally called The Grim Reaper and talked to him before putting anything in Phrack about his bust. That's what the point of the article was about, not about some lame magazine named BAD and what they did. They deemed me responsible for not backing up my facts, when in fact, I backed them all up. Grim Reaper's comments about Vision-X was not my concern, it was his bust for credit card abuse that I was interested in learning about. The remarks concerning BAD were made by TGR, so it would appear that "the boys at BAD" did not do THEIR homework! "Rambone obviously does not get much exposure to the pirate world." Yet another ridiculous and unsubstantiated remark.. You boys definitly did not do your homework, you better start asking around a little more before making irresponsable accusations. The last words I will say about this is when people put a magazine together, they should try and find writers who will investigate facts instead of fabricating them. If they actually read my article, they would have known that I did not say a word about their magazine, but rather quoted The Grim Reaper. With writers such as those at BAD, I would not suggest anyone waste their time reading it, unless you are into tabloids like National Inquirer, but then at least some of their articles have a basis in fact. _______________________________________________________________________________ Games ~~~~~ Game Of The Month : Links 386 Pro : -*- Release Information -*- : -*- Game Information -*- : : Cracker None : Publisher MICROPLAY : : Protection Type None : Graphics SVGA Minimum : : Supplier The Witch King : Sound All : : Date of Release 07/13/92 : Rating [1-10] 10 : Sorry guys for reprinting the information file, but I got lazy <g>. With the advent of the Super VGA Monitors, and the prices becoming more resonable, companies are starting to come out with special games to take advantage of SVGA mode. Most of these games still will play in VGA mode so don't fret. One of the latest to date, and probably the best is Links 386 Pro, which the title indicates, at least a 386 is required. The installation of the game is one of the most impressive I have ever seen, they cover every aspect of your hardware to take full advantage of it. One of the harder things to swallow is that you must have at least 512k of memory on your VGA card, and it must comply by the VESA standard. If it does, the instalation is smart enough to try and find one for you. The game it's self is a major improvement over it's predecessor, Links. The graphics are much improved, which was a feat in itself, and many more options and bugs had been taken care of. The company also listened to its customers and added many new features that were suggested. When first loading up 386 pro, you are greated by a backview of a course instead of the boring blank screen in the original. From there, you can just about set up anything under the moon, from your club selection, to fairway conditions, and techture of the greens. You can even select the wind conditions. One of the most impressive features besides the outstanding grahpics is the option to have multiple windows open while playing the game. Let's say you are at the first hole, about to drive one down the fairway, if you can make it there, you can also have another window up overlooking the fairway waiting to see where the ball is going to drop. This is just one of many windows you can open, four at the most. After playing it for quite sometime, I would only suggest one or two though. If you are contiplating buying a game to take advantage of your SVGA monitor, look no further than Links 386 Pro. It's the wave of the future, and it's here now. _______________________________________________________________________________ No Longer Buy Console, Copy Them ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Special Thanks Snow Dog The following is an information excerpt on the GameDoctor. Basically, you can buy a machine called the GameDoctor hook it up to your PC and copy the rom data over to your HD in a compresed format. From there, you can send it over the nets, through the modem, or bring it to a friend's house. You hook the GameDoctor up to your PC, hook your console game to the GameDoctor and transfer the compressed data file onto a blank cartridge. Wow, instant Super Mario brothers. There will be a more in-depth review of this machine in the next issue, for now, here's a little taste. Snow Dog writes: The machines are external SCSI interface machines, about the size of a super NES but wider, and fitted for japanese (super famicom) cartridges. They are made by electronics nippon, known as NEC in the States, and friend has one that works on both his Amiga 2000 and his 486-33 (SCSI is universal). They include five disks of Famicom OS, which you can use on a logical harddisk partition of around six megs since SNES games are measured in MegaBITS and will NEVER get bigger than four meg or so, but the OS needs room. Controllers et. al. plug into the copier units. If you take an SNES or Genesis cart out of their shell and put it in a SF shell, you can copy them too. It works like teledisk, and Altered Reality in (303)443-1524 has console game file support. All you do is download it and use your own console copier to put it on a cart, or at your option if it is a SNES or Famico game, play it off your OS. Genesis games don't work in the SF OS so you need to copy them to cartridge. There are Japanese copiers specifically for Mega Drive (Genesis) that will do the same except that the OS is Sega-specific and you'll eed to copy SNES games. There is also a NEC PC Engine (turbo graphics and super graphics) copier because they made the bloody system, but it is proprietary and it will only work with the turbo format. I have never seen or worked with an internal model, but there is an internal 5.25" full height model in the NEC catalog...I ordered the catalog after I saw an advertisement for it in the back of Electronic Gaming Monthly, and a rather rich friend of mine went and bought the system. He also bought the $130 Japanese Street fighter II and copied it for all of us. How nice of him! Of course we had to buy the cartridges and pay him $20, but he made a $100 profit. Good deal for him! _______________________________________________________________________________ Okay, that is it for now. Greets go out to Cool Hand, Ford Perfect, Lestat, RifleMan, The CrackSmith, AfterMath, both Night Rangers, Kim Clancy, Bar Manager, Butcher, Venom, and all the couriers who help make things happen. Special thanks to Tempus for one kick ass ansi! Until next time, keep playing. _______________________________________________________________________________ 
