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wHY DO WE MAINTAIN THE iLLEGAL ARCHIVES?
iN THE YEARS 1987-1989 THERE WAS JUST ONE BIG CRACKER ZINE IN eUROPE.
(wITH THE TERM 'CRACKER' WE HEREBY MEAN A PERSON WHO REMOVES PROTECTION FROM
SOFTWARE.) aLONGSIDE THE DUTCH MAGAZINE hACKTIC THIS WAS PROBABLY THE
CROWN MEDIA OF THE eUROPEAN COMPUTER UNDERGROUND, COMPARABLE TO tap AND
2600 IN THE uNITED sTATES. wORD HAS IT THAT iLLEGAL WAS THE MAIN
INSPIRATION SOURCE FOR ALL UNDERGROUND DISKZINES LATER PRODUCED ON c= 64,
aMIGA, aTARI st AND ibm pc. iLLEGAL WAS NOT THE FIRST CRACKER FANZINE,
AND CERTAINLY NOT THE LAST, BUT BEYOND REASONABLE DOUBT IT WAS THE BIGGEST AND
MOST INFLUENTIAL "wAREZ"-PRODUCER MAGAZINE IN THE WORLD HISTORY OF
CRACKING. ("wAREZ" IS SLANG FOR PIRATE SOFTWARE.)
iN THE uNITED sTATES UNDERGROUND ZINES WERE ALREADY ESTABLISHED, BUT THE
CRACKER SCENE WAS NEVER AS BIG AS IN eUROPE. tHIS WAS PROBABLY DUE TO THE FACT
THAT aMERICANS USED A GREAT MANY DIFFERENT BRANDS OF COMPUTERS: aPPLE ii,
aTARI 800 AND EVEN THE GOOD OLD aLTAIR 8800. iN eUROPE ALMOST EVERYBODY
USED cOMMODORE 64. nATURALLY eUROPE BECAME THE CRACKING CENTRE OF THE WORLD
FOR c= 64 WAREZ. tHE SCENE SURROUNDING c= 64 CRACKING WAS SO HUGE THAT IT
DEVELOPED ITS OWN CULTURAL ETHOS. tHE HIGHLIGHT OF THAT CULTURE WAS, i WOULD
SAY, iLLEGAL.
iLLEGAL HAS IT ALL. tHE LEGENDARY GROUPS, THE BIG ONES, THROWING OUT
ALL PRODUCED SOFTWARE IN A DEPROTECTED AND COMPACT FORMAT. cRACKING, AT
THIS TIME, WAS A BRANCH OF AMATEUR-PROGRAMMING, WIDELY APPRECHEATED BY ALMOST
ALL COMPUTERIZED TEENAGERS IN eUROPE.
nEEDLESS TO SAY, iLLEGAL, AND THE UNDERGROUND SCENE SURROUNDING IT, WAS
VIEWED AS A GREAT THREAT TO THE SOFTWARE INDUSTRY, BOTH BY THE INDUSTRY ITSELF
AND IN THE OFFICIAL VIEW OF THE MAGAZINES WHO WOULD RISE AND FALL WITH
THIS INDUSTRY. tHIS WAS A TIME WHEN SOFTWARE PRODUCERS sYSTEM 3 COULD
INVITE THE SOFTWARE REVIEWING JOURNALISTS TO A FREE TRIP TO tHAILAND, HAVING
THEM STAY IN A HORRIBLY EXPENSIVE HOTEL AND IN THE EVENING BRING THEM DOWNTOWN
TO WATCH AN AD HOC GAME OF tHAI bOXING, ARRANGED TO LOOK LIKE THE
FIGHTS IN THE GAME bANGKOK kNIGHTS, FOR WHICH THIS RELEASE PARTY WAS
LAUNCHED. wHAT WOULD THE ESTABLISHED COMPUTER MEDIA DO FOR THE INDUSTRY IN
RETURN FOR ALL THESE ADVERTISEMENTS AND COSTLY SOFTWARE HAPPENINGS? aLMOST
ANYTHING i'D SAY. wERE THE GLOSSY SOFTWARE MAGAZINES IN THE LAP OF THE
SOFTWARE INDUSTRY? yOU BET! tHEY WERE, IN MANY ASPECTS, ONE AND THE SAME.
cOMPANIES LIKE THOSE i MENTION ABOVE COULD NOT POSSIBLY ACCEPT THE EXISTANCE
OF A ZINE LIKE iLLEGAL. eVEN THOUGH THIS INDUSTRY HAD ITS OWN LOBBYING
ORGANIZATIONS, LIKE fast (fEDERATION aGAINST sOFTWARE tHEFT) IN THE
uNITED kINGDOM AND LATER THE INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION bsa (bUSINESS
sOFTWARE aLLIANCE), THEY WERE UNABLE TO TRACK DOWN AND TERMINATE
iLLEGAL. tHEIR KNOWLEDGE OF THE UNDERGROUND SCENE AND ITS ORGANIZATION
WAS SIMPLY TOO STEREOTYPICAL. tHEY BELIEVED THAT CRACKERS CRACKED SOFTWARE TO
SELL IT, AND THUS TRIED TO TRACK DOWN BUSINESS-LIKE SMALL SCALE FIRMS SELLING
PIRATE SOFTWARE. tHOUGH THEY SUCCEDED IN BUSTING A GREAT MANY SUCH FIRMS,
iLLEGAL STAYED PUT, SINCE THE CRACKER SCENE DID NOT WORK THE WAY THESE
HUGE COMPANIES BELIEVED. iN FACT, CRACKERS EXCHANGED SOFTWARE INBETWEEN
THEMSELVES FOR FREE. tHE MOTTO WAS "SHARE AND ENJOY"
AND THIS SHARING WAS FOR FUN AND NOT FOR PROFIT.
hOWEVER, THESE COMPANIES TALKED THE LANGUAGE OF THE POWER AND VERY
EARLY CONVINCED CERTAIN AUTHORITIVE OFFICIALS ON THE NEED TO OUTLAW AND
EXTINGUISH SOFTWARE PIRACY IN ALL ITS FORMS. mANY AUTHORITIES WERE MORE THAN
WILLING TO LISTEN TO VOICES TALKING ABOUT NATIONAL-ECONOMIC LOSS DUE TO
CERTAIN BOGUS UNDERGROUND FORMATIONS. iT IS NO SECRET THAT THE MOST
AUTHORIATIVE AND POWER-WORSHIPPING COUNTRY IN eUROPE HAPPENS TO BE gERMANY.
aND iLLEGAL HAPPENED TO BE LOCATED IN - gERMANY. aLWAYS WILLING TO
RESTRICT ITS' CITIZENS FREEDOM IN EVERY POSSIBLE WAY, THE gERMAN GOVERNMENT
HAD ON AN EARLY STAGE CLEARED A LAW WHICH OUTLAWED SOFTWARE SWAPPING IN ALMOST
EVERY FORM. sOME COUNTRIES IN eUROPE DIDN'T RECIEVE SUCH RESTRICTIONS UNTIL
THE BREAKTHROUGH OF THE pc IN THE EARLY 90'S, AND SOME STILL HAVEN'T.
oN mAY 18TH 1989, JUST 2 DAYS BEFORE THE PLANNED RELEASE DATE FOR
iLLEGAL #38, jEFF sMART, THE EDITOR OF iLLEGAL GETS HIS
APARTMENT RAIDED BY gERMAN POLICE. aLL HIS EQUIPMENT IS CONFISCATED, INCLUDING
THE COMPUTER AND SOFTWARE HE USED TO PUBLISH iLLEGAL. (iN THIS CASE A
cOMMODORE c= 64 AND A dtp-PROGRAM CALLED nEWSROOM.) jEFF IS CHARGED WITH
SOFTWARE PIRACY BUT THE TRIAL IS CANCELLED DUE TO LACK OF EVIDENCE.
hOWEVER: jEFF HAD TO FIGHT TO GET HIS EQUIPMENT BACK, AND HIS DISKS
and THE BACK ISSUES OF iLLEGAL HE HAS PUBLISHED OVER THE YEARS, AS
WELL AS LOTS OF OTHER INFORMATION RELATED TO iLLEGAL, REMAINS
CONFISCATED.
oN jANUARY 18TH 1990 kNIGHT lIGHTNING (cRAIG nEIDORF) IS RAIDED BY us
sECRET sERVICE FOR PUBLISHING SUPPOSED COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL IN HIS
PHREAKER-UNDERGROUND ZINE pHRACK. tHIS IS JUST ONE INCIDENT IN A SERIES
OF CRACKDOWNS ON HACKERS THROUGHOUT THE uNITED sTATES, KNOWN AS oPERATION
sUNDEVIL, WHICH IN COMBINATION WITH OTHER POLICE ACTIVITIES WITH
CONNECTION TO A SOFTWARE THEFT FROM aPPLE PERFORMED BY SOME GROUP CALLED nU
pROMETHEUS lEAGUE LEADS TO THE FORMING OF AN ORGANIZATION CALLED THE
eLECTRONIC fRONTIER fOUNDATION, DEDICATED TO PRESERVE HUMAN RIGHTS IN THE
INFORMATION AGE. eff CONSTANTLY RAISES DEBATE AROUND THE FREEDOM OF PRESS AND
"iNTELLECTUAL pROPERTY" (EG SOFTWARE COPYRIGHTS).
yOU PROBABLY SEE SOME CONNECTION HERE. yOU GET TO SUSPECT THAT THE gERMAN
POLICE RAIDED jEFF sMART WITH THE ONLY INTENTION TO SHUT DOWN THE
MAGAZINE iLLEGAL, JUST LIKE THEY USED TO DO IN THE EARLIER STAGES OF
THE 2ND wORLD wAR. iN FACT, THE POLICE TOLD jEFF HE HAD TO PROMISE NEVER TO
PUBLISH A CRACKER MAGAZINE AGAIN IN ORDER TO STAY OUT OF TROUBLE. aND SO,
HE HAS NOT. tHE gERMAN POLICE KILLED iLLEGAL.
wE DON'T WANT THE wORLD TO FORGET ABOUT THIS. tHE FREEDOM OF PRESS AND
INFORMATION IS A CRITERIA FOR A DEMOCRATIC SOCIETY.
tHAT IS WHY WE PUBLISH iLLEGAL ON THE iNTERNET.
tHANK YOU FOR READING.
wRITTEN BY: lINUS wALLEIJ A.K.A. kING fISHER OF tRIAD
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