Overcoming the Warez Paradox: Online Piracy Groups and Situational Crime Prevention

Abstract

US federal law enforcement operations occurring between 2001 and 2005 attempted to disrupt the online piracy scene, targeting copyright piracy rings known as 'warez groups'. Previous work on warez groups has demonstrated a paradoxical situation where attempts to curtail warez group activities through policing and advancements in DRM only further encourage such groups to crack and distribute content. This study collected data on 93 convictions from these policing operations to construct a crime script of these groups' motivations and modus operandi in the release process. The results confirm previous findings that attempts to disrupt the activities of warez groups are counterproductive. To avoid the paradox, this study suggests that industry account for the motivations and modus operandi of these groups by creating DRM technologies which allow un-cracked content to seep through the testing step of the script, thereby placing a group's ability to obtain prestige at risk. Law enforcement should focus on apprehending crackers, as they are the most significant step in the release process.

Understanding eWhoring

“…These crime script applications demonstrate the variety of data sources that can be used for analysis. These include surveys or interviews [20]- [22], [25], [26], police records [18], [22], [26], court documents [19], [27], and the infrastructure used by offenders [23], [28]. Another data source that is particularly useful for understanding cybercrimes are the forums used by offenders to trade in goods and services, as well as sharing information.…”

Toward a More Structured Crime Scripting Method

“…For example, if the initially selected data source is not complete enough, the use of multiple secondary data sources or collection of complementary data can be envisaged to improve completeness [16]. As an example, Basamanowicz and Bouchard [27] used court proceedings as their main source of data, but also employed 'secondary data sources to verify and supplement the court case documents'.…”

Police Operations 3.0: On the Impact and Policy Implications of Police Operations on the Warez Scene

“…This content is posted online in part by hobbyists or enthusiasts who wish to share the products they have bought personally or downloaded elsewhere (Goldman, ). Most of it however is actually distributed by members of an online community known in the computer underground as the warez scene (Basamanowicz & Bouchard, ; Craig, ).…”

“…Products are first released on the scene servers where the access is restricted to members of the warez scene (Chaudhry & Zimmerman, ). Couriers eventually move the products from scene servers to more open systems like peer‐to‐peer networks (Basamanowicz & Bouchard, ). Warez hackers therefore have a much faster access to warez and are responsible for the proliferation of infringing content across multiple peer‐to‐peer networks and websites.…”

“…Interestingly, warez hackers earn a “copyright” on the products they illegally release (Basamanowicz & Bouchard, ; Craig, ). Indeed, once a product is released, no group is allowed to distribute it without crediting the original group that released it.…”