14/09/2024
In the days of floppy 💾 disks, almost everyone had something to do with software piracy. No one can say that he or she didn't know about it. But was that possible? We told a story in two books that gives a first-hand account of how crackers and hackers cracked copy protection mechanisms on home computers such as the C64, Atari ST and Amiga and consoles such as the Super Nintendo and Genesis (Sega Megadrive) and distributed them worldwide: At a time when there was no Internet. The richly illustrated two-volume book series also follows the relationship between the hunters and the hunted. Lawyers, judges and police not only made life difficult for the underground, but also resorted to perfidious methods that are almost unimaginable today. CRACKERS gets to the bottom of the BBS machinations as well as the structure and function of the software and games industry. How did intercontinental communication work? What channels did the crackers use to obtain games? How did the networks develop and maintain themselves over more than 10 years? It is an adventure to follow how games came to Europe that had not yet been published. We interviewed game producers, publishers, players, users, shop operators, journalists, hackers, crackers and suppliers and let them tell their fascinating stories.
https://microzeit.com/collections/crackers-the-saga-on-software-piracy
A unique saga of software piracy. Now coming back soon and available at a favourable price: CRACKERS II: The Data Storm Microzeit Publishing
Digital visions and copy parties, intrigues and industrial espionage, disk traders and pirates. Elitism, escape and persecution: The mysterious life of crackers and their scene organisations shaped the computer age.