Confessions of an Ex-Pirate: Part Two
By dr3day 21 Comments
Warez was rarely truly "free" on BBS. You have to understand that before the internet caught on, filesharing was dependent on local people. If someone uploaded something in Ohio, more than likely it would never reach Florida, because to do so would mean it would have to travel state-to-state, along a chain of BBS. Some major Bulletin Board Systems were backboned by corporate lines and had 1-800 numbers, but they were far and between. We had to trade files, mainly to keep the pool of games and apps fresh.
I would save up some of my allowance and lunch money to spend on a single game so I could go home, rip it, and have something to barter with. I was really wheeling and dealing back then... two games for one, five games for two... three for five... even a five for one special if you had that latest game I was looking for. Not only was I enrolled in economics 101, I was also mastering gray ethics.
You see, during the first few months I thought I was the smartest mastermind ever conceived with my well-thought out plans. sneaking up to the computer room in the middle of the nights for months on end, outwitting my parents. Sometimes I would imitate the animations of the thief character in my favorite RPG adventure game, Quest for Glory. I was a pint-sized robin hood.... stealing from large companies that I thought really didn't really care and giving to.... well... myself. It would not be until later that I would realize that my dastardly plans were not so dastardly.
From the creaking of the stairs, the screeching of the modem in the odd hours of the night, and the bloated hard drive, my parents were well aware of my antics. They did not intervene because of two reasons: one they thought I was adorable trying to outwit them in my ninja turtle pj's (never underestimate the power of cuteness), and two, to confront me would mean they would have to explain why we had over 80 channels and no cable bill. The BBS systems were relatively safe, and they really had no problems with me frequenting them. Until 1994, all was good.
AOL. Whether you loved it or hated it, you could not deny it's presence. AOL did to the internet what Walmart did to retailers. It systematically took the PC world by storm, providing cheap, convenient internet through it's army of AOL floppies, and later CD's, providing free hours upon sign-up. In the height of it's empire, AOL would hold over 30 million members, becoming the largest internet service provider in the world.
With great power comes great responsibility, and in the early days, AOL, in the name of profit, would shy away from enforcing fundamental ethic codes we expect from ISP's today. They would fail the regulate the content in their famous AOL chat rooms, thereby creating the true "Wild West" era of the internet. Anything went. Anything. It was a gateway for millions of people to do, say, and act how they wanted. When you gather a large enough group of people in one central place without regulation, all hell breaks loose.
And hell did break loose. AOHell to be exact. AOHell was the first griefing tool created by the coder known as "Da Chronic". (you can read the classic AOHell readme here). There would be later griefing software such as FateX and Havok, but AOHell started it all. It's funny, yet appropriate that a 15 year old kid would start what would be the anonymous asshole movement of the internet, still going strong today.
While AOL was slowly gaining strength in the mid 1990's, BBS systems started dropping off like flies. Everyone began migrating to the internet; AOL warez rooms grew overnight. Elite groups such as Razor1911 and FAiRLiGHT started taking root in their new homes. Other warez release groups like Drink or Die, CORE, PHROZEN CREW, CLASS, and PIRATES WITH ATTITUDE were battling for supremacy.
AOL's culture started before I got on the internet, but with free trial floppies coming in the mail every week, and the BBS systems dying, I had no choice but to adapt. I would wait until my parents were in a good mood, and just casually mention to them that we could be flying on the information superhighway for 20 hours a month for less than a dollar a day. I would put the bargaining skills I learned from negotiating my game deals to work. I approached them with the offer after Sunday dinner, bringing it up to them as my dad finished his steak. They were reluctant, but met me halfway.
The truth of the matter was that the effects of AOHell, and in turn AOL, had gotten national coverage by this time. The internet was labeled as unsafe for children, and so my parents were concerned, and rightfully so. The plan was for them to browse the internet using AOL for 30 days. After the 30 days, they would tell me whether or not it was a go.
Unfortunately, after two hours of redialing attempting to connect to AOL and the vulgar spam they received from AOL 30 seconds after they logged in, the jury was out in a week: AOL was banned from the household.
However, not all was lost. AOL was banned, but they gave permission to seek out a local carrier. The internet age had begun.
To Be Continued