Software Cracking
Software cracking is the modification of software to remove or disable features which are considered undesirable by the person cracking the software, usually related to protection methods, copy protection, trial/demo version, serial number, hardware key, date checks, CD check or software annoyances like nag screens and adware. The distribution and use of cracked copies is illegal in almost every developed country. There have been many lawsuits over cracking software
The most visible and controversial effect of software cracking is the releasing of fully operable proprietary software without any copy protection. Software companies represented by the Business Software Alliance estimate and claim losses due to piracy.[citation needed] But most of these claims turn out to be extremely exaggerated or unsubstantiated.
Most of the early software crackers were computer hobbyists who often formed groups that competed against each other in the cracking and spreading of software. Breaking a new copy protection scheme as quickly as possible was often regarded as an opportunity to demonstrate one's technical superiority rather than a possibility of money-making. Some low skilled hobbyists would take already cracked software and edit various unencrypted strings of text in it to change messages a game would tell a game player, often something not suitable for children. Then pass the altered copy along in the pirate networks, mainly for laughs among adult users. The cracker groups of the 1980s started to advertise themselves and their skills by attaching animated screens known as crack intros in the software programs they cracked and released. Once the technical competition had expanded from the challenges of cracking to the challenges of creating visually stunning intros, the foundations for a new subculture known as demo scene were established. Demo scene started to separate itself from the illegal "warez scene" during the 1990s and is now regarded as a completely different subculture. Many software crackers have later grown into extremely capable software reverse engineers; the deep knowledge of assembly required in order to crack protections enables them to reverse engineer drivers in order to port them from binary-only drivers for Windows to drivers with source code for Linux and other free operating systems.
Most of the well-known or "elite" cracking groups make software cracks entirely for respect in the "The Scene", not profit.[peacock term] From there, the cracks are eventually leaked onto public Internet sites by people/crackers who use well-protected/secure FTP release archives, which are made into pirated copies and sometimes sold illegally by other parties.
The Scene today is formed of small groups of very talented people, who informally compete to have the best crackers, methods of cracking, and reverse engineering
