Shane Pitman, leader of warez-group Razor 1911: life after prison

Recently, user LeeMiller mentioned how I, while studying the cutting scene, came across the story of Shane Pitman , who, under the nickname Pitbull, was the leader of Razor 1911 before the FBI operation “Buccaneer” in 2001, when he was arrested and after a year of investigation was sentenced to 18 months in prison . At that time he was 31 years old, he was married and had 2 children.



In early 2005, while on probation, Shane began a topic on the Neowin website, in which he talked about his post-legal experience, hoping to find a job. The topic became very popular, and Shane gladly answered many questions that were asked of him. One of the users selected the most interesting of them.



Under the cut - a translation of half of these questions, which relate to those times when Shane was one of the most famous pirates of the world, as he was caught, and what he thinks about it. Everything else: about what was in prison, what he felt when he came out, etc. I omit because the topic does not apply.

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At the end, I also quote his (Shane) words, as if summing up the entire thread of questions.



The American judicial system is completely idiotic. You have not done anything SO horrible, and if not for you, someone else would have done it. You can not control the entire Internet. You had to pay a fine, with confiscation, and NOT MORE.



Believe me, they confiscated everything. They took all the computers that I had (10 pieces), there was something illegal on them or not. They said "those things where there will be no illegal material will be returned to you," but that was a lie. I had a G4 server on which I just installed OS X (legally), and nothing more, just the system. He left only the box and CDs, they did not return it, and never returned.



Maybe it will take time. Everything was returned to me (including illegal things, except for cut blanks) about a year after the verdict (although I did not sit in prison), that is, after 2 years they were taken away. True, it was not in the United States.



No, they sent me a letter saying that all my things were gone. They sold them, by auction or something. This is completely unfair, the judicial system is designed to protect citizens and to be impartial, regardless of whether they are guilty or not.



Have you paid a fine or damages? In what size? Was the sentence commuted?



No, I did not pay anything. The officer who conducted the investigation determined that I was unable to pay anything. You see, at the time when I was arrested, I was a network / system administrator in a company that manufactures fiber-optic components. The investigation lasted a whole year, and the company in which I worked reduced the staff. They severely cut the entire IT department in favor of outsourcing, and of course they also fired me. The company would not have left a person who most likely will go to prison in the near future, it is not known how much. So, since November 2002, I was stranded, I received only occasionally a little money from contract works that my friends threw up at me. In general, I could not pay anything, neither then nor now.



Did you leave early? I noticed the difference between the date of the sentence and your release, it is less than 18 months.



Not. The rest of the time I was under house arrest.



How did you find out that you were “caught”, did you get a call, or did the police come to the house?



I was at work, the phone rang. It was an FBI agent, he said that they were at my house with a warrant and that I should come immediately or they would knock the door down. I went home, there were 7-8 FBI cars and customs. As soon as I stopped the car, they surrounded me, and when I opened the door, they grabbed me, threw me on the hood and searched me. They were all in combat gear, in bullet-proof vests, with FBI inscriptions on their backs. You would have thought that I was Saddam Hussein or something.



Then I led them into the house, they immediately put me facing the wall, and walked around the house, room by room, with weapons ready, checking whether everything was clean. There was an elderly civilian with them who said he was a “forensic expert”. He helped them to describe all things, at this time I was sitting in the hall. They packed them up, gave me a receipt and left, saying that "they will be in touch."



Shane, so how did you figure it out? Was it an oversight in the release, or did they track your IP? Maybe someone passed you?



In a nutshell, I relaxed and became lazy. The feds covered the FTP server that I used. I connected to it directly, without a shell or a proxy, and they found out my IP address. I knew that it was impossible to do this, I just went there many times. So it usually happens. You relax, you start walking in short ways, and in the end you expose yourself.



I do not understand why people almost admire you for what you have done, nevertheless, I wish you good luck in your search for work. Federal prison seems to me to be too harsh a punishment for copyright infringement, but do you think you would stop if the case were limited to a suspended sentence?



Yes, I'm sure that would stop me. The search of the house, the confiscation of all the equipment, all this hell of investigation for a whole year, that was enough for me. Believe it or not, I was going to quit myself. I did everything I could, I reached the top so to speak, and I began to age. Maybe another year, two from the strength, and I would gracefully bow out and disappear into nowhere. They just sped up my departure.



And what about your team, Razor, do they still exist? It would be interesting to know. Do you still keep in touch with them?



No, that would be too dangerous. I am sure that the Razor 1911 still exists in some form. But honestly I do not know. When all these raids began, everyone tried to disappear. Nobody called, no one spoke, no one went online at all. As for me and others, whom we later took, we already hit the government’s sight, but we simply did not know. Since then, I have not communicated with anyone. I do not know if the group is acting, and who is in it now. I only know that I will never be there again. It is not worth what I went through. For copying some programs and games? Never.



Did you crack the quake and release it before the official release?



Razor 1911 released Quake on July 23, 1996. This is a historical fact, and the more I can not say, so as not to violate the rules of this site.



I wonder how many people who participated in this trial and investigation could honestly say that they paid for everything that they have on the computer? I bet that very few ...



I must ask, do you think the sentence was unfair? That is the fact that you were sent to prison instead of a suspended sentence? I saw that you confessed that you were going to leave the stage soon, this fact was mentioned at the trial, do you think this would have any impact?



Honestly, the whole thing dispelled my respect for the federal government and the judicial system. I was imprisoned for copyright infringement, and while I was in prison, I saw the assistant prison warden changing DVDs with his secretary ...



No, the fact that I planned to leave the scene was not mentioned, and I don’t think it would help. It's like saying “I was going to rob only one more bank” or “I would kill just one more person”.



Do I think the sentence was fair? No I do not think so. I have never been punished for anything in my life, except for speeding once when I was a teenager. Until the very last week, before I went to prison, I was an assistant to the head of the scouts in the detachment in which I was from the age of 10. I was a flag football and baseball coach at a local club. None of this mattered. Nothing good that you did, no merit is taken into account, have no weight.



What do you think of illegal software? I know that this is a big question, but at least briefly.



My opinion is. Yes, I know that sooner or later, pirated software falls on the streets in different countries, where it is sold for a pittance. BUT, if there were no warez groups, those who sell pirated software would still do it. They would wait until it goes on sale, buy one copy, and start selling. Neither I, nor any person with whom I was familiar on the stage, ever earned a cent on it. In fact, on the contrary, I even spent. In general, what I did violated copyright laws. I do not agree with these laws 100%, but they were written by people with big money, so that they always have a lot of money too, so I doubt that these laws will change for the better soon. That is why I am an ardent supporter of the open source community.



Don't you find that episode, with DVD sharing, incredibly ironic? I wonder if you are going to fight this system, after all the injustice shown to you?



I saw a lot of things, the prisoners made copies of books for prison staff, because they did not want to spend money on their purchase, and so much more that it was a direct violation of the very laws that I was convicted of violating. I barely mention just a fraction of this topic.



If you had a chance, would you do it again? (your life with razor)



Donate a year of life with my wife, my daughter (now 13) and 7-year-old son, parents, and the rest of the family. Not only I suffered, they, too. Would I do it again? No way, it's not worth it. My life is ruined, only because of copying some stupid software, for which a year after it is released, no one will give a broken penny.



One may ask, why did you decide to join razor then?



It's a long story. In short, I have been involved in this business since my youth, in times of BBS-ok. Over time, I began to get in touch with the first warez and demo groups. So, one after another, I soon with a few friends kept my own BBS. Gradually, it all went on the Internet. Something like this was. I am thinking of writing a more detailed long story, but I cannot publish it here.



Have you ever thought to retrain for another specialty, especially after computer-related events that occurred in prison? I would personally after that hated computers.



Believe me, there was a time when I wanted never to see a computer again in my life. But alas, that's all I can do. That is, I have been doing this for so long, and, I confess honestly, the technique is still my passion. I don’t think that I could work anywhere outside the technical industry.



What happened to the others who were convicted with you, do you keep in touch with any of them or not? What was your role in razor, just coordination, or supplier / cracker?



I do not know what happened to the others, and what they are doing now. I have not spoken to any of them since my arrest. I read that one of them managed to avoid problems, and I hope that the rest will also have such a chance.



Over the years I have had many roles, from the BBS sysop to the actual leadership of the group.



When you were on stage, were you afraid of being caught?



I never really feared that they would catch me. I knew all those with whom I was connected very well, and they were all in business for many, many years, like me. I was careful, like everything, however, as it happens, you calm down over time. I didn’t hide the tracks as well as I needed, I didn’t take the old precautions, and in the end I was caught.



Did anyone in your family know?



The family knew what I was doing, to some extent. They knew that I could get any movie they wanted, or a CD they needed. No one in my family really understands computers, so programs don't mean anything to them, but they knew that whatever they needed, I had it. I don't think they imagined how serious it was, no.



Do you think the FBI or provider is tracking your actions now?



I do not know. I, however, do not particularly worry about this. Now I do not download anything, except perhaps Linux distributions, beta versions of various programs and similar things. If they are watching me now, they must be dying of boredom.

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Perhaps for some it will be a surprise, but the reason for such tough licensing methods and copy protection is very far from the “cutting-edge” scene. The main reason for which they are introduced is corporate and commercial piracy. These are situations when a company buys one copy of a program and puts it on all of its computers, or when a person buys a copy, makes 10,000 copies of it and sells it on the streets. Yes, the cutting scene is illegal, it breaks the law, but it is only a small part of the global piracy problem. Do you think companies are downloading releases of warez groups? No, they want to be sure that they use a real product, not to mention the fact that they need at least some kind of technical support. Software companies assume that not everyone buys a $ 400 copy of MS Office 2003 for each computer for their homes. However, they expect each company to do so. Knowing that almost every fourth business uses “pirated software” (using one copy for several computers is also piracy), they come up with more and more sophisticated methods of copy protection and activation. This is not because of the “cutting scene”, no, no, this is because of the corporate world and people who go to buy discs on trays a week before the movie premieres. That’s why we’ve been bothered by these registrations, validations, and so on.



Do not believe anyone, look, read, think for yourself. The “Varezna Scene” is simply a convenient scapegoat in the global piracy problem. They will not tell you about the real problems, because they exist in almost every corporation in the world. All of these raids and arrests on stage are nothing more than PR. Of course, this slows down the exchange in P2P networks for a while, but it is immediately restored. No, the real problem and the culprit of what we have to endure lies within the walls of corporate America and all other countries that do not follow the course of strict audit and control.