An anonymous interview with a former participant of the cutting scene. Part 1

On Habré there were already articles about the sceners , which were eventually arrested. Today I publish a translation of an interview with a man who was never caught. Obviously, he is American, and all this happened in the USA. The interview took place in 2010, anonymously, for obvious reasons, he does not name the group in which he was. Therefore, as a picture for the article, I used a randomly selected logo of the node through which the pirated files passed.

An incredible number of questions were asked, the entire thread was over 1000 messages. Besides the questions, there were a lot of simple thanks, which I did not translate. But even when I dropped the recurring and most obvious topics, there were too many questions for one post. Therefore, I decided to translate them in parts, not sorting, in the order as they were asked, and today I present you the first part. The questions were very different, about everything related to the scene, piracy in general, and in particular films.

The topic began with a brief "summary" of the author:
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For about 5 years, from 2003 to 2009, I was a member of one of the largest pirate groups in the world. A lot of time has passed since I retired, and due to statute of limitations and other reasons, I can now openly talk about it.

Some details:

Our group released over 500 movie releases before the official DVD release. Releases of various types - camrip / TS / DVD / DVDscr / TC, etc., in different formats. I happened to be the guy who makes the movie in the cinema (cammer), and those who get the sound, and the coder, and more specifically, a fairly good specialist in the technology of cutting watermarks MPAA.

During this time, six of my close friends and colleagues were arrested, two were imprisoned, two became informants, and one committed suicide.

I must say that I am impressed with the responses, and of course did not expect so many questions. I will try to answer everything, it will take a lot of time, but why not, it’s like a return to the past for me and I was pleased to know that there is interest in the subject. Good questions! I will not go into details on some topics, you know. I'll do what I can :)

How did you find out about the informants?

How did you find out? In the first case, we suspected that something was wrong with the dude, and we knew enough about him to make some correct calls and find out that he was taken from his job at the FBI.

In the second case, the guy went to the IRC, when he was not followed, and honestly said that he was under the supervision of the FBI, asked the council what to do now, wished us all good luck and change our nicknames quickly.

Why did that person commit suicide (if you know)?

It was probably the most famous pirate in the world;) The sad story of a little Frenchman in Canada. Google Geremi Adam, he really was an example for everyone.

(comment perev.) Dark history. He was sentenced, and began to take drugs in prison, eventually died of an overdose, after he was released. There was a rather lengthy discussion about whether he would take drugs if it were not for the prison, and from what he actually died, but the fact remains that he was imprisoned, which eventually led to his death.

Was there a case when you were very close to arrest?
What were the security measures?

I know the dude who was opened by some granny in his very first time. I'm not sure that she understood why he was doing this, but she just smiled and continued to watch the movie. I heard about other “contacts” with the audience. Usually no one is particularly interested in handing you over.

But…

I know Kammer, who was spotted because he began to run away from the cinema. He rushed through the parking lot, trying to destroy the material on the run, he was squeezed between some cruisers, and he broke his leg. Classic case.

There was one more time when another dude caught up, and when the cinema employees began to surround him, he got up, shouted “I’m BOMB!”, Broke through to the fire exit and ran away.

Thanks for the story, but what about security measures? Do you keep magnets at home or something?

Truecrypt and hidden safe.

Was there some sort of hierarchy? What position did you have in it?

I will not go into details, but yes, there was a hierarchy. It was based on "experience" and on how someone showed himself during the release of releases. Most of the participants somehow did something for the stage, and therefore their opinion was more or less taken into account.

What were your motivations? Were they purely financial or were you driven by idealism?

Idealism. Oh yeah. Stupid ideas in the name of stupid ideas.

How much money do you get for the years you have been on the stage?

Not at all. As I said, I did not have the desire to receive benefits, I knew that what I was doing was quite stupid and risky, and if I add money to this, I’ll add a degree of greed in which I’m not at all interested.

Money has never been the cause. I will repeat it one more time - do not think that it was a massive underground scheme for the sake of profit. This is not true. Your suspicions are clear, there are such schemes. I have no doubt when I see the wheels sold on the streets east of Canal Street. Someone makes them, and someone earns it. As for the stage, I think there is not a single release of the group that does it entirely, but rather individuals. And this is regrettable because it disgraces everyone else.

I can say honestly and frankly, of all those with whom I dealt in due time, I could probably count on the fingers of one hand those who moved the interest in money. The vast majority, hundreds or even thousands are just normal people who live their lives, who have an alter-ego online that makes up a toothache for many corporations.

How did you manage not to get caught when everyone around you was arrested or even imprisoned?

What precautions did you take at each stage: shooting, downloading, etc.?

How? Luck. Cunning. I do not know. My location is greatly influenced. The fact that I was smart enough not to give out TOO much information about myself.

You see, when a person is caught, everything connected with our existence is erased. New BNC, new servers, new ripbox, everything. This is the only way to survive.

I saw so many get caught for very stupid reasons.

As for precautionary measures, during that period of my life I moved a lot, my location changed all the time. But even without that, it would be hard for me to find. In addition, BNC, VPNs, proxies, and free wifi points.

I saw so many get caught for very stupid reasons.

Any examples?
A friend of mine was working in a movie theater, and once a camera was caught there, due to the fact that he had not stuck all the indicators on the camera, and their reflections were noticed. But I would like to hear other reasons.

Using tripods. Some run away from the cinema at the end of the session. Once a person was arguing with his girlfriend until the police arrived (yes, it was in the process of illegal filming).

Can you tell us how the whole process went, from planning and filming to film release?

Good. Group meeting. Let's make a release.

First, you need to decide what to choose. This weekend 3 premieres, 1 hit, comedy and some kind of youthful garbage. We will have competitors. Maybe we are some of the best, but others are always there :) If someone risks, he wants to be sure that it's worth it, right? Many times competitors made a plan in advance so as not to cross roads in one movie.

We choose who will shoot, he goes to the cinema, returns home. The most difficult thing is to manage to completely capture the entire area of ​​the screen.

Ideally, he uploads a dump directly to the ripbox, where the coders do it. Angles, colors, distortion, that and that, everything is corrected. The next step is the removal of watermarks. Ideally, this is done by several people who are browsing the material, ticking the dots, and checking among themselves. After a couple of good guys look at all this, you can be almost sure that you have got rid of all the marks. They are removed in the final pass of the render.

Audio merges with other guys, or even from another group. Then the sound is synchronized with the video, and it turns out the final product. This can be difficult, because not all projectors work the same way - if one of them gradually speeds up or slows down during operation, the synchronizer may take many hours!

Then the file is packaged, uploaded to sites, and announced. And then ... goes for a walk around the world.



Here is a brief explanation, but the whole process, however, can take from 3 hours to 3 days of work. And each film can have its own little puzzles that will have to be settled. Anything can happen ...

Have you ever been associated with a man in a projector box? Getting this place is incredibly easy, and they all hate their jobs.

This is a big risk for the employee. All copies for movie theaters are marked and they can be VERY easily tracked. Present this as the serial number on the copy. If you want to know more, google Kodak Cap Codes or search the old branch on VCDQ, everything is well described there.

In general, an employee of the cinema -> a big risk. But also an excellent provider of the right films;)

I ask because I used to work there and it seems to me that it would be incredibly easy to get at least high-quality kamprips with clear sound. On working days, there was no one up there in the booth except me. I just sat and smoked, twisted some movie, smoked again, twisted another movie. I think it would be easy to install a recording system. Direct the camera through the window, plus the microphone set. But in general, I worked there for a long time, maybe I forgot something in terminology.

You're right. But even the sound is marked in inaudible areas. The films themselves contain from 3 to 25 watermarks that appear on 3 frames out of 24. There is often glass in the booth, because of which there will be terrible reflections. If possible, the best picture can be obtained by putting a tripod in the middle of an empty room.

And these watermarks are those black ovals, orange at the edges, which sometimes flash briefly on the screen?

Not. These are labels of change of the reel, each reel approximately 18-20 minutes.

How long does it take the film to go from the stage to the place where everyone can download it?

It used to take a lot of time. But 2010 came, and now at the most it is a few hours.

Why did you leave?

Because everyone that I really liked to communicate with for many, many years went to prison, and all the newbies, dibiloids appearing in our area, seemed to be going to the same place. Honestly, at some point I realized that my time was up.

How do people like you get on stage?

How did I get there? Through a friend. He participated in the work of one software group ... introduced me to some people ... I realized that I had something to offer them.

Have you seen any changes in your “business” since you started?

Changes? Yes. P2P changed everything. Accessibility has changed everything.

How do you see the future of piracy?

The future of piracy ...
People engaged in illegal trade in alcohol and tobacco. They will pirate movies. This is a feature of the “no victim” crime, so people treat it normally.

Do you think Hollywood delivers crappy movies on purpose to keep track of how you will pirate them?

Not. I think they release them, because most of the population doesn’t really shine with the intellect and they like it: D

Since the FBI is now reading this forum, do you think they will extract something from this thread, not about you personally, but any information / clues for yourself? And if so, do you care about this fact, now, when you are already out of the game?

Why do I say that, just when about one month ago a certain idiot posted a picture of a bug here, which the FBI put on his “friend's” car, on which the serial number was visible, they somehow found out about it. Apparently they have some poor fellow sitting and reading everything here all day.

hmmm ... maybe But if the things that I am telling here will help them, it means that they are really much farther from the goal than I imagined: D

Does it care me? As far as I can see, there are very few “respected” bands on the stage, and most of them are now released via P2P, so probably not.

Is it difficult to get on stage?

No comments. There is no “explicit” entry. We are talking about people who are going online to commit massive organized copyright infringement at the international level.



Do you happen to know why there is still no normal Inception screener? Maybe you have some theory? Already so much time has passed.

I can not say for sure, but the screeners are slowly fading away since the acting guild took tough measures after the OBUS leak. They (DVDSCR) usually appear during the award of the Oscars (every year), and after a few months, those who were their sources go to jail. And this process is consistently repeated year after year.

(from discussion) The OBUS leak is a sensational 2004 Oscar-nominated leak.

Aside from kamripov, I always told my friends that piracy of films is helped by the fact that people involved in this are not paid enough money for their work. Is it true?

Materials that could not be obtained in other ways, were you provided by dissatisfied studio workers, or did you somehow get access to their servers?

Absolutely right. No one thinks that DVDSCR can be obtained from a rich film producer. Not. Rather, his offended secretary, which he fucks for bonuses.

And you can detail the watermarks, and methods for their removal? Obviously, they are somehow hidden and invisible to the naked eye. Do they look like those yellow dots that laser printers quietly add to printed pages?

How does this knowledge seep into the scene? I think this is valuable information.

If you are looking for something, you will find this information on the net. She tends to remain a secret. In essence, these are small dots flashing briefly on the screen that make up the sequence, the serial number identifying the copy, and you can find out from where it was obtained. If in a magical way 3-4 pirated films leave the same cinema ...

It is known that the MPAA come and begin to put pressure on the staff. I know that once in the theater, where we worked, they threatened to fire all the staff completely, if it did not stop. They were so sure that this was one of the employees.

Audio ... I am not an expert on sound, I have never succeeded in synchronization. In the range above the audible, they record vibrations (similar to those points) that correspond to the number of the audio disc. This can be determined by comparing several audio tracks from one movie.

Which groups would you say are still respected?

Dear? Fuck ... Almost no one left, my friend. It has already been said here somewhere “show me a nice fresh telesync” - and this is difficult to do.

2-3 years ago, it was still possible. The spread of P2P and fragmentation between groups is growing, they are losing touch and therefore the opportunity to share knowledge, resources and experience ...

Some of the coolest things I knew, I learned from people who tried to destroy me: D

Would you like to share your experience and knowledge with the opposite side: people trying to stop piracy? Like, “catch me if you can”

Yes. I think in our time, with this peering, arrests and special operations, toughening of laws, etc., everything led to the fact that most of the “real” scenes of the groups were drunk. As a result, now piracy of films is supported, as I suppose, by what may be called rather criminal elements. You wonder why there has been a sharp drop in quality telesync in the past few years? This is because there are less and less people who have a desire to do this out of the idea, the risks are too high. It's easier to pay any drug addict $ 200 to do it. And rummage among what is sold on disks on the street. As a result, these discs are laid out on the Internet, after someone buys them, quickly makes a rip, checks the pirate bay, and like this: “Wow, damn it, no one has laid it out yet, go nuts !!!”

What did you do to not get caught in the cinema? Is it possible that the person who is sitting next to you will not notice, especially in the full hall, as it happens on the night of the premiere?

Literally, each cammer seems to have its own unique camera design. I saw incredible tripods, I saw jackets, snap-on systems, handbags, banks ... that damn it, just do not name it, people have already tried it.

Were you paranoid while you were in business? I probably would constantly look in the rearview mirror, checking to see if they were following me.

Still would. I looked over my shoulder. I was afraid when I crossed the border. Once I was detained and invited to go into a small room. I already thought that the end and I was now extradited. It turned out it was a petty paper error. Ufff!

Continued: part 2