The history of the scener and the biggest releaser of EliteTorrents, which “got off” with a suspended sentence

Almost every time articles about the scene appear, the question arises in the comments why the sceners do this without having any benefit, but at the risk of actually getting to jail. I hope today I can clarify this issue a little.

In February 2012, an article was published on torrentfreak, based on an interview with a man, along with others arrested by the FBI during Operation D-Elite, about which I wrote earlier . As a teenager, he gained access to the elite pirate community (stage) and at the same time became a leading uploader on one of the most famous torrent trackers in the world.
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Under the cut - translation of the article and a small figurative comparison.

At the very beginning of the new millennium, one 15-year-old schoolboy brought another Iomega ZIP disk, full of warez - pirated programs and games. James (we will call him that for now) has never seen anything like it, and at first glance a passion inherent in many avid file sharing apps was manifested.

“I just could not stop. - he says, - It was much more interesting to download and distribute all this crap to friends than to actually use software and play games. ”

Inspired by such a start, James began chatting with other like-minded people on the warez sites and ICQ, and sharing the warez through the so-called “pubs” - FTP servers, which are abundantly available in large companies that have wide channels and almost no security.

File sharing was not easy in those years, and James recalls that when Napster appeared, they hated him. "It was just a mockery of hard work, with which we got all our equipment." But despite this first dislike of Napster, in the future, James will be at the top of an even wider peer-to-peer exchange network.

Gradually, James made his way to the leading role of GraveyardFXP, and then became the moderator of DelusionalFXP. It was there, on their IRC channel, that he would meet with people whose new project would drag him out and change his life forever. Around this time, James became better known in narrow circles as StonyVision, and he was offered to participate in a business that was organized by his acquaintance pirate, known as Sk0t. This was the start of Elite Torrents torrent tracker, which will then become the first (and only) US based tracker to cover the FBI.

In February 2004, when all his friends had cable modems, StonyVision had two. But the speed was still not enough. Then he rented a 100 Mbps server from The Planet, and began to sit files from there. As soon as the first hundred users downloaded his new release, he created the next distribution, usually new movies. Such an activity eventually led him to become a member of the tracker administration.

Of course, Stony had somewhere to get fresh content, and he, without hesitation, took it directly from the stage. He got access there earlier, through his friends at DelusionalFXP. By that time, his own server was attached to a topsite called “TOP” (Tower of Power) - an array of 53 dedicated 100-Mbit servers, acting as a single huge pirated FTP. But Stony was not enough.

“At that time I was on four out of five topsites, I was mostly interested in films. I have always been interested in cinema, and now too, - explains Stony. “Since my server was constantly overloaded, I rented two more, one for the stage, the other for distribution to Elite Torrents.”

Just like his older comrades, Stony saw himself as something like Robin Hood, who takes from the rich and distributes to the poor, enjoying the enthusiastic responses of his tracker users. But by this time the FBI and the US Department of Justice launched a stormy activity against the scene. Fastlink operation was completed, and everyone thought who would be their next target. Stony had a premonition of danger and left the tracker's management around April 2005, he was then 19 years old. But it was too late.

All admins and major releasers of the tracker were already on the hook with the FBI. Then everything was as usual in such stories. At 6 in the morning, a dozen FBI sheep flocked into his house. At first he even laughed, thought it was a joke. But soon he was not laughing.

Stony says: “They showed me completely idiotic figures of losses in the film industry, they declared me almost a terrorist. I was in utter confusion, did not understand what was happening. What happened to the others, I also had no idea. ”

He did not have a lawyer, he found him in the phone book. A lengthy trial followed, and Stony was threatened with a maximum term of 5 years in prison. The pressure of the situation was too strong, and he began to drink.

In December 2006, was charged. The prosecutor demanded a real term in order to intimidate possible violators. Much to the relief of Stony, this did not happen.

“Fortunately for me, the case was led by the most liberal judge of those then. I was sentenced to a fine of $ 3,500, 6 months of house arrest, community service, and 3 years probation, during which I could not touch the computer. But I was able to escape prison, which simply infuriated the prosecutor. ”

However, Stony says that he still paid his price: “It became my damnation and changed me forever. I rolled on the path of self-destruction, did crazy things, continued to swing and arrange drunken fights in bars. Believe me, I went through hell, looked into the eyes of the devil with his billions (RIAA, MPAA), laughed in their faces and left. "

How is Stony doing now? There are difficulties with work due to a criminal record (albeit conditional), but the family supports him. He says: "Of course, now I no longer piracy, but I am sure they are still watching me."

In conclusion, Stony said that he recently went online and was pleasantly surprised by a huge company against SOPA and PIPA. “Thanks to everyone who participated in this. I am really amazed that people finally decided to stand up for their rights. ”

So why do they do it?

Now I will try to take stock of the stories of convicts that I have published in recent months: EliteTorrents , Risciso , DoD .

Everyone has a hobby. Someone likes to fish, someone to play games, and someone to share files. Of course, scenery, top releasers, to a large extent, do it from the desire to be on top, but the file sharing process itself is also a very attractive activity.

They do not have money from this, this is their favorite work, to which they have devoted many years of life. This is especially true of those who began in the days of the BBS. I remind you that most of the people mentioned in the listed articles were aged 30–40 years and older. They do not consider it something so bad that they can be compared with terrorism, on the contrary, they are sure that they are making the world a better place.

I understand that this example is not similar to the situation with copyright , and that there are many differences. I cite him solely to illustrate the answer to the question: "Why do they do this, despite the fact that they can be planted." I think about these feelings they could have.

Imagine that for 20 years (since the 80s) you have been growing flowers in your garden, this is your favorite business. And suddenly it turns out that violets are the intellectual property of some company, and the lilies are different, and no one else in the world is allowed to grow them, and criminal penalties rely on this. You do not believe that this can happen, this is absurd! But time passes, and one day the FBI come to you, trample all the flowers, they take you away, they judge you and they put you in jail for 5 years.