radium

[mishgun]

в свое время была такая известная варезная группа radium. они первыми начали специализироваться конкретно на аудио-софте. ниже приведен текст интервью с их лидером скрывавшимся под ником sandor. весьма занимательное чтиво, я, например, узнал для себя довольно много интересного:

<_KaY_> When did Radium group was created?

<Sandor> Back in July 1997.. a little over a year ago

<_KaY_> Whats is the primary goal of this group?

<Sandor> Well, i remember especially downloading my 12th copy of a 'Cubase 3.0 crack fully working', and it didnt work at all, audiowarez was really getting
neglected by warez groups, and a lot of the releases didnt work or were very
badly tested, so i figured it was time someone who actually used the apps
started releasing them. So now, our goal is to release programs that will be useful to Musicians and try our best to make sure they work well.
Our goal is also to have fun We are all doing things that we like to do -
cracking or making installers or gfx, etc...

<_KaY_> Was it hard to create this group, i mean was it hard to find suppliers, good crackers...?

<Sandor> Yes actually. At first it was just Deepz0ne and myself, and we released together a little number of programs like soundforge cd architect.
But then Deepz0ne had to leave for a while and for a little time it was just me. I was very close to dropping Radium, because im not a cracker, but things started going well, and i met Whouse, and then JazzMaster. Jazz had some experience in cracking dongles, and we decided to jump in and tackle a big program: (Cubase 3.5)
It took us a long time, an we spent weeks and weeks testing.
After we released Cubase Score, things took off again and we met up with
Pterra-X and Freeform.
After some time, we had released quite a few bigger programs like Cakewalk
6.01.At that time, j@ker was hanging out on ABSU (alt.binaries.sound.utilies)
and was doing cracks there. I emailed him and he was very happy to join, meet other crackers and get new interesting things to crack.
After a few months, Deepz0ne was free and came back into Radium again, and then Drugstah joined too... and with all that cracking talent its been hard sometimes to keep them busy with enough things to crack

<_KaY_> At the beginning of your group what was the way to find software, coz its very expensive?

<Sandor> Thats always been the hardest part! Some Radium members work in music stores, so that helps, but we've recieved a lot of programs and support from certain people on #audiowarez, and most recently a few people have goten together to help buy some programs that noone seems to be able to get, but would be very good to have cracked.

<_KaY_> Do members meet just online or do they have already met in real life?

<Sandor> Radium is very much across the world - Europe and NorthAmerica so its hard to meet. Since Radium has gotten more well known, Im also fairly protective of my real identity, as most other Radium members are too.
However we have become very good friends over time, working together, chatting, having fun, helping.. so its not impossible we might fly somewhere to meet someday.

<_KaY_> Does the channel #audiowarez was created at the same time u created the group?

<Sandor> I created #audiowarez a few months after Radium began. At that time there was not any channel about this type of thing on effnet. Of course it started small, just one bot (hi sugarush!) and a dozen people, but it grew
really fast.. now on some days #aw has had over 200 people in the channel at one time.

 

[mishgun]

<_KaY_> Whats the goal of this channel and if it continues to grow will u fix a
limit (invite only or pass)?

<Sandor> Audiowarez doesnt really have a goal.. its just us musicians all
meeting to gab about what we love - making music and using music software
When Radium people have time, we try and help out if people have technical
problems, or dont know how to apply a crack, etc
I cant imagine a day when #audiowarez went invite only... for the most part i
think the channel runs really well, and the people who come regulary are really great people! And btw, many thanks to Ism, steph and slip - who have helped out so much in the channel.

<_KaY_> Which important rules would u want to remind to #audiowarez users?

<Sandor> Well i dont need to anymore.. the D00t bot seems to do it all haha

<_KaY_>

<Sandor> People in the channel seem to be helping each other a good bit recenly .. settig up an ftp to help those who dont have things, sending a program to someone who needs it, or helping solve common problems.

<_KaY_> Some rumors tell the group became famous all around the world and some software companies contact your group to delay cracked releases of their softs, is it true? Have u got any contacts with software companies?

<Sandor> Yes, ive talked to some of the programmers of the software. And
overall, its been surprisingly friendly. There has been only one developer who
came and complained that he didnt want his program released, and so we havent actually, but then he came back in complaining later that he didnt have enough promotion, and started advertising in the channel.. But you cant have it both ways.
There have been some odd experiences, like programmers contacting us asking how they can make their audio protection better.
But the rumor about Propellorheads contacting us asking us to delay the release of Rebirth wasnt true. We had a hard time getting the program at first, and then the protection was EXTREMELY complex of course.. they had a lot of time to work on it. We've never talked to the propellorheads - although they did make an offer and say they thought it would be interesting to chat about protection. Im sure it would be an interesting converstation if it ever happened

 

[mishgun]

<_KaY_> Do software companies estimate they lost lot of money till Radium
exists?

<Sandor> Thats a hard question.. how do you measure?
Im not convinced that Warez necessarily means the loss of monely the BSA
claims.. I think a lot of warez users are curious and want to know whats available to
them, even if they dont use it and then of course there are the people who like
to have collections and dont even use it at all
On the other side, warez people are generally very well informed and they know
whats REALLY good and useful.. not just what the ads say. Knowing all this info
makes the warez person almost a 'magnet' of useful information..
So when someone needs a suggestion of what to buy, its likely they will look for
someone who KNOWS the software.
I know a lot of people in the channel have been directly influencial in helping
people buy some things because they could say to them 'Yes, it works .. Ive
compared it to everything else and its the best. And i think (i hope!) that
warez users buy the programs after they have made a decision that its really a
good program.
Im really against people who sell warez, on cds, or otherwise
Ive had some people ask me to help them remove a radium logo from a product
because they wanted to sell it to someone as an original... this type of thing
pisses me off
Warez shouldn't mean free copies... I hope people use it as a way to get really
informed about things.

<_KaY_> Do some companies or 'spa like' tried to track some members of your
group or to make u feeling afraid of continue your job? Do u think it can be
risky in the future for your group to continue his work?

<Sandor> I dont fool myself.. warez is still illegal and we all take a lot of
precautions but we havent had any direct heat or pressure yet, recently WiReD
magazine asked Radium to do an interview for a feature article, but we all
agreed that this type of thing wouldnt be good and could mean bad things for
Radium. (too much exposure!)

<_KaY_> What will be the way if radium becomes very famous and the most part of
ppls get their software with Radium label? Could it be a risk that software
companies stop product quality software coz they aint gain enough money?

<Sandor> Warez has existed as long as software has, and essentially if Radium
didnt release one of the big programs, someone else would.
But i still dont think Radium releasing Sonic Foundry ACID for example has made
a significant decrease in their sales. I guess that if it became apparent that
people we'rent buying software anymore and were just getting from radium, i
would be the first one to leave.

<_KaY_> U told me above: 'if Radium didnt release one of the big programs,
someone else would' So is there some competition beetween your group and some
others (now or in the past)?

<Sandor> The 'general' warez scene is actually very dead in my eyes.
It seems a lot of the scene outside audio is run by couriers who dont even care
what the programs are.
In the General warez scene there is a fair bit of competition, but i think a lot
of the bigger groups have decided that Radium does Audio pretty well, so why
compete?
We've also made some friends in some groups, like siege and dod and weve helped
each other a few times - weve sent them some non-audio programs and they've sent
us some audio things

<_KaY_> Do Radium members make music in real life?

<Sandor> Yes.. everyone in radium is a musician.
I think i would be hard for a non musician to crack or test some of the harder
protections .. It takes a lot of dedication and you need to love what you do.

<_KaY_> What sort of music do u make yourself?

<Sandor> Short 4 bar loops for installers hehe

<_KaY_> hehe

<Sandor> But usually Ambient Dance.. also some jazz. I like classical.

<_KaY_> Do u play any instrument?

<Sandor> My beloved Kurzweil k2000 and i love to play hand drums (although i
only have cheap ones).

<_KaY_> Is it not too hard for u to keep time for your private life (job,
family...) and to have enough time to work for Radium (U seem to be lot of time
on irc your girlfriend or your wife must be angry

<Sandor> haha.. Yes it gets hard to make sure i leave enough time for
everything.
Ive found if i dont sleep i get an extra 8 hours each day for free

<_KaY_>

<_KaY_> Do u want and do u think Radium will got long life?

<Sandor> This is hard to say.. i hope things can continue for a long time, but
im always prepared for a time when it might have to end.
This is a hobby for everyone, not a real job - so i think if it stopped being
fun we would decide it was time.
I dont see an end in sight though.. everything is running pretty well

<_KaY_> Is there an important thing u would like to tell to all radium software
users?

<Sandor> Remember to eat your vegetables
Always use antivirus software
Look both ways before crossing the street.
Oh, and of course.. if you USE a software a lot, please buy it

<_KaY_> so is there anything u want add?

<Sandor> Just to thank all the people who have been so helpful.. all the Radium
members ..
The crackers of course, but also Zenta, Spelunk, Audi0, Madmax -- some of the
people you dont always see but do a lot of work

<_KaY_> thanx to u sandor, thanx for all the job u did and u do all dayz, thanx
for the time u waste for this interview, thnx to all your group and continue for
long time to bring us tools to make our music -

<_KaY_>

<Sandor>

<Sandor> Wow.. 2 hours hehe
I think i need to go get some food now

<_KaY_> hehe cya

A Post Script: #audiowarez is now 'invite only'. I know because I can no longer
get in. Things change............Buzz

 

[mishgun]

моим первым аудиоварезом был rebirth 1.0. как раз релиз радиума. как раз в 97м

 

[tarzan]

Мега-боян

 

[ceejay]

а их разьве не посадили ? что-то слышал такое..
может успели разбежаться вовремя или переформироваться..

 

[mishgun]

@ ceejay
это интервью судя по всему 98го года. а последний релиз radium'a был кажется в 2002м (заканчивали они уже без сандора, он свалил раньше). после того как радиум распался, ники некоторых участников всплывали в релизах zone и, кажется, oxygen - так что, в принципе, есть вероятность, что кто-то из них до сих пор релизит в составе h2о/air - но это уже из области домыслов.

зы вроде никого не сажали.

Мега-боян

пох ваще © udaff.com :biglaugh: