Razor 1911: Difference between revisions
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Razor once again took on a new challenge when the [[ISO 9660|ISO]] scene was formed. Razor 1911 began to release ISOs when they became the standard of the day, led most significantly by The Punisher. He was instrumental in Razor's recovery and its solid performance in the ISO scene. Following The Punisher's retirement, Razor was led by various different people and underwent some internal problems in the form of leadership challenges. This was solved when Pitbull, an old Razor member from the 1990s, took over the leadership role. The FBI claimed him to still be the leader of Razor at the time when "[[Operation Buccaneer]]", an international anti-piracy operation which led to raids at the homes of over 60 piracy suspects worldwide in 2001, was carried out even though NFOs and scene activity at the time points out The Renegade Chemist as actual leader of the group. |
Razor once again took on a new challenge when the [[ISO 9660|ISO]] scene was formed. Razor 1911 began to release ISOs when they became the standard of the day, led most significantly by The Punisher. He was instrumental in Razor's recovery and its solid performance in the ISO scene. Following The Punisher's retirement, Razor was led by various different people and underwent some internal problems in the form of leadership challenges. This was solved when Pitbull, an old Razor member from the 1990s, took over the leadership role. The FBI claimed him to still be the leader of Razor at the time when "[[Operation Buccaneer]]", an international anti-piracy operation which led to raids at the homes of over 60 piracy suspects worldwide in 2001, was carried out even though NFOs and scene activity at the time points out The Renegade Chemist as actual leader of the group. |
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==Members raided== |
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In 2001, two members of Razor 1911 were raided as part of international anti-piracy co-op [[Operation Buccaneer]], led by the United States Customs Service. |
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* Shane E. Pitman age 31, of [[Conover, North Carolina]] a leader of Razor 1911 who went by the [[pseudonym]] "Pitbull", was sentenced to 18 months in prison "for conspiring to violate [[copyright|copyright laws]]" as part of [[Operation Buccaneer]].<ref name=pitbull>{{cite web|url=http://www.defacto2.net/file/detail/ab3914|title=Shane Pitman - Post Jail|quote=Shane Pitman under the pseudonym of Pitball was the leader of Razor 1911 in it's{{sic}} later years.}}</ref> |
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* Sean Michael Breen age 38, of [[Richmond, California]], a member of Razor 1911 since the early 1990s pleaded guilty in July 2003 to two counts of copyright infringement in violation of Title 17, United States Code, Section 506(a) and Title 18, United States Code, Section 2319, and to three counts of mail fraud in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1341. He was sentenced February 10, 2004 to 50 months in prison and three years of supervised release, for violating the criminal copyright laws, and for defrauding Cisco Systems of hundreds of thousands of dollars of hardware. Mr. Breen was also ordered to pay restitution of $690,236.91 to Cisco Systems. Mr. Breen's 50-month sentence is the longest imposed to date of the more than 40 individuals worldwide targeted by Operation Buccaneer. In a separate investigation by agents from the United States Secret Service, Mr. Breen also admitted that he had illegally used an online customer account of Cisco Systems to order hundreds of thousands of dollars of hardware by falsely posing as one of Cisco's existing customers. Mr. Breen arranged to have the hardware delivered in separate shipments via Federal Express to "Comptel Logistics," a [[shell (corporation)|shell company]] that had been created for the sole purpose of receiving the fraudulently obtained hardware. Mr. Breen and his business partner rented a storefront in Oakland to act as a business location for Comptel Logistics and to receive the hardware. After receiving the hardware, Mr. Breen sold it on the [[black market]] at a heavily discounted price. |
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Immediately after the raid, Razor 1911 ceased activity for a short period of time. They released [[Atari Revival: Warlords 3D]] on May 1, 2002, 6 months after the bust and continued to release games on a regular basis until June 22, 2004. Razor's response to Operation Buccaneer shows that the busts only affected people alleged to be active members of the group by the FBI. In reality those who were busted had been ex-members for several years. Unlike most groups, Razor 1911 was not directly affected by [[Operation Fastlink]] in 2004, as Razor were still releasing games on a regular basis during the following months. |
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==Return== |
==Return== |
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Revision as of 18:18, 9 September 2015
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|
 Razor 1911 | |
| Formation | October 1985 |
|---|---|
| Purpose | Warez / Demo |
| Location | |
Origin | Norway |
Founders | Doctor No Insane TTM Sector9 |
| Website | Razor 1911 Demo division |
Razor 1911 (RZR) is a warez and demogroup founded in Norway, 1985. According to the US Justice Department, Razor 1911 is the oldest software cracking group that is still active on the internet.[1]
History
The group was originally founded as Razor 2992 by Doctor No, Insane TTM and Sector9 in Norway in October 1985 as a Commodore 64 software cracking group. Shortly after, they changed from 2992 to 1911 which translates to 777 in hexadecimal.
Between 1987 and 1988 the group began to move away from the Commodore 64 and migrated to a new hardware platform, coding demos and cracking games for the Amiga. In the very early 1990s Razor 1911 made another transition, this time to the IBM PC, foremost as a cracking group, but still continuing to release cracktro loaders, demos and music.
Razor was a supply group on diskette from 1992 until diskettes were abandoned for CD-ROMs. Throughout the 1990s Razor faced competition from many different groups, ranging from groups such as Tristar & Red Sector inc. (TRSi), International Network of Crackers (INC), The Dream Team (TDT) and Fairlight (FLT) in 1994 to Prestige, Hybrid (HBD), and others in 1995. Razor was revitalised by new members gained from another group, Nexus, who brought with them some UK suppliers and the leaders The Speed Racer (TSR), Hot Tuna and The Gecko. Razor had a handful of others throughout the 1990s, such as Zodact, The Renegade Chemist (TRC), The WiTcH KiNG, Butcher, SwiTch, Marauder, and Randall Flagg.
In 1995 diskette releases were rapidly being supplanted by CD-ROMs, and Razor 1911 moved into the CD-ripping scene. The crew that led Razor into this new chapter included members such as TSR, Pharaoh, GRIZZLY, Suspicious Image, Third Son, Hot Tuna, Beowulf, Pitbull, Bunter, Manhunter, Niteman, Vitas, Mausioso and The Punisher.
Razor once again took on a new challenge when the ISO scene was formed. Razor 1911 began to release ISOs when they became the standard of the day, led most significantly by The Punisher. He was instrumental in Razor's recovery and its solid performance in the ISO scene. Following The Punisher's retirement, Razor was led by various different people and underwent some internal problems in the form of leadership challenges. This was solved when Pitbull, an old Razor member from the 1990s, took over the leadership role. The FBI claimed him to still be the leader of Razor at the time when "Operation Buccaneer", an international anti-piracy operation which led to raids at the homes of over 60 piracy suspects worldwide in 2001, was carried out even though NFOs and scene activity at the time points out The Renegade Chemist as actual leader of the group.
Members raided
In 2001, two members of Razor 1911 were raided as part of international anti-piracy co-op Operation Buccaneer, led by the United States Customs Service.
- Shane E. Pitman age 31, of Conover, North Carolina a leader of Razor 1911 who went by the pseudonym "Pitbull", was sentenced to 18 months in prison "for conspiring to violate copyright laws" as part of Operation Buccaneer.[2]
- Sean Michael Breen age 38, of Richmond, California, a member of Razor 1911 since the early 1990s pleaded guilty in July 2003 to two counts of copyright infringement in violation of Title 17, United States Code, Section 506(a) and Title 18, United States Code, Section 2319, and to three counts of mail fraud in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1341. He was sentenced February 10, 2004 to 50 months in prison and three years of supervised release, for violating the criminal copyright laws, and for defrauding Cisco Systems of hundreds of thousands of dollars of hardware. Mr. Breen was also ordered to pay restitution of $690,236.91 to Cisco Systems. Mr. Breen's 50-month sentence is the longest imposed to date of the more than 40 individuals worldwide targeted by Operation Buccaneer. In a separate investigation by agents from the United States Secret Service, Mr. Breen also admitted that he had illegally used an online customer account of Cisco Systems to order hundreds of thousands of dollars of hardware by falsely posing as one of Cisco's existing customers. Mr. Breen arranged to have the hardware delivered in separate shipments via Federal Express to "Comptel Logistics," a shell company that had been created for the sole purpose of receiving the fraudulently obtained hardware. Mr. Breen and his business partner rented a storefront in Oakland to act as a business location for Comptel Logistics and to receive the hardware. After receiving the hardware, Mr. Breen sold it on the black market at a heavily discounted price.
Immediately after the raid, Razor 1911 ceased activity for a short period of time. They released Atari Revival: Warlords 3D on May 1, 2002, 6 months after the bust and continued to release games on a regular basis until June 22, 2004. Razor's response to Operation Buccaneer shows that the busts only affected people alleged to be active members of the group by the FBI. In reality those who were busted had been ex-members for several years. Unlike most groups, Razor 1911 was not directly affected by Operation Fastlink in 2004, as Razor were still releasing games on a regular basis during the following months.
Return
On June 22, 2006, Razor 1911 started releasing games again. They have been releasing games fairly consistently ever since, and as of 2010 are among the most prolific groups at cracking new releases.[3]
On April 22, 2011, Razor 1911's demo division won the public choice award[4] during the Scene.org Awards ceremony at The Gathering for their 64k intro "Insert No Coins" coded by Rez with music from Dubmood.[5]
See also
References
- ^ http://www.justice.gov/criminal/cybercrime/press-releases/2003/pitmanSent.htm
- ^ "Shane Pitman - Post Jail".
Shane Pitman under the pseudonym of Pitball was the leader of Razor 1911 in it's [sic] later years.
- ^ "The Game Scene Charts Issue 38 December 2009 Edition". SceneNotice.org. 2010-01-20. Razor 1911 is on position 10 for the year 2009.
- ^ "Scene.org Awards". 2011-04-22.
- ^ "pouet.net".