Standard (warez)

Standards in the warez scene are defined by groups of people who have been involved in its activities for several years and have established connections to large groups.[1][2] These people form a committee, which creates drafts for approval of the large groups.[ruleset 1][3] Outside the warez scene, often referred to as p2p, there are no global rules similar to the scene, although some groups and individuals could have their own internal guidelines they follow.

In warez distribution, all releases must follow these predefined standards to become accepted material.[4] The standards committee usually cycles several drafts and finally decides which is best suited for the purpose, and then releases the draft for approval. Once the draft has been e-signed by several bigger groups, it becomes ratified and accepted as the current standard. There are separate standards for each category of releases. All groups are expected to know and follow the standards.[5]

What is defined

There are rules of naming and organizing files, rules that dictate how a file must be packaged and an nfo file, that contains required information, must be added with the content.[5]

Format

The first part of a standards document usually defines the format properties for the material, like codec, bitrate, resolution, file type and file size. Creators of the standard usually do comprehensive testing to find optimal codecs and settings for sound and video to maximize image quality in the selected file size.

When choosing file size, the limiting factor is the size of the media to be used (such as 700MB for CD-R). The standards are designed such that a certain amount of content will fit on each piece of media, with the best possible quality in terms of size.[6] If more discs are required for sufficient quality, the standard will define the circumstances where it is acceptable to expand to a second or third disc. Newer video standards moved away from the size constraints and replaced them with a quality based alternative such as the use of CRF.

New codecs are usually tested annually to check if any offer any conclusive enhancement in quality or compression time. In general, quality is not sacrificed for speed, and the standards will usually opt for the highest quality possible, even if this takes much longer. For example, releases using the Xvid encoder must use the two-pass encoding method, which takes twice as long as a single pass, but achieves much higher quality; similarly, DVD-R releases that must be re-encoded often use 6 or 8 passes to get the best quality.

When choosing the file format, platform compatibility is important. Formats are chosen such that they can be used on any major platform with little hassle. Some formats such as CloneCD can only be used on Windows computers, and these formats are generally not chosen for use in the standards.

Packaging

Next, the standard usually talks about how to package the material. Allowed package formats today are limited to RAR and ZIP, of which the latter is used only in 0-day releases.

The sizes of the archives within the distributed file vary from the traditional 3½" floppy disk (1.44 MB) or extra-high density disk (2.88 MB) to 5 MB, 15 MB (typical for CD images) or 20MB (typical for CD images of console releases), 50 MB files (typical for DVD images), and 100MB (for dual-layer DVD images). These measurements are not equivalent to traditional measurement of file size (which is 1024 KB to a MB, 1024 MB to a GB); in a typical DVD release, each RAR file is exactly 50,000,000 bytes, not 52,428,800 bytes (50 megabytes in binary prefix).[7]

Formerly, the size of volumes were limited by the RAR file naming scheme, which produced extensions .rar, .r00 and so on through .r99. This allowed for 101 volumes in a single release before the naming switched to s00, s01 and so on. For example, a DVD-R image (4.37 GiB), split into 101 pieces, produces volumes smaller than 50 MB. The new RAR naming format, name.part001.rar, removes the limit, although the individual split archives continue to be 50 MB for historical reasons and because the old RAR naming format is still being widely used.

Different compression levels are used for each type of material being distributed. The reason for this is that some material compresses much better than others. Movies and MP3 files are already compressed with near maximum capacity. Repacking them would just create larger files and increase decompression time. Ripped movies are still packaged due to the large file size, but compression is disallowed and the RAR format is used only as a container. Because of this, modern playback software can easily play a release directly from the packaged files,[8] and even stream it as the release is downloaded (if the network is fast enough).

MP3 and music video releases are an exception in that they are not packaged into a single archive like almost all other sections. These releases have content that is not further compressible without loss of quality, but also have small enough files that they can be transferred reliably without breaking them up. Since these releases rarely have large numbers of files, leaving them unpackaged is more convenient and allows for easier scripting. For example, scripts can read ID3 information from MP3s and sort releases based on those contents.

Naming

Rules for naming files and folders are an important part of the standards. Correctly named folders make it easier to maintain clean archives and unique filenames allow dupecheck to work properly. There's a defined character set which can be used in naming of the folders. The selected character set is chosen to minimize problems due to the many platforms a release may encounter during its distribution. Since FTP servers, operating systems or file systems may not allow special characters in file or directory names, only a small set of characters is allowed.[9][ruleset 2] Substitutions are made where special characters would normally be used (e.g. ç replaced by c) or these characters are omitted, such as an apostrophe. This can happen automatically by site scripts.[10] As a note, spaces are explicitly disallowed in current standards and are substituted with underscores or full stops.[ruleset 3]

The ubiquitous character set includes the upper- and lower-case English alphabet, numerals, and several basic punctuation marks. It is outlined below:

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz
0123456789-._()

A typical example of the folder name of a movie release would be:

Title.Of.The.Movie.YEAR.Source.Codec-GROUP

The Xvid scene does not allow the use of parentheses[ruleset 3] and the BDR scene also doesn't allow the use of an underscore,[ruleset 4] while those are common with music releases.[ruleset 2] Dots aren't used in the required naming scheme for music videos.[ruleset 5] Square brackets aren't defined in any ruleset, however they are used by p2p groups that do not follow these rules. The best known example is aXXo.

Date

Standards documents have often a date defined when the rules take effect. The warez scene typically follows the UTC time standard.[11] There is no formal record documenting correct times for all releases. Depending on geographical location and the timing of releases, release sites receive software releases at slightly different times. Release times in any single source may vary by as much as two weeks.[12]

Consequences

Further information: Nuke (warez)

If a group violates a standard, the release will be nuked.[3][13] Another group will often proper the release. This proper usually requires a sample or a detailed explanation to prove the flaw in the material, unless the flaw was clear enough for the release to be nuked at releasing time.[ruleset 3] Flaws that aren't immediately visible can be found during testing of the material, such as a broken crack or a bad serial. These sanctions are social in nature and can be initiated by anyone within the community.[14]

Video standards

There are several standards to release movies, TV show episodes and other video material to the scene. VCD releases use the less efficient MPEG-1 format, are low quality, but can be played back on most standalone DVD players. SVCD releases use MPEG-2 encoding, have half the video resolution of DVDs and can also be played back on most DVD players. DVD-R releases use the same format as retail DVD-Videos, and are therefore larger in size. Finally DivX, Xvid, H.264/MPEG-4 AVC and recently HEVC releases use the much more efficient MPEG standards. Generally, only middle to top-end DVD players can play back DivX or Xvid files, while Blu-ray players are required to handle H.264 files.

There are many different formats because the whole thing was always a function of players, codec development and the pursuit of the best possible quality in terms of size. This results in a series of evolutionary stages and improvements that have been introduced gradually. The only film format that hasn't changed since the early days is the DVDR. The Scene still holds on to this format but it's becoming less important due to Blu-rays being the main source for retail releases.[6]

Further information: Pirated movie release types

VCD

Scene rules require the releasing group to spread theatrical VCDs in .bin/.cue files that can be burned on a CD. Although often the CD size is dictated by the length of the movie or video. One movie typically uses two CDs, although length may force the release to be a 3 or 4 CD release. The source of these theatrical releases is typically analog, such as CAM, telecine or telesync releases (movies recorded by a camera in theatres, often with external audio sources). VCDs from other sources such as DVD, VHS, TV, Pay-Per-View specials, Porn or Anime may also be released in the .mpg or .asf format. DVD and VHS rips are only allowed if there was no screener released before.[ruleset 6] The scene VCDs popped up in 1998,[15] but digital unlicensed versions of films already appeared in early 1997 on private FTP networks.[16] Eviliso, VCD-Europe, FTF and Immortal VCD are groups that have released VCD movies.[16][17] In 1999 there were 15 to 20 groups.[16]

Because of its low quality, VCD releases declined in favor of SVCD and XviD. VCDs are often larger than these higher quality files, making VCDs even less attractive. VCDs once used for music videos got their own set of standards on October 1, 2002.[ruleset 7]

SVCD

Scene rules require the releasing group to spread SVCDs in .bin/.cue files, that fit on 700 MiB CDs.[ruleset 8] One movie typically uses two CDs, although length may force the release to be a 3 or 4 CD release. Content source is sometimes analog, such as Cam, Telecine or telesync releases. Also R5, DVDSCR or retail DVD is used as SVCD source.[18] The advantage of SVCD is that it can be played on any standalone DVD player, but when DivX-capable players are taking over the market and more bandwidth becomes available to download DVDRs, SVCD became obsolete. Around 2007, the stream of SVCD releases from the scene died out.[6][18]

Standard definition video

Standard definition rips have a resolution that is lower than high-definition video.

DivX and Xvid for retail and bootleg sources

TXD and TDX standards

Date	Standard
2000-04-26	TDX [ruleset 1]
2001-04-22	TDX2K1 [ruleset 9]
2002-07-12	TDX2K2 [ruleset 10]
2005-09-25	TXD2K5 [ruleset 11]
2009-03-05	TXD2K9 [ruleset 3]

MPEG-4 release standards are set in the so-called TDX rules.[ruleset 10] The DivX codec originally gained popularity because it provided a good compromise between film quality and file size.[19] Approximately 25% of the space occupied by DVD is enough for a DivX encode to have DVD quality output.[20] The first standards were created by meetings and debates of Team DivX (TDX) in 2000. This group consisted of the leaders of the top 5 DivX releasing groups, topsite operators along with rippers and encoders. It was formed because they thought the new Div/X scene was a bit unmoderated, sloppy and pretty much a free-for-all.[ruleset 1] iSONEWS published the first standards on April 26. Earlier, on March 16, the database started to carry a DivX section on their website.[21] A week later Betanews noticed the popularity of the then recently released DivX codec throughout IRC channels and asked whether this was a new threat to DVD after the DeCSS utility.[22] The 2001 revision of the standards were organized by different people from iSONEWS.[ruleset 9] It consisted of 15 groups and signed by 18.[23] This was the last one of the listed rulesets covering pornography.

The once generally accepted TDX2002 ruleset requires movie releases to contain a DivX 3.11 or Xvid encoded video stream with an MP3 or AC3 encoded audio stream in an AVI container file. Movies are released in one, two or more 700 MiB files, so that they can be easily stored on CD-R.[20] Two or four TV show episodes usually share one CD, hence 175 or 350 MiB releases are common. 233 MiB (three episodes per CD) are more rare but not forbidden, and are often used for full 30-minute programs with no adverts. 233 MiB is more used on whole season rips from retail sources or on single episodes that have a longer runtime.[24] In July 2002, around the release of the new TDX2K2 ruleset, Xvid releases started to pop up. DivX with SBC was retired. VCDVaULT was the pioneer in promoting Xvid to the scene.[25][26]

The TDX2002 ruleset was followed by TXD2005.[ruleset 11] Because all DivX codecs are banned in this new ruleset, TDX became TXD: The XviD Releasing Standards.[27] There is a rebuttal[28] against this revision, proving it to be flawed in several aspects. Higher resolutions are not allowed. More efficient formats such as AVC and AAC have not been adopted yet, but are still being pushed by some release groups. There are also considerations to replace the old proprietary AVI file format with a modern container such as MP4 or MKV that can include multiple audio streams, subtitles and DVD-like menus. However, few standalone DVD players support these formats yet, and cross-platform playback is an important consideration. Nonetheless the introduction of MPEG-4 playback capabilities in standalone DVD players was a result of the huge amount of TDX-compliant movie material available on the internet.[29][30]

The latest TXD revision is TXD2009.[ruleset 3][31] As with each revision, there are some major changes. Multiple CD releases aren't necessary anymore, but most release groups keep following the tradition. The maximum width of a rip is lowered back to 640px for WS releases, the movie length versus file size rules and many other sections of the ruleset are redefined or extended. 91 releasegroups have signed the rules. as with the 2005 standards, there is a rebuttal[32] that aims to allow "SOME of the fuckups and insanity in the 2009 ruleset". While the 2005 rebuttal made some valid points, this one is regarded as being pointless by other sceners. The reason for lowering the resolution is that some cheap Xvid players don't fully support resolutions above 640px.[33] The pixel aspect ratio goes bad and makes the movie unwatchable. Other points made in the rebuttal are too hard to enforce, while still being backed by the releasing groups, or that the TXD is mainly meant for retail sources. Not all rules can be enforced on non-retail sources.

DivX and Xvid for television sources

XviD used for standard definition English television releases has been a ruleless world.[ruleset 12][ruleset 13] However, in 2002 a ruleset for VCD, SVCD and DivX/Xvid tries to cover up the mess a little. SDTV, PDTV, HDTV and their dupe rules were being defined. Nuking had always been an issue in the TV scene.[ruleset 14] In 2007, a document was released that intended to bring a level playing field to the TV-XviD scene and attempt to put down some rules to end some of the controversy that has plagued us in recent years., but it was only a draft.[ruleset 15] On January 1, 2011, a rule set written specifically for UK TV was released, taking into consideration various factors which differ from other regions.[ruleset 16]

The introduction of HDTV and the availability of high-definition source material has resulted in the release of video files that exceed the maximum allowed resolution by the TDX rules, which anticipated DVD-Video rips as the ultimate source. Due to a missing standard these releases follow different rules. They are usually tagged as HR HDTV and use half the resolution of 1080i (960 × 540 px, vertically cropped to 528 or 544 px). Some releases also use a resolution of 1024 × 576 px to provide a proper aspect ratio of 16:9. Occasionally, shows (usually animated shows) aired in Standard Definition (PDTV) are often uploaded as HR (high resolution) PDTV using the H264 codec which offers much better compression than XviD, allowing a higher resolution in a file the same size as an XviD encoded video using a Standard Definition source.[34]

x264 for retail sources

On October 17, 2013, the first standard definition ruleset for retail sources was released.[ruleset 17] A day later there was a revision that fixed some examples.[ruleset 18] The MKV container must be used. It is mandatory to support file streaming and playing from RARs. CRF must be used. A photograph as proof must be included. 81 groups signed the document.

x264 for television sources

x264 SD standards

Date	Standard
2010-11-12	TVx264SD11 - Draft 1 [ruleset 19]
2012-02-20	SDx264 2012 [ruleset 13]
2012-03-29	SDx264 2012 - Update 1 [ruleset 20]
2016-04-03	SDx264 2016 [ruleset 21]

On February 20, 2012, more than a year after the appearance of the first draft,[ruleset 19] the SD x264 TV Release Standards document was released with the goal to bring quality control back to the SD releases. According to the document x264 has become the most advanced H264 video encoder and compared to XviD it is able to provide higher quality and compression at greater SD resolutions. It also allows better control and transparency over encoding settings. With CRF (constant rate factor) in the mix it can be ensured that a diverse array of material will get the most appropriate bitrate and not arbitrary fixed file sizes. The video container must be MP4 and AAC is used for the audio. Thirteen groups, ASAP, BAJSKORV, C4TV, D2V, DiVERGE, FTP, KYR, LMAO, LOL, MOMENTUM, SYS, TLA and YesTV signed the document and began releasing TV shows in the new format.[ruleset 13][3][35]

FQM and 2HD indicated they will keep releasing XviD.[36] FQM said it's pointless losing a lot of standalone compatibility for slightly higher quality when there's already even better quality available. 2HD agrees and a vocal minority of the torrent community is quite upset because the MP4 container isn't compatible with many DVD players and other devices, but most scene groups don't really care about BitTorrent.[37][38][39] Softpedia writer Lucian Parfeni called this interesting phenomenon the angry pirate and wrote that a lot of BitTorrent users are very disappointed about the move, though quite a few have no idea why it happened.[38][40][41] A second reason FQM provided was that partial files can't be played back but LOL wrote the next day that the streaming issues were solved. On March 29, an updated version of the rules were released. This time 22 groups supported the document. MP4Box became the recommended muxer because it has support for file streaming and playing from RARs. For encoding audio, FFmpeg and FAAC encoders are banned.[ruleset 20] 2HD announced on April 15, 2012 that they would be abandoning XviD as show seasons end, but later this changed to only the seasons of the bigger shows.[42] A month after 2HD's first announcement FQM released their first x264 rip.

On April 3, 2016, the SD x264 TV Release Standard was updated with a new revision [ruleset 21] that aims to update the standards from 2012 to standards suitable for 2016 and the future. Adding clarity and patching loopholes to once again allow for consistent and quality releases, which was the aim of this standard back in 2012. The video container in this revision was changed from mp4 to mkv which frustrated many users.[43]

Comments from the scene groups, references

W4F (2010-10-23). "WWE.Friday.Night.Smackdown.2010.10.22.HDTV.x264-W4F". Enjoy AVC goodness. Missing or empty |url= (help) (2010-11-12) The.2011.x264.SDTV.Releasing.Standards.Draft.1.REPACK-SDTVReleaseCouncil ASAP (2011-08-25). "Melissa.and.Joey.S01E23.HDTV.x264-ASAP". Higher resolution quality release at a lower size is the way of the future. Your old XviD players are in need an upgrade and you will be able to download releases faster using less bandwidth, higher quality, and earlier release times. AAC > MP3 Missing or empty |url= (help) FQM (2011-08-25). "Melissa.and.Joey.S01E23.Going.the.Distance.PROPER.HDTV.XviD-FQM". Fuck your made up bullshit. We'll stick with what works and what the scene expects. Xvid+MP3 audio. Missing or empty |url= (help) W4F (2011-09-17). "WWE.Friday.Night.Smackdown.2011.09.16.PORTABLE.HDTV.x264-W4F". This is for portable devices (iPad, iPod, Tablets, etc). Transcoding is a ball-ache. Missing or empty |url= (help) W4F (2011-09-19). "WWE.Night.of.Champions.2011.PPV.iNTERNAL.HDTV.x264-W4F". Gotta make my mind up; which codec shall I take? If you would ordinarily be leeching the XviD, all we ask is you take a moment to compare it to this release. Missing or empty |url= (help) ASAP (2011-09-22). "Blue.Mountain.State.S03E02.HDTV.x264-ASAP". experimental rls, localnet: it's a ruleless world so u can't nuke it:) Missing or empty |url= (help) MOMENTUM (2012-01-07). "Gold.Rush.Alaska.S02E11.Dead.in.the.Water.iNTERNAL.HDTV.x264-MOMENTUM". For those that don't want to see this show completely destroyed with XviD @ 350MBs Missing or empty |url= (help) (2012-02-20) The.SD.x264.TV.Release.Standards.2012.REPACK-SDx264 FTP (2012-02-21). "The.Diamond.Queen.S01E03.READNFO.HDTV.XviD-FTP". Other Notes: We will be stopping all XviD releases and only releasing Shows in x264, enjoy Missing or empty |url= (help) KYR (2012-02-21). "WWE.Elimination.Chamber.2012.PPV.HDTV.x264-KYR". SD x264 its the future! Missing or empty |url= (help) 2HD (2012-02-21). "The.Bachelor.S16E08.HDTV.XviD-2HD". The preferences of a few don't outweigh the wishes and needs of the many. Missing or empty |url= (help) LOL (2012-02-22). "Body.of.Proof.S02E15.HDTV.XviD-LOL". This is our final xvid release. There is simply no valid reason to use the codec anymore. Compatibility for 264 is currently more widespread than xvid/divx was when vcd died. The quality of the resulting encodes is leaps and bounds beyond what xvid is capable of. Of course there will be dinosaurs still trying to rationalize the usage of an outdated format, and continuing to drag the scene further and further down the evolutionary ladder. The scene used to lead, and thanks to such individuals, it simply does not anymore. Time to step up and begin repairing all the damage that has been done. As some friends like to say, time to evolve, or time to die. Missing or empty |url= (help) LOL (2012-02-23). "CSI.S12E15.HDTV.x264-LOL". The road ahead is about to get bumpy. So, sit down, strap in, and hold on. Missing or empty |url= (help) ASAP (2012-02-23). "One.Tree.Hill.S09E07.HDTV.x264-ASAP". It's time to your get rid of your backpack cell phone and try a smart phone. Enjoy lowres x264! Missing or empty |url= (help) FQM (2012-02-23). "Survivor.S24E02.Total.Dysfunction.HDTV.XviD-FQM". x264 lowres is dumb. Losing a lot of standalone compatibility for slightly higher quality when there's already even better quality is pointless, and whoever decided on MP4 is a moron because partial files can't be played back. Sucks if you want to start watching while still downloading. Xvid+AVI for life! Missing or empty |url= (help) YOUREOUTDATED (2012-02-23). "Survivor.S24E02.HDTV.x264-YOUREOUTDATED". And you're outnumbered. Sucks to be you. Missing or empty |url= (help) LOL (2012-02-23). "Law.and.Order.SVU.S13E15.HDTV.x264-LOL". Guess the neverhasbeens and neverwillbes finally found a way to get some releases... If you can't beat em, dupe em! PS Fuck your dvd player. What is this, 2005? For those with streaming issues, a new muxer is in testing and will be ready for you tomorrow. The future is coming. The future is now. Missing or empty |url= (help) BAJSKORV (2012-02-22). "Face.Off.S02E07.HDTV.x264-BAJSKORV". No more killing the scene with a decade old obselete codec. Xvid is dead, get over it. Missing or empty |url= (help) CRiMSON (2012-02-23). "Drinking.Made.Easy.S02E20.HDNET.SOURCE.PROOF.HDTV.x264-CRiMSON". ok kids..lets not start the fucking games. We hate this new bullshit but will migrate over to x264 like you clowns want. So stop the fucking bs on this analog source shit. Our shit is legit. Here's your fucking proof. Missing or empty |url= (help) 2HD (2012-02-23). "Suburgatory.S01E15.READNFO.HDTV.XviD-2HD". It's nice to see FQM continuing with XviD as well. We fully agree with their comments about compatibility. We'd also like to thank those people who were appreciative that we did XviD of the shows tonight. The wishes of a few (who mostly don't care about low res) shouldn't outweigh the majority. Viva XviD! Missing or empty |url= (help) MOMENTUM (2012-02-23). "American.Idol.S11E12.Final.Judgement.Part.1.HDTV.x264-MOMENTUM". Better audio and video quality than xvid release at smaller size :) ...and larger resolution Missing or empty |url= (help) MOMENTUM (2012-02-23). "American.Weed.S01E01.Marijuana.Drama.PROPER.HDTV.x264-MOMENTUM". YesTV you should probably read the rules that you sign. Missing or empty |url= (help) LOL (2012-02-24). "The.Mentalist.S04E16.HDTV.x264-LOL". Streaming issues should be fixed. Plus, now you can watch the whole first minute while downloading! Since thats all it takes to leech these. Missing or empty |url= (help) 2HD (2012-02-24). "The.Mentalist.S04E16.HDTV.XviD-2HD". For those of you who still prefer to watch XviD over this itunes shit. Yeah, we apologize for the delay but not all of us have magical feeds where we can slap on some fake ctv graphics (missing the rings) and pre when it ends in Halifax. Missing or empty |url= (help) BAJSKORV (2012-02-24). "Conan.2012.02.22.Jennifer.Aniston.HDTV.x264-BAJSKORV". 60fps, better quality then the defunct xvid, and smaller Missing or empty |url= (help) LOL (2012-02-24). "30.Rock.S06E09.HDTV.x264-LOL". You don't care about sd at all. You wouldn't pre shit thats extremely blurry and completely unwatchable due to cheating, shit affil/source, etc. You are fooling no one but yourself. Missing or empty |url= (help) BAJSKORV (2012-02-24). "Remodeled.S01E06.HDTV.x264-BAJSKORV". better method, better resolution, better size, better non-obselete codec, and better quality. Missing or empty |url= (help) LOL (2012-02-24). "The.Office.S08E16.HDTV.x264-LOL". Enjoy more quality that can be watched on a real tv, tablet, phone, mobile gaming device, pc, etc etc etc Missing or empty |url= (help) W4F (2012-02-24). "The.Straits.S01E05.WS.PDTV.x264-W4F". Hey! We are testing out the new SD.x264 standard on this release. We think its a great step forward for a scene that is pretty slow to change, x264 allows for higher quality at similar or less file size. For regular SD TV (Australia is essentially limited to it) this is a great chance to squeeze out more quality since we can't do a 720p. Anyway we hope this release goes well, nuke it and let us know if there is a problem. Missing or empty |url= (help) LOL (2012-02-24). "Private.Practice.S05E16.HDTV.x264-LOL". 100mb+ smaller than the xvid, and actually watchable on a decent sized display. Go figure. Missing or empty |url= (help) LOL (2012-02-24). "Unsupervised.S01E06.HDTV.x264-LOL". In all seriousness, the two (yes just two) of you are not accomplishing whatever it is you think you are. You're just getting your groups and your format banned everywhere with all the pointless dupes. A group of people representing well over half the tv pres (Sweden too!) got together and created a SD ruleset that includes US scripted TV. Something that has never been done before, because of people acting just like you are. Stop killing the scene with your wholly unfounded egoes and try to act like adults for once. Grow up, give some intelligent input, and help the scene, and yourselves, actually progress and grow, instead of wallowing in the mirth. Missing or empty |url= (help) ASAP (2012-02-25). "Delocated.S03E04.NFOFIX.REPACK.HDTV.x264-ASAP". XviD users are fucking clueless. Missing or empty |url= (help) BARGE (2012-02-25). "An.Island.Parish.S06E03.HDTV.XviD-BARGE". Today will be the last day we release shows in XviD. Missing or empty |url= (help) BAJSKORV (2012-02-26). "Cops.S24E19.HDTV.x264-BAJSKORV". Another show that gets a big boost in watchability on anything bigger than a 4 inch crt. Partly due to the codec and partly of course due to being 60fps, which of course results in less movement between frames and thus lessening the bitrate needed. Missing or empty |url= (help) LOL (2012-02-27). "The.Amazing.Race.S20E02.HDTV.x264-LOL". We decided to follow the 720ps and do this as 'competitve'. Not perfect, but still a vast gain over the obselete dupe. Especially beneficial for those who are forced to watch SD releases on their big HDTV. Also, I will just leave these right here for scripted viewers falling in the category above. Missing or empty |url= (help) BAJSKORV (2012-02-27). "The.Apprentice.S12E02.HDTV.x264-BAJSKORV". Outdated codec is outdated. Missing or empty |url= (help) 2HD (2012-02-27). "Spartacus.S02E05.HDTV.XviD-2HD". Another thing no one thought of in launching this new section. What about the archives. Now they'll be a mess of both SD and XviD for this season until the DVDrips come out which will be in XviD. Hmm.. Missing or empty |url= (help) 2HD (2012-02-27). "The.84th.Annual.Academy.Awards.2012.HDTV.XviD-2HD". CD splitting is outdated but XviD isn't despite what countless LOLBAJDIM nfos might think. Missing or empty |url= (help) aAF (2012-02-27). "High.Hopes.S02E04.WS.PDTV.XviD-aAF". Capped this in 2009 waiting for rest of the series to air, releasing this now as there will be no DVD release anytime soon and because of TV XviD dieing. Will re-release when we cap a whole season. Missing or empty |url= (help) 2HD (2012-02-29). "Body.of.Proof.S02E16.HDTV.XviD-2HD". Our apologies on the delay on a few of the shows in XviD tonight. We ran into some issues. But here it is. Fuck MP4, long live AVI. Missing or empty |url= (help) BAJSKORV (2012-02-29). "Unforgettable.S01E17.HDTV.x264-BAJSKORV". Sorry you had to wait so long for a watchable sd release backed by the only legitimate SD TV ruleset. Shit happens. Missing or empty |url= (help) BAJSKORV (2012-03-01). "Survivor.S24E03.PROPER.HDTV.x264-BAJSKORV". We also went with crf 22 as the rules still have no clear definition as to what qualifies as plain reality versus competitive reality. Missing or empty |url= (help) TooSoon (2012-03-01). "Psych.S06E10.PROPER.HDTV.x264-TooSoon". As Soon As Possible released too soon, forgetting the last one minute and forty-nine seconds of this fine episode of a wonderful television series. Should not the people who were behind this format be able to use it correctly? Perhaps they can also fix their multiplexer so we can watch their video as it downloads, like we can with Laugh Out Loud releases. (...) Multiplexer: MP4Box Missing or empty |url= (help) MOMENTUM (2012-03-01). "Top.Chef.S09E17.Finale.HDTV.x264-MOMENTUM". For those how would like better quality and a smaller file size Missing or empty |url= (help) LOL (2012-03-02). "30.Rock.S06E10.HDTV.x264-LOL". So much prgoress in one little week. Awesome! Missing or empty |url= (help) 2HD (2012-03-02). "Awake.S01E01.HDTV.XviD-2HD". Not all of us can cap things a day or 14 (SMASH) early off VoD. For those who prefer XViD and haven't reencoded LOLs MP4. Missing or empty |url= (help) KYR (2012-03-03). "WWE.Friday.Night.Smackdown.2012.03.02.HDTV.x264-KYR". Some people asked why releases got bigger with x264. Answer is higher res, and giving every release a set quality rather than a set size. One size does not fit all. Missing or empty |url= (help) 2HD (2012-03-07). "Ringer.S01E16.Youre.Way.Too.Pretty.to.Go.to.Jail.HDTV.XviD-2HD". We do this for the fans, to those who appreciate XviD. We appreciate you to those who don't. We don't care. Missing or empty |url= (help) COMPULSiON (2012-03-09). "Archer.2009.S03E08.PROPER.HDTV.x264-COMPULSiON". Note: asap release won't play on xbox360 and probably others... their custom muxer needs work per rules: - Custom muxing tools are permitted; however, output must be compatible with standard demuxers. Missing or empty |url= (help) 2HD (2012-03-10). "Harrys.Law.S02E13.HDTV.x264-LOL". Still killing the scene and supplying the p2p masses with the defunct format eh? Missing or empty |url= (help) LOL (2012-03-11). "The.Cleveland.Show.S03E13.HDTV.x264-LOL". Valid quality version now, p2p codec dupe in T Minus 20. Missing or empty |url= (help) 2HD (2012-03-15). "Republic.of.Doyle.S03E10.PROPER.HDTV.x264-2HD". We still aren't a fan of this format but its always fun to proper ASAP when they screw up this big, FLASHPOINT anyone? Other guys used descriptive audio. Missing or empty |url= (help) 2HD (2012-03-19). "The.Apprentice.US.S12E05.HDTV.x264-2HD". We still prefer XviD but respect those who'd prefer this one. Still get off the apple TIT. Missing or empty |url= (help) 2HD (2012-03-23). "The.Vampire.Diaries.S03E17.HDTV.XviD-2HD". Sorry for the delay on the XviDs this evening. Some times people have jobs. Also, XviDs will eventually come to an end. Look into your options now so you have time to plan for the eventual phaseout. We'll warn you as to when we'll stop but know that it will at some point. Missing or empty |url= (help) 2HD (2012-03-23). "Missing.2012.S01E02.HDTV.XviD-2HD". Sorry for the delay on the XviDs this evening. Some times people have jobs. Just so you know at some point scene generated xvids will go missing. We won't pull a LOL/ASAP and have them here one day, gone the next but we will stop at some point. Plan ahead now. Missing or empty |url= (help) BAJSKORV (2012-03-25). "The.Apprentice.S12E06.HDTV.x264-BAJSKORV". PS Last weeks 2Hypocritical sd 264 was a nuke due to being crf 19, however even though ours at 21 was, frame by frame superior, we did not proper like they would since that is just lame. PPS Also using US in the directory for this show is banned by both sd and 720p x264 rules, but since we are not desperate douchebags like FQM, we do not waste our time sitting around nuking for directory mislabels. 90% of the tv scene has spoken, get over it already, fucktard. Missing or empty |url= (help) (2012-03-29) The.SD.x264.TV.Release.Standards.2012.Update.1-SDx264 BAJSKORV (2012-03-29). "Republic.of.Doyle.S03E12.HDTV.x264-BAJSKORV". CA should not be stuck with the outdated format just because people do not have 1clicks to do SD 264 yet. Quality, eh? Missing or empty |url= (help) LOL (2012-03-30). "Rules.of.Engagement.S05E25.HDTV.x264-LOL". You already know this was included on the dvd as 525, so all there is to explain is why we are still releasing after DVDRip.XviD. This comes from a much higher quality than DVD source, and thanks to the usage of x264 + AAC is a much higher quality final encode. We included a cut from the dvdrip to match our sample, and as can plainly be seen, the difference is night and day. [Not REWARDS fault, just the outdated format's fault] As we continue advancing forward with SD x264 you will continue to see HDTV.x264 SD releases being of higher quality than DVDRip.XviD. Let the good times roll. Missing or empty |url= (help) W4F (2012-03-30). "Miss.Fishers.Murder.Mysteries.S01E06.WS.PDTV.x264-W4F". R.I.P the WS tag in SD.x264, this will be our last use of it with x264 :( Missing or empty |url= (help) 2HD (2012-04-15). "The.Firm.S01E13.HDTV.XviD-2HD". Still downloading XviD?. Get with the times. 2HD will be abandoning XviD entirely as shows seasons end. We won't leave you hanging mid season but really, it's getting tiresome having to do everything in a dead format. Missing or empty |url= (help) 2HD (2012-05-04). "The.Vampire.Diaries.S03E21.Before.Sunset.READNFO.HDTV.XviD-2HD". It has come time to bid farewell to XviD. We will finish up the current seasons of some of the bigger shows and some of our favorites as well. In addition we'll finish out the current seasons of reality shows that will likely never make it to DVD so that archives can remain in one format. For stuff that will just be deleted in a matter of weeks or months in archives like current seasons of CSI New York or Persons of Interest, grab the MP4, convert the MKV to XviD or find one of those dirty reencode jobs that are floating around that place where all encodes go to die despite everyones effort to stop them. Has PEE in it. We no longer have the time to support a dying format and with the recent inactivity of FQM in continuing the XviD format for scripted shows, it seems like it's the right time. So here we are before the sunset... Missing or empty |url= (help) 2HD (2012-05-10). "The.Voice.S02E21.Finale.READNFO.HDTV.XviD-2HD". If your watching this show in XviD, you suck. Anything with crazy strobes really needs to be seen in 720. Last one of the season, last one of the series in XviD. Join us in S03 for MP4 and MKV. Missing or empty |url= (help) 2HD (2012-05-11). "The.Big.Bang.Theory.S05E24.PROPER.HDTV.XviD-2HD". Dead format but QCF was missing the last 15 seconds of the episode. Missing or empty |url= (help) FQM (2012-05-14). "MasterChef.Australia.S04E08.iNTERNAL.PDTV.x264-FQM". Testing... 1, 2, 3... Missing or empty |url= (help)

Xvid and x264 sport rips

On June 24, 2009, five groups released the first rule set specifically designed for x264 sport releases: TXSRS2K9. The idea was that the x264 encoder would be more suitable than Xvid. [ruleset 22] Some days after previewing the rule set, a rebuttal was released with concerns about the decisions made and them being in conflict with the high definition TV-X264 rule set.[44] aAF called the rules unofficial nonsense and said that respected groups would not be following them.[45][46] Only NOsegmenT and KICKOFF have released standard definition x264 sport rips under these rules.[47]

The following year, a rule set for Xvid sports releases appeared: TXSRS10. Its aim is to improve the overall quality of sports releases while retaining the compatibility that Xvid provides. It should bring standardization and get rid of restrictions applicable to the ruleless world of TV-XVID.[ruleset 12] Twelve groups signed the standards, including two of the original five of the x264 rule set.

The SD x264 TV Releasing Standards 2012 also cover sport releases, making the previous standards obsolete.[ruleset 13]

High definition video

x264 for retail sources

The latest High Definition x264 Standard is Revision 4.0 from 2011.[ruleset 23] This ruleset targets HD DVD and Blu-ray sourced 720p and 1080p movie and TV-show rips. The releases are made available in a Matroska .mkv container, using the x264 encoder. The file size must be a multiple of 1120 MiB.[48] It has become quite normal that non-English spoken movies are tagged with their language tag, even when they contain English subtitles. This is different for Xvid releases. This practice has been accepted by all nukenets, but it was never written down in an addendum to the ruleset. Also the usage of both Dutch and Flemish audio tracks in one release has become a practice.[49]

There is a second ruleset from 2008 for x264 releases that has many similarities to the previous one, but it concentrates on BD5 and BD9 releases.[ruleset 24][50] The purpose of these releases is that the initial mkv file can be burned as a Blu-ray image to a single or double-layer DVD-R. The mkv file accompanying this kind of release is 200-300MB smaller than a similar release following the other ruleset due to the overhead of the Blu-ray image that will be created.[51] Around May 2012, the stream of BD9 releases came to a halt. 2011 only had around thirty BD5 releases.

x264 for anime

On August 13, 2009, the first version of the standard was released. This standard is only a recommendation for anime from Blu-ray and its purpose is to improve quality over the then current HDX standard. The document reads that anime was always something special for the video codec experts at Doom9. Without anime there wouldn't be any VirtualDub or many other video related things at all.[52] This is why they decided to put out new standard to enjoy almost lossless anime quality.[ruleset 25] The French scene had rules for anime releases years earlier.[ruleset 26] The latest French ruleset for anime is from 2011.[ruleset 27][53]

WMV

WMV standards

Date	Standard
2007-05-16	WMVS2k7[ruleset 28]
2008-02-07	WMVS2k8[ruleset 29]
2008-11-23	WMVS2k9[ruleset 30]
2009-05-26	WMVS2K10 (WMVS v3.5)[ruleset 31]
2009-10-03	WMVS v4.0[ruleset 32]
2010-01-01	WMVS v4.1[ruleset 33]

Because of the x264 scene, many people think WMV-HD is redundant. The authors of the first document think this is not true because of the compatibility WMV-HD provides. They write that the only reason many people are against WMV-HD, is because WMV is from Microsoft. In 2007 they wrote that it can be played on the Xbox 360 and HTPCs while x264 is restricted to HTPCs. They point out that many movie studios utilize the VC-1 codec for their retail BD-ROMs.[ruleset 28]

The changes in the 2008 ruleset were made because 1080p was getting more and more popular and the authors felt it was necessary to lower the 720p bitrate minimum as well to show x264 lovers WMV is equal quality. The video size wasn't determined by the length of the movie anymore, but by the minimum bitrate.[ruleset 29][ruleset 28]

In the 2009 standards, a nuke section was added to govern the WMV-HD section. All nukes based on any other rules are unacceptable. Because all the groups releasing WMV-HD have agreed to and signed this rule set, they are the only ones who will develop, implement, and mandate the rules governing the WMV-HD section. The groups are IGUANA, NOVO, BamHD and INSECTS. SMeG was also added in later versions.[ruleset 30][ruleset 31]

A special section for animated/anime titles was added in version 3.5 of the rule set.[ruleset 31] Version 4.0 of the rule set had a large ascii art added and was the first to have no minimum or maximum file size requirement for the final WMV file. WMV-HD was from then on purely quality driven by minimum bitrate.[ruleset 32] In version 4.1 the rule set was added that the group who releases an episode of a show first has exclusive rights to do the entire season of that show for a period of thirty days. This means that during those 30 days no other group can release an episode of the same show and season without being nuked.[ruleset 33]

The source for a WMV release must be HD DVD or Blu-ray. The audio has to be encoded to WMA 10 Pro and the video codec must be Windows Media 9 Advanced Profile (VC-1). A 720p resolution dupes 1080p but 1080p does not dupe 720p. The WMV file must be in stored in RAR with a recovery record. Compression is not allowed.[ruleset 33]

In 2013, at least ten new movie releases were seen, all released by the group INSECTS. This category died out in favor of x264 MKV releases, a format that is ubiquitous for non pornographic ripped video in 2016.

x264 for television sources

x264 720p standards

Date	Standard
2007-05-08	TVX2642K7[ruleset 34]
2008-04-17	TVx2642k8[ruleset 35]
2011-06-15	TVx2642k11[ruleset 36]
2011-07-25	TVx2642k11 U1[ruleset 37]
2011-08-07	TVx2642k11 U2[ruleset 38]
2016-04-03	TVx2642k16[ruleset 39]

The first ever scene TV-x264 release, The.Unit.S01E04.HD720p.x264-MiRAGETV, was made by Spatula in early 2006.[ruleset 38] In May 2007, more than a year later, the first ruleset appeared.[ruleset 34] SAiNTS refused to sign this ruleset because it did not ban segmenting. According to them, this was the main reason for the crap releases in the HDTV scene.[54] This first ruleset defined Matroska as the video container. A fixed file size for the resulting .mkv was used based on the shows length.

The 2011 standards first introduced CRF, instead of 2-pass based encoding.[ruleset 36] In April 2016, a total rewrite of the ruleset was released, addressing all known issues and patching loopholes.[ruleset 39]

In April 2012, QCF released the first 1080p x264 television ruleset shortly after one of their releases got nuked.[ruleset 40][55] The ruleset was nuked afterwards by LocalNet for one.group.does.not.make.a.ruleset.make_try.inviting.some.others.to.contribute [sic]. In December 2012, SYS agreed: One group doesn't decide.[56] In September 2013, DEADPOOL had the following to say about the rules:[57]

This will be the last time we will pre under the 1080p ruleset as it's not supported by many groups and we will be using our own settings and preing 1080p as internals till shit gets sorted out properly without it being a direct copy of the 720p ruleset.

In April 2014, BATV announced they are dropping the INTERNAL tag: one group doesn't get to decide how we all release 1080p TV.[58] A day later, BATV released the first 1080p HDTV x265 encode using that same episode for comparison.[59] BATV thinks that 1080p is completely and utterly pointless unless done by a decent group.[60] DIMENSION indicated they won't be using certain channels for 1080p captures due to insufficient quality.[61]

x264 for WEB sources

In 2016, a new standard was introduced for web-sourced files, covering standard and high definition video. Web based streaming and video on-demand services have increased in popularity. They were initially used for missed broadcasts, but it evolved into a legitimate logo-free exclusive source for original content.[ruleset 41]

DVD-R

The scene requires DVD-Video releases to fit on a 4.7 GB DVD-R.[ruleset 42] Hence many released movies are not 1:1 copies of the retail DVDs. The latest standards revision is TDRS2K10.[ruleset 43] This ruleset appeared only two months after the 2009 ruleset,[ruleset 44] which has an addendum[62] released to clarify a rule because of some confusion. The 2010 ruleset seems to have more similarities with TDRS2K5[ruleset 45] than with the previous TDRS2K9 ruleset. According to the first nuke, the signing groups are crap.[63] This resulted in a nukewar. Few days later, an addendum was released.[64]

According to XeoN-VorTeX on October 31, 2002, a milestone in DVDR ripping was reached with the COMPLETE release of The Matrix. The DVD was generally regarded as the most complex DVD on the market. Only a movie only rip was available. The new rip included things such as the white rabbit.[65][66][19]

Nowadays releases are in DVD5 or DVD9 size, have a menu available and are encoded with CCE.[6]

BD-R

The scene requires BD-R releases to fit on a 25 GB single-layer Blu-ray Disc.[ruleset 46][ruleset 4] Hence not all released movies are 1:1 copies of the retail Blu-rays, although those releases exist and are tagged COMPLETE.BLURAY.

Music video

The current Music video Council standard is version 6.0.[ruleset 47][ruleset 5] X264 must be used in an mkv container in combination with an MP2, MP3, AC3, or DTS audio track.

Pornography

XXX standards

Year	Standard
2000	DivX [ruleset 1]
2004	DVDR [ruleset 48]
2006	PAYSiTES [ruleset 49]
2008	PAYSiTES [ruleset 50]
2010	iMAGESETS [ruleset 51]
2012	x264 SD [ruleset 52]

On November 15, 2012, the first XXX x264 SD standards were released. The movie file must not be split and an MP4 container must be used. The audio format is AAC.[ruleset 52] Xvid was used for standard definition rips the years before, just like DivX and SVCD, but did not have a ruleset.[67] The groups Mirage and SMuT had their own list of rules they endorsed visible in their nfos.[68] SMuT wrote: We endorse the following XXX rules and encourage other groups/sites/scene members to insist they are followed also.[69]

 Mirage strongly endorses six rules concerning XXX as established
 by the scene approved Adult Movies Release Rules Revision Commitee [sic]
 headed by Smut and Mirage:

 a) production year must be: 2003-2004
 b) release date within 1 month of official store date. always by first available media (DVD/VHS)
 c) all our releases discs fit on 80min CD's
 d) 3 CD releases are ok for first run features but not for amateur or compilations
 e) all releases must have a VHS street date in the url and nfo, unless they are released first in DVD!
 f) software encoded quality captured releases are a must. too many poorly hardware capped releases floating around.

Standards for DVDR, paysite videos and imagesets have been released before.

Audio standards

Both MP3 and FLAC releases can optionally include M3U playlist files.

Lossy audio: MP3

At the start of the MP3 scene in 1995, there was little organization or standardization.[70][71] Between 1999-2004, the pre-dominantly used MP3 encoding quality was 192 kbit/s at 44.1 kHz, which was nominal for the hardware and software encoding available at the time. This improved as computers got faster and the LAME MP3 encoder developed into its later versions.

Due to broad support in hardware devices, unauthorized audio material is usually released in MP3 files at VBR quality. In 2007, new rules put forth that it is recommended to encode all files with Lame 3.97, using the "-V2 --vbr-new" switch.[ruleset 53] Other formats such as AAC or Vorbis are currently not allowed.

In 2009, new rules were introduced.[ruleset 2][72] Homemade releases are forbidden. Every release needs an ID3 v1.1 AND ID3 v2 tag. Extra material that is available on the source material is allowed to be released. Flash storage mediums are allowed as sources to accommodate some retail releases made exclusively in those formats.

The early MP3 release groups, 1996-1997, were considered "lamers", bottom feeders.[73] In 2000, the former leader of Rabid Neurosis, Al Capone, posted a letter to the scene on the RNS website, complaining how the mp3 scene became more like the warez scene during its first 4 years.[74]

Lossless audio: FLAC

FLAC standards

Date	Standard
2011-10-02	v1.0 [ruleset 54]
2011-10-10	v1.1 [ruleset 55]
2012-05-01	v2.0 [ruleset 56]
2014-05-17	v2.1 [ruleset 57]
2016-06-01	v3.0 [ruleset 58]

On October 2, 2011 the scene introduced a FLAC category by releasing a first ruleset.[ruleset 54][75] Eight days later an updated revision was released.[ruleset 55] According to the documents, the ruleset was created to satisfy the long lasting audiophile's demand for a music scene of higher quality than LAME mpeg compression encoding and because space and bandwidth were able to accommodate more. To avoid previously made mistakes in the music scene, a group of elder sceners gathered to decide upon the rules. A common understanding amongst all was that material from non-physical media can easily be of doubtful origin of source and hence of questionable quality. The rules consider only physical media as a valid source and they must be followed very strictly.[76] A lot of releases are being nuked for various cosmetic flaws.[77]

Early 2016, anonymous sceners voiced a concern that nukers lack technical understanding to nuke improperly ripped vinyl sources and showed examples of how the ruleset gets twisted or misinterpreted for minor issues.[78] The release got nuked within the hour after pre by ZoNeNET with just invalid.proper as reason. In June later that year, 4 years after version 2.0, a new ruleset was made to address misinterpretations in the wording and to update some rules.[ruleset 58]

In response to version 3 of the rules, a scene notice called the rules invalid because it was not created by leading groups in the section or a council. It also pointed out that its block on WEB and PROMO releases causes a void due to the digital only distribution of many originals .[2] The group CUSTODES mentioned in their farewell message that the FLAC ruleset isn't professional enough to archive music in the best quality possible.[79]

Software standards

Applications

Application releases are usually split in two different categories, 0-day and ISO apps.[ruleset 59][80] Categories originating from or still being put into 0-day are for example PDA, EBOOK or XXX-IMAGESET. 0-day (pronounced zero day) refers to any copyrighted work that has been released the same day as the original product, or sometimes even before.[81][82] It is considered a mark of skill among warez distro groups to crack and distribute a program on the same day of its commercial release.

• 0-day applications are usually 150MB or smaller, but can be 5GB or larger as long as they are not CD/DVD images. The release format allows almost anything in 0-day section, but often 0day releases are cracks or keygens for different applications or small games with size varying from 1-50MB. Sometimes e-books, imagesets, fonts or mobile software are released as 0-day. Executable programs such as keygens and cracks are often compressed with the open source UPX packer.[83]

LineZer0 indicated in the nfo file of their 20,000th release that they will change their packing ways to RAR/SFV and put the old ZIP/RAR/DIZ packaging to rest by the first of April 2012. They strongly encouraged other groups to do the same.[84] After some threats to release information on individuals, Lz0 returned to the old packaging ways for the time being until a new ruleset can be put in place.[85][86]

The Minor Update (MU) rule is unique to 0-day releases. It makes sure that each month not more than one release of the same application is released. Major updates do not follow this rule. The exception to the rule happens when a group motivates in their NFO that the changes are considered to be a major update.[ruleset 59] For example the group Unleashed choose to ignore the MU rule for a hotfix, making a less blurry game available two weeks sooner.[87]

• PDA rules require folder naming to define which application and version the release contains.[ruleset 60] Also required are CPU type, operating system and cracktype. Optional information such as language is expected, if the release is non-English. Packaging follows 0day guidelines. Generally lax security, simple programming and small filesizes make mobile software an attractive target for infringers.[88] In more recent times it covers other portable devices such as iPod, iPhone, iPad or systems running Android.

• ISO applications are usually either in BIN/CUE or ISO format. Allowed media is CD and DVD, but release can be smaller than the media size. Applications are required to contain working key or keygen to generate valid serial. Patch cracking is also required, which is used to bypass hardware protection, such as serial or USB dongle.
• Some groups signed a Sample CD Scene Protocol for better quality sample discs.[89]

Game rips

This is the scene for game releases that are changed to minimize the size of the distributed files. A first ten point document was made by "The Faction" in 1998. The grouping that created the rules that should be adhered to, and the rules themselves, were disbanded the following year. The NSA rules, or "the new rules", outlines the codes of conduct regarding game ripping. Releasing can be done in two fields: games and applications. It can also be done in two ways: it is possible to release disc images or groups can "rip". In the process of ripping, groups remove things such as introductory movies, multiple texture modes, big sound files and the like.[90]

Games

The game must fit on CDs or DVDs, and the format should be either BIN/CUE, or ISO, respectively. Some sites allow CCD images too, as defined in the site's rules. Media descriptor files (MDF/MDS) seem to be permitted now as well.[ruleset 61] A draft version of Standard ISO Rules (S.I.R.) 2010 was included in TGSC #43.[91]

DOX

DOX is an abbreviation of documents or documentation (manuals). This category includes video game add-ons such as No-CDs, cracked updates, keygens, covers, trainers or cheat codes.[92] DOX releases are amongst the rarest releases in the scene. This is due to their small size.[93] In October 2007, TNT (The Nova Team) noted in the nfo of their 750th release that only the groups DEViANCE and FAiRLiGHT managed to reach the same amount of DOX releases.

Console standards

The console scene survived decades without rules.[94] In 2009, a first set of rules for the PS2, Xbox 360 and the Wii was released.[ruleset 62] It's remarkable that a release must be pred no later than 30 days after retail date.[95] Besides the 0-day standards, most other rulesets nowadays don't have such limitations. An example of a ruleset that did have such a limitation would be the deprecated TDX 2000 ruleset, but in the subsequent ruleset (TDX2k1) this limitation was removed.[ruleset 1][ruleset 63] There are no written standards for the other console scenes. The first games released on a certain platform are often not playable because the console isn't cracked at the time.[96][97][98][99]

Nintendo 64

On January 25, 1997, the first game released for the N64 was Super Mario 64 by the group Anthrox and the console division of Swat.[100][101][102] The games are released as one zipfile following the old traditional 8.3 naming convention. No folders were used.[101] The ROM extensions ".v64" and ".z64" were used as naming conventions. Shortly before the closure of 64dd.net in January 2015, there were 883 releases numbered on the site. The last releases listed were done by the group Carrot in 2012.[103]

Dreamcast

On June 23, 2000, the first ripped Dreamcast game, Dead or Alive 2, was released by Utopia.,[104] this was a CDRWIN ISO image (bin/cue) like in the PC game ISO scene. The day before, Utopia released a Dreamcast BootCD that was capable of booting copies and imports on a non-chipped standard consumer model.[105][106] Less than two months later, when Kalisto released the first self bootable game, Dynamite Cop, the game was a Padus DiscJuggler (CDI) image.[107] Later that month, the first copy protected game, Ultimate Fighting Championship, was released by Kalisto.[108][109] Almost all releases that followed were released as a CDI image and thus became the de facto standard.[110] When Kalisto announced their retirement in the DC scene, they had released more than 66% of all Dreamcast releases.[111] Two days later, a new group called Echelon picked up where Kalisto left off.[112] This group released Evil Twin: Cyprien's Chronicles their 188th and last Dreamcast game release on April 30, 2002.[113] On October 12, 2000, PARADOX, another big and respected scene group, released the first trainer for the Dreamcast.[114] Two weeks after that, they released their first game, Shadowman, for the Dreamcast console with an intro just to prove that we can do neat DC releases as well.[115] Besides games and dox, also emulators and Linux distros were released in the DC scene.[116][117]

Xbox

Xbox releases are by convention in the XISO format, a slight modification of the DVD ISO format.[118] DVDRips of Xbox games were released so they could fit on a single CD. A lot of the first Xbox games were released by the group ProjectX on May 3, 2002.[119] These first releases worked on a developer Xbox, but if it would be playable on retail versions was unknown at the time because no modchips existed yet.[120] There are more than 4400 Xbox releases released in the scene.[121]

PlayStation 2

PlayStation 2 releases must be in standard DVD ISO format.[ruleset 62] PARADOX was the first group to do PS2 and PS2 DVD rips, but later on they were the ones motivating the scene to release full DVD ISOs.[122]

GameCube

On June 12, 2003, the first game for the Nintendo GameCube, The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, was released by STARCUBE.[97] As of May 2016, there are more than 3100 NGC releases released in the scene.[123]

Xbox 360

On December 8, 2005, the first full game for the Xbox 360 was released in the scene by the warez group PI.[99] Need for Speed: Most Wanted was the first of a batch of three games released that day by PI. A couple of minutes before that, they released an open source tool to extract Xbox 360 dumps.[124] As of January 2017, there are more than 6700 Xbox 360 releases released in the scene.[125]

The image of the Xbox 360 game is a .iso with a .dvd file. The rars are split to volumes of 50 MB for DVD5 disks or 100 MB for DVD9 disks and must use compression.[ruleset 62]

PlayStation 3

On November 25, 2006, PARADOX released the first PS3 ISO.[96][126][127][128] The PS3 ISOs are now fully playable on a jailbroken PS3. As of January 2017, there were more than 4,800 PS3 releases in the scene.[129]

A first ruleset for the PlayStation 3 section was released on June 10, 2011. [ruleset 64] Shortly afterwards it was voided in classic scene style: "These rules dont mean shit you asshats."[130] and the original rules were nuked for inadequate.and.unnecessary.ruleset_not.signed.by.all.listed.groups_see.Response.to.The.Official.PlayStation3.Ruleset.2011.PS3. A new "VOID" ruleset was released the day after and was nuked for no.valid.rebuttal.given_not.all.grps.need.to.sign_follow.the.new.ruleset.[131] The better response followed a couple of days later. [94]

Wii

Wii releases must be in standard DVD ISO format.[ruleset 62] The rar archives must use compression.[132] PARADOX released the first Wii image on December 12, 2006. The game was Red Steel.[98][133]

On April 14, 2008, BlaZe was the first group to release a Virtual Console title.[134] This emulated SNES Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest finally had a proper dump after its fourth release more than a year later.[135] These DLC releases are tagged VC or WiiWare and exist of a packed WAD file. A large amount of these first releases were nuked.[136] The main nuke reason was modified.ticket.info. Example:.[137] Dupe or bad dump are other common reasons to receive a nuke. Another reason would be not trucha signed resulting not to be able to install.[138]

In January 2017, more than 7800 releases for the Wii were released in the scene.[139]

Wii U

On May 3, 2013, the group VENOM released the first game for the Wii U: Marvel Avengers: Battle for Earth. The disk image is a .iso file in Wii U Optical Disc format (WUOD), Nintendo's proprietary disc format for the Wii U. Like other console scene firsts, the game isn't playable on the console yet.[140] This first scene release was a few days after the Wii U was announced to be allegedly hacked by the mod chip developer WiiKey.[141] Based on the file date of the RAR archives, VENOM had already created the ISO file more than a month before pre. This is the point in time when they first made the files available within the scene through their affiliated sites.[13] Later, Venom's Release was found to be a bad dump, so the real first Wii U game dumped was by PoWeRUp, which has been confirmed as PROPER.

Xbox One

On November 19, 2013, a couple of days before the official console launch date, the group COMPLEX released the first game for the Xbox One: Call of Duty: Ghosts. The release contained a 42GB .iso file without the security sectors. The file system format of the disk is XGD4 (Xbox Game Data 4).[142]

PlayStation 4

On May 31, 2014, the group WaYsTeD brought the first PlayStation 4 game to the scene: Watch Dogs. Just like with other console firsts, the 25GB .iso file isn't playable yet, hoping it will be hacked one day. It has the same file structure as the PlayStation 3 games.[143] Within two months, some other groups started doing raw image dumps too.[144] More than 3 years later on September 27, 2017, the group KOTF (Knights of the Fallen) released Grand Theft Auto V as the first playable decrypted game dump.[145] Among the first releases were games such as Assassins Creed IV and Far Cry 4 with RAR volumes of 250MB and even 500MB sized parts. The extremely old firmware that was required to play these games was a major drawback.[146]

Handheld standards

A handheld game console is a lightweight, portable electronic device with a built-in screen, game controls, speakers and replaceable and or rechargeable batteries or battery pack. Handheld game consoles are run on machines of small size allowing people to carry them and play them at any time or place. Unlike video game consoles, the controls, screen and speakers are all part of a single unit.

Game Boy Advance

Game Boy Advance releases are in their native ROM format (.gba). However, like the 0day releases, due to their small size, these are often compressed into RAR files and then compressed into ZIP format; otherwise, they are simply compressed into ZIP format. See also GBA Scene and GBA Piracy on pocketheaven.com for more background and history.

Nintendo DS

The Nintendo DS scene started out as an extension of the Game Boy Advance scene, and carried forward with mostly the same set of rules. On May 31, 2010 a first ruleset was released with the goal of establishing a clear and concise listing of what should be expected of a valid Nintendo DS release. "Having an official list to reference should prevent needless nuking, and clean up what is at present a cluttered and confused scene." 7 groups signed the rules.[ruleset 65] The day after, a second "official" ruleset was released but was nuked later on, although it is deemed to be the most relevant according to scenerules.irc.gs. Multiple of the 18 groups listed did not agree to sign the rules.[ruleset 66][147] A scene notice has been released by "Concerned Retired NDS/GBA Scene Founding Members" concerning the issue of the two rulesets.[148][149]

Nintendo DS releases are in their native ROM format (.neo or .nds). The Scene has been doing .zip from the GBA days,[148] but now the releases need to be compressed into 5 MB split RAR volumes and contain a Nintendo DS title or a patch for a Nintendo DS title. Also an NFO file is a must. A patch is some modification or tool like a trainer, crack, language selector or save fix. The most common formats are .BDF and .IPS. The directory name must include the text "NDS" and the group name. DSi related releases are regarded as NDS releases and must have the tag DSi.

See also DS Scene and DS Piracy on pocketheaven.com for more background and history.

Nintendo 3DS

Nintendo 3DS releases use the .3ds file format or the .cia file format. The group LEGACY (LGC) released the first three games on June 5, 2011. They included a picture of the dumper they used.[150] The packaging is done with compressed RAR files and an SFV for verification. As of October 2017, there are more than 2400 3DS releases.[151][152]

PSP

Sony PSP releases are by convention specified as FULL UMD or UMD RIP, meaning some parts were removed either out of non-necessity, or to fit it to a certain-sized memory stick.[153] You can play an ISO with custom firmware or an emulator such as devhook. PARADOX released the first retail PSP game on May 4, 2005.[154][155] In December 2006, the scene started releasing old PSX games that can be played with the official emulator on the PSP. These games are bought from the PlayStation Store with a PS3. Depending on the releasegroup, they are tagged PSXPSP, PSX_PSP, PSX.To.PSP, PSX.FOR.PSP or PS1_For_PSP.[156] On May 19, 2006, PARADOX returned to the PSP scene to release a +9 trainer just to prove that trainers for Sony's handheld are possible. Since then, no other group or person has publicly released any trainers.[157] See also PSP Scene and PSP Piracy on pocketheaven.com for more background and history.

PSP Movie Releasing Standards

Date	Standard
2005-06-17	The.PSP.Movie.Releasing.Standards.2005.READ.NFO-PSPCouncil[ruleset 67]
2005-12-12	The.PSP.Movie.Releasing.Standards.2006-PSPCouncil[ruleset 68]

Unlike the games, there are standards for how to release movies for the PSP.[ruleset 67][ruleset 68] All the releases must be in the MP4/THM format. Retail movies released for the PSP are tagged UMDMovie. When the first UMDMovie was released in September 2005, there wasn't a way to play it yet.[158] Because Sony killed the format, the UMDMovie releases came to a halt in May 2007.[159] 3 years later the group ABSTRAKT released some more UMD Movies.[160]

See also: List of movies and television shows released on UMD and List of PlayStation Portable games

PlayStation Vita

The first game release for the PlayStation Vita in the scene, Uncharted: Golden Abyss, was done by the group PSiCO on February 8, 2016.[161] This was almost 4 years after the introduction of the PS Vita in Europe and North America. It was dumped from a PS Vita NVG game cartridge and the PFS encryption layer was removed since this data is not needed to become playable in the future.[162] Releases are tagged with PSV in the directory name. There were already a handful of other PSV tagged releases before, but these contained covers.

The first releases were made to be used with the Cobra BlackFin dongle for the PlayStation Vita handheld, using the .psv (BlackFin) format for its data dump.[163] After the release of the Vitamin dumper in August 2016 following the HENkaku homebrew enabler, there weren't many new releases immediately after because of issues with this new tool.[164] A couple of weeks later the first ruleset was signed by 4 groups.[ruleset 69] The best tool to make a copy of the game cartridge data at that moment was MaiDumpTool in combination with Vitamin 2.0 when needed. The file format used for these newer dumps is .vpk: a ZIP containing the decrypted files of the game folder.

Other

Other handheld platforms that had games released by the Scene include Neo Geo Pocket, Neo Geo Pocket Color, WonderSwan, WonderSwan Color, Tapwave Zodiac, Gizmondo, Game Boy, Game Boy Color, and N-Gage.[165][166]

E-books

The first traceable scene release of an e-book can be dated back to around the year 2000.[167][168] In 2008, sUppLeX wrote in one of their NFOs that ebooks do not really belong to 0day anymore, so we definitely need rules for that. Most countries got their own rules for the local ebook section in their country, but there's nothing similar for the whole world. sUppLeX were releasing their ebooks in RAR/SFV format at that time, but reverted two years later.[169][170] Standards existed for the German and Polish ebook scenes.[ruleset 70][ruleset 71][ruleset 72] In 2009, a new ruleset for German e-books was created,[ruleset 73] which closely matches general rules for English releases and which since has been adopted in most e-book releases. There was the option to choose between ZIP/DIZ or RAR/SFV to package a release.

In 2012, international ebook rules were created. It was a unified agreement applicable to all groups to ensure high quality ebook releases.[ruleset 74] DRM-protection has to be removed prior to release and only the 0day ZIP/DIZ packaging can be used. Some examples showing naming conventions:

Magazine.Name.Year.Month.LANGUAGE.SOURCE.eBOOk-GROUPTAG
Journal.Name.Vol.xx.No.xx.Month.Year.LANGUAGE.SOURCE.COMiC.eBOOk-GROUPTAG (also for comics)
Book.Title.xxth.Edition.Year.LANGUAGE.SOURCE.eBOOk-GROUPTAG

• xx stands for a number: volume, issue number or edition
• SOURCE may be SCAN for scanned documents or RETAiL for commercially available e-documents

Allowed file formats are PDF, EPUB, Kindle (.azw, .kf8) and Mobipocket (.prc, .mobi).

See also

• Warez scene
• Warez group
• Nuke (warez)
• Topsite (warez)
• Pirated movie release types
• ARJ

Rulesets

1. "The Div/X Releasing Standards 2000 (TDX rules)". 2000-04-26. Archived from the original on 2000-08-31. The first ruleset for the DivX/Xvid scene. Coordination done by iSONEWS.
2. "Official_MP3_Release_Rules_2.0-2009-MP3COUNCIL".
3. "The.XviD.Releasing.Standards.2009". 2009-03-01.
4. "The.BDR.Releasing.Standards.V2-BDRCOUNCiL". 2010-04-27.
5. "Music_Video_Council_Rules_v6.0-MVC". 2011-09-23.
6. "VCD Guidelines".
7. "Music.Video.Council.2.0.FINAL-MVID_RuLES". 2005-11-15.
8. "The SVCD releasing standards 2002".
9. "The DivX Releasing Standards 2001". 2001-04-22. Archived from the original on 2001-04-26.
10. "The DivX Releasing Standards 2002 aka TDX 2002 Releasing Standards or TDX2K2". 2002-07-12.
11. "The.XviD.Releasing.Standarts-2005". 2005-09-25.
12. "The.2010.XviD.Sports.Releasing.Standards-SportsReleaseCouncil". 2010-03-08. The Sports Release Council was formed to separate sports releases from the ruleless world of TV-XVID. This standard aims to improve the overall quality of our sports releases while retaining the compatibility we have enjoyed for so long. We hope to bring standardization to our scene and rid ourselves of some of the archaic quality-hampering restrictions that the sports scene has had to put up with based on the preferences/assumptions of nukers.
13. "The.SD.x264.TV.Release.Standards.2012.REPACK-SDx264". 2012-02-20.
14. "TV__The.2003.TV.Releasing.Standards".
15. "The.TV-XviD.Release.Standards.2007". 2007-10-24.
16. "UK.TV.XviD.Rules.2011-UKTVSCENE". 2011-01-01.
17. "The.Retail.SD.x264.Releasing.Standards.2013-SDx264". 2013-10-17.
18. "The.Retail.SD.x264.Releasing.Standards.2013.Rev1.1-SDx264". 2013-10-18.
19. "The.2011.x264.SDTV.Releasing.Standards.Draft.1.REPACK-SDTVReleaseCouncil". 2010-11-12.
20. "The.SD.x264.TV.Release.Standards.2012.Update.1-SDx264". 2012-03-29.
21. "The.SD.TV.x264.Releasing.Standards.2016-SDTVx264". 2016-04-03.
22. "The.x264.Sports.Releasing.Standards.2009". 2009-06-21. x264 dupes xvid, use internal. Xvid doesn't dupe x264, hopefully all groups will move to x264 for sports then we can ban xvid for sports as it cannot cope with high motion sports, however better sources don't dupe xvid
23. "High.Definition.x264.Standards.Revision.4.0-HDX". 2011-01-29.
24. "2008.BD.Standards". High Definition x264 Standards (BD5/9)
25. "High.Definition.x264.Standards.for.Anime.1.0-FaNSuB". 2009-08-13.
26. "HIGH COUNCIL for FRENCH ANIME RULES". 2004-11-14.
27. "Animes.Rules.2011.French-ANIMESFR". 2011-07-20.
28. "The.WMV.Movie.Release.Standards.2007-NFO". 2007-05-16.
29. "The.WMV.Movie.Release.Standards.2008-NFO". 2008-02-07.
30. "The.Windows.Media.Video.Releasing.Standards.2009-NFO". 2008-11-23.
31. "The.Windows.Media.Video.Releasing.Standards.v3.5-NFO". 2009-05-26.
32. "The.Windows.Media.Video.Releasing.Standards.v4.0-NFO". 2009-10-03.
33. "The.Windows.Media.Video.Releasing.Standards.v4.1-NFO". 2010-01-01.
34. "The.720p.x264.TV.Releasing.Standards.2007". 2007-05-09.
35. "The.720p.x264.TV.Releasing.Standards.2008". 2008-04-17.
36. "The.720p.x264.TV.Releasing.Standards.2011". 2011-06-09.
37. "The.720p.x264.TV.Releasing.Standards.Update.1.2011-TVx264". 2011-07-25.
38. "The.720p.x264.TV.Releasing.Standards.2011.Update.2-TVx264". 2011-08-07.
39. "The.720p.TV.x264.Releasing.Standards.2016-TVx264". 2016-04-03.
40. "The.1080p.x264.TV.Releasing.Standards.2012". 2012-04-23.
41. "THE.2016.WEB.AND.WEBRIP.SD.HD.X264.RULESET.v1.0-WDX264". 2016-03-16.
42. "The 2002 DVDR releasing standards". First DVDR ruleset.
43. "THE.2010.DVDR.RELEASING.STANDARDS-TDRS2K10". 2009-11-14.
44. "THE.2009.DVDR.RELEASING.STANDARDS-TDRS2K9". 2009-09-02.
45. "DVDR.RELEASING.STANDARDS.2005". 2005-04-11.
46. "The.BDR.Releasing.Standards.V1-BDRCOUNCiL". 2009-05-28.
47. "Music_Video_Council_Rules_v5.0-MVC". 2008-12-17.
48. "XXX DVDR SCENE RELEASE STANDARDS 2004".
49. "Official.Pay.Web.Sites.(PAYSiTES).XXX.VIDEOS.Council.Rules". 2006-02-26.
50. "Official XXX-PAYSITE VIDEOS Council Rules".
51. "XXX.iMAGESET.Official.2010.Scenerules-XXXGROUPS".
52. "XXX.SD.2012.Release.Standards". 2012-11-15.
53. "Official_MP3_Release_Rules_1.1-2007-MP3COUNCIL".
54. "FLAC.standard.ruleset.V1.0-FLACOUNCIL". SceneNotice.org. 2011-10-02.
55. "Official.FLAC.standard.Rules.v1.1-FLAC-FLACOUNCIL". SceneNotice.org. 2011-10-10.
56. "Official.FLAC.standard.Rules.v2.0-FLAC-2012-FLACSCENE". 2012-05-01.
57. "Unofficial.FLAC.standard.Rules.v2.1-FLAC-2014-KimJong". 2014-05-17.
58. "Official.FLAC.standard.Rules.v3.0-FLAC-FLACSCENE". 2016-06-01.
59. "Zeroday.Scene.Rules.v2010.1-Rules".
60. "The PDA releasing standards". 2002-04-14.
61. "Network Software Association (N.S.A.) rules". 2000-03-26. Signed, Leaders, Council Members and Seniors of Class, Myth & Divine. It updates the information document that was prepared in 1998.
62. "Console.Standards.2009-CONSOLE". 2008-11-10.
63. "The DivX Releasing Standards 2001". The second ruleset for the DivX/Xvid scene. Contains iSONEWS ASCII art.
64. "The.Official.PlayStation3.Ruleset.2011.PS3-CONSOLE". Ludibria. 2011-06-10.
65. "The.NintendoDS.Release.Standards.2010-NDS". srrDB. 2010-05-31.
66. "The.Official.NintendoDS.Ruleset.2010.NDS-CONSOLE". srrDB. 2010-06-01. [NUKE] invalid.ruleset_pred.after.first.NDS.ruleset (LocalRelay) [UNNUKE] nuke.networks.do.not.have.rights.to.claim.what.rule.set.is.valid (LocalRelay) [NUKED] invalid.ruleset_NO.rules.can.not.be.enforced.by.this.set_multiple.groups.listed.did.not.agree.to.sign.rules
67. "The.PSP.Movie.Releasing.Standards.2005.READ.NFO-PSPCouncil". 2005-06-17.
68. "The.PSP.Movie.Releasing.Standards.2006-PSPCouncil". 2005-12-12.
69. "PSVita.Standards.2016-CONSOLE". 2016-09-10.
70. "German.Ebook.Rules.Beta.0.70.Denkanstoss-pxd". 2003-12-04.
71. "eBook.Rules.v.2.0.Final.20.06.2004-GER". 2004-06-20. Missing or empty |url= (help)
72. BiL; iMN; KiOSK; PiSToNS (2006-09-22). "Polish.eBooks.Releasing.Standards.v.1.0-PLeBookScene".
73. "German.eBOOk.Releasing.Standards.2009-GERMANBOOKS". SceneRules. 2009-04-15. Ebooks developed into a whole new independent section which grew out of 0DAY.
74. "International.Ebook.Rules.2012.eBOOK-EBOOKCOUNCiL". SceneNotice. 2012-04-19.

References

1. "War_Times-Razor1911". 2004-04-01. Recently it has been suggested that Razor 1911 turned down an opportunity to become a part of a standards body to define and dictate standards for the ISO scene at large. We would like to take a brief moment now and debunk this myth.
2. "INVALID_OFFICIAL_FLAC_STANDARD_RULES_V3.0-SCENENOTICE". SceneNotice.org. 2017-01-09.
3. enigmax (2012-03-03). "BitTorrent Pirates Go Nuts After TV Release Groups Dump Xvid". TorrentFreak. Retrieved 2012-03-04.
4. "Know All About Scene Rules, Standards, Nuking And Nuke Reasons". FileNetworks. Archived from the original on 2011-07-08.
5. Basamanowicz, J.; Bouchard, M. (2011). "Overcoming the Warez Paradox: Online Piracy Groups and Situational Crime Prevention". Policy & Internet. 3 (2): 79. doi:10.2202/1944-2866.1125. "These, along with rules of naming and organizing files, are rules that dictate how a file must be packaged—all groups are expected to know and to follow these standards. The packaging stage in the script ensures that the content is adequately packed to scene standards: files must be properly named, files must be in the correct format, files must be the correct size, files and folders must be properly organized and labeled, and an nfo file containing required information must be included with the content."
6. vote (2014-03-11). "Das Ende der DVD?" [The end of the DVD?] (in German).
7. Hawa, M.; Rahhal, J. S.; Abu-Al-Nadi, D. I. (2012). "File size models for shared content over the BitTorrent Peer-to-Peer network". Peer-to-Peer Networking and Applications. 5 (3): 279. doi:10.1007/s12083-011-0122-6.
8. "How to play RAR files without unpacking them?". SceneLingo. 2012-04-22. Retrieved 2012-05-20.
9. "Dragon_Quest_VIII_USA_PS2-ECHELON". LUDiBRiA. 2005-11-16. Archived from the original on 2011-07-14. Stop using those absurd file names like blah-gamename.part01.rar, how hard is it to use an 8.3 name really-g.uys Maybe not everyone wants to burn RARs onto joilet filesystems, but aside from that, its just tradition. Once upon a time, you'd be nuked for these kinds of offenses, and just because the scenes become much more public [...] doesn't mean it has to keep on this downward spiral.
10. OneUp (2012-05-03). "Samurai_Shodown_IV_-_Amakusas_Revenge_USA_REPACK_VC_NEOGEO_Wii-OneUp nfo file". nuke both one is an auto rename because of the '
11. "MasterChef.US.S02E04.720p.HDTV.X264-DIMENSION". SrrDB. 2011-06-15. Someone forgot to actually specify a timezone[sic] for when the new rules come in to play, but the scene typically follows UTC, so... away we go.
12. Goode, S. (2010). "Exploring the supply of pirate software for mobile devices: An analysis of software types and piracy groups". Information Management & Computer Security. 18 (4): 204–225. doi:10.1108/09685221011079171.
13. Craig, Paul; Ron, Mark (April 2005). "Chapter 5: The Release". In Burnett, Mark (ed.). Software Piracy Exposed - Secrets from the Dark Side Revealed. Publisher: Andrew Williams, Page Layout and Art: Patricia Lupien, Acquisitions Editor: Jaime Quigley, Copy Editor: Judy Eby, Technical Editor: Mark Burnett, Indexer: Nara Wood, Cover Designer: Michael Kavish. United States of America: Syngress Publishing. pp. 96–102. doi:10.1016/B978-193226698-6/50030-1. ISBN 978-1-932266-98-6. Lay summary. Each release must adhere to a specific set of scene rules. If a release strays from the rules (i.e., trying to be different or ignoring warez policies) scene sites will refuse the release and instantly nuke it.
14. Chandra, Priyank (2016). "Order in the Warez Scene". Proceedings of the 2016 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems - CHI '16. pp. 372–383. doi:10.1145/2858036.2858341. ISBN 9781450333627.
15. Bud, Lester, Ndetroit, Prozac (1999-02-02). "Edition 33: Introduces a VCD section". The Net Monkey Weekly Report. Retrieved 2012-02-23.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
16. Wilson, Steve (1999-07-29). "Online Piracy: From Music to Film". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 2016-03-04.
17. Lee, Jennifer (2002-07-11). "Pirates on the Web, Spoils on the Street". The New York Times. Retrieved 2012-06-16.
18. "VCDQuality.com - SVCD releases". Vcdq.com. Retrieved 2012-02-23.
19. Smithson, Andrew (2002). DivX: The movie industry's mp3?. Multimedia Systems Coursework, Department of Electronics and Computer Science, University of Southampton. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.12.1735.
20. Hawkesworth, Andrew (2001). "DivX: DVD quality movies on a CD-R?". Department of Electronics & Computer Science, University of Southampton. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.12.2040.
21. azrael69 (2001-05-15). "A look into the past". The iSONEWS.
22. Mook, Nate (2000-03-22). "New Threat to DVD?". Efronts Betanews.
23. Puzz13. "News Archive: April 2001". Archived from the original on 2001-05-03.
24. "Weeds.S07E11.INTERNAL.READNFO.BDRip.XviD-CLUE". 2012-02-09. Technically speaking, under txd2k9 this release had to be a maximum of 175MB. Here it is at 233MB for those who want some conformity
25. VCDVaULT (2002-07-14). "Apollo.13.1995.INTERNaL.DVDRip.XviD-VCDVaULT". srrDB. It is with a tear in our eye that we announce the retirement of Smart Bitrate Control, and its encoding program, known as Nandub.
26. ViTE (2002-07-25). "Clockstoppers.DVDRip.XViD-ViTE". srrDB. VCDVaULT, as commonly seen throughout developments in the scene, has become a pioneer once again and has led a valiant effort to promote the widespread use of XViD instead of DivX 3.11 Alpha.
27. Spilker, Hendrik; Hoier, Svein (2013). "Technologies of Piracy? Exploring the Interplay between Commercialism and Idealism in the Development of MP3 and DivX" (PDF). International Journal of Communication. 7. ISSN 1932-8036.
28. "THE.XVID.RELEASING.STANDARDS.2005.REBUTTAL". SceneNotice.org. 2005-09-25.
29. Thompson, Darrius (2003-06-16). "A word on DivX / XviD capable DVD Players". We are requiring that for products to be DivX Certified that they have the ability to decode DivX3 since there is so much legacy content in this format.
30. Ernesto (2010-02-05). "LG Shows How To Play Pirated Movies On TV". TorrentFreak. In the packaged English language manual, LG does not try to obfuscate the true purpose of this nifty USB feature – playing pirated movies.
31. "Scene XviD Release Standards 2009 (TXD2K9)". FileNetworks. 2009-03-02.
32. "The.XviD.Releasing.Standards.2009.REBUTTAL-CantBelieveTheMess". SceneNotice.org. 2009-03-05. Nuked: nfos.from.turn.from.NOsegmenT.make.ppl.laugh
33. NODLABS. "Law.and.Order.SVU.S08E16.PROPER.DVDRip.XviD-NODLABS". SrrDB.com. We also decided to follow their specs to maintain consistency even though the new xvid rules contain a gay clause not allowing a resolution above 640x due to some piece of shit $20 Philips divx player that is apparently popular and is unable to display the correct aspect ratio on a WS tv (or some other bullshit) when the res is over 640.
34. CTU (2005-10-13). "Lost.S02E04.HR.HDTV.AC3.5.1.XviD-CTU". srrDB. HR HDTV is a format originated by us in 2003, under our former group name of FUA.
35. Booker, Logan (2012-03-04). "Superior H.264 Codec Now The 'Official' Standard Among Popular Piracy Groups". Gizmondo. Retrieved 2012-03-11.
36. BigFanIsSad (2012-03-01). "AVi vs MP4 - Please give us the choice". TVShowsApp.com. Retrieved 2012-03-11.
37. Webster, Andrew (2012-03-04). "Torrent users freak out over shift from Xvid to x264, threaten to pirate elsewhere". The Verge. Retrieved 2012-03-11.
38. Parfeni, Lucian (2012-03-05). "BitTorrent Pirates Angry over Switch from Xvid to x264, Have No Idea Who to Blame". Softpedia. Retrieved 2012-03-11.
39. Geere, Duncan (2012-03-05). "Elite piracy groups agree to drop Xvid video codec, swap to x264". Wired. Retrieved 2012-03-11.
40. Condliffe, Jamie (2012-03-05). "Torrent Users Upset Over Changing File Types". Gizmondo. Retrieved 2012-03-11.
41. Maruccia, Alfonso (2012-03-08). "Pirates of P2P ditch Xvid in favor of x264". Neowin. Retrieved 2012-03-11.
42. Jessica (2012-05-04). "2HD Quits XviD". Archived from the original on 2012-07-18.
43. Ernesto (2016-04-08). "Pirates Frustrated After TV Release Groups Swap .MP4 for .MKV". TorrentFreak.
44. "The.x264.Sports.Releasing.Standards.2009.REBUTTAL-AreYouSerious". 2009-06-24. Unless you're planning to push a SPORTS-X264 section, these rules conflict with the TV-X264 rules already in effect.
45. "The.Ultimate.Fighter.Finale.S09E13.720p.HDTV.x264-aAF". 2009-06-22. The.x264.Sports.Releasing.Standards.2009 = unofficial nonsense, we will not be following this crap nor will any groups with respect.
46. "The.Ultimate.Fighter.Finale.S09E13.REPACK.HDTV.XviD-aAF". 2009-06-22. Last and least, The.x264.Sports.Releasing.Standards.2009 gotta be the dumbest shit we've ever seen. It's in no way official and no respected groups will be following that, look who made and signed it for godsakes. wtf makes a handful of noobs think they can get together and dictate how we pre...great comedy tho thx :p
47. "Tennis.Wimbledon.2009.Mens.Quarterfinal.Andy.Murray.Vs.Juan.Carlos.Ferrero.HDTV.x264-NOsegmenT". 2009-07-04. This release conforms to the new ruleset: The.x264.Sports.Releasing.Standards.2009-x264 Missing or empty |url= (help)
48. enigmax (2011-02-10). "Have You Got What It Takes To Be An HD x264 Releaser?". TorrentFreak. Retrieved 2012-05-02.
49. VeDeTT (2012-04-22). "New.Kids.Nitro.2011.DUTCH.READNFO.1080p.BluRay.x264-VeDeTT". SrrDB. Retrieved 2012-06-09.
50. "Shutter.Sie.Sehen.Dich.2008.German.AC3.720p.BD5.x264-piepHD". SrrDB. 2008-10-22. This release is based on the 2008.BD.Standards.
51. "ConAir.1997.720p.BD5.x264-DOWN". SrrDB. 2009-05-14.
52. "VirtualDub history". VirtualDub.org. Retrieved 2012-04-03.
53. Bleach.Fade.To.Black.MULTI.BLURAY.1080p.X264-SLEEPINGFOREST, UNNUKED: no.proof.needed_Animes.Rules.2011
54. "Prison.Break.S02E05.DVDrip.XviD-SAiNTS". 2007-05-19. We refused to sign The.720p.x264.TV.Releasing.Standards.2007 because they do not ban segmenting which is the main reason for the crap releases we get in the HDTV scene nowadays. But since at least two of the groups that created/signed those new rules are already segmenting x264, obviously segmenting was never going to get banned. So have fun destroying another TV format with your crap and keep pretending you care about quality"
55. QCF (2012-04-22). "Grimm.S01E18.1080p.READNFO.HDTV.X264-QCF". srrDB. Third how can it be low encode settings when a ruleset does not exsist?
56. SYS (2012-12-11). "The.Victorias.Secret.Fashion.Show.2012.1080p.HDTV.x264-SYS". srrDB. FYI: The.1080p.x264.TV.Releasing.Standards.2012 isn't a real ruleset. One group doesn't decide.
57. DEADPOOL (2013-09-28). "The.IT.Crowd.The.Last.Byte.1080p.READNFO.INTERNAL.HDTV.x264-DEADPOOL". srrDB.
58. BATV (2014-04-14). "Game.of.Thrones.S04E02.1080p.HDTV.x264-BATV". srrDB. We're dropping the INTERNAL tag, one group doesn't get to decide how we all release 1080p TV. The.Victorias.Secret.Fashion.Show.2012.1080p.HDTV.x264-SYS - SYS agrees as well.
59. BATV (2014-04-15). "Game.of.Thrones.S04E02.READNFO.1080p.HDTV.x265-BATV". Thought we'd give this a shot, the first 1080p HDTV x265 encode! You can compare this with Game.of.Thrones.S04E02.1080p.HDTV.x264-BATV, same source, same avs, same preset, same colormatrix and same crf.
60. BATV (2016-01-24). "Black.Sails.S03E01.READNFO.1080p.HDTV.x264-BATV".
61. DIMENSION (2016-02-04). "2.Broke.Girls.S05E10.1080p.HDTV.X264-DIMENSION". North American QAM, OTA, consumer sat, etc are not sufficient for 1080p pres and will never be used.
62. "THE.2009.DVDR.RELEASING.STANDARDS.ADDENDUM.1-TDRS2K9". 2009-09-03.
63. "Scene DVDR Releasing Standards 2010 (TDRS2K10)". 2009-11-18. Archived from the original on 2011-07-08.
64. "THE.2010.DVDR.RELEASING.STANDARDS.ADDENDUM.1-TDRS2K10". 2009-12-16. Archived from the original on 2010-03-01.
65. "The.Matrix.1999.COMPLETE.READNFO.PAL.DVDR-XV". 2002-10-31. XeoN-VorTeX are proud to bring you the milestone in DVDR ripping, with the COMPLETE release of The Matrix. This DVD is Generally regarded as the most complex DVD on the market, and thus, only a movie only rip has been available; until now. The rip includes everything, including such things as the 'white rabbit'. Over 200 hours have been spent creating this DVDR and throughout this project, a guide has been updated with the new techniques required to process such a DVD. This guide will be published on the best ripping website thats out there (I'm sure you will know what it is), for the benefit of other groups or individuals. Enjoy this DVDR from your friends at XeoN-VorTeX! Missing or empty |url= (help)
66. Doom9 (2002-07-22). "Matrix on DVD-R". Doom9. It's time to climb the Mt. Everest of DVDs... The Matrix.
67. SLiEZE (2009-09-28). "The.Dark.Side.Of.Marco.Banderas.3.REAL.PROPER.Read.NFO.XXX.DVDRip.XviD-SLiEZE". Since the xxx scene dont have rules of their own maybe its time to sit down and create guide lines for xxx? Missing or empty |url= (help)
68. Mirage (2004-07-14). "Chick.Flick.7.XXX-Mirage". Missing or empty |url= (help)
69. SMuT (2005-06-10). "The.6th.Trick.DVDRip-SMuT". Missing or empty |url= (help)
70. Jan Adriaan van der Wal (2009). The "rise" and "fall" of the MP3scene: A Global and Virtual Organization - An organizational, social relational and technological analysis (Thesis).
71. Lars Rau (2004). Phänomenologie und Bekämpfung von "Cyberpiraterie": eine kriminologische und kriminalpolitische Analyse [Phenomenology and combat "cyber piracy": a criminological and criminal policy analysis] (Ph.D.) (in German). Justus-Liebig-Universität. ISBN 3-86537-246-5. Retrieved 2013-07-27.
72. TEAM FILEnetworks (2009-08-20). "Scene MP3 release rules 2.0 (2009)". FileNetworks. Archived from the original on 2010-11-30.
73. Adam L. Penenberg (1997-08-08). "Where do you want to pirate today?". Forbes. Retrieved 2013-07-06.
74. Al Capone (2000-03-09). "A Letter To The Scene by Al Capone (RNS)".
75. vote (2011-10-09). "FLAC setzt sich durch - Neues Ruleset in der Musik-Szene" (in German).
76. PERFECT (2011-10-24). "Kanye_West-My_Beautiful_Dark_Twisted_Fantasy-PROPER-CD-FLAC-2010-PERFECT". SceneNotice.org.
77. dL (2013-09-22). "RV800-Subsync-(FORM001)-READNFO-VINYL-FLAC-2012-dL". I feel a bit sorry, that a nuker who sits with his computer without the same experience and knowledge, interprets parts of the rules like they were carved into stone, unaware how the physical music industry works and has developed over the last 3 decades. Use your common sense, instead of creating strife.
78. TRUE2496 (2016-01-31). "Candlemass-Nightfall-PROPER-READNFO-LP-FLAC-1987-TRUE2496". Layer13.
79. CUSTODES (2017-02-12). "Farewell.CUSTODES-CD-FLAC-2017-CUSTODES". SceneNotice.org. The main goal of archive music in the best quality possible isn't from any real interest. TBH the FLAC-RULESET isnt professional enough for that.
80. Krömer, Jan; Sen, Evrim (2007) [2006]. "Chapter 2: Kopie der Kopie der Kopie - RELEASE-SZENE". No copy: die Welt der digitalen Raubkopie [No copy: the world of digital piracy] (in German). Germany: Tropical Publisher. pp. 54–55. ISBN 9783932170829.
81. Kopfstein, Janus (2012-04-23). "0-Day Art: saving digital art one torrent at a time - Net pirate provocateurs challenge the monetization of online works". TheVerge. Retrieved 2012-04-26.
82. Gehring, Verna V. (2004-08-01). "Chapter 3: Do Hackers Provide a Public Service". The Internet In Public Life. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 47. ISBN 978-0-7425-4234-1. Ideally, a warez d00d tries to release "0-day warez", copies of commercial software copied, cracked, and re-released on the first day the software is available for retail sale.
83. Andy (2016-09-26). "MacOS Sierra Breaks Popular Keygens, Pirate Finds Fix". TorrentFreak.
84. Lz0 (2012-03-18). "PTC.Mathcad.Prime.v2.0.20000TH.RELEASE.READ.NFO-Lz0". SceneNotice.org. Retrieved 2012-03-29.
85. FATFUCK (2012-04-10). "VERY.IMPORTENT.SCENE.NOTE.ABOUT.Lz0-FATFUCK". SceneNotice.org. Retrieved 2012-04-11.
86. Lz0 (2012-04-10). "MathSol.CurveFitter.v4.5.7.DC040912.READ.NFO-Lz0". SceneNotice.org. Retrieved 2012-04-20.
87. "Clustertruck.incl.Hotfix.RIP.READ.NFO-Unleashed NFO". 2016-09-28. NOTE: MU rule is pointless, when this hotfix updates most of the game content and without this fix, game is damn blurry. Should we really wait whole 14 days to be allowed to pre this - no way! Missing or empty |url= (help)
88. Dickinson, Eli (November 2006). "Mobile Software Piracy". FierceDeveloper. Archived from the original on 2010-08-19. Retrieved 2012-04-23.
89. ALFiSO (2003-08-17). "Zero-G.Funky.Elements.AKAI-ALFiSO nfo file". srrDB.
90. Rehn, Alf (2005). Ordered Misbehavior: The structuring of an illegal endeavor (PDF) (Technical report). Royal Institute of Technology, Department of Industrial Economics and Management. 12. Retrieved 2013-07-02.
91. TEAM FILEnetworks (2010-07-07). "The Game Scene Charts Issue 43 – Featuring Interview With SKIDROW". FileNetworks. TGSC #43 also includes a yet to be finalized version of Standard ISO Rules (S.I.R.) 2010 which will probably define how PC game ISO releases are pre'd in the future.
92. TNT (2008-01-09). "README.NFO of The_Unbiased_DOX_Report_2007-12_December_Issue_Year_in_Review_THE_BIG_ONE_ARE_YOU_READING_IT_YET-TNT". srrDB. DOX is a spoof of the term Docs, which is short for Documentation (or manuals). Today, we define DOX as any additions for CD-Rom/DVD-Rom games, excluding the actual CD/DVD images themselves.
93. TNT (2007-10-04). "The_Sims_2_Bon_Voyage_Covers_750TH_MOST_ELITE_RELEASE-TNT". srrDB. A great journey into that mystical land of the DOXies. The rarest releases in the entire scene. Oh so hard to find because their small size results in shitty couriers choosing to skip over them, not spreading them at all, since they don't get much credits or weektop stats for moving tiny DOX. This makes collecting DOX both challenging and even fun sometimes. Finding that one rare DOX on your list that seems to exist on only 2 sites in the whole scene just brings a smile to your face when you finally obtain it.
94. "Response.to.The.Official.PlayStation3.Ruleset.2011.PS3". xREL. 2011-06-14.
95. "Reply.To.2k9.Console.Rules-x360inT". Scenenotice. 2009-08-13. Retrieved 2010-08-06.
96. "NFL_Madden_2007_USA_BLUERAY_PS3-PARADOX". LUDiBRiA. 2006-11-25. Well everyone here it is - the world's first accessible PS3 rip ! [...] Granted it may end up being a bad rip or even totally unusable like the initial PS1/2/PSP/XBOX/XBOX360 releases but without them I doubt we would be able to play them now.
97. "The_Legend_Of_Zelda_The_Wind_Waker_USA_NGC-STARCUBE". LUDiBRiA. 2003-06-12. No, you won't be able to play this game on your GC, at least for now. But we thought software and hardware hackers would be interested in a GC release for various reasons, so here it is. For this first one, we decided to give you a pure disc dump. But on a GC disc, all the space that's not used is filled with random garbage, which is bad for compression. Any upcoming release from us will have that garbage removed.
98. "Red_Steel_USA_Wii-PARADOX". LUDiBRiA. 2006-12-21. Here we are again bringing you another world first, a full DVD image of one of the best Wii games to date, RedSteel. [...] Let the hacking and exploration of the Nintendo Wii begin! As is often the case with these scene firsts, it could be a while still until this image is playable.
99. "Need_For_Speed_Most_Wanted_PAL_XBOX360-PI". LUDiBRiA. 2005-12-08. You can't run these dumps yet, but you will be able to sooner or later :) [...] Why do we release full raw dumps, one sentence "Remember Gamecube?" until we know for sure what will be needed to run these things we will be releasing the full raw dumps to you, also a full raw dump is more likely to assist any hackers out there...
100. [DoOm]. "THE N64 REVIEW, ISSUE #1". Retrieved 2010-02-21. Swat (console division) has merged into Anthrox, all new Anthrox releases are now atx- (not as-xxxxx.zip). .
101. "Nintendo 64 ROM Release List". Retrieved 2010-02-21. List complete until November 2001.
102. "Nintendo 64 ROM Release List". Retrieved 2010-02-21. This list is not complete.
103. "Nintendo 64 ROM Release List". 64dd.net. Archived from the original on 2015-01-14.
104. "Dead.or.Alive.2.First.DC.Release-UTOPIA". LUDiBRiA. 2000-06-23. And it's the first copyable release ever. Make sure to use only with our previously released BootCD, and recognize that NO additional Hardware changes are required! You can do as many copies of this image as you want using your favourite CDRWIN, but don't expect to do your own copies!
105. "Dreamcast.CDLoader.V1.1-UTOPiA". LUDiBRiA. 2000-06-22. Finally, though no one really expected it, we made your dreams come true: Dreamcast BootCD V1.1 - boot copies and imports on a NON-chipped (!) standard consumer model.
106. "726: Legend of Zelda: Majoras Mask released by The Corporation". 64DD. 2000-09-29. As for group news, yeah, it's been real slow and it seems as though interest in the N64 scene is dwindling. This may be one of the last real titles you may see for this system, with GBA, PS2, DC, Gamecube, and XBOX on our minds, N64 is not the top thing on the minds of gamers anymore. We have all been busy with summer life, and playin' DC thanks to the wonderful people in UTOPIA.
107. "Dynamite_Cop_SELF_BOOTING_DC-KALISTO". LUDiBRiA. 2000-08-19. Please take note that you can ONLY burn this image with Padus DiscJuggler V2.0.X, It will NOT work with any other CD burning program, nor will it work with V1.0.X or V3.0.X of DiscJuggler. And, for god sakes, don't be lame and waste bandwidth re-releasing Nero and other crap versions of this image and get with the standards.
108. "Ultimate_Fighting_Championship_DC-KALISTO". LUDiBRiA. 2000-08-31. The first copy protected DC game.
109. "Kengo_Master_of_Bushido_USA_PS2-KALISTO". LUDiBRiA. 2000-12-31. 1st group to crack the first truly protected Dreamcast title (UFC).
110. "Last_Hope_Repack_DC-NU-NRG". LUDiBRiA. 2007-02-08. Respect for stnow for supplying the original. The original release of this was in alcohol 120% format which I can't stand. So to keep things as standard here is a discjuggler image.
111. "Ganbare_Nippon_Olympics_2000_JAP_DC-KALISTO". LUDiBRiA. 2000-09-02. Sega has offered us stock options to stop releasing DC, so this will be it, our last release. Thanks to all who have supported us throughout our stay in the DC scene. Take note this is NOT a joke. We are really stopping all DC operations with this release. We will continue on with the PSX. Bye. See Kalisto (warez group)#Kalisto and the Dreamcast for more info about this hoax.
112. "Flag_To_Flag_CART_Racing_DC-ECHELON". LUDiBRiA. 2000-09-04. Archived from the original on 2011-07-14. And a new group breaks into the bustling Dreamcast scene. We had the skills to do most things that KALISTO has done while they were doing it, but hey, why bother if they're doing all releases already? Now that KALISTO has stopped, we thought it would be a good time to emerge and start releasing for the public.
113. "Evil_Twin_Cypriens_Chronicles_DC-ECHELON". LUDiBRiA. 2002-04-30. Enjoy the last Kanji free game from the #1 group in the DC Scene!
114. "Silent_Scope_JAP_DC_PLUS2-PARADOX". LUDiBRiA. 2000-10-12. That's it! the first Dreamcast trainer is born!
115. "Shadowman_PAL_GERMAN_DC-PARADOX". LUDiBRiA. 2000-10-27. Note: This release is self-bootable. Also enjoy the first PDX intro on Dreamcast. We did this release just to prove that we can do neat DC releases as well. Enjoy!
116. "Gameboy_Emu_With_655_Roms_USA_DC-JDS". LUDiBRiA. 2000-12-21.
117. "Linux DC releases". LUDiBRiA.
118. "Guide to setup EvolutionX". Retrieved 2010-01-06. The reason that you have to convert the EvolutionX files to an ISO format is because your Xbox uses a special "xISO" format to read the DVD's. That's why Xbox DVD's can't be read on a standard computer. You use a program called xISO to create that ISO, then burn the ISO to a CDRW. It's in a format called "UDF" so that your Xbox can read the disc. Since the data is encoded in the UDF format, you won't be able to view the files on your PC once they are burned to CDRW.
119. First Xbox releases: and
120. "4x4_Evo_2_XBOX-ProjectX". 2002-05-04. We tested this game on a developer XBOX, and it works. Since there is no mod chip yet, we have no idea if this release will work on retail XBOXes when/if a mod comes out. However, now that there is a release, a modchip developer will be inclined to get our releases to work, so we think a future mod will work with this release.
121. "xbox_releases_date.txt". ABGX.net.
122. "Klonoa_2_Lunateas_Veil_USA_PS2_DVD-PARADOX". LUDiBRiA. 2001-01-08. Just cause these don't require as much work as rips I would rather play the game in its full glory then to have some sweat over a rip that looks like shit, sounds like shit, and crashes. Think about how much you pollute the earth and waste money for them, they have been nothing but problems. ParadoX was the first to do PS2 rips and PS2 DVD rips i think we proved are selves so go with your homeboys who care about what we push out unlike other groups who throw together crap and whine and then shut their mouths when they notice the shit the gloat about doesn't work... BaH! Good Nite
123. "ngc_releases_date.txt". ABGX.net.
124. "XBOX_360_Dump_Extractor_Tool_1.0_OPEN_SOURCE-PI". LUDiBRiA. 2005-12-08. But here we go with a nice extractor tool so that you can extract the dumps and check out the files, we even decided to release the source code, so that you can figure out the filesystem and make even nicer tools [...] Yes, once you get past the protections and down to the raw bits on the disc, its just the standard xboxdvdfs, however the offset and layer breakpoint are different!
125. "xbox360_releases_date.txt". ABGX.net.
126. "PlayStation 3 spil ISOer?" [PlayStation 3 game ISOs?]. fixxx.dk (in Danish). 2006-11-26. Archived from the original on 2008-01-13.
127. PS3 News (2006-11-25). "World's First PS3 Blu-ray Game Dump hits Cyberspace!!!". ps3news.com.
128. Bancal, Damien (2006-11-26). "Première copie pour PS3" [First copy for PS3]. zataz.com (in French). Archived from the original on 2010-05-16.
129. "ps3_releases_date.txt". ABGX.net. 2017-01-15.
130. TEAM FILEnetworks (2011-06-23). "Scene PS3 Release Rules Pre'd And Then Voided". FileNetworks.
131. "The.UnOfficial.PlayStation3.VOID.Ruleset.2011.PS3-FUCKYOU". SceneNotice. 2011-06-11.
132. "Endless_Ocean_2_PROPER_PAL_Wii-WiiZARD". LUDiBRiA. 2010-02-05. Retrieved 2010-02-13. The iCON release had m0 compression, enjoy this WiiZARD proper.
133. "First Nintendo Wii warez release (Red_Steel_USA_Wii-PARADOX)". 2006-12-29. Archived from the original on 2008-06-17. Retrieved 2010-02-13. A small revolution is beginning - people from scene group Paradox released the very first Wii image of Red Steel, one of the most popular games on this console.
134. "Donkey.Kong.Country.2.Diddys.Kong.Quest.VC.PAL.Wii-BlaZe". LUDiBRiA. 2008-04-16. Retrieved 2010-02-13. BlaZe brings you the first Virtual Console release. These are the raw, unencrypted files. To install this title, pack it into a WAD using your favourite wad packer (for the moment, there are no public ones) And install them using an elf installer, or a modified ISO that installs the WAD.
135. "LUDiBRiA - Wii Releases: search result". Retrieved 2010-02-13.
136. "LUDiBRiA - Wii Releases: search result". Retrieved 2010-02-13.
137. modified.ticket_get.OneUp.proper
138. "Fantasy.Zone.PAL.REPACK.VC.Wii-OneUp". LUDiBRiA. 2009-07-10. Retrieved 2010-02-13. these releases were not Trunca [sic] Signed and would not install we have fixed them for you.
139. "wii_releases_date.txt". ABGX.net., "wiiww_releases_date.txt". ABGX.net., "wiivc_releases_date.txt". ABGX.net.
140. "The_Avengers_Battle_for_Earth_PAL_WiiU-VENOM". SrrDB. 2013-05-03. Today we give you the first full WiiU disc image!
141. Hearn, Mark (2013-05-01). "Wii U allegedly hacked, Nintendo addresses would-be pirates (updated)".
142. "Call.of.Duty.Ghosts.XBOXONE-COMPLEX". SceneNotice. 2013-11-19. COMPLEX is proud to present the very first game data sector dump of an XBOX ONE game - even before the official console launch date ;) This release contains a 42gb .iso without security sectors. These can be patched in later on before burning the iso to disc. The disc itself has a new format (XGD4 / XBOX Game Data 4) and contains a few folders (licenses, msxc and metadata) with some .png and catalog files plus one large package1.xvc file of 41,285,020 kb length.
143. WaYsTeD (2014-05-31). "Watch.Dogs.PS4-WaYsTeD". We are now ripping PS4 games hopping it will be hacked one day and for everyone to enjoy. This pretty much has the same file structure as the ps3 games. Download these games and archive them we may need them one day.
144. QueLLBRUNN (2014-07-26). "The_Pinball_Arcade_PS4-QueLLBRUNN". This is a raw copy made like WaYsteD with some bddrive and ImgBurn. Don't expect any more.
145. KOTF (2017-09-27). "Grand.Theft.Auto.V.READNFO.PS4-KOTF". rom-news.
146. Andy (2017-09-30). "PS4 Piracy Now Exists – If Gamers Want to Jump Through Hoops". TorrentFreak.
147. "Sherlock_Holmes_DS_and_the_Mystery_of_Osborne_House_EUR_MULTi6_NDS-EXiMiUS". srrDB. 2010-06-23. You have to know that we never signed the lame The.Official.NintendoDS.Ruleset.2010.NDS-CONSOLE ruleset, whoever wrote it. We support the real scene spirit, where a perfect release is a playable release. Also, we allow REAL skilled groups to release cracks/trainers as patches for our games, just contact us before if you can guys.
148. "The.Current.Status.of.the.NDS.SCENE-CONCERNED". SceneNotice. 2010-07-09.
149. "Response.to.The.Current.Status.of.the.NDS.SCENE-CONCERNED". SceneNotice. 2010-07-14.
150. "Tom_Clancys_Ghost_Recon_Shadow_Wars_EUR_3DS-LGC". LUDiBRiA. 2011-06-05. Like our first DS and DSi dumps, we have included a picture of the dumper with this release.
151. "3ds_releases_date.txt". ABGX.net. 2017-12-23. Total releases: 2523 (including 62 nuked)
152. "3DS Rom Database". 3dsdb.com. 2,428 entries
153. "Tiger_Woods_PGA_Tour_USA_PSP_INTERNAL_RIP-pSyPSP". LUDiBRiA. 2005-06-27. This game had dummy files probably to help loading times, which were removed along with some music and commentary. It comes to about 509mb which should be enough to fit on a 512mb memory stick in the future when the games will be playable.
154. "LUDiBRiA - PSP Releases: search result". Retrieved 2010-02-13.
155. GamesIndustry International (2005-05-09). "PSP's UMD format cracked". Eurogamer.
156. "Syphon_Filter_USA_READNFO_PS1_For_PSP-pSyPSP". LUDiBRiA. 2006-12-22. This emulated PS1 game is for the new 3.02OE-A.. Copy it to your Memory Stick and boot as normal. Just to clarify to people who don't follow the PSP scene.. These are bought from the playstation store with a PS3 which is the only way they can be obtained and played. It is NOT possible to use existing PS1 ISOs with this official emulator.
157. "Untold_Legends_Brotherhood_Of_The_Blade_Plus_9_Trainer_PSP-PARADOX". LUDiBRiA. 2006-05-18. Here Is Another Trainer For All You Cheaters Out There. A Nice +9 For A Nice Game Is Always Good. Just Remember Which Group Is Bringing You The Hottest Trainers And Patches.
158. "ALIEN_EUR_MULTI3_UMDVIDEO_PSP-DEV". LUDiBRiA. 2005-09-02. We release this movie to allow all developers test the umd video format and maybe do a media player. There's no way yet to watch or play this movie
159. Tor Thorsen (2006-07-13). "Sony intros Memory Stick movies as Target KO's UMDs". gamesport.
160. "LUDiBRiA - PSP Releases". LUDiBRiA. Retrieved 2012-05-11.
161. WOLOLO (2016-02-10). "Warez group PSiCO release first Vita cartridge dump: Uncharted Golden Abyss". there exists no way to actually run this content today
162. PSiCO (2016-02-08). "Uncharted_Golden_Abyss_EUR_MULTI5_READNFO_PSV-PSiCO". Well here we are, the first PS Vita NVG game cartridge dump!
163. WOLOLO (2016-06-21). "Warez groups start releasing Vita Cartridge dumps for Cobra Blackin".
164. "Scene_Notice_For_Vitamin_Dumps_READNFO_PSV-PSiCO". 2016-08-30. We expected a flood of scene releases, which luckily for all of us didn't happen
165. "Ngage Scene - PHWiki". Pocketheaven.com. 2009-08-03. Retrieved 2010-08-06.
166. "GBC Scene - PHWiki". Pocketheaven.com. 2009-08-03. Retrieved 2010-08-06.
167. Ronin (October 2004). "A brief history of the e-book scene". Fravia. Archived from the original on July 24, 2012.CS1 maint: unfit url (link)
168. EEn (2004-08-23). "VALEDiCTION.TO.THE.SCENE-EEn". SceneNotice.org.
169. sUppLeX (2008-03-25). "DC.Countdown.Vol.1.No.15.Jan.2008.READ.NFO.COMiC.eBOOk-sUppLeX". YES, WE PRE IN RAR/SFV WHiCH MiGHT BE A BiT TOO MUCH FOR MOST OF YOU ZiP/DiZ LOVERS, BUT GiVE iT A TRY.
170. "sUppLeX.reverting.back.to.0day.standards.READ.NFO-sUppLeX". 2010-11-06.

External links

• Largest collection of known scene rules
• Collection of scene rules
• How to package a Scene release?
• Music rules of the now defunct What.CD torrent tracker