In not-too-secret online forums, Wesley Snipes’ latest movie, “Blade: Trinity,” is the subject of intense discussion and evaluation. But unlike typical movie fan sites, the chatter from visitors to Web sites like VCDQuality.com doesn’t key on the vampire film’s plot, acting or bloody visual effects.
Instead, computer users dish out praise or criticism on the caliber of video and sound achieved by online groups whose sole mission is to make available unauthorized copies of Hollywood films within a day or two of a movie’s debut, if not before.
For these online bootleggers, who authorities say represent the top of a distribution pyramid for pirated movies, software and music, it’s all about the bragging rights for being first to copy a hot title or releasing the best-quality replica.
“On the top sites, on those really private sites, the sport is about the next film and the next game,” said Marc Morgenstern, vice president and general manager of Overpeer, a unit of Seattle-based Loudeye that combs the Internet for pirated content on behalf of entertainment companies. “That’s where those gangs put feathers in their cap. They score even more points if they do it before the release date.”
Members of these so-called ripping groups, also known as warez groups, have created a community referred to as “the scene.” It exists primarily on the Internet’s back alleys — private Internet Relay Chat, or IRC, which is a precursor to the modern instant messaging software, or Usenet news groups that function like bulletin boards.
Read the Complete story @ Yahoo News
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