Hoodlum is originally an Amiga group that surfaced late in their scene during 1993. They were an aggressive group who managed to dominate their format of choice for three years before the law finally caught up with them. In fact in 1996 one of their main crackers The Black Cat released a fake cracktro stating he had died of a drug overdose in a bid to shake off the law.
most of the hlm mates were in jail for ages for h/p/a related things and selling drugs - T.E.S. Hoodlum Amiga
Hoodlum on the PC actually started out under a different name,
Public Enemy. Public Enemy had been active on the PC scene since 1990 though it's reputation was iffy depending on who you asked. PE and Hoodlum Amiga shared a few members as well as Speed Master's famous Chicago based BBS 'The Sancutary'. Which served as both group's WHQ and meant they were co-groups on the different computer formats.
Public Enemy eventually died and in 1994 the Hoodlum Amiga guys on the PC would emerge as part of the short lived '
The Firm - The Rebirth'. But by October of that year a US investigation into 60,000 stolen telephone calling cards had lead to the take down of a number US and European sceners and caused the Hoodlum guys to go in hiding.
Hoodlum PC emerged around the middle of 1995 after the Amiga guys teamed up with some former
TRSI PC members and also a local PC group run by Hemp Hoodlum. But the timing was unfortunate as it was a transitional time for the scene. The floppy scene was dying and the emerging RIP scene required new skills, making it young and competitive.
But what happened? During the summer everything was perfect... but when fall came... Zero releases? Hemp Hoodlum: Well Speedy (bless his soul ) [Speed Master] had to take a break for a while, he was blessed with a new addition to the family...soooo... when that happened, we decided to disband... - Hemp Hoodlum - The Naked Truth 2
Due to these unforeseen problems Hoodlum PC teamed up with another famous Amiga group
Prestige. Prestige Amiga had also created their own PC division that met with limited success. Though with the help of Hoodlum PC and the merger of a few former
Dynamix members Prestige became an instant powerhouse for 1996.
The Hoodlum brand would not be seen on the PC until nearly a decade later when out of the blue on June 2004 they released the cheap-ware title 'Thunderbolt II' from an unknown Dutch software publisher.
Things soon picked up though and Hoodlum got noticed. In fact they they soon found themselves targets of attacks from
Reloaded who continuously claimed Hoodlum's releases were not cracked. And so Reloaded would actually re-release titles previously won by Hoodlum. This would lead to an old style very public slanging match between the two groups. Whereby Reloaded would be making wild accusations and Hoodlum were forced to continuously defend themselves. It was then publicly revealed that Hoodlum were the new ISO division of
Myth and a replacement for
Deviance which had since been hostilely taken over by some former members.
Hoodlum and Myth carried on successfully releasing throughout the first half of 2005. Until on the last day of June when The US Department of Justice published a press-release titled '
Operation Site Down Attacks Organized Piracy Networks In 10 Countries'. In which it said many groups including both Hoodlum and Myth were the target of an organised FBI plot over a period of two years involving sting FTP sites. After which no new releases from either group were forth coming until on October when Myth published their now famous farewell letter, calling it a day.
History brief
1993 . Hoodlum is founded on the Amiga
1995 . Hoodlum PC is founded
1995 . Hoodlum absorbs some minor groups
1996 . Hoodlum PC joins Dynamix in merging into Prestige
1996 . Hoodlum Amiga dies
2004 . Hoodlum reemerges on the ISO scene as a co-group of Myth
2005 . Hoodlum and Myth are targets of Operation Site Down and the groups calls it quits
