Last Thursday the leftist, sensationalist, US political blog The Raw Story had outed conservative San Diego Republican Chairman Tony Krvaric as one time scene member Strider. Strider is probably best known as one of two guys who co-founded Fairlight back in 1987 on the Commodore 64. Later in 1992, after being inspired by Ronald Ragan he migrated to the USA and for a short time continued the group's activities on the PC.

Mr Krvaric has never shied away from his scene past. In 1993 he incorporated Fairlight Trading in California. He has used the strider alias with e-mail addresses and the Fairlight web domain for politicial campaigns. What did Mr Krvaric have to say about his recent expose?

Apparently there's a hit piece floating around on me, 'exposing' my wild high school, teenage years where I was in a computer club where we swapped Commodore 64 games (similar to how kids swap mp3 music files these days). This was in the 80's, on a computer that's long since defunct!

This is not the first time the Internet has been used to attack Mr Krvaric. It was only 13 months ago when an online publication known as the Californian Christian News wrote an article accusing Mr Krvaric of being pro-American flag burning. They cited a 1995 public forum message board, quoting a reply apparently written by the Republican Chairman on the hot topic.

Now that everyone knows Strider's current political stance and position with the Republican Party. The old Commodore 64 Fairlight tag, 'kill a commie for mummy' certainly takes on another meaning for many old schoolers.

After the recent unfortunate news in regards to the death of Dr. Detergent. It was alerted to us that Westbam had also passed away two years ago at the age of 36.

Westbam was most known for his European based activities with TRSI, Razor 1911, INC, and Legend in the early to mid-1990s and later with the original Divine.

We have the unfortunate task of relaying some sad news today.

I just found out that a friend, Dr. Detergent has passed away. It's been some time but I just managed to find him again since we lost contact for a very long time. Unfortunately I found out he had passed away in his sleep at the age of 33.

Dr. Detergent was a well respected cracker and programmer the 1990s. Known for his cracking ability, his name could often be found on various cracks and trainers for various games from the golden era of PC gaming. A former member of many renowned groups he will be missed by the many people who worked with him during those legendary Razor 1911, The Dream Team, Syndicate, Phoenix, INC and The Humble Guys days.

Untouchables Tutorial by Dr Detergent from 1993
The Dream Team NFO written by Dr Detergent
Untouchables NFO written by Dr Detergent

There are 375 different Bulletin Board Systems listed containing over a thousand different adverts. While over on the Internet side we have an additional 60 elite FTP sites which hold 62 adverts.

A complete list of all the sites included can be found here, while the pack itself can be downloaded from here.

MaGE LEGAL DISCLAIMER; It is against the law to reproduce copyrighted material for the purpose of selling it to third parties. US Law only allows for you to make one backup copy of any software or media for personal and archival purposes, which is the ONLY intended use for this software. This program is not meant for those who intend on breaking copyright laws. In no way will we be held responsible if you do. Any other use of this software is strictly prohibited.

ALBERT BRYNDZA, also known as "Kortelio," age 35, of Parlin, New Jersey, was sentenced by Chief United States District Judge Robert N. Chatigny in Hartford to three years of probation, the first six months of which BRYNDZA must serve confined to his home. Judge Chatigny also ordered BRYNDZA to pay a fine in the amount of $7500 and to perform 120 hours of community service. On March 8, 2005, BRYNDZA waived indictment and pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit criminal copyright infringement. This matter stems from a multinational software piracy investigation known as "Operation Higher Education."

According to documents filed with the Court and statements made in court, between June 1999 and April 2004, BRYNDZA was a participant in the "warez scene," an underground online community consisting of individuals and organized groups who engage in the large scale reproduction, modification and distribution of copyrighted software over the internet. BRYNDZA was a member of Fairlight and Kalisto, online piracy release groups that specialized in the illegal distribution of computer games, including PC and console games. BRYNDZA has admitted that he built and operated two large servers for use by members of the Fairlight and Kalisto groups (among others) to store and distribute thousands of titles of pirated software and other digital media. From June 2000 to April 2004, Kalisto was responsible for releasing to the warez scene pirated copies of more than 500 well-known, copyrighted computer games, often before the date of their legitimate commercial release.

Kevin J. O'Connor, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that JEFFREY LERMAN, also known as "asdgadg," "kall," "ht," and "reg," age 23, of College Park, Maryland, was sentenced today by Chief United States District Judge Robert N. Chatigny in Hartford to three years of probation, the first six months of which LERMAN must serve confined to his home. Judge Chatigny also ordered LERMAN to pay a fine in the amount of $7500. On March 8, 2005, LERMAN waived indictment and pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit criminal copyright infringement. This matter stems from a multinational software piracy investigation known as "Operation Higher Education."

In pleading guilty, LERMAN admitted that, between January 2002 and April 2004, he was a participant in the "warez scene," an underground online community consisting of individuals and organized groups who engage in the large scale reproduction, modification and distribution of copyrighted software over the internet. Specifically, LERMAN was a prominent member of the warez group known as "Kalisto," where he served as a "ripper" for pirated copies of computer games so that each game would fit onto a single CD-ROM. LERMAN eliminated or circumvented the games' copy protection controls in order to facilitate the further unauthorized distribution of the games over the internet. From June 2000 to April 2004, Kalisto was responsible for releasing to the warez scene pirated copies of more than 500 well-known, copyrighted computer games, often before the date of their legitimate commercial release.

Caught up in the whirlwind following the raids were Australian native Hew Raymond Griffiths. Hew was the administrator, or "ring leader", of DrinkOrDie. For the last three years, Hew has been fighting an extradition to the United States, where the US DOJ wanted him to face trial - or plead guilty - on American soil. The US DOJ got their wish in February, when the Australian government released him into American custody. On April 20th, 2007, Hew plead guilty to criminal copyright infringement charges.

The US DOJ, as do many sources, point out that this is a unique case in the fact that Hew has never laid foot on American soil, nor has he ever committed a crime on US soil, yet was still successfully extradited for his crimes. The US DOJ annunciated this fact in their statement on Friday, reveling in 51 month sentencing of Hew Griffiths.

So it appears that Hew was not safe on Australian soil, where according to his lawyer the penalties would have been less severe.

"Effectively my client was sent to face charges in a foreign country where he has no knowledge of the legal system and no friends or family," his lawyer told The Sunday Age. "He has been surrendered to a country where the penalties for such offenses are much harsher."

The only mitigating circumstance for Hew Griffiths is the US Judge took into consideration his time already served in Australia. Although he was sentenced 51 months, he was granted 3 years already served. According to The Age, he should be out of prison in 15 months. With good behavior, it's likely he'll be out sooner than that.

Today Defacto2 is proud to publicly release their first production for eight years. A new web-intro that will be included in a number of the file packages that we offer on the website. The oldskool inspired production was created by a new group known as Electric Druggies.

As you can see from the screenshot the intro looks very snazzy. Comprising of completely new source material, the font, logo and music were all purposely created for this production.

Thanks go to Electric Druggies with their very cryptic aliases
- Code and Font by Widow Maker
- Logo by Shadow Maker
- Music by Noise Maker

Update: Feel free to vote for our intro at Intro Inferno

Today the US Department of Justice was proud to announce the successful conviction of their 50th criminal arrested and charged under Operation Fastlink.

Christopher E. Eaves, 31, of Iowa Park, Texas pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit copyright infringement. Admitting he had been an active member and supplier for the former pre-release MP3 warez group Apocalypse Crew.

Mr Eaves now faces up to five years prison and a $200,000 and a three year supervised release. His sentencing is set for August 10th.

In addition to the 50 convictions Operation FastLink has netted over 120 search warrants in 12 countries; the confiscation of hundreds of computers and the removal of more than $50,000,000 dollars worth of illegal goods.