| HACKER ETHNOGRAPHY:
George Orwell once wrote that the machine altered human relationships because it removed any mechanical reason that the average human being should continue as a drudge. What it also did, he said, was usher in a new form of class distinction, a hierarchy in which the intellectual is the one with his hands on the whip.(1) Though even Orwell probably could not have imagined the role “the machine” would take – in the form of computers and the Internet – in contemporary culture, his prescient observation is unmistakably apparent in the online communities known as Usenet. And the group alt.binaries.cracks is no exception. Monitored for a week for the purposes of this paper, alt.binaries.cracks hosts both the curious newcomer and the longtime hacking veteran. Mostly men, the members operate with a mix of bravado and insecurity, of blatant defiance to the power structure in the group, and fierce loyalty to its reining leader, a character known by the pseudonym ZuLu. It doesn’t take long to figure out that ZuLu is regarded as a sort of King Crack. “Your crack request is incomplete and as such, stands little chance of being honored,” ZuLu responds on July 7 to a request for a spamming tool – or a “hallucination” as he calls it – by someone named Sophie. He ends the post with an admonishment, a characteristic touch he uses with someone new to the list. “If you are going to request something of me, read the CrackFAQ and follow the posting guidelines TO THE LAST DETAIL,” he writes. (Incidentally, the FAQ is 31 pages, about 13,700 words.) “Otherwise, I'm not looking at it. If I'm not responding to your messages then you are probably serving a mandatory 3 month sentence in my kill-filter file.” It’s this kind of exchange that frames much of the conversation on the news group. Of course there were requests during the week for help with cracking, including "Go!zilla V3.0!," "SN for SQCPack or Maintenance Pro 2000," "anawave" and "websnake 1.01b or higher." And occasionally a member would take the time to give step by step instructions. But griping sessions and verbal-sparring matches were more common than solutions in this group. And the exchanges, as Orwell predicted, are settled when the smartest, most clever responses garner the most respect. In one Saturday morning discussion, ZuLu, in a message entitled “psssssstt, I'll let you in on a little secret,” asks the question “Which group of people in this newsgroup are by far the LEAST likely to read your requests for cracks?” The answer, he says, is the crackers. “Now, you put 2 and 2 together and tell me why it is that people even bother requesting new cracks. Requesting a new crack effectively does little more than enter the poster's nym into the kill-filtered lottery for that day. Most of you out there would be a lot better off if you just lurked and leeched.” The responses varied, ranging from the loyalists who quickly lined up behind their Alpha male, to those who accused ZuLu of being arrogant. “Personally, I agree...especially with those people who come off like you got nothing better to do than post cracks for them,” says someone named SD, “which is why I actually list the steps I take before posting.” But then he adds: “Personally, zulu, you come off to me like your head is a bit too big, I mean all that bullshit for a FAQ? come on....if you don't want to bother reading posts..just say so......personally, I've got better things to do than bother with you.” ]-[emLok, evidently a big fan of ZuLu's, is outraged and replies: “If people like Zulu didn't exist then there'd be no use for morons like you in the world, would there? Zulu is Zulu but you are pathetic.” This response proves too much for Joe's Place, who writes: “Zulu - who gives a flying fuck? (besides Jetster and a few others who have their noses so far up your ass!) There are several crackers unlike yourself that seem to enjoy what they provide instead of continually complaining like you do. If cracking/posting provides you with such displeasure, then just quit, QUIT complaining like a 10 year old.” And finally, in an astonishing exhibit of verbosity, u_know_me posts a 1,749-word analysis of ZuLu’s psyche, which at first asks “Do you see this ng as your personal theatre, all other people as your marionettes?” and later urges, apparently sincerely, that the super crack consult a therapist to work through the bitterness. The anonymity of the news group undoubtedly contributes to the brazen nature of these posts. Most members don’t include their email addresses, and the monikers they use don’t identify who they are. Their IDs are revealing, however. With names like robin hood, darkman, renegade, Spiderweb, Avenger and BigBadWolf, it's clear the participants fancy themselves as adventurous and anti-establishment. It is also likely they have a game or two of Dungeons & Dragons hidden somewhere in the past. (It’s unclear what the name ZuLu means, and the beholder responded to requests for an interview by deleting my postings. It’s unlikely the reference is derived from the South African tribe, once an extensive Zulu kingdom. Perhaps more plausible is the name’s roots in mythology: Zu is the god of thunder, of storms; Lu, or Lugh, is the god of sorcery.)(2) Most of the longtime list regulars – phrozen-crew, tony top, robin hood, nitallica, lomax and vrodok the troll – do not get dragged into the in-fighting. They’re more interested in sharing information, including crack schemes as well as helpful Websites and reference material. It’s the newer, younger, members who tend to disrespect the community. In fact, the veteran members seem to resent this new generation of hackers who, they say, mooch off of their years of hard work. Information Security magazine, for example, calls them nothing but punks with a penchant for pushing buttons.(3) “Have you noticed an increased attempt to bring some order out of the chaos of these NGs?” asks Yaounde on July 19. “Crackers and posters alike are growing increasingly impatient with incomplete request for cracks, a 'gimme' attitude and downright rudeness of most of the requests as of late.” The question, like so many others, went unanswered. ________________
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