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Fairlight (group)
Encyclopedia
Fairlight is a warez
and demo
group initially involved in the Commodore
demoscene
, and in cracking
to illegally release games for free, since 1987. In addition to the C64
, Fairlight has also migrated towards the Amiga
, Super Nintendo and later the PC
. Fairlight was founded during the Easter
holiday in 1987 by Strider and Black Shadow, both ex-members of West Coast Crackers (WCC). This "West Coast" was the west coast of Sweden
, so Fairlight was initially a Swedish group, which later became internationalized. The name was taken from the Fairlight CMI
synthesizer which Strider saw Jean Michel Jarre
use on some of his records.
operation called Operation Fastlink
.
Police forces from eleven countries were involved, arrest
ing about 120 people and seizing more than 200 computer
s (including 30 servers). One server
from the U.S. raid contained 65,000 pirated titles which were alleged to be in the archive repository of the group.
The operation was coordinated by the FBI, the British National Hi-Tech Crime Unit
, the German Bundeskriminalamt
(BKA) and the Business Software Alliance
, and took place in 27 U.S. states. In the UK
, seven computers were seized and three arrests made in Belfast, Manchester and Sheffield. In Singapore
, three people (22, 30 & 34 years old) were arrested. In the Netherlands
two servers owned by students on 2 universities were investigated by police officers. Other arrests and seizures were made in Belgium
, Denmark
, France
, Germany
, Hungary
, Israel
, and Sweden
for a total of 11 countries.
According to rumor, the raid occurred just before the warez group would have released the game Hitman: Contracts
. The game was released by other groups (iNSOMNiA, for Xbox
and PS2
, and Razor 1911
, for PCs) a few days later.
The last massive warez-related raid prior to Fastlink was Operation Buccaneer
which targeted DrinkOrDie
(amongst others) in December 2001.
Since October 2006 the ISO division of FAIRLIGHT has started releasing again.
with their cooperative endeavor, TRSi and Fairlight Recordz, formed by member Zinkfloid (also known as Uyanik) and Raven from Fairlight. The groups released several albums under their brand name "TRSI & Fairlight Recordz", including Muffler
(2000) http://www.fusecon.com/products/scenecds/muffler.shtml http://www.lynnemusic.com/muffler.html and CNCD (1995). http://www.cncd.fi/music/
Warez
Warez refers primarily to copyrighted works distributed without fees or royalties, and may be traded, in general violation of copyright law. The term generally refers to unauthorized releases by organized groups, as opposed to file sharing between friends or large groups of people with similar...
and demo
Demo (computer programming)
A demo is a non-interactive multimedia presentation made within the computer subculture known as the demoscene. Demogroups create demos to demonstrate their abilities in programming, music, drawing, and 3D modeling...
group initially involved in the Commodore
Commodore 64 demos
The Commodore 64 demos are demonstrations of what can be done to push the limits of the Commodore 64 computer, made by programmers, musicians and artists....
demoscene
Demoscene
The demoscene is a computer art subculture that specializes in producing demos, which are non-interactive audio-visual presentations that run in real-time on a computer...
, and in cracking
Software cracking
Software cracking is the modification of software to remove or disable features which are considered undesirable by the person cracking the software, usually related to protection methods: copy protection, trial/demo version, serial number, hardware key, date checks, CD check or software annoyances...
to illegally release games for free, since 1987. In addition to the C64
Commodore 64
The Commodore 64 is an 8-bit home computer introduced by Commodore International in January 1982.Volume production started in the spring of 1982, with machines being released on to the market in August at a price of US$595...
, Fairlight has also migrated towards the Amiga
Amiga
The Amiga is a family of personal computers that was sold by Commodore in the 1980s and 1990s. The first model was launched in 1985 as a high-end home computer and became popular for its graphical, audio and multi-tasking abilities...
, Super Nintendo and later the PC
IBM PC compatible
IBM PC compatible computers are those generally similar to the original IBM PC, XT, and AT. Such computers used to be referred to as PC clones, or IBM clones since they almost exactly duplicated all the significant features of the PC architecture, facilitated by various manufacturers' ability to...
. Fairlight was founded during the Easter
Easter
Easter is the central feast in the Christian liturgical year. According to the Canonical gospels, Jesus rose from the dead on the third day after his crucifixion. His resurrection is celebrated on Easter Day or Easter Sunday...
holiday in 1987 by Strider and Black Shadow, both ex-members of West Coast Crackers (WCC). This "West Coast" was the west coast of Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
, so Fairlight was initially a Swedish group, which later became internationalized. The name was taken from the Fairlight CMI
Fairlight CMI
The Fairlight CMI is a digital sampling synthesizer. It was designed in 1979 by the founders of Fairlight, Peter Vogel and Kim Ryrie, and based on a dual-6800 microprocessor computer designed by Tony Furse in Sydney, Australia...
synthesizer which Strider saw Jean Michel Jarre
Jean Michel Jarre
Jean Michel André Jarre is a French composer, performer and music producer. He is a pioneer in the electronic, ambient and New Age genres, and known as an organiser of outdoor spectacles of his music featuring lights, laser displays, and fireworks.Jarre was raised in Lyon by his mother and...
use on some of his records.
Operation Fastlink
Several high ranking members of the group were caught on April 21, 2004, 8 months after the group returned from their temporary "retirement" that began on June 9, 2003 and ended on August 30, in an FBIFederal Bureau of Investigation
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is an agency of the United States Department of Justice that serves as both a federal criminal investigative body and an internal intelligence agency . The FBI has investigative jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crime...
operation called Operation Fastlink
Operation Fastlink
Operation FastLink is a coordination of four separate, simultaneous undercover investigations by the FBI, the FBI Cyber Division, the U.S. Department of Justice, the Computer Crimes and Intellectual Property Section of the Criminal Division and Interpol. The four different investigations have not...
.
Police forces from eleven countries were involved, arrest
Arrest
An arrest is the act of depriving a person of his or her liberty usually in relation to the purported investigation and prevention of crime and presenting into the criminal justice system or harm to oneself or others...
ing about 120 people and seizing more than 200 computer
Computer
A computer is a programmable machine designed to sequentially and automatically carry out a sequence of arithmetic or logical operations. The particular sequence of operations can be changed readily, allowing the computer to solve more than one kind of problem...
s (including 30 servers). One server
File server
In computing, a file server is a computer attached to a network that has the primary purpose of providing a location for shared disk access, i.e. shared storage of computer files that can be accessed by the workstations that are attached to the computer network...
from the U.S. raid contained 65,000 pirated titles which were alleged to be in the archive repository of the group.
The operation was coordinated by the FBI, the British National Hi-Tech Crime Unit
National Hi-Tech Crime Unit
The National Hi-Tech Crime Unit previously formed part of the National Crime Squad, a British Police organisation which dealt with major crime....
, the German Bundeskriminalamt
Federal Criminal Police Office (Germany)
The Federal Criminal Police Office of Germany is a national investigative police agency in Germany and falls directly under the Federal Ministry of the Interior...
(BKA) and the Business Software Alliance
Business Software Alliance
The Business Software Alliance is a trade group established in 1988 and representing a number of the world's largest software makers and is a member of the International Intellectual Property Alliance...
, and took place in 27 U.S. states. In the UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, seven computers were seized and three arrests made in Belfast, Manchester and Sheffield. In Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
, three people (22, 30 & 34 years old) were arrested. In the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
two servers owned by students on 2 universities were investigated by police officers. Other arrests and seizures were made in Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
, Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
, Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
, and Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
for a total of 11 countries.
According to rumor, the raid occurred just before the warez group would have released the game Hitman: Contracts
Hitman: Contracts
Hitman: Contracts is a stealth game developed by IO Interactive and published by Eidos Interactive. It is the third entry in the Hitman series, followed by Hitman: Blood Money....
. The game was released by other groups (iNSOMNiA, for Xbox
Xbox
The Xbox is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Microsoft. It was released on November 15, 2001 in North America, February 22, 2002 in Japan, and March 14, 2002 in Australia and Europe and is the predecessor to the Xbox 360. It was Microsoft's first foray into the gaming console...
and PS2
PlayStation 2
The PlayStation 2 is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Sony as part of the PlayStation series. Its development was announced in March 1999 and it was first released on March 4, 2000, in Japan...
, and Razor 1911
Razor 1911
Razor 1911 is a warez and demo group.-History:The group was originally founded as Razor 2992 by Doctor No, Insane TTM and Sector9 in Norway in October 1985 as a Commodore 64 software cracking group...
, for PCs) a few days later.
The last massive warez-related raid prior to Fastlink was Operation Buccaneer
Operation Buccaneer
On December 11, 2001, in an international operation known as Operation Buccaneer, law enforcement agents in six countries targeted 62 people suspected of software piracy, with leads in twenty other countries.U.S...
which targeted DrinkOrDie
DrinkOrDie
DrinkOrDie was an underground software piracy group and warez trading network during the 1990s. On December 11, 2001, a major law enforcement raid - known as Operation Buccaneer - forced it to close under criminal charges of infringement. DoD, as a rule, received no financial profit for their...
(amongst others) in December 2001.
Since October 2006 the ISO division of FAIRLIGHT has started releasing again.
Notable demo releases and awards
The demo division of Fairlight has received numerous awards during their career, listed below.| Title | Type | Awards |
|---|---|---|
| My Room | demo | 1st place at Phenomena/Censor Party 1990 |
| Illusion | demo | 2nd place at The Computer Crossroad 1993 |
| 242 | demo | 2nd place at Assembly 1993 |
| Full Moon | demo | 2nd place at The Party The Party (demo party) The Party was an annual demoscene event held from 1991 to 2002 in Denmark. It was one of the first events of its kind and set the trend for many other demoscene parties in Europe.-The early years:... 1993 |
| Chaosland | 40k intro | 1st place at The Party 1993 |
| Love | demo | 1st place at South Sealand Party 1994 |
| Breathtaker | demo | 2nd place at Assembly 1994 |
| Psychedelic | demo | 2nd place at The Party 1994 |
| Faktory | demo | 3rd place at The Party 1995 |
| Sumea | demo | 1st place at Assembly 1996 |
| Title | Type | Awards |
|---|---|---|
| Drop The Basics | demo | 3rd place at X 2001 |
| Pretending To See The Light | demo | 1st place at Floppy 2002 |
| Loaded | demo | 2nd place at Floppy 2003 |
| Anyone | demo | 1st place at Deadline 2003 |
| Emanation Machine | demo | 1st place at Little Computer People 2003 |
| Wok Zombie | demo | 2nd place at Floppy 2004 |
| One Million Light Years From Earth | demo | 1st place at Floppy 2005, scene.org award nominee - best oldskool demo of 2005 |
| Hello:Friend | demo | 1st place at Little Computer People 2005, scene.org award nominee - most original concept of 2005, best oldskool demo of 2005 |
| Boogie Factor | demo | 1st place at Assembly 2005, scene.org award winner - best oldskool demo of 2005 |
| LCP Memories | demo | 1st place at Black Birdie 2005 |
| WWIII | demo | 1st place at Big Floppy People 2006 |
| One Little Wish | demo | 1st place at Datastorm 2010 |
| Title | Type | Awards |
|---|---|---|
| Together | 64k intro | 1st place at Scene Event 2000 |
| Absolut Vodka | demo | 1st place at Remedy 2000 |
| ETTV | demo | 1st place at Remedy 2001 |
| Virtual Vodka | demo | 2nd place at DreamHack DreamHack DreamHack is a digital festival, a local area network gathering with demo competitions, gaming competitions and more. It's arranged twice annually at the Elmia exhibition centre in Jönköping, Sweden and also twice a year at Expolaris Congresscenter, Skellefteå, Sweden and holds the world record ... 2001 |
| Tatsu | demo | 3rd place at The Gathering 2002 |
| Only Kings And Better | demo | 1st place at Remedy 2002 |
| From Dust Till Dawn | demo | 1st place at Remedy 2004 |
| Come Clean | demo | 4th place at Assembly 2004 |
| Fresh! | 64k intro | 1st place at BCN 2004, scene.org award nominee - best 64k intro of 2004 |
| Death And Taxes | 64k intro | 2nd place at Breakpoint 2005, scene.org award nominee - best 64k intro of 2005 |
| Che Guevara | 64k intro | 1st place at Assembly 2005, scene.org award winner - best 64k intro of 2005 |
| Re-Recycle | 64k intro | 1st place at Sundown Sundown (party) Sundown is an annual demoparty held in the coastal town of Budleigh Salterton, near Exeter in the United Kingdom.-About:Sundown is a relatively small, UK-orientated demoparty, aimed at fostering and expanding creative talents and programming skills in the demoscene.- 2005 :The first party was... 2005 |
| Deadline | demo | 1st place at Deadline Harakiri 2006 |
| Meet The Family | 64k intro | 1st place at Breakpoint 2006 |
| Liquid Lust | demo | 1st place at Birdie 2006 |
| Glitterati | 4k intro | 1st place at Assembly 2006 |
| Dead Ringer | 64k intro | 1st place at Assembly 2006 |
| Track One | demo | 2nd place at Assembly 2006, scene.org award winner - best demo of 2006 |
| Scarecrow | 4k intro | 1st place at Sundown 2006 |
| Media Error | demo | 3rd place at Assembly 2007, in coalition with CNCD and Orange |
| Panic Room | 64k intro | 1st place at Assembly 2008 |
| Frameranger | demo | 1st place at Assembly 2009, in coalition with CNCD and Orange |
| Blunderbuss | demo | 2nd place at Main 2009, scene.org award winner - best soundtrack of 2009 |
| Agenda Circling Forth | demo | 1st place at Breakpoint 2010, in coalition with CNCD |
| Ceasefire (all falls down..) | demo | 2nd place at Assembly 2010, in coalition with CNCD |
Records
Fairlight held a short-lived romance with TRSITristar and Red Sector Incorporated
Tristar & Red Sector Incorporated is a computer scene and underground formation which derives from the longest-running in scene history, getting started in 1990.RSI existed from 1985, before being joined by the "T" later on....
with their cooperative endeavor, TRSi and Fairlight Recordz, formed by member Zinkfloid (also known as Uyanik) and Raven from Fairlight. The groups released several albums under their brand name "TRSI & Fairlight Recordz", including Muffler
Muffler
A muffler is a device for reducing the amount of noise emitted by the exhaust of an internal combustion engine. A US Patent for an Exhaust muffler for engines was granted to Milton and Marshall Reeves in 1897....
(2000) http://www.fusecon.com/products/scenecds/muffler.shtml http://www.lynnemusic.com/muffler.html and CNCD (1995). http://www.cncd.fi/music/
See also
- United Software AssociationUnited Software AssociationThe United Software Association was a prominent warez organization which released games and software for the IBM PC platform during the 1990s. USA formed a co-op with the PC warez division of Fairlight which was best known as "USA/FLT". USA was formed as the result of a split of several members...
— IBM PC-warez organization which released cooperatively with Fairlight during the early 1990s. - List of warez groups
External links
- The World of Fairlight (official website)
- Fairlight demos and cracktros, including Come Clean, indexed by Pouet
- "Operation Fastlink" press release published by the United States Department of JusticeUnited States Department of JusticeThe United States Department of Justice , is the United States federal executive department responsible for the enforcement of the law and administration of justice, equivalent to the justice or interior ministries of other countries.The Department is led by the Attorney General, who is nominated...
- Fairlights' CSDb entry
- Fairlight PC file and information repository on Defacto2
- San Diego GOP chairman co-founded international piracy ring, a blog post from The Raw StoryThe Raw StoryThe Raw Story is a progressive news, politics and weblog publication founded in 2004. Updated continuously, it is known primarily for its investigative reporting...
.