The United Software Association (USA) was a prominent warez

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...

 organization which released games and software for the IBM PC

IBM PC

The IBM Personal Computer, commonly known as the IBM PC, is the original version and progenitor of the IBM PC compatible hardware platform. It is IBM model number 5150, and was introduced on August 12, 1981...

 platform during the 1990s. USA formed a co-op with the PC warez division of Fairlight

Fairlight (group)

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...

 which was best known as "USA/FLT". USA was formed as the result of a split of several members from another noteworthy PC group, The Humble Guys

The Humble Guys

The Humble Guys were a cracking group for the IBM PC during the late 1980s founded by two friends known by the pseudonyms Candyman and Fabulous Furlough. The group was also noticed in the demoscene for some of their cracktros....

 (THG). Key members, such as Genesis and The NotSoHumble Babe, left THG, eventually resulting in bad blood between to two groups and public displays of animosity. http://www.defacto2.net/file/detail/a73d55

USA had a subdivision known as "USA-DoX" which was responsible for transcribing or otherwise typing up documentation

Documentation

Documentation is a term used in several different ways. Generally, documentation refers to the process of providing evidence.Modules of Documentation are Helpful...

 to accompany a release. This division was also carried over by Genesis from THG, which previously had its own documentation division known as "HumbleDox". http://www.textfiles.com/piracy/SOFTDOCS/bic-sol2.dox

In the news

In late January 1992, several members of USA, including Mike Arnolds (The Grim Reaper) and "Amy" (The NotSoHumble Babe), were busted by the United States Secret Service

United States Secret Service

The United States Secret Service is a United States federal law enforcement agency that is part of the United States Department of Homeland Security. The sworn members are divided among the Special Agents and the Uniformed Division. Until March 1, 2003, the Service was part of the United States...

 (in cooperation with the Farmington Hills Police and Michigan

Michigan

Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....

 State Police) for carding (credit card fraud

Credit card fraud

Credit card fraud is a wide-ranging term for theft and fraud committed using a credit card or any similar payment mechanism as a fraudulent source of funds in a transaction. The purpose may be to obtain goods without paying, or to obtain unauthorized funds from an account. Credit card fraud is also...

). http://www.textfiles.com/piracy/bustnews

External links

• Pirate's Cove, Issue 2, Article from Volume 4, Issue 38 of Phrack
  Phrack
  Phrack is an ezine written by and for hackers first published November 17, 1985. Described by Fyodor as "the best, and by far the longest running hacker zine," the magazine is open for contributions by anyone who desires to publish remarkable works or express original ideas on the topics of interest...
  
   which details the USA busts. Written by Thomas Oliver, aka Rambone. (Rambone was later busted as part of Operation Sentinel in 2002. http://www.cybercrime.gov/rothbergSent_pirates.htm)
• USABUST.TXT, an anthology of resignation letters and related text files put together by Shadow PhanTom of the Unassociated Free Press surrounding the TGR and TNSHB bust which devastated USA. Includes resignations from several top ranking members of the IBM PC warez scene.
• United Software Association file and information repository on Defacto2