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Warez groups are teams of individuals who have participated in the organized unauthorized publication of films, music, or other media, as well as those who can reverse engineer and crack the digital rights management (DRM) measures applied to commercial software. This is a list of groups, both web-based and warez scene groups, which have attained notoriety outside of their respective communities. A plurality of warez groups operate within the so-called warez scene, though as of 2019 a large amount of software and game warez is now distributed first via the web. Leaks of releases from warez groups operating within the 'scene' still constitute a large amount of warez shared globally. Between 2003 and 2009 there were 3,164 active groups within the warez scene, with the majority of these groups being active for no more than two months and with only a small fraction being active for many years.^[1] The warez scene is a very competitive and volatile environment, largely a symptom of participation in its community being illegal in most countries. Groups are generally not driven by profit, but by reputation.^[2]

• 1Groups

Groups[edit]

3DM[edit]

3DM is a Chinese video game cracking group, 'one of the world's biggest' according to Kotaku. Their founder and leader is reported to be a woman using the pseudonym 'Bird Sister' (simplified Chinese: 宿菲菲; pinyin: Sù Fēifēi). Unusual for piracy groups, 3DM's members have public profiles on the social network Sina Weibo, and use a blog to inform the public about their activities. Some members of 3DM have previously been part of NETSHOW, a group which released Chinese language copies of games directly to warez scene FTP sites.

Ocean Of Games

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3DM were one of the first groups to offer cracks for games which utilized DRM produced by Denuvo. As newer versions of Denuvo DRM became more challenging to reverse engineer, 3DM gave up trying to crack games with Denuvo DRM.

In 2016 the group claimed that piracy of games produced by large developers and publishers would be impossible in the coming years, due to the technological challenges of reverse engineering and ultimately cracking the virtualization and licensing schemes employed by new DRM solutions like Denuvo. One of the most notable groups on the web at the time, they publicly announced a year hiatus from developing cracks for games. Since returning in 2017, 3DM have only released games which use Steam licensing, only releasing copies of better protected games which include cracks made by other groups. This practice has been criticized by the groups whose cracks were included in releases under the 3DM name.^[3]

Centropy[edit]

Centropy, founded in January 1999, was a warez group which specialized in releasing copies of films, many of which were still in theatres. Touting many '0-day' releases and releases prior to commercial availability, Centropy released and pre-released numerous films.

CLASS[edit]

CLASS (also known as CLS) was a warez group which was the target of federal raids such as Operation Fastlink. They were a global group with members worldwide, often releasing game 'rips'. The group ceased operations in 2004 after their 1,234th release.^[4]

CODEX[edit]

CODEX (also known as CDX) – is a warez group founded at the end of February 2014. They are known for releasing copies of games which use Steam licensing and also for emulating Ubisoft'sUplayDRM protection. They were accused^[5] by the warez group SKIDROW of stealing their code to crack Trials Fusion, something CODEX denied,^[6] stating that they had written their own code for the DRM emulation. From 2016 to 2019 they have been one of the most active warez groups releasing commercial computer games with over 3700 releases in less than 5 years, compared to older groups like SKIDROW having fewer than 2500 over more than a decade of activity.^[7][8] In late 2017 CODEX gained notoriety by becoming the third scene group (and fifth overall entity) to crack Denuvo DRM when they released a cracked version of Middle-earth: Shadow of War on its release date.^[9][10] CODEX collaborated with STEAMPUNKS on at least one game which used Denuvo DRM, South Park: The Fractured But Whole, which they released under the name 'CODEPUNKS'.^[11] In February 2018 CODEX began releasing cracked copies of games from the Microsoft Windows Store.^[12] In mid-2018 CODEX began releasing cracked copies of games featuring the latest versions of Denuvo DRM, including updated versions of Assassin's Creed Origins and Far Cry 5, both of which used Uplay licensing DRM and contained additional anti-modification and anti-debugging code through the use of VMProtect. On February 1, 2019, CODEX published a cracked copy of Resident Evil 2, which used Denuvo DRM, 7 days after the worldwide commercial release of the game.^{[13][14][15][16]}

CONSPIR4CY[edit]

CONSPIR4CY (releasing mostly as CPY) is a warez group founded in 1999 in Italy. They rose in notoriety after releasing Rise of the Tomb Raider andInside in August 2016 under the name of CONSPIR4CY^[17], though they resumed using the 'CPY' tag shortly thereafter with the release of their cracked copy of Doom in September 2016.^[18] They became the first group to create proper cracks for games protected by the third iteration of Denuvo DRM software. They cracked Resident Evil 7: Biohazard only five days after its release, at the time the shortest amount of time taken to develop a crack for a Denuvo DRM-protected game.^[19] They also cracked Mass Effect: Andromeda,^[20] only ten days after its release. In July 2017 the warez group SKIDROW criticized the methods used by CONSPIR4CY to crack games using Denuvo DRM.^[21] In early 2018, CPY released cracked copies of Assassin's Creed Origins and Far Cry 5, which were compiled with the most recent version of Denuvo DRM, and had additional anti-modification and anti-debugging features through the use of VMProtect software and EasyAntiCheat. In November 2018 CPY released cracks for HITMAN 2, Assassin's Creed Odyssey, A Way Out, Shadow of the Tomb Raider, Pro Evolution Soccer 2019, FIFA 19 - all of which featured the latest version of Denuvo DRM, with some using additional custom DRM or off the shelf DRM such as EACore and VMProtect. In December 2018, CPY published a cracked copy of Just Cause 4, which used the latest version of Denuvo DRM, on the day after its release. They also released a crack for Battlefield V on December 22, days after its official release. In January of 2019, CPY released cracked copies of Ace Combat 7, Mutant Year Zero, and Strange Brigade, as well as the first episode of Life is Strange 2 (titled 'Roads') - all 4 titles using the latest versions of Denuvo DRM. In February of 2019, CPY released Metro Exodus, which used the latest version of Denuvo DRM available, within 5 days of its release, as well as the second episode of Life is Strange 2, titled 'Rules'. There were no releases from CPY in March or April of 2019.^[22]

DEViANCE[edit]

One of the most prolific warez groups active from 1998 to 2006. Their dissolution has been described as the end of an era, and the current affiliation of ex-DEViANCE members is a reoccurring argument between groups.^[23][24][25] Describing members of a modern warez group as ex-DEViANCE became something of a joke within the warez scene.

DrinkOrDie[edit]

DrinkOrDie (also known as DoD) members were targeted by law enforcement in raids stemming from Operation Buccaneer.

Echelon[edit]

Skidrow Games Wiki

Echelon was a warez group which specialized in the release and distribution of console games, such as DreamcastISOs.

EViLiSO[edit]

Released American Pie on the Internet 3 months before its theatrical release.^[26][27] They branded their releases with a digital watermark of the letter 'Z' which appeared in the corner of the frame.^[28] The bootleggers were associated with a web site in Argentina devoted to Quake.^[29]

FAiRLiGHT[edit]

FAiRLiGHT (releasing cracked games as FLT) is one of the oldest groups in warez scene, founded in 1987. As of 2017 the group seemingly focuses on demos and art,^[30] with their most recent release of cracked software in December 2016. FAiRLiGHT members were apprehended in raids stemming from the law enforcement Operation Fastlink.

Hoodlum[edit]

Hoodlum (also known as HLM) mainly focused on cracking games which utilized digital rights management solutions offered by Safedisc and Securom. They were targeted as part of the Operation Site Down raids in 2005.^[31][32] In July 2018, HOODLUM again started releasing Mac, PC & PS4 games.^[33]

The Dream Team[edit]

The Dream Team (also known as 'TDT') were the first warez group on the IBM PC to introduce intros or 'crack'tros' to their game releases. It was one of the first IBM PC groups founded 1988 in Sweden and run by Hard Core or also known as HC/TDT.

The Humble Guys[edit]

The Humble Guys (also known as THG) were the first warez group to make use of NFO files to document their releases.

HATRED[edit]

Founded in late 2006, HATRED was very active during 2006 to 2007. ViTALiTY has claimed that HATRED were former members of DEViANCE.^[34] Some of their major releases included Rainbow Six: Vegas and Resident Evil 4. Their last release was on August 2008.^[35]

HYBRID[edit]

HYBRID (also known as HBD) was founded in 1993.^[36] HYBRID later split up when the US-members founded DYNAMIX (later PRESTIGE and PARADIGM).^[37]

International Network of Crackers[edit]

International Network of Crackers (also known as INC) was one of the premier cracking/releasing warez groups for the IBM PC during the late 1980s and early 1990s. The majority of their releases during 1993 were educational games for children. By early 1994, INC had completely disappeared from the warez scene.

Kalisto[edit]

Kalisto is a console warez group established in March 1998 which specializes in the release and distribution of PlayStation and PlayStation 2ISO images, briefly moonlighting on the Dreamcast platform in mid-to-late 2000.

maVen[edit]

maVen were a film release group from October 2005 until the summer of 2006. Releases from maVen stopped when the FBI caught Gérémi Adam, one of its key members. The 27-year-old Montreal resident has been sentenced to two and a half months in prison and was also ordered to complete 100 hours of community service. He pleaded guilty to distributing two major motion pictures: Invincible and How to Eat Fried Worms^[38][39] After the bust, releases ceased and another group called maVenssupplieR immediately took up the slack.^[40] In April 2010, the 28-year-old Gérémi Adam died of a drug overdose at the Pointe-aux-Trembles home he shared with his girlfriend, Cynthia Laporte.^[41][42][43]

mVs (Maven Supplier) released a workprint of Halloween three days before its official release on August 27, 2007.^[44]

Myth[edit]

Myth was a warez group, focused on cracking and ripping PC games. Besides ripped games, the group also released trainers and cracked updates for games.

PARADOX[edit]

PARADOX (also known as PDX) was founded in 1989, mainly cracking games for the Amiga. They went on to crack software for the Windows operating system and other consoles. They were one of the earliest groups to successfully crack Windows Vista, which was supposed to be a difficult task based on changes Microsoft had made to the activation scheme for the software.

Phrozen Crew[edit]

Phrozen Crew (PC), founded in 1993 by tKC,^[46] was one of the most popular groups of computer softwarecrackers, utilizing the tagline 'We always get what we want!'.^[47]

Pirates With Attitudes[edit]

The Pirates With Attitudes (also known as PWA) were a major international warez release group from 1992 until 2000. The group was formed by two former INC members known by the pseudonyms Orion and Bar Manager. PWA members were the subjects of law enforcement raids after the passing of the No Electronic Theft or 'NET' Act.^{[48][non-primary source needed]}

Project X[edit]

Project X exclusively released games for the Xbox.^[49] In 2004, Project X was named as one of six groups targeted as part of Operation Fastlink by the United States Department of Justice.^{[50][non-primary source needed]}

PROPHET[edit]

PROPHET is a subgroup of or otherwise affiliated in some way with RELOADED, whose cracks they re-use in releasing multi-language versions of games. They also tend to release copies containing the latest game content such as DLCs. These are often stylized as MULTi. For example, MULTi7 meaning the release is a copy containing 7 languages - usually some combination of English, Spanish, French, German, Russian, Polish, Czech, Dutch, Italian, Portuguese, or some other European language.

Rabid Neurosis[edit]

Rabid Neurosis (RNS) was an MP3 warez release organization which was founded on June 6, 1996.^[51]

Radium[edit]

Several verses of the rap song Hackers and the Crackers by Zearle are devoted to the group Radium. In 2004, evidence was presented that some of the system sound files included with the Microsoft Windows XP operating system, such as WMPAUD1.WAV, were authored using an unlicensed version of Sound Forge which was supplied by Radium.^[52]

Razor 1911[edit]

Razor 1911 (also known as RZR and RazorDOX) was founded in 1984 in Montréal by 'SM'. In 1985 its primary bulletin board system was based in Norway. The group's main focus was to crack software for the Commodore 64 personal computer, but they also released Amiga and the IBM PC software. They were subjects of raids in Operation Buccaneer and Operation Fastlink.

The group made a comeback in June 2006,^[53] and since then has cracked modern copy protection schemes such as Rockstar Games Social Club,^[54] Ubisoft's persistent Internet connection requiring DRM,^[55] and Battle.NET.^[56] In March 2012, Razor1911 announced that their tester and coder DYCUS, who had an active role in making trainers and testing the group's releases, had died of cancer.^[57] Since then, the group has seldom released cracked games, focusing on DRM-free titles from GOG.com, as well as games for Linux and macOS.

RELOADED[edit]

RELOADED (also known as RLD!) was founded in June 2004.^[58] Their founders are believed to be ex-DEViANCE members, though their rival group HOODLUM claimed in December 2004 that none of DEViANCE's previous leaders had ever been in RELOADED.^[59] The group has cracked several modern protection schemes like SecuROM 8, Blizzard's Battle.NET, and Arxan Anti-Tamper.

REVOLT[edit]

REVOLT gained popularity for creating solutions for cracked games to have working multiplayer features, and later for cracks of games using Denuvo DRM which were released by its founder. REVOLT was founded by a Bulgarian teenager, who used the online handle Voksi. In July 2018 the REVOLT website began redirecting to the website of the Bulgarian Ministry of the Interior.^[60] The same month, Voksi, then in his twenties, reported having been raided by Bulgarian law enforcement in response to a complaint filed by Denuvo parent company Irdeto. In comments made to media organisation TorrentFreak, Voksi alleged that 'five or six officers, including two from Bulgaria's General Directorate for Combatting Organized Crime (GDBOB) and others from a local police station' entered his home and seized personal computing equipment.^[61]

Risciso[edit]

Risciso (stylized as RISCISO) was an online warez group, founded in approximately 1993, dedicated to distributing newly released copyrighted software, games and movies.

SKIDROW[edit]

SKIDROW is a well-known cracking group originally formed in 1990, cracking games for the Amiga platform, and having used the motto 'Twice the Fun - Double the Trouble!' since then. A piece of cracktro software released by SKIDROW in 1992 with the game 10 Pinball Fantasies contained a complete list of their membership at the time^[62]. The most recent incarnation of SKIDROW began releasing unauthorized copies of games in June 2007, when they announced their return to cracking software.^[63]They were the first scene group to crack the version of Ubisoft's Uplay DRM which required players to have a persistent Internet connection to Ubisoft's licensing servers, first in Assassin's Creed II^[64] and then in Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands.

The group has released cracks for Denuvo Anti-Tamper protected games, Yesterday Origins and Deus Ex: Mankind Divided - A Criminal Past. It is believed the former had a bad implementation of Denuvo which made it easier to reverse engineer, mostly due to a lack of support from Denuvo for protecting games written in C# and specifically games using the Unity game engine, with this lack of support having been previously demonstrated by an anonymous independent cracker having developed a crack for Syberia 3, which also used Unity. The crack for the latter was actually determined to be a modified executable file from the game Deus Ex: Breach, a free game which did not incorporate Denuvo's software, released by the same developers and utilizing the same engine, which had been modified slightly to load the assets from Deus Ex: Mankind Divided. A plurality of SKIDROW's current releases are cracked versions of games that make use of Steam licensing.^[65]

In July 2017, in a statement released to commemorate their 10th consecutive year of releases since re-emerging in the PC game cracking scene, SKIDROW made cryptic remarks that the techniques used by CONSPIR4CY, STEAMPUNKS, and members of the Steam Underground warez forum to crack modern copy protections are not proper.^[21] These criticisms were themselves criticized on the web, as SKIDROW's apparent standards for a proper crack would seemingly disqualify both their most notable crack of Ubisoft's persistent online connection requiring DRM, which they emulated, and their most recent notable release of a Denuvo-protected game, which they cracked by modifying the executable from another game.

Steam Underground[edit]

While not precisely a group, the community centered around the Steam Underground web forum and its members have been a notable source of warez development, releases, tools, tutorials, discussions, and information pertinent to other groups since at least 2008. The forum has both Russian and English language boards, and is the home to a number of projects primarily focused on cracking, emulating, and otherwise extending the capabilities of Steam and games released on Steam. Games on other platforms may also be discussed on their own board.

The Steam Underground forums are auxiliary to the warez scene, however the formal and informal collaboration between its users arguably constitutes a warez group. Members of Steam Underground have individually and collectively cracked games featuring DRM schemes such as the version of Ubisoft's Uplay which required players to maintain a persistent Internet connection to their licensing servers, Steam Custom Executable Generation, Arxan Anti-Tamper, Denuvo Anti-Tamper, and more - both generic digital distribution licensing schemes as well as custom protection, such as the copy protection triggers implemented by game developer Croteam in The Talos Principle and their Serious Sam franchise. Tools and techniques released on the forums have been used to make multiplayer game modes accessible in cracked copies of games, usually enabling pirates to play with other pirates. The cracker known as Baldman released the vast majority of his cracks for Denuvo-protected games on Steam Underground. A Bulgarian hacker known as Voksi used the Steam Underground forums as a point of distribution for cracks of games with advanced virtual machines, such as Denuvo. In early 2018, Voksi, in collaboration with another Steam Underground user and with material support from a member of Chinese cracking group 3DM, began releasing cracks for previously uncracked games and updated builds of titles which utilized Denuvo DRM. Voksi alleged in July 2018, after his personal site began redirecting to a Bulgarian government site, that he was raided by Bulgarian law enforcement at the behest of Denuvo's parent company. This parent company claimed responsibility for the law enforcement inquiry into Voksi in a press release.

The forum and its members have often been referenced as some variation of 'the Russian site/forum'^[21] or directly by name^[66] by warez scene groups in statements which mention the site. At least one prominent member of the forum has been in contact with warez scene release group members, as they published several non-public cracks for The Sims 4 which they attributed to tools or methods obtained from the cracking group RELOADED. This individual was the given access or knowledge related to EA's Origin licensing scheme and DRM, as they began to release their own cracks for updated versions of The Sims 4 based on the same cracking technique.

Notable users of the Scene Underground forum include Baldman, Voksi, DeltaT, and FCKDRM (not to be confused with the anti-DRM activism campaign begun by GOG.com), as well as Steam006 (creator of SmartSteamEmu), UberPsyX (author of the kernel mode driver used by Voksi to crack Denuvo games), and Mr_Goldberg (creator of an emulator for Steamworks multiplayer to add LAN-based multiplayer functionality to games).

STEAMPUNKS[edit]

STEAMPUNKS released unauthorized copies of games which utilized Denuvo digital rights management solutions in 2017, with their first releases being copies of Dishonored 2, ADR1FT, Planet Coaster, and ABZU. Releases by STEAMPUNKS include a license generator which creates a valid hardware ID-based license file. These licenses appear to be identical to those generated by the web-based activation servers operated by Denuvo, and they do not trigger Denuvo's DRM copy protection. This method attracted some attention upon its debut, while license generators and 'keymakers' were fairly common in commercial software piracy, they had fallen out of use in cracking games as most games moved to the license management capabilities provided by Steam and other digital distribution platforms. One negative reaction to STEAMPUNKS' license maker came from the warez group SKIDROW in a statement from the group released in July 2017.^[21] In late September 2017, STEAMPUNKS became the first warez group to release cracked copies of Denuvo DRM-protected games within 24 hours of their commercial availability, releasing both Total War: Warhammer II and FIFA 18 on the same day they were made available for consumers. STEAMPUNKS collaborated with CODEX to crack South Park: The Fractured But Whole upon its release, with the cracked release appearing under the portmanteau group name 'CODEPUNKS'. Following this and one other collaborative release, STEAMPUNKS became inactive, while CODEX continued to publish cracked versions of games. At least one of STEAMPUNKS' crackers was originally a member of X-FORCE (known for their Adobe software keygens), and at least one other member of STEAMPUNKS would become a member of CODEX after the group became inactive.

Superior Art Creations[edit]

Superior Art Creations (SAC) is an underground artscene group which caters primarily to, and is well known within, the warez scene.

Tristar and Red Sector Incorporated[edit]

Tristar and Red Sector, Inc. (also known as TRSI) began as an alliance between two warez groups: Tristar and Red Sector Incorporated. They were formed in 1990 as a cooperative Commodore 64 demo coding and cracking group. TRSI migrated from the Commodore 64 release platform to the Amiga and IBM-PC, and eventually branched off into the console gaming scene before finally disbanding their warez division. In late 2003, TRSI became inactive and remains so today.^{[67][third-party source needed]}

United Software Association[edit]

The United Software Association (also known as USA) was a prominent IBM PC games and applications warez group during the 1990s. USA formed an alliance with the PC warez division of Fairlight which was known as 'USA/FLT'. In late January 1992, several members of USA were arrested by the United States Secret Service and the Farmington Hills, Michigan police for credit card fraud.

VACE[edit]

VACE was founded in September 2003, and focused on cracking and ripping PC games. Besides ripped games, the group also releases trainers.

ViTALiTY[edit]

ViTALiTY (also known as VTY) was founded in May 2005. It has been suggested they were former members of DEViANCE.^[24] The group was considered blacklisted by many in the warez scene in October 2007,^[68] something ViTALiTY claims was orchestrated by rival groups RELOADED^[69] and FAiRLiGHT,^[70] though the latter claim they were against it.^[71] ViTALiTY was accused of either reporting or threatening to report members of other groups to the FBI,^[68] though ViTALiTY claimed a senior member of RELOADED threatened to do the same to them.^[69] ViTALiTY's last release was an update to Dragon Age: Origins on 7 January 2011.^[72]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

1. ^'Characteristics of the Warez Scene'.
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3. ^'WRC.6.FIA.WORLD.RALLY.CHAMPIONSHIP-STEAMPUNKS'. Retrieved 2017-07-05.
4. ^'Class'. Defacto2. 1997-01-08. Archived from the original on 2012-04-02. Retrieved 2012-09-17.^{[self-published source]}
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6. ^[1]^{[self-published source]}
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8. ^'predb.ovh - 2289 releases by @team SKIDROW'.
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13. ^'predb.ovh - Resident Evil 2'.
14. ^'predb.me - Resident.Evil.2-CODEX'.
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17. ^'predb.ovh - search @team CONSPIR4CY'.
18. ^'predb.ovh - search DOOM @team CPY'.
19. ^Andy (2017-04-14). 'Game Pirates Celebrate Fall of Denuvo's Brand New Protection'. TorrentFreak.
20. ^Papadopoulos, John (2017-04-04). 'Despite the Denuvo anti-tamper tech, Mass Effect: Andromeda has been cracked in 10 days'. DSOGaming.
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22. ^'Search @team CPY'.
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33. ^'Hoodlum crack index - PreDB.Pw'.
34. ^'Vitality claim Hatred is made up of former Deviance members'. defacto2.net. Retrieved 3 March 2017.
35. ^'HATRED's release list'. predb.me.^{[permanent dead link]}
36. ^Ben Garrett (27 April 1997). 'Hybrid – Defacto2'. defacto2.net. Archived from the original on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 2015-04-28.^{[self-published source]}
37. ^Mindbender (1 May 1996). 'The Naked Truth Magazine, 6 for The Naked Truth Magazine – Defacto2'. defacto2.net. Retrieved 2015-04-28.^{[self-published source]}
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40. ^enigmax (2007-12-05). 'Police Charge 'maVen', 'World Leader' in Internet Movie Piracy'. TorrentFreak.^{[self-published source]}
41. ^enigmax (2010-04-06). 'Canadian Movie Pirate 'maVen' Dies of Drug Overdose'. TorrentFreak.^{[self-published source]}
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49. ^'Xbox release list'. 2012-11-17.^{[self-published source]}
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52. ^Jan Libbenga (2004-11-13). 'Windows Media Player sound files 'edited with warez''. theregister.co.uk. Retrieved 2015-04-28.
53. ^'NFL Head Coach by Razor1911'. defacto2.
54. ^'Grand-Theft-Auto-IV-Razor1911'. xrel.to.
55. ^'Razor1911 releases crack for The Settlers 7'.
56. ^'Starcraft 2 Cracktro by Razor1911'. pouet.net.
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59. ^'Hoodlum criticizes RELOADED'. defacto2. Retrieved 4 March 2017.
60. ^'Infamous Denuvo Cracker Disappears, Site Diverts to Government Portal (Updated) - TorrentFreak'. TorrentFreak. 2018-07-25. Retrieved 2018-08-29.
61. ^'Voksi Retires: Cyberpolice Raid Cracker After Denuvo Criminal Complaint - TorrentFreak'. TorrentFreak. 2018-07-26. Retrieved 2018-08-29.
62. ^'Skid Row - Pinball Fantasies - Amiga Cracktro (50 FPS)'.
63. ^'Skid Row officially announce their return to the PC'. defacto2.
64. ^Yam, Marcus. 'Ubisoft's DRM for Assassin's Creed II is Cracked'. Retrieved 4 March 2017.
65. ^enigmax (2011-10-10). 'Anti-Piracy Company Pirates Deus Ex in Controversial Experiment'.^{[self-published source]}
66. ^http://nfomation.net/info/1293027426.Oddworld.The.Oddboxx-SKIDROW.nfo
67. ^'TRSi.DE :: TRiSTAR & RED SECTOR iNC. – Home of the homeless sceners :: since 1990'. Trsi.org. Retrieved 2012-09-17.
68. ^ ^ab'Fairlight bag out Vitality'. defacto2.
69. ^ ^ab'Vitality give 9 separate reasons why they believe Reloaded has it in for them'. defacto2.
70. ^'Vitality respond to their recent scene ban, that was probably pushed by Fairlight'. defacto2.
71. ^'Fairlight reneges their ban on Vitality'. defacto2.
72. ^'Dragon.Age.Origins.Update.v1.04-ViTALiTY'.

A skid row or skid road is an impoverished area, typically urban, in English-speaking North America whose inhabitants are people 'on the skids'. This specifically refers to the poor, the homeless, or others either considered disreputable or forgotten by society.^[1] A skid row may be anything from an impoverished urban district to a red-light district to a gathering area for the homeless. In general, skid row areas are inhabited or frequented by individuals marginalized by poverty or through drug addiction. Urban areas considered skid rows are marked by high vagrancy, and they often feature cheap taverns, dilapidated buildings, and drug dens as well as other features of urban blight. Used figuratively, it may indicate the state of a poor person's life.

The term skid road originally referred to the path along which timber workers skidded logs.^[2] Its current sense appears to have originated in the Pacific Northwest.^[3] Areas identified by this name include Pioneer Square in Seattle;^[4]Old Town Chinatown in Portland, Oregon;^[5]Downtown Eastside in Vancouver; Skid Row in Los Angeles; the Tenderloin District of San Francisco; and the Bowery of Lower Manhattan.

• 12References

Origins[edit]

The term 'skid road' dates back to the 17th century, when it referred to a log road, used to skid or drag logs through woods and bog.^[3] The term was in common usage in the mid-19th century and came to refer not just to the corduroy roads themselves, but to logging camps and mills all along the Pacific Coast. When a logger was fired he was 'sent down the skid road.'^[6]

The source of the term 'skid road' as an urban district is heavily debated, and is generally identified as originating in either Seattle or Vancouver.^[3]

Seattle[edit]

The name 'Skid Road' was in use in Seattle by 1850s when the city's historic Pioneer Square neighborhood began to expand from its commercial core.^[7] The district centered near the end of what is now Yesler Way, the original 'Skid Road' named after the freshly‑cut logs that were skidded downhill toward Henry Yesler’s mill.^[8]

Henry Yesler acquired land from Doc Maynard at a small point of land at what is today near the intersection of 1st Avenue and Yesler Way.^{[citation needed]} He also acquired a swath of land 450 feet wide from his property up First Hill to a box of land about 10 acres in size full of timber spanning what is today 20th to 30th Avenues.^{[citation needed]} His steam-powered logging mill was built in 1853^[7] on the point of land that looked south towards a small island (Denny's Island, part of his land purchase from Doc Maynard) that has since been filled in around and is the heart of today's Pioneer Square. The mill operated seven days a week, 24 hours per day on the waterfront.^[7] The street's end near the mill, attracted cookhouses and inexpensive hotels for itinerant workers, along with several establishments that served beer and liquor.^[7]

The Skid Road was built on that 450 foot wide slice of land from the top of First Hill to the logging mill on the point.^{[citation needed]} Timber cut in nearby forests was greased and skidded down a long, steeply sloping dirt road.^[7] Since the building of the mill much of what is today's Seattle is the result of extensive terra-forming by the local people to make the hilly landscape of Seattle habitable. At the time of the building of the mill it was some of the only flat land available. The Skid Road became the demarcation line between the affluent members of Seattle and the mill workers and more rowdy portion of the population.^[9] The road became Mill Street, and eventually Yesler Way, but the nickname 'Skid Road' was permanently associated with the district at the street's end.^[7]

Vancouver[edit]

The 100-block of East Hastings Street in Vancouver, British Columbia, the heart of that city's 'skid road' neighborhood, lies on a historical skid road. The Vancouver Skid Road was part of a complex of such roads in the dense forests surrounding the Hastings Mill and adjacent to the settlement of Granville, Burrard Inlet (Gastown).^[10]

The city began as a sawmill settlement called Granville, in the early 1870s.^[11] By at least the 1950s, 'Skid Road' was commonly used to describe the more dilapidated areas in the city's Downtown Eastside,^[12] which is focused on the original 'strip' along East Hastings Street due to a concentration of single room occupancy hotels (SROs) and associated drinking establishments in the area. The area's seedy origins date back to the early concentration of saloons in pre-Canadian Prohibition (1915–1919) and its popularity with loggers, miners and fishermen whose work was seasonal and who spent their salaries in the area's cheap accommodations and public houses.^{[citation needed]}

Opium and heroin use became popular early on; Vancouver was for many years the main port-of-entry for the North American opium supply. During the Great Depression, the railway rights-of-way and other vacant lots in the area were thronged by the unemployed and poor, and the pattern of social decay became well-established. In the 1970s, the endemic alcohol and poverty problems in the area were exacerbated by the expansion of the drug trade, with crack cocaine becoming high-profile in the 1980s as well as a reconcentration of the prostitution trade in the area because of the relocation of hooker strolls in conjunction with city policy for Expo 86.^{[citation needed]}

A portion of Vancouver's Skid Row, Gastown, has also been gentrified; however it is in a difficult coexistence with the nearby impoverished Downtown Eastside along East Hastings Street.^{[citation needed]}

The Downtown Eastside is deemed to be one of the poorest urban areas in Canada.^[13] It is wedged between popular tourist destinations such as Downtown, Chinatown and Gastown. East Hastings Street is also a major thoroughfare. These avenues of exposure make the Downtown Eastside a highly visible example of a skid row.

The Downtown Eastside (sometimes abbreviated D.T.E.S.) is also home to Insite, the first legal intravenous drug safe injection site in North America, part of a harm reduction policy aimed at helping the area's drug addicted residents. Additional sites have been established with approval from Health Canada in 2017 and 2018 as part of the strategy for dealing with the epidemic of lethal opioid (primarily fentanyl ) overdoses.

Los Angeles[edit]

Local homeless count estimates have ranged from 3,668 to 5,131. In 2011, the homeless population estimate for Los Angeles' Skid Row was 4,316.^[14] L.A.'s Skid Row is sometimes called 'the Nickel', referring to a section of Fifth Street.^[15]

Several of the city's homeless and social-service providers (such as Weingart Center Association, Volunteers of America, Frontline Foundation, Midnight Mission, Union Rescue Mission and Downtown Women's Center) are based in Skid Row. Between 2005 and 2007, several local hospitals and suburban law-enforcement agencies were accused by Los Angeles Police Department and other officials of transporting those homeless people in their care to Skid Row.^[16][17]

San Francisco[edit]

The Tenderloin neighborhood is a small, dense neighborhood near downtown San Francisco. In addition to its history and diverse and artistic community, there is significant poverty, homelessness, and crime.^[18]

It is known for its immigrant populations, single room occupancy hotels, ethnic restaurants, bars and clubs, alternative arts scene, large homeless population, public transit and close proximity to Union Square, the Financial District, and Civic Center.^[18] The 2000 census reported a population of 28,991 persons, with a population density of 44,408/mi² (17,146/km²), in the Tenderloin's 94102 Zip Code Tabulation Area, which also includes the nearby Hayes Valley neighborhood.^[19]

During the 1960s, when development interests and the Redevelopment Agency were using eminent domain to clear out a large area populated by retired men in the South of Market area, that area was termed 'Skid Row' in the media. The City's convention center was built after the clearing of long term low-income residents.^[20][21]

New York[edit]

In New York, Skid Row was a nickname given to the Bowery during much of the 20th century.^[22]

Chicago[edit]

Traditional Skid Row areas in Chicago were centered along West Madison Street just west of the Chicago River^[23] and, to a lesser degree, North Clark Street just north of the Chicago River.^[24] Since the 1980s both of these areas have been gentrified.^{[citation needed]}

Philadelphia[edit]

Philadelphia once had a highly visible skid row centered on Vine Street, just west of the approaches to the Benjamin Franklin Bridge. This area was essentially obliterated by highway construction starting in the 1970s.^[25][26]

Houston[edit]

In the 1800s much of what was the Third Ward, the present day south side of Downtown Houston. According to some, the eastern boundary is a low rent group of houses near Texas Southern University referred to as 'Sugar Hill.' and among musicians, the Third Ward's boundaries are usually thought of as extending southward from the junction of Interstate 45 (Gulf Freeway) and Interstate 69/U.S. Route 59 (Southwest Freeway) to the Brays Bayou, with Main Street forming the western boundary. The Third Ward was what Stephen Fox, an architectural historian who lectured at Rice University, referred to as 'the elite neighborhood of late 19th-century Houston.' Ralph Bivins of the Houston Chronicle said that Fox said that area was 'a silk-stocking neighborhood of Victorian-era homes.' Bivins said that the construction of Union Station, which occurred around 1910, caused the 'residential character' of the area to 'deteriorate.' Hotels opened in the area to service travelers. Afterwards, according to Bivins, the area 'began a long downward slide toward the skid row of the 1990s' and the hotels were changed into flophouses. Passenger trains stopped going to Union Station. The City of Houston abolished the ward system in the early 1900s, but the name 'Third Ward' was continued to be used to refer to the territory that it used to cover.^[27]

Popular references[edit]

• 'The Wall Street Shuffle' by 10cc mentions Skid row in the lyrics.
• 'Skid Row' is the name of an American heavy metal band formed in New Jersey.
• 'Skid Row' is also the name of a Dublin, Ireland-based blues-rock band from the late 1960s and early 1970s that included such musicians as singer Phil Lynott and guitarist Gary Moore, both of whom later were part of Thin Lizzy.
• Kurt Cobain, playing in a band that at the time had no name, came up with the name 'Skid Row' to put on the marquee at a gig on the spur of the moment. That band's name would change frequently after that. He would later go on to form Nirvana.^[28]
• SKiDROW is one of the prominent warez groups in software. Whether this is based on the band is unknown.
• Breaking Bad Season 4 Episode 4 features Jesse turning his house into a Skid Row for the homeless.
• The Little Shop of Horrors films and subsequent musical are all set in various downtown neighborhoods called Skid Row and include the song Skid Row (Downtown). The original 1960 film was set in Los Angeles while the 1982 musical and its 1986 film adaptation were set in New York.
• In Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo, Scotty, played by Jimmy Stewart, says 'Why, that's Skid Row' in response to hearing a MIssion-xxxx (MI or 64 prefix) phone number. He's referring to the Dogpatch shipyard, on the east waterfront side of Potrero Hill. Back then, the MIssion telephone exchange covered all the southern city.
• Rocky, near the beginning of the movie Mick gives Rocky's gym locker to another prospect who in Mick's eyes deserves it more when Rocky discovers this on his next visit he quotes 'I've had this locker for six years and you hang my stuff on skid row'. There are other various references throughout the Rocky films.
• Lana Del Rey, sings 'I wear my diamonds on skid row' on 'Cola' a song from her second studio album titled 'Born To Die: The Paradise Edition'

See also[edit]

• Stingaree, San Diego

References[edit]

Notes[edit]

1. ^'Skid Row'. Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged (2012 Digital ed.). HarperCollins. 2012.
2. ^'Skid road'. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Retrieved 23 September 2015. A squalid district inhabited chiefly by derelicts and vagrants. [Alteration of SKID ROAD (from the fact that it once referred to a downtown area frequented by loggers).]
3. ^ ^abcTurner, Wallace (December 2, 1986). 'A Clash Over Aid Effort on the First 'Skid Row''. The New York Times. p. A20. Retrieved 23 September 2015.. Convenience link on ProQuest (requires account - This resource requires a valid Seattle Public Library card.).
4. ^National Park Service (2010-07-09). 'National Register Information System'. National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service.
5. ^'Portland's History'. Retrieved 2011-10-09.
6. ^Rochester, Junius; Crowley, Walt (October 17, 2002). 'Yesler, Henry L. (1810-1892)'. History Ink. Retrieved 2007-01-27.
7. ^ ^abcdefKeniston-Longrie, Joy (2009). Seattle's Pioneer Square. Chicago, San Francisco, & Charleston, SC: Arcadia Publishing. p. 128. ISBN978-0-7385-7144-7.
8. ^Morrison, Patt (1987-03-24). 'Original 'Skid Road': Homeless Add a Sad Note to Gentrified Seattle Area'. Los Angeles Times. ISSN0458-3035. Archived from the original on 2015-10-25. Yesler Way—the nation’s original ‘Skid Row’ . . . Skid Road was christened here in the 1850s, when logs were ‘skidded’ by horses, mules or oxen down the steep, timber‑lined path to Henry Yesler’s thriving sawmill on Elliott Bay.
9. ^William C. Speidel, 'Sons of the Profits, The Seattle Story 1851 to 1901'
10. ^'Gastown'. Virtual Vancouver. Retrieved 2008-02-10.
11. ^'About Vancouver'. City of Vancouver. 2007. Retrieved 2007-01-27.
12. ^'Demolish City's Skid Road, Murder Protest Demands.' Vancouver Sun. April 6, 1962. p. 1.
13. ^Kalache, Stefan (January 12, 2007). 'The Poorest Postal Code Vancouver's Downtown Eastside in Photos'. The Dominion. Retrieved 2007-10-15.
14. ^'2011 Greater Los Angeles Homeless Count (page 38 -- Skid Row section)'(PDF). Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority. Archived from the original(PDF) on 2012-04-25. Retrieved 2011-11-16.
15. ^'For Some, L.A.'s Skid Row Is For Beginnings'. NPR. Retrieved 2009-09-21.
16. ^'LA Downtown News Online'. Downtownnews.com. Retrieved 2009-09-21.^{[permanent dead link]}
17. ^'A Plan to Spread Homeless Countywide - Los Angeles Times'. Latimes.com. 2006-03-24. Archived from the original on 15 June 2006.
18. ^ ^abThe Sidewalks of San Francisco by Heather Mac Donald, City Journal Autumn 2010. City-journal.org (2010-10-14). Retrieved on 2012-09-16.
19. ^American FactFinder, United States Census Bureau. '941 3-Digit ZCTA by 5-digit ZIP Code Tabulation Area – GCT-PH1. Population, Housing Units, Area, and Density: 2000'. Factfinder.census.gov. Retrieved 2009-09-21.
20. ^Hartman, Chester. 1984. The Transformation of San Francisco. Totowa, NJ: Rowman & Allanheld.
21. ^Averbach, Alvin. 1973. 'San Francisco's South of Market District, 1858-1958: The Emergence of a Skid Row.' California Historical Quarterly 52(3):196223.
22. ^Jesse McKinley (2002-10-13). 'Along the Bowery, Skid Row Is on the Skids'. The New York Times. Retrieved 2010-04-06.
23. ^'Bummed Out: How Skid Row went from 'The Land of the Living Dead' to cappuccinos and condos'.
24. ^'Charles W. Cushman Photograph Collection>> Results >> Details'. indiana.edu.
25. ^'Philadelphia Begins Demolition Of It's (sic) Skid Row'.
26. ^'Waiting for the Wrecking Ball: Skid Row in Postindustrial Philadelphia'.
27. ^Wood, Roger. Down in Houston: Bayou City Blues (Issue 8 of Jack and Doris Smothers series in Texas history, life, and culture). 2003, University of Texas Press. 1st Edition. ISBN0292786638, 9780292786639.
28. ^Who killed Kurt Cobain, Chapter 2. Retrieved 2009-09-21 – via Google Books.

Bibliography[edit]

• Holbrook, Stewart H. (1961). 'Yankee Loggers'. New York: International Paper Company..
• Newell, Gordon (1956). 'Totem Tales of Old Seattle'. Seattle: Superior Publishing Company..
• Morgan, Murray (1960). 'Skid Road'. Ballantine Books. (revised edition; first edition was 1951).

External links[edit]

• Down On Skid Row, A Tape's Rolling! Special Documentary produced by Twin Cities Public Television