Join: Glossary

Copyright

Explicit written permission must be obtained from the copyright owner and provided to us before you publish any copyrighted material on your pages. If you own the copyright to the materials you may post them, but you must contact us prior to uploading so we may make a note of it.

Cracking

To copy commercial software illegally by breaking (cracking) the various copy-protection and registration techniques being used. Crackers are looked down upon by real hackers and they are the ones seen on the news for causing billions of dollars in damages. Cracking is illegal and will not be tolerated on our servers.

Hacking

A slang term for a computer enthusiast. Among professional programmers, the term hacker implies an amateur or a programmer who lacks formal training. The term hacker refers to individuals who gain unauthorized access to computer systems for the purpose of stealing and corrupting data. Hackers, themselves, maintain that the proper term for such individuals is cracker. Hacking is the art of penetrating a computer's security for reasons of curiosity and not to make mischief or damage the system in any way shape or form. Irregardless of which definition you choose to use, hacking is illegal and any attempts to upload anything hacking related, disclaimers or not, will not be tolerated in any way.

Mirror

A Web site that is a replica of an already existing site, used to reduce network traffic (hits on a server) or improve the availability of the original site.

Phreaking

Closely related to hacking, using a computer or other device to trick a phone system. Typically, phreaking is used to make free calls or to have calls charged to a different account. There are many forms of phreaking, be it stealing from the phone company or adding a neat light that flashes when your phone rings. Phreaking is essentially the art of exploiting bugs and glitches in the telco's system. Phreaking is illegal and will not be tolerated on our servers.

Piracy

The unauthorized copying of software. Most retail programs are licensed for use at just one computer site or for use by only one user at any time. By buying the software, you become a licensed user rather than an owner. You are allowed to make copies of the program for backup purposes, but it is against the law to give copies to friends and colleagues. Attempting to distribute software in this manner will not be tolerated on our servers.

Song and Music files

Samples of songs are allowed, a sample is 45 seconds in length and must start from the beginning of the song. Video samples are also allowed, to a maximum of 60 seconds. Anything other than this uploaded without prior approval from Crosswinds is a copyright and terms of service violation.

Spam

Electronic junk mail or junk newsgroup postings. Some people define SPAM even more generally as any unsolicited email. However, if a long-lost brother finds your email address and sends you a message, this could hardly be called SPAM, even though it's unsolicited. Real SPAM is generally email advertising for some product sent to a mailing list or newsgroup. Sending unsolicited email will not be tolerated. If you send SPAM, your account is subject to termination without prior notice or warning. See our SPAM information.

Warez

Pronounced "wayrz"; Refers to commercial software that has been pirated and made available to the public via a BBS or the Internet. Typically, the pirate (also called a cracker) has figured out a way to de-activate the copy-protection or registration scheme used by the software. Note that the use and distribution of warez is illegal. It is also considered distributing and/or copying commercial software that is protected by copyright.