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Class (pirating group)
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{{Short description|Warez group active from 1997 to 2004}} {{multiple issues| {{more citations needed|date=September 2012}} {{original research|date=September 2012}} }} {{Infobox organization | name = CLASS | image = CLASS.NFO.png | image_border = | size = 180px | alt = <!-- alt text; see [[WP:ALT]] --> | caption = CLASS [[ASCII art]] [[.nfo|NFO]] header by Antibody/[[Superior Art Creations|SAC]]/DF2. | map = <!-- optional --> | msize = <!-- map size, optional, default 250px --> | malt = <!-- map alt text --> | mcaption = <!-- optional --> | map2 = | abbreviation = | motto = | predecessor = | successor = | formation = 1997 | dissolved = 2004<ref name="retirement">{{cite web |title=The.End.Officially.Retiring-CLASS |url=http://scenenotice.org/details.php?id=1468 |date=2004-01-09 |author=CLASS}}</ref> | type = <!-- [[Governmental organization|GO]], [[Non-governmental organization|NGO]], [[Intergovernmental organization|IGO]], [[International nongovernmental organization|INGO]], etc --> | status = | purpose = [[Warez]] | headquarters = | location = | coords = <!-- Coordinates of location using a coordinates template --> | region_served = | membership = | language = <!-- official languages --> | general = <!-- Secretary General --> | leader_title = Origin | leader_name = | leader_title2 = Platforms | leader_name2 = [[Personal computer|PC]] | leader_title3 = Founders | leader_name3 = | leader_title4 = Products | leader_name4 = | key_people = | main_organ = <!-- gral. assembly, board of directors, etc --> | parent_organization = <!-- if one --> | affiliations = | budget = | num_staff = | num_volunteers = | website = | remarks = | former name = }} '''CLASS''' ('''CLS''') was a notorious and prolific [[warez group]] that existed between January 1, 1997, and January 9, 2004.<ref>{{cite book |author=Hitzler, R., Niederbacher, A. |title=Leben in Szenen: Formen Juveniler Vergemeinschaftung Heute |trans-title=Living in Scenes. Forms of Youth Communities |language=German |year=2010 |publisher=VS Verlag fΓΌr Sozialwissenschaften GmbH |isbn=9783531925325 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GNsdBAAAQBAJ}}</ref> The group was the target of federal raids such as Operation Fastlink. They specialized in [[software cracking|cracked]] [[game]]s, and sometimes had elaborate [[art]] in the [[cracktro]] or release (i.e. [[music]], [[3D computer graphics|3D animation]], [[logo]] designs, etc.). They were a global group and had many members worldwide. Class used their group abbreviation, ''CLS'', as a suffix at the end of the files they released. According to an interview of the famous Australian cracker Grudge, a few people from the Prestige warez group split and became Class.<ref>{{Cite web |last=eZine |date=2023-02-28 |title=Prozac's Personal Gaming Report (March 1999) |url=https://www.neperos.com/article/rqsbu6813912cafa |access-date=2023-02-28 |website=Neperos |language=en}}</ref> Class was involved in a long-standing rivalry with a competing game pirating group known as [[Myth (warez)|MYTH]]. The two groups released strictly ripped games, as opposed to the CD image content released by groups such as [[Fairlight (group)|Fairlight]]. Games would be split into the base rip, which would have as little content as possible to fully play the game; additional media (usually movies or digital music) would be released as add-ons. For some releases, intro movie add-ons were released as well. They used advanced compression methods (most notably [[ACE (compression file format)|ACE]]) to reduce the size of the required downloads as much as possible; installers were specially crafted to use the abnormally compressed files. Many of their releases included a WAVE Injector/UHARC compression scheme, that decompressed and situated the files into a specific folder. These programs were at the core of their rip operation, as these programs (Wave Injector coded by CLASS/BACKLASH) are vital in decompressing the rips (i.e. games). CLASS stopped producing as of January 9, 2004, by releasing an "endtro." This stated that after 1,234 releases they were giving up their "throne."<ref name="retirement"/>
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