When tourists come to Warsaw they can see a lot of interesting things. I don't want to describe Warsaw attractions, because all of them are found on maps and guide books. But there is a special place that should interest people who like computers. I'm talking about the warez market on Grzybowska street. Most people call it "Grzybek" (Mushroom), or "Warezowa gielda" (Warez market). Officially it's known as the "Centralna Gielda Komputerowa" (Central Computers Market).
The market started up in 1989, after the death of communism in Poland. The original vendors were mostly BBS sysops looking for a place to buy/sell hardware and software and exchange information about computers. Warez vendors today tend to be young, ranging anywhere from 16 to 30. Most are apprentices or students, but a few support themselves entirely with warez.
Customers, who are usually about the same age as vendors, are even allowed to test out software on mobile machines setup by vendors, an opportunity rarely found in traditional software stores. On an average weekend, the market draws about 50,000 guests.
| Picture made between Monday and Friday, when market is closed. Click to enlarge. | ||||
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| view on part of main market place and school | all main market place (without school) | entry to market. On the top there is a board with information: "Center computer market" and warning (lower): "Selling illegal software is forbidden". | ||
The wares
The warez market takes place in three places, all right next to each other. The largest is about 10000m2, and is only for hardware and legal software vendors. Legal software is about the same price as it is in the US, but hardware is usually a lot cheaper because most of it has been smuggled. For example:
- Intel Pentium 200 MMX - 130$
- MainBoard ATX (for Pentium) - 80$
- Intel Pentium II 233 - 220$
- Hard Disk Caviar 3.100 GB - 170$
- Diamond 3DFX 4MB - 140$
- Sound Blaster 32 AWE - 60$
The second area of the warez market is actually a school. During the week, children go to classes there, but on Saturday and Sunday dealers install their computers in the gymnasium and unpack cds with fresh warez.
Warez are sold by the meg, with most vendors charging around $15 for a CD, or $5 per 100 MBs if you come in with your hard disk or streamer cassette. A full cd version (not rip) of a program costs $8 The best selling releases are English of course. Fewer groups release programs in other languages, but most customers also prefer the original (English) versions because they include better help files.
Warez vendors make a hefty profit, but they're forced to pay the police $200 a week for bribes. As a result, the police have never inspected the market and people feel safe there.
It's a great business for everyone. Customers get cheap warez, vendors and police make money, the school gets a bigger budget, and almost everyone is satisfied. Of course, software companies are unhappy (especially Microsoft), but no-one worries about them ;)
There's a warning that "Selling illegal software is forbidden" written over the door, just as a formality ;)
| Picture made in Saturday and Sunday, when market works. In other days there is a normal school, where children (7-15years) have typical lessons.Click to enlarge. | ||
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| part of playgroung. After glass we can see some pirates ;) | main entry to school. There aren't too much people because there is about 15oo - end of bussines ;) | |
The scene
The third and last part of the warez market is the area around the school. This part is reserved for computers like the Amiga, Atari, and Spectrum (Sic!). Most people there are there as a hobby instead of a business. People from the Polish Amiga demo scene meet there often.
Scene people hang out at the market, but none of them are really "in the scene." You wouldn't recognize any of their nicks, they're couriers, suppliers, crackers, and phreakers in small - local groups. Most of them rely on ftp sites that are affiliated with other ftp sites that have more recognizable supporters.
Most of the warez don't include the original nfo files. Why? Because there aren't ANY Polish warez groups to help package warez locally. 2 years ago there was a famous Polish group named Toxic Project (tXP) that worked with DoD and Razor 1911. Unfortunately, tXP was closed due to inactivity, which I covered in a previous scenelink article.
Despite the lack of consistent nfos, people are very ready to read them.
I've even seen an nfo joke at the warez market, which I'll try to translate:
<customer> what new warez do you have?
<vendor> I have 2
new games and 1 new util
<customer> what exactly?
<vendor>
a rally game, a strategy game and a graphics editor
<customer> can I
buy the game, the graphics editor and the nfo file from the strategy game? I
don't like those kinds of games.
Ok, maybe it loses something in the translation.
| These pictures I made in typical Saturday about 12oo. There is the most traffic then.Click to enlarge. | ||||
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| main entry to market place | view from other side of street | inside market. Regulars paths when people sell hardware, software and warez of course ;) | ||
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main paths inside market. The most protect area by market guards. Police can't come here ;) | |||
The market's future
During the week the main grounds are empty, but all around it big corporations (like Bertelsmann, Mercedes, LG.) are putting up buildings. There are rumors that the area may be sold in the near future, but even if that happens, the warez market will still exist because school administrators still want to rent out rooms. It seems our warez market is immortal ;)
Recently, the UOP (something like the CIA) spent 3 months antagonizing vendors. The results were minimal though, because in the end journalists discovered that agents had been taking bribes from the warez market administration. The complete failure of the the effort was the first and last anti piracy effort for software firms in Poland. Ever since then, nobody complains about the warez market.
This year will be decisive for the warez market. Optimus, Poland's largest hardware company, with help from the monopolist telecommunication company TPSA, is organizing a big computer party for all firms and people connected with computers. Tickets will cost around $100, but organizers a giving warez vendors free entry. It seems that the warez market is becoming a legend ;)