ABSTRACT This article analyzes how software pirates who formed the ‘warez scene’ appropriated telephone network infrastructures and Bulletin Board System (or BBS) technology to circulate computer software across national borders. This paper is shedding more light on the roots of contemporary internet-based software piracy by investigating how appropriation of international telephone networks contributed to the globalization of digital software distribution. It also highlights the mundane aspects of the organization of media convergence on the junction between analog and digital technologies. Here I argue that the use of telephone networks as a means of transnational software distribution is an instance of actors setting up a convergent media environment driven by the cultural logic of a specific subculture. My paper provides an overview of BBS technology to demonstrate how it linked analog and digital domains and then outlines its cultural significance, ultimately discussing the appropriation of BBSes and their role in transnational expansion of ‘the scene’.

中文翻译：

---

电话网络、BBS 以及跨国“warez 场景”的出现

摘要 本文分析了形成“warez 场景”的软件盗版者如何利用电话网络基础设施和公告板系统（或 BBS）技术来跨越国界传播计算机软件。本文通过调查国际电话网络的盗用如何促进数字软件分发的全球化，进一步阐明当代基于互联网的软件盗版的根源。它还强调了媒体融合组织在模拟和数字技术之间的结合的平凡方面。在这里，我认为使用电话网络作为跨国软件分发的手段是行为者建立由特定亚文化的文化逻辑驱动的融合媒体环境的一个例子。