warez

(pronounced: wearz)

This word is considered by many users to be a catchall term for software which includes firmware, freeware, everyware, groupware, malware, shareware, shovelware, thiefware, vaporware, wankware, and wetware.

This term is also widely used in cracker subcultures to denote cracked versions of commercial software; that is, versions in which the copyright-protection has been stripped out. Hackers recognize this term but don't use it themselves. When seen as w4r3z, it refers to illegally copied software available for download.

See also : peer-to-peer  
NetLingo Classification: Online Jargon

Updates