The code would make everything works, kind of unlock the software and it tended to be a once only affair and then everything worked fine.

Underground, virtual side streets, perhaps we can call them cyber alleys(!), where no one ever paid a single cent for anything, you amassed resources where people posted expensive software for free, you searched out all that free software because it had all been 'cracked' and so was fully functional without paying a penny(which is essentially what cracked software is - software that requires payment and usually will not function until the user has entered a registration code into it which they were generally given when they paid for the software. There was the above board, legit, pay for what you get, use adware and click in the ads to pay for the free software, use freeware totally for free and don't bother with trying to use expensive software suites if you can't afford them. The internet was almost split in two halves.

I recall, not too long ago.a world where piracy was frowned upon by almost everyone.

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