
                        Standards of Piracy Association
                       ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
   Formed on 6 July 1996, the SPA is an agreement between the 5 top PC games
 groups that lays down the official "rules of engagement" to be used in the
 battle to release the most.  Here is a synopsis of the topics that were
 discussed and voted on.  The 5 groups that met were Prestige, Razor 1911,
 Mantis, Napalm, and Hybrid.  Each group had approximately 2 representatives,
 and on the subject of voting, each group had one vote per issue.

   1.  All 5 groups agreed that whatever was decided in the meeting would be
       adhered to in the releasing process.

   2.  The 5 groups compromised on a size limit for releases.  This limit is
       now set at 50 1.44 meg files.  The previous limit was 40 1.44 meg
       volumes.  In megs, this translates to approximately 72 megabytes max
       per game.

   3.  Groups now have the option of using 2.88 meg files instead of 1.44 meg
       volumes should they choose to do so on a particular release.  The only
       catch is that ALL disks of a release must be of one format or the other.
       All releases must be in either 1.44 meg or 2.88 meg format.  Any games
       released that do not adhere to this format, or exceed the size limit
       (50 for 1.44's and 25 for 2.88's), will be nuked for 5x credits off of
       all sites in the SPA.
       
   4.  The groups voted unanimously to ban all ROR releases from all sites
       participating in the SPA.  This means that ROR releases will be nuked
       for 5x credits on all sites/boards in the SPA.  This ban is subject
       to a monthly review.

   5.  The 5 groups decided on the name (SPA), and that meetings would be
       held once a month by the leaders of the 5 groups in the SPA.  At
       these meetings issues such as volume size, group bans, and even the
       size limit can be discussed.

 The SPA exists primarily to enforce fair play on the groups in the scene.  The
 disk limit is part of it, and banning groups like ROR that release nothing but
 fakes and betas (and worse package them as finals) is also a part of it.  If
 you run a site and would like to be SPA certified, email chemist@laker.net for
 more information on what you can do to help.  The SPA is interested only in
 fair competition for all groups big and small, and in working releases for all
 users regardless of what group they download.  Think of us as quality control.

                                   SPA Staff
 
