Pre channel

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A screenshot of a prebot announcing warez releases on IRC.

A pre channel is an IRC channel in which a bot (prebot) announces new topsite warez (pre) releases in real time. Pre channels are generally provided as a convenience to members of the scene, often in conjunction with a topsite. Pre channels are typically private.

[edit] Advantages

Members of a pre channel are notified about new warez releases as they are released. This is of particular benefit to couriers and release groups.
Pre channels commonly announce when a release is nuked or un-nuked.
Pre channels provide a search facility that allows users to find out if a release exists, when it was released, and if it has been nuked. This function may is also used by release groups to avoid dupes (duplicates).
Pre channels are also used for BitTorrent trackers. Some trackers uses it for displaying how soon they got the release, this is known as the Pre-Time.

[edit] Disadvantages

Pre channels are often supplied with events from other pre channels, so spam may spread quickly. Many prebots employ elaborate filters to ensure only valid release events are announced.