▁was ▁hard ▁to ▁come ▁by , ▁so ▁networks ▁like ▁Info - Mac ▁were ▁developed , ▁consisting ▁of ▁non - pro fit ▁mirror ▁sites ▁hosting ▁large ▁share ware ▁libraries ▁accessible ▁via ▁the ▁web ▁or ▁f tp . ▁With ▁the ▁advent ▁of ▁the ▁commercial ▁web ▁hosting ▁industry , ▁the ▁authors ▁of ▁share ware ▁programs ▁started ▁their ▁own ▁sites ▁where ▁the ▁public ▁could ▁learn ▁about ▁their ▁programs ▁and ▁download ▁the ▁latest ▁versions , ▁and ▁even ▁pay ▁for ▁the ▁software ▁online . ▁This ▁er ased ▁one ▁of ▁the ▁chief ▁dist in ctions ▁of ▁share ware , ▁as ▁it ▁was ▁now ▁most ▁often ▁downloaded ▁from ▁a ▁central ▁" o fficial " ▁location ▁instead ▁of ▁being ▁shared ▁sam iz dat - style ▁by ▁its ▁users . ▁To ▁ensure ▁users ▁would ▁get ▁the ▁latest ▁bug - fix es ▁as ▁well ▁as ▁an ▁install ▁un t aint ed ▁by ▁vir uses ▁or ▁other ▁mal ware , ▁some ▁authors ▁disc ou rag ed ▁users ▁from ▁giving ▁the ▁software ▁to ▁their ▁friends , ▁encourag ing ▁them ▁to ▁send ▁a ▁link ▁instead . ▁ ▁Major ▁download ▁sites ▁such ▁as ▁Version Tra cker ▁and ▁C Net ' s ▁Download . com ▁began ▁to ▁rank ▁titles ▁based ▁on ▁quality , ▁feedback , ▁and ▁download s . ▁Popular ▁software ▁was ▁sorted ▁to ▁the ▁top ▁of ▁the ▁list , ▁along ▁with ▁products ▁whose ▁authors ▁paid ▁for ▁preferred ▁pla cement . ▁ ▁Reg istration ▁ ▁If ▁features ▁are ▁disabled ▁in ▁the ▁freely ▁accessible ▁version , ▁pay ing ▁may ▁provide ▁the ▁user ▁with ▁a ▁lic ence ▁key ▁or ▁code ▁they