The way it used to work in the old #warez days, was that people in the testing or supply chains (think cd packaging, for one) would leak things early. Groups like Razor1911 had suppliers, couriers, crackers, designers.. a wide network of people working on acquiring and spreading software.
An important thing you didn't mention is why these people participated in leaking software for no credit.
It is because they got something in return: access to the private FTP servers used by the group, which means they get to download their releases before they appear anywhere else.
This is especially attractive to people who manage DDL or streaming sites which earn a lot of $$$ from intrusive/malicious ads...
It is also a big deal for private torrent tracker operators and/or uploaders. If you get Razor1911 releases before any other tracker, people will want to get in ;)
