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KNOW-THIS
Joined: 14 Jul 2003
Posts: 3694
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Computers, software taken from homes in FBI raids
 Thu Aug 26, 2004 9:20 pm
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http://www.startribune.com/stories/789/4948249.html
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The FBI seized computers, software and equipment as part of an investigation into illegal sharing of copyrighted movies, music and games over an Internet "peer-to-peer" network, Attorney General John Ashcroft said Wednesday.
Search warrants were executed at residences and an Internet service provider in Texas, New York and Wisconsin as part of the first federal criminal copyright action taken against a P2P network, in which users can access files directly from computers of others in the network.
The warrants sought evidence about the operators of five "hubs" of the "Underground Network," an organization of about 7,000 users who, prosecutors charge, repeatedly violate federal copyright laws by swapping feature films, music, software and computer games.
"The message is simply this: P2P or peer-to-peer does not stand for 'permission to pilfer,' " Ashcroft told reporters at a Justice Department news conference.
Unlike file-sharing networks popular with tens of millions of Internet users worldwide, the smaller network targeted by the Justice Department was managed by centralized "hub" computers that restricted participation. Experts said it operated similarly to the former Napster service, which was shut down in July 2000.
Ashcroft estimated $19 billion is the cost to artists, management firms, distribution companies, theaters and the employees connected with them. Charges and arrests are likely to follow after the evidence is examined, investigators said. The maximum penalty for criminal copyright infringement is a fine of $250,000 and five years in prison.
The warrants were executed at homes in San Antonio and Belleaire, Texas; Johnson City and Fulton, N.Y., and Waukesha, Wis. Another search was conducted at the office of the Planet, a Dallas Internet service provider. Officials said the Planet is not a target of the probe.
The individuals involved in the search warrants operate some of the Underground Network's hubs, which act as a central point for people granted membership to exchange copyrighted files. Ashcroft said the hubs can store digital data each day equivalent to 60,000 full-length movies or 10 million songs.
The five hubs are called Movieroom, Project X/The Asylum, Achenon's Alley, Digital Underground and Silent Echoes, an FBI affidavit filed in support of one search warrant said.
In a related development, the Recording Industry Association of America continued its legal campaign to halt illegal downloading of music by filing another 744 copyright infringement lawsuits Wednesday against individuals using such P2P networks as Kazaa, Limewire and Grokster. |
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Mech
Joined: 06 Jun 2001
Posts: 8237
Location: THE 4th REICH USA |
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Thu Aug 26, 2004 10:07 pm
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DOESNT THE F***ING FBI HAVE ANYTHING BETTER TO DO? LIKE CATCHING "TERRORISTS"?
OOOOPS..I FORGOT...US CITIZENS ARE THE TERRORISTS....FOR DOWNLOADING MUSIC?
WHAT A CROCK OF S**T. |
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