For Immediate Release
June 30, 2005
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Washington D.C.
FBI National Press Office
(202) 324-3691
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JUSTICE
DEPARTMENT ANNOUNCES INTERNATIONAL
INTERNET PIRACY SWEEP
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Attorney
General Alberto R. Gonzales, Acting Assistant Attorney General John C. Richter
of the Criminal Division and FBI Cyber Division Assistant Director Louis
M. Reigel today announced another far-reaching and aggressive international
enforcement action against criminal organizations involved in the illegal
online distribution of copyrighted material.
Beginning yesterday morning,
the FBI and law enforcement from 10 other countries conducted over 90 searches
worldwide as part of "Operation Site Down," designed to disrupt
and dismantle many of the leading criminal organizations that illegally distribute
and trade in copyrighted software, movies, music, and games on the Internet.
"By dismantling these networks, the Department is striking at the top of
the copyright piracy supply chain - a distribution chain that provides the vast
majority of the illegal digitial content now available online," said Attorney
General Gonzales. "And by penetrating this illegal world of high-technology
and intellectual property theft, we have shown that law enforcement can and will
find - and we will prosecute - those who try to use the Internet to create piracy
networks beyond the reach of law enforcement."
Operation Site Down is the culmination of three separate undercover investigations
conducted by the FBI. In the past 24 hours, more than 70 searches were executed
in the United States, and more than 20 overseas. Four individuals were arrested
in the United States, and searches and/or arrests occurred in the following
10 countries: Canada, Israel, France, Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands, United
Kingdom, Germany, Portugal and Australia. At least eight major online distribution
sites were dismantled, preventing tens of millions of further losses to the
content industry. More than 120 leading members of the organized online piracy
underground were identified by the investigation to date, and as the investigations
continue, additional targets will be identified and pursued.
"The theft of this
property strikes at the heart of America's economy," said FBI Assistant
Director Louis M. Reigel. "It deprives many Americans and others around
the globe of their right to be paid for their labor and enjoy the value of
their hard work."
In addition to attacking piracy globally, Operation Site Down struck at all
facets of the illegal software, game, movie, and music trade online, which
is commonly referred to as the "warez scene." The investigations
focused on individuals and organizations that were the "first-providers" of
copyrighted works to the warez underground - the so-called "release" groups
that operated as the original sources for a majority of the pirated works distributed
and downloaded via the Internet. Once a warez release group prepares a stolen
work for distribution, the material is distributed in minutes to secure, top-level
warez servers throughout the world. From there, within a matter of hours, the
pirated works are distributed globally, filtering down to peer-to-peer and
other public file sharing networks accessible to anyone with Internet access.
The release groups targeted by Site Down specialize in the distribution of
all types of pirated works including utility and application software, movies,
music, and games. Among the warez groups hit yesterday are: RiSCISO, Myth,
TDA, LND, Goodfellaz, Hoodlum, Vengeance, Centropy, Wasted Time, Paranoid,
Corrupt, Gamerz, AdmitONE, Hellbound, KGS, BBX, KHG, NOX, NFR, CDZ, TUN, and
BHP. These groups alone are allegedly responsible for stealing, cracking and
distributing hundreds of well-known titles, such as Autodesk's Autocad 2006,
Adobe's Photoshop, and the movies "Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the
Sith" and "Mr. and Mrs. Smith." Operation Site Down is expected
to dismantle many of these international warez syndicates and significantly
disrupt the illicit operations of others.
Conservative estimates
of the value of pirated works seized in yesterday's action exceed $50 million,
which is only a fraction of the losses attributable to the online distribution
hubs also seized in this operation. Top-level release groups like those targeted
in the operation are primary suppliers to the for-profit criminal distribution
networks that cost the copyright industry billions of dollars each year.
Illegal warez copies of titles such as Autocad 2006 and "Mr. and Mrs.
Smith" are easily and cheaply converted to optical discs and distributed
throughout the world from factories in Asia and elsewhere. Spammers regularly
advertise cheap software that can be downloaded from websites or shipped
from overseas, usually bearing the signature mark of the warez group that
released it.
Operation Site Down comprises three separate FBI undercover investigations
run by the FBI field divisions in Charlotte, North Carolina; Chicago, Illinois;
and San Francisco, California. The U.S. Attorney's Offices in San Francisco,
Charlotte and Chicago assisted in the investigations and a majority of the
domestic targets will be prosecuted in those districts. The Justice Department's
Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section also assisted in the investigations
and led the coordination of foreign enforcement actions in 10 countries.
Operation Site Down is
the latest in a series of actions taken by the Department of Justice to crack
down on illegal online piracy. In the past four years, beginning with Operation
Buccaneer in 2001 through Operation Fastlink in 2004, the Department has
prosecuted a number of international investigations into these top piracy
organizations.
In March 2004, as part
of the Administration's Strategy Targeting Organized Piracy (STOP!) Initiative,
the Department established the Task Force on Intellectual Property to address
the increasing problem of intellectual property theft. The Task Force examined
how the Department protects intellectual property through criminal, civil
and antitrust enforcement, legislative proposals, international coordination,
and prevention. A report issued by the Task Force in October 2004 recommended
comprehensive improvements in the Department's overall efforts, many of which
have already been implemented. One of those recommendations was to continue
the Department's strategy of dismantling and prosecuting multi-district and
international criminal organizations that commit intellectual property crimes.
Operation Site Down represents the Department's continued effort to pursue
this strategy.
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