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Operation FastLink Yields Three Arrests
Doomrat writes "As promised (see previous story), Operation FastLink has led to the arrests of 3 key members of the Fairlight group. NHTCU officers and local police executed search warrants and arrested three men at separate locations in Sheffield, Manchester and Belfast. Over 200 computers have been seized, along with 100 CD copiers. Raids were carried out in the UK, the U.S., Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, Israel, the Netherlands, Singapore and Sweden."
Average time in prison for rape: 3 years
Average time for copying games without selling: 4 years
Does anyone else see something wrong here?
melissa
...they put all that effort into hunting criminals that actually hurt people (as opposed to wallets).
The "real terrorists" need to be getting their money somehow. Wherever there's an illegal way to make money quickly, you can be pretty sure supporters of the terrorists will use it to make money to fund their destructive operations.
It doesnt matter which way you look at it. If you cant afford to pay for proprietary software then it doesnt make it right to pirate it.
...
While on one hand i can understand the activism side of it, and most people i know have at least one piece of pirate software. Pirating software is doing nothing in the long run to change the way the evil companies run their business. It does nothing to hinder vendor lock-in and pirated software is a hot house for the propogation of viruses etc.
People still continue to do it. Beleive it or not there is a whole world of software that is free to copy modify and do what the hell you like with. Its called Open Source and you can find software to fulfil most of your needs. Best of all its totally legal and having it is not going to get you arrested or locked up.
I remember the last time my boss instructed us to do a software audit many of my colleagues went through the annoying process of writing down license keys, removing "illegal" software, while i just sat there and did nothing, safe in the knowledge that my linux desktop contained nothing that needed to be accounted for.
Next time you think that you are making a statement by using pirated software, consider what you are really acheiving. If you really beleive in those virtues you should bite off your tongue and use the legal alternatives. This way you can harm the people you hate, and support the rest of us who are legally fighting the software war.
nick
Electronic Music Made Using Linux http://soundcloud.com/polyp
"arrests of 3 key members" ... "Over 200 computers have been seized"
It's really obvious that they were doing something wrong. that's 66 computers per person. I think they should license or register computers so that we can catch people like this before the damage is done. There is no reason for anyone to ever own this number of computers it is obvious they were doing something illegal or perhaps related to terrorism.
... that and I have to find SOME justification for my ungodly expensive sports car that I blew like 2 years pay on :)
Wow, you didn't bother downloading the perfectly legal demo or reading reviews. Instead, you went to some p2p network (probably eMule), downloaded the full game (thereby enabling others to pirate it from you because that's how eMule works), and then decided to buy it.
You're the exception to the rule. 99% of the users on p2p aren't "sampling" things. It's against the law, but more importantly, it's immoral to the programmers and developers who slaved away to get something out the door only to have freeloaders stick it online for people to download and play for free without paying for it. There is absolutely no valid justification.
The real SOBs ARE the little tykes who are allowed to run around and cause havoc. God bless those parents who realize the need for a leash and are willing to use them. Not for all kids, but there are some who are without discipline. They are the worst kind. Without a leash they would be like so many dogs who run away. Or run around the mall pulling things off shelves, or the retaurant bothering other diners, or out into traffic where they could get seriously hurt. Face it dude, some kids NEED leashes.