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11-Nation Raid on Net Pirates

Cobb writes "The US Justice Department announce a global crack-down on large scale internet pirates distributing first run movies. According to the article: "FBI agents and investigators in the other nations conducted 90 searches starting Wednesday, arresting four people and shutting down at least eight major online distribution servers for pirated works, a Justice official said. Authorities also seized hundreds of computers in raids in the United States, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Israel, the Netherlands, Portugal and the United Kingdom.""

487 comments

  1. That explains it... by TripMaster+Monkey · · Score: 5, Interesting


    Authorities also seized hundreds of computers in raids in the United States, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Israel, the Netherlands, Portugal and the United Kingdom.

    Hmm....mabye that's why I haven't been able to telnet into my server at home all day... ^_^

    Seriously, though, Sweeden is conspicuously absent from the 11-nation 'coalition of the willing' listed above, which means that The Pirate Bay will be staying up, at least... =P

    --
    ____

    ~ |rip/\/\aster /\/\onkey

    1. Re:That explains it... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Arrrrrr...

    2. Re:That explains it... by Emetophobe · · Score: 3, Informative

      Similarly, http://www.torrentspy.com/ and http://www.isohunt.com/ are still operational. Not sure what countries those two sites are hosted from though.

    3. Re:That explains it... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

      Don't forget PacketNews.

    4. Re:That explains it... by PDXNerd · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Perhaps Sweden had better things to do with their police force, like arrest murderes, rapists, and real criminals. Not to say Movie Piracy is legal (morals aside), but the amount of manpower and resources this takes is absolutely ludicrous for the overall payoff.

      It would be interesting to see how much money this saved the movie industry - errr, I mean cost the rest of us (i.e. taxpayers) to fund this joint venture.

    5. Re:That explains it... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Silly DOJ, thinking they can stop warez and close down all internet warez when they can't even get their terminology right.. 'elite sites' ? what is this, 1997 ?

      and their silly 'this sites allow people access to stuff within hours of their release' .. You'd think they'd be more honest and say 'seconds' or 'minutes' to illustrate how quick it is. hours is _ages_.

      I think the DOJ fails to completely recognize that the release groups are alienated from the dcc rooms, the spammers, the pubsites, etc. IMO they're too busy trying to expose the 'syndicate' and make a reasonably unorganized system into something of mafia like proportions.

      I seriously find it funny that after 4 years of busting sites and groups (starting with buccaneer), they're still clueless.

    6. Re:That explains it... by Fredrik+Leijon · · Score: 1

      the raids targeted 'the scene' not bittorrent or any other filesharing application/network/protocoll

    7. Re:That explains it... by TripMaster+Monkey · · Score: 1

      It would be interesting to see how much money this saved the movie industry - errr, I mean cost the rest of us (i.e. taxpayers) to fund this joint venture.

      Exactly. I'm so glad that we got to foot the bill for this ridiculous little witch hunt.

      I wonder how difficult it would be to learn Sweedish, anyway...although I believe that they speak English in Sealand.

      --
      ____

      ~ |rip/\/\aster /\/\onkey

    8. Re:That explains it... by computational+super · · Score: 5, Insightful

      You know, it's interesting how the punishment relates to the crime... every time I watch a DVD, it reminds me that the penalty for the unauthorized reproduction or distribution of copyrighted works, including those not for commercial gain, are investigated by the FBI and punishable by up to 5 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. IIRC, that's the same penalty you get for the distribution of CP. Seems like our priorities are screwed up somewhere (one way or the other).

      --
      Proud neuron in the Slashdot hivemind since 2002.
    9. Re:That explains it... by epicstruggle · · Score: 3, Insightful

      "It would be interesting to see how much money this saved the movie industry - errr, I mean cost the rest of us (i.e. taxpayers) to fund this joint venture."

      Thats an interesting question, but your only looking at what it cost for the operations. It would be fair to hypothetically calculate the lost revenue the govermnent lost through taxation of legal sales.

      What i mean is that you pirate a game, no one really makes any money.
      If say 10% of those who pirate, actually went out and bought legal copies (went to theaters, ...) then the govermnent would get their share in taxes.

      --
      "Im drowning here, and you're describing the water!"
    10. Re:That explains it... by lambent · · Score: 1

      what's cp?

    11. Re:That explains it... by GutBomb · · Score: 4, Interesting

      swedish is not that hard to learn (take it from me, an american that lived there for 2 years and learned the language sometime during the first), and sweden is also the land of 100mbit internet connections for around $40 a month :D

      there is a antipiratbyran (anti-pirate beaurau) but there have been scandals involved with them, such as planting pirated software on corporate computers in order to get themselves in the news.

      New laws are being considered there that would help crack down on sites like the pirate bay, but they are not there yet.

    12. Re:That explains it... by lambent · · Score: 1

      A cynical mind might say that the agencies involved have been quite unlucky at producing results for more ... typical investigations. Solution so they don't look bad? Go after easier targets, and produce evidence that they are worth what we pay them.

      After all, busting a piracy ring sounds a great deal like the good ol' haydays of busting up crime syndicates like Al Capone's, or the Gambino family.

      But that's what a cynical mind would say ...

    13. Re:That explains it... by Tibor+the+Hun · · Score: 5, Funny

      I don't think it'd be too hard to learn swedish.

      I believe it's just a matter of replacing Ws with Vs, extending the eeees, saying borgi-borgi-borgi a lot, and always talking about simple furniture and massages.

      But it would only be useful if you are into tall blondes, comfy surroundings, and appreciacion of common sense.

      --
      If you don't know what AltaVista is (was), get off my lawn.
    14. Re:That explains it... by TripMaster+Monkey · · Score: 1


      'elite sites' ? what is this, 1997 ?

      No shit...I think they prepared for this operation by watching this informative and compelling docudrama. ^_^

      --
      ____

      ~ |rip/\/\aster /\/\onkey

    15. Re:That explains it... by ZephyrXero · · Score: 1

      That's the problem when lobiest and rich men cloud the judgement of the guys who are supposed to be looking out for the people and not their own pocket books ;)

      --
      "A truly wise man realizes he knows nothing."
    16. Re:That explains it... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Informative

      isohunts based in canada, whos also not on the list.

    17. Re:That explains it... by ribo-bailey · · Score: 2, Funny

      Don't forget Poland!!!

    18. Re:That explains it... by idontgno · · Score: 2, Funny
      I wonder how difficult it would be to learn Sweedish

      A bit more difficult than it would be to learn how to spell "Swedish"...

      • English: Swedish
      • Swedish: Svenska
      • Swedish Chef: Svedeesh
      --
      Welcome to the Panopticon. Used to be a prison, now it's your home.
    19. Re:That explains it... by Znork · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Of course, the money saved by the copyright infringers probably goes to consume other products, and probably products from some more competetive industry. Those purchases would probably also be taxed, and even better, they would quite likely employ more local people per spent unit of currency and create more wealth as almost every production chain is more efficient than the intellectual monopoly industries.

      So, as a whole, society quite probably gains from piracy.

    20. Re:That explains it... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      did anybody else ever see the trailer for Hackers (it's on the DVD, which I proudly own)... and notice that Angelina Jolie definitely was getting it on more in the trailer than what actually made it to the movie.

      check out the trailer. slowly.

    21. Re:That explains it... by thatnerdguy · · Score: 3, Informative

      i believe what he wanted to say was child porn

      --
      I saw the Sign, and it opened up my eyes
    22. Re:That explains it... by WillerZ · · Score: 1

      The unix copy command.

      GP probably meant PCP, aka angel dust.

      --
      I guess today is a passable day to die.
    23. Re:That explains it... by CaymanIslandCarpedie · · Score: 4, Funny

      Any money I save from pirating goes straight to booze and smokes! Govt makes much more money on those items, so they are losing money by trying to limit my pirating!

      --
      "reality has a well-known liberal bias" - Steven Colbert
    24. Re:That explains it... by eric_brissette · · Score: 1

      If they were to go away, it certainly wouldn't hurt my feelings any.

      I know that people are cheap, but I still have a hard time to understand how they can put so much effort into downloading poor quality shaky-cam recordings of first run movies, and then enduring the terrible compressed audio and shaky blurry video instead of just going to the damn theater.

      But... I suppose downloading free porn from The Pirate Bay is better than watching it scrambled on cable tv.

    25. Re:That explains it... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      > You'd think they'd be more honest and say 'seconds' or 'minutes' to illustrate how quick it is. hours is _ages_.

      Minutes is quite accurate.
      My sites are only 10-50Mbit, and surely not elite, and yet I have most releases only 10-15 minutes after pre's on big places.

    26. Re:That explains it... by Jeff+DeMaagd · · Score: 1

      Part of the problem with "real" crime is that criminals are not always dumb enough to leave enough clues to say who did the deed. Short of a massive tracking network of an Orwellian scale, most crimes will go unsolved, and even then, a lot of it will still go unsolved.

    27. Re:That explains it... by Shadow+Wrought · · Score: 1

      I think any language that pronounces "Svenska" as "Swedish" would ultimately be difficult to master;-)

      --
      If brevity is the soul of wit, then how does one explain Twitter?
    28. Re:That explains it... by Nos. · · Score: 2, Informative

      Who modded that up? isohunt.com is registered by a Canadian. However, the IP address (69.64.61.30) is registered to Server 4 You out of St. Louis. And Canada IS on the list.

    29. Re:That explains it... by Dizzle · · Score: 1

      Informative? From the summary: Authorities also seized hundreds of computers in raids in the United States, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Israel, the Netherlands, Portugal and the United Kingdom. (emphasis mine). Canada is on the list.

      --
      -Dizzle
      "I most likely AM so interested in myself."
    30. Re:That explains it... by BewireNomali · · Score: 1

      In new york, most street bootleggers get their stuff off the internet. At 5 bucks a pop, they do brisk business, especially in poorer neighborhoods where going to the movies and/or buying a full price dvd is a costly proposition.

      a lot of these movies aren't cam either. A good number of films, especially blockbusters, are files leaked from somewhere in the post production pipeline. In other words, while there is an appreciable loss of quality, it's akin to VHS/DVD as opposed to cam/DVD.

      that's the other issue about piracy, is that a lot of it is coming from home turf. It actually seems like they should pay more attention to that aspect of it, since most cams are damn near unwatchable. But one seed of a good file, and I can see how it might cut into the revenue stream.

      --
      un burrito me trampeó.
    31. Re:That explains it... by legojenn · · Score: 1
      isohunts based in Canada, whos also not on the list.

      United States, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Israel, the Netherlands, Portugal and the United Kingdom.

      Are you sure it isn't on the list?

      --
      I make a reasonable middle-class wage by going to work and not spamming blogs with scams.
    32. Re:That explains it... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It was a raid on warez groups. That means the highly organized scene, not random torrent sites. The scene operates through private irc channels and private ftp servers. The scene is very adaptive, though. You raid one group and 2 more spring up. You shut down one ftp server, there are more waiting to take their place as well. As long as there are geeky disenfranchised teenagers, there will be a scene.

    33. Re:That explains it... by Inigo+Montoya · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Mod the AC parent down.. Canada is on the list.

      Furthermore, this whole thread is bogus because torrent sites were not even a target of this investigation. According to the FA it was about cracking down on specific release groups, not torrent hosts or trackers.

    34. Re:That explains it... by Randseed · · Score: 3, Insightful
      What i mean is that you pirate a game, no one really makes any money. If say 10% of those who pirate, actually went out and bought legal copies (went to theaters, ...) then the govermnent would get their share in taxes.

      They do. The Matrix Revolutions comes out, and lines and crowds at the theatre are ridiculous. Maybe some people want to see the movie before it's totally spoiled by people talking about it, but can't because they actually have jobs, so they pirate it. A large percentage of them in this case will still go see it in the theatre, because it's part of the "experience."

      Computer games are similar, but for a different reason. You have no idea how many computer games I've bought that have just flat-out SUCKED, or wouldn't run, or were full of bugs. Because of that, I tend to pirate first, and if it's good, I buy it. Even if I didn't, the industry as a whole still got a lot of money it in no way deserved because I bought shitty products in the past.

      I'm not condoning the behavior. It's just more complicated and nowhere near as damaging as the industry would like you to believe.

    35. Re:That explains it... by Bobke · · Score: 2, Insightful

      The liberty of a democracy is not safe if the people tolerate the growth of private power to a point where it comes stronger than their democratic state itself. That, in its essence, is fascism - ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or any controlling private power.
      --Franklin D. Roosevelt

    36. Re:That explains it... by Dizzle · · Score: 2

      Difference is in that 5 years as a CP offender, you're going to get raped over and over again. If you pirate (yar!) movies and get 5 years, you stand a better chance of not being subjected to the same.

      Enough of devil's advocate, that is seriously messed up. The fact that someone thinks that sharing a movie is equivalent in magnitude to the brutal and unnecessary victimization of an innocent child is disgusting. The person (or group of people) responsible for that should be sent to a shrink ASAP.

      --
      -Dizzle
      "I most likely AM so interested in myself."
    37. Re:That explains it... by crustacean666 · · Score: 1

      Hello! Talk about conspicuously absent...China.

    38. Re:That explains it... by Dionysus · · Score: 1

      Actually, Sweden is one of the countries that has implemented EU's InfoSec directive. InfoSec is basically EU's version of DMCA.

      --
      Je ne parle pas francais.
    39. Re:That explains it... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      AntiPirateBryan? is that DVD Jon's nemesis?

    40. Re:That explains it... by Progman3K · · Score: 1

      >Perhaps Sweden had better things to do with their police force, like arrest murderes, rapists, and real criminals. Not to say Movie Piracy is legal (morals aside), but the amount of manpower and resources this takes is absolutely ludicrous for the overall payoff.

      Yes, but if you were a politician being paid off to turn movie piracy into a capital offense, you'd have to show some results to your corporate masters, right?

      I'm sure the "payoff" is indeed worth it to the people who were bought to press this into existance.

      --
      I don't know the meaning of the word 'don't' - J
    41. Re:That explains it... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Dammit who's that banging on the door so goddamn loud!

    42. Re:That explains it... by empaler · · Score: 1

      Arrr, gots to love the bay, matey...

    43. Re:That explains it... by tirefire · · Score: 1

      It gets even worse - if the child pr0n you have is COPYRIGHTED...

    44. Re:That explains it... by mattspammail · · Score: 1
      --
      Now accepting PayPal donations!
    45. Re:That explains it... by Lord+Pillage · · Score: 1
      "that's the same penalty you get for the distribution of CP."

      Corporal Punishment anyone?

      --
      try { Signature mysig = new CleverAttempt(); } catch(NonCleverSignatureException e) { postanyway(); }
    46. Re:That explains it... by TheKidWho · · Score: 1, Informative

      your a foo, they aren't going after the torrent sites, they specifically went after the pirate groups that make the releases to begin with. If that somehow in your twisted mind isn't illegal, then I dunno what is!

    47. Re:That explains it... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Considering how hard it is to spell "bureau" correctly, swedish might be a good choice for all of us.

    48. Re:That explains it... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Considering that every time a police budget comes up for renewal, they complain about not having enough resources, complain about not having enough personnel, etc (insert standard lack of funds complaints here)

      How is this a good use of resources? Ridiculous

    49. Re:That explains it... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0


      Oooo! Great Logic.

      I don't want the police to go after any burglers until there aren't any more murders. I would hate to see resources wasted.
      </sarcasm>

    50. Re:That explains it... by TheKidWho · · Score: 1

      You pirate instead of just downloading the demos? I c I c...

    51. Re:That explains it... by IcyNeko · · Score: 2, Interesting

      I wonder how they'll hit Hong Kong, considering how much software piracy goes on over in the asian quarter of the world. I remember travelling down aisles of bootleg windows games, etc.

    52. Re:That explains it... by Reorax · · Score: 1

      Well, hopefully it's easier than Swedes trying to learn English.

      --
      This sig is only here so people stop skipping the last lines of my posts.
    53. Re:That explains it... by Txiasaeia · · Score: 1

      Are demos available for every game? No.

      --
      Condemnant quod non intellegunt.
    54. Re:That explains it... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      and their silly 'this sites allow people access to stuff within hours of their release' .. You'd think they'd be more honest and say 'seconds' or 'minutes' to illustrate how quick it is. hours is _ages_.

      Sometimes it's days or even weeks. Okay, that's days or weeks before the release but still...

    55. Re:That explains it... by TheKidWho · · Score: 1

      so just get the pirated version of every game because demos aren't available for a select few? /Eat them words

    56. Re:That explains it... by Cee · · Score: 1

      New laws are being considered there that would help crack down on sites like the pirate bay, but they are not there yet.

      Well, tomorrow is July 1st.

    57. Re:That explains it... by AMABITxS · · Score: 0

      Demo's are usually restricted to the point that you can't get into a decent game. Example: the BattleField2 demo had a time limit of about 12min. not nearly long enough to really get into a round. I'd have to say demo's generally suck and usually don't give you an idea of what actual game play is like.

      --
      Telling the truth to people who misunderstand you is generally promoting a falsehood, isn't it? -- A. Hope
    58. Re:That explains it... by MBraynard · · Score: 1
      If you think that funding beer is more important than funding software development, you would be right.

      Society doesn't net gain from piracy by making it harder for people to structure contracts as they see fit (you must pay to watch my show) because the result is less diverse media that has to appeal to a larger common denominator.

      Perfect example of moderators on crack.

    59. Re:That explains it... by krel · · Score: 1

      I believe kiddy pr0n also gets you 10-100 years in prison, and gets you put on some national do-not-hire list.

      --
      karma: ouch!
    60. Re:That explains it... by geekee · · Score: 1

      "It would be interesting to see how much money this saved the movie industry - errr, I mean cost the rest of us (i.e. taxpayers) to fund this joint venture."

      Tax revenue generated by selling movies and music probably outweighs copyright enforcement costs by such a large amount that the cost of enforcement is a good investment for the US govt.

      --
      Vote for Pedro
    61. Re:That explains it... by geekee · · Score: 1

      "every time I watch a DVD, it reminds me that the penalty for the unauthorized reproduction or distribution of copyrighted works, including those not for commercial gain, are investigated by the FBI and punishable by up to 5 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. IIRC, that's the same penalty you get for the distribution of CP. Seems like our priorities are screwed up somewhere (one way or the other)."

      Taking a not-released movie and putting it on the internet probably cost more in lost revenue than, say, grand theft auto, cost the owner. I don't see 5 years as being too harsh. Maybe CP should be harsher.

      --
      Vote for Pedro
    62. Re:That explains it... by TheKidWho · · Score: 1

      hrmm im pretty sure ive played rounds in the BF2 demo that were much longer then 12minutes, but I dunno, maybe I havent and its just my imagination, ill go check later.

      But the BF2 demo is very very very fun, plus how do you plan on pirating BF2 anyways? its an online game, its like trying to pirate WoW, all you get stuck with is laggy slow unprotected servers filled with cheaters.

    63. Re:That explains it... by Txiasaeia · · Score: 1

      Absolutely not. But what do you do when you're interested in a game but there's no demo? I wish to God that I had pirated Moo3 before I bought *that* disaster!

      --
      Condemnant quod non intellegunt.
    64. Re:That explains it... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Thats because the server admin hacked the timer, not because EA made it that way

    65. Re:That explains it... by naringas · · Score: 1

      ...ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or any controlling private power.

      wouldn't that be some sort of monarchy (or oligarchy) ??

    66. Re:That explains it... by TheKidWho · · Score: 1

      hahahaha I pirated moo3 and hated it >_ moo2 on hte other hand all time classic and im going to be buying sometime later this year since I lost my old pirated copy =)

    67. Re:That explains it... by jtgd · · Score: 1
      Hmm....mabye that's why I haven't been able to telnet into my server at home all day...

      No, it's because you run telnetd instead of sshd and somebody has hacked into your machine. :)

      --
      J
    68. Re:That explains it... by StikyPad · · Score: 1

      Except there's no federal sales tax, in the US at least. But there's still other issues. I think you're highly overestimating the amount of taxes that would be "lost" due to lost sales, but even if it were significant, you're still not seeing the big picture. It's not the product that gets taxed, it's the income generated. That potential source of taxes is only lost if a) people are buying copies on the black market, or b) they save the money instead of spending it. Option A also implies that the people selling the movies would never spend their money in a manner that's taxable. Even if they save it, it's going to be taxed once it becomes income for someone else. Money is never lost by being spent, it simply moves around.

    69. Re:That explains it... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Sweeden is conspicuosuly absent because there is no such place.

    70. Re:That explains it... by planckscale · · Score: 1

      Get yourself a nice super long battery life laptop like the Toshiba R100. Attach laptop Solar Panel battery charger. Put it in water proof container. Set it to auto-hibernate at night and auto-wakeup in the morning. Find an open WAP. Put it somewhere it can't be seen or ripped off (like on a roof or in a car). Remotely access through anonymizer. Download to your hearts content. Oh yeah if you suspect they'll come looking attach a webcam with motion detection and be ready to hit "rm -rf /"

      --
      Namaste
    71. Re:That explains it... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Actually.. the blondes aren't that tall. :)

    72. Re:That explains it... by sycotic · · Score: 1

      so like, roughly what does that say in english?

      --
      -- If I were a fish, I'd be wet
    73. Re:That explains it... by puaatane · · Score: 1

      GutBomb, you must be mormon if you were there for 2 years :)

    74. Re:That explains it... by Darkman,+Walkin+Dude · · Score: 1

      Interesting factoid here, in Sweden its perfectly legal to make love to animals. Can't be bothered to dig up a link right now, but if you like it wild and hairy, Sweden is the place to go.

    75. Re:That explains it... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      But it would only be useful if you are into tall blondes, comfy surroundings, and appreciacion of common sense.

      That's not entirely true. The Sweedish Chef taught me how to make'n d' Tanksgivin Turkey Borgi-Borgi-Borgi. Although, mine never turns out as well as his.

    76. Re:That explains it... by KronicD · · Score: 2, Informative

      From what I understand the sites targeted were topsites, rather than p2p sites aimed at the masses.

      For those who don't understand what the difference is a topsite is an ftp which receives a release from a group, from the top site it is distrubted to many other ftps and finally onto usenet and the p2p networks.

      The sites at the top were targeted, not the sites that most people have access to.

      --
      "Those who would give up Essential Liberty, to purchase a little Temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety"
    77. Re:That explains it... by KronicD · · Score: 1

      Quite often the demo will own, while the full game isn't so great. For example, the battlefield 2 demo ran wonderfully, no crashes, absolutly great...

      Paid for the retail version and... crashes ahoy! While I do not condone piracy, I can empathise with the GP poster.

      --
      "Those who would give up Essential Liberty, to purchase a little Temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety"
    78. Re:That explains it... by TheKidWho · · Score: 1

      really the retail version crashes a lot? The bf2 demo has only crashed once on me!

    79. Re:That explains it... by Cee · · Score: 1

      The article talks about the new law (as of today) which makes it illegal to download unauthorized copies of music and movies.

    80. Re:That explains it... by bhiestand · · Score: 1

      Churches are exempt from that list.

      --
      SWM seeks new sig for a brief fling
    81. Re:That explains it... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yes and No. While it is not illegal to engage in zoophilical intercourse it is not necessarily legal either.

      The animal cruelty law covers most of the acitivities where a human is the, ehrm, active participant.

    82. Re:That explains it... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The priorities are right where they need to be to ensure that government power continues to increase, not decrease, over time. Fundamentally, it is not in government's best interest to have the punishment fit the crime. If that were the case, there would be orders of magnitude less criminals, and orders of magnitude less justification for government.

      This is why victimless crimes exist. This is why the legal system is insanely complex (even ambiguous). All of this serves a purpose: to create the "need" for more government.

    83. Re:That explains it... by Znork · · Score: 1

      "the result is less diverse media that has to appeal to a larger common denominator."

      The result of monopoly power is less diverse media; profits are increased by pushing minor players out and catering mass marketing to lowest common denominator (as prices in any monopoly are always at the ceiling of what the market can bear they cannot generate more profits by selling a larger number of products, instead they must crowd out the smaller competition).

      This cultural impoverishment is a direct result of the monopoly power derived from copyright. As copyright no longer leads to the desireable outcome of increased production of the desired goods, any allocation of funds into different sectors of the economy is a net gain for society as a whole.

    84. Re:That explains it... by gnunzo · · Score: 1

      Unless of course you are buying your DVD's on the web from a business that had no brick-n-mortar in your state. Then there would not necessarily be no tax collected at all.

    85. Re: That explains it... by gidds · · Score: 1
      Er, yeah, coz every single police officer involved would otherwise be out there immediately catching murderers and arsonists, wouldn't they?

      And it would be wrong to catch fraudsters while there's even a single murderer out there, wouldn't it? And of course the huge amounts of money that go into trials such as the SCO one are just as wrong. All the lawyers involved should be out there catching murderers. It makes sense.

      --

      Ceterum censeo subscriptionem esse delendam.

    86. Re:That explains it... by Mekkis · · Score: 1

      Oh, but don't you see?
      According to the U.S. Dep't. of Justice, terrorists are now using intellectual property piracy to fund their global jihad against the western infidel, along with dope-smuggling, baby-selling and white slavery. Don't download MP3s - the next thing you see might be a mushroom cloud!
      Hence the priorities are straight, now the world's boiled down to G.I. Joe vs. Cobra. At least that's what FOX News tells me.
      Durk-durka allah, mohammed jihad! Sherpa sherpa!

    87. Re:That explains it... by GutBomb · · Score: 1

      funny you mention it. i'm far from mormon even though i live in salt lake city. Everyone there assumes that's what i was doing in sweden. No, it was better than a mission. I was married to a swedish girl and she dragged me there :D

    88. Re:That explains it... by 3riol · · Score: 1

      Letting people see films like "The Matrix Revolutions" before paying for a cinema ticket would be a disaster for the industry: those people might talk about the film. And once enough people who haven't paid [yet] learn about the magnitude of the impending disappointment, how can the producers make any money?

      (Note. "Official" critics are different: if they're honest and pan it, they'll be ignored as elitists; if they like it, all is good.)

    89. Re:That explains it... by jesterzog · · Score: 1

      Seems like our priorities are screwed up somewhere (one way or the other).

      You'd really need to speak with a legal expert to understand how this works, but I think it's because they're in different categories. Maximum penalties might be comparable, but someone committing child porn offences is probably likely to get a stronger penalty than someone copying DVD's. (Correct me if I'm wrong here.)

      On the other hand, though, it's probably easier to make large amounts of money by selling copyright-infringing DVD's than it is in selling child porn. (The market's likely to be much bigger, for one thing.) The possible penalty needs to be higher if it's going to effectively discourage people. Otherwise people will just make lots of money illegally and buy themselves out of court with the money they've made.... kind of like certain corporations, but I won't go there in this post.

      I don't think this is an ideal answer, myself, but it's probably why the large potential penalty is there. The MPAA is always going to threaten with the largest possible penalties it can get away with claiming, and I think it's a problem with the legal system that companies are allowed to get away with mis-representing things in this way. Either way, it doesn't mean a court will even come close to agreeing that a $250,000 penalty and five years in jail is necessary for punishing someone who made a few copies for friends.

    90. Re:That explains it... by randomblast · · Score: 1

      Actually, my church requires anybody working with kids to have a Criminal Records Bureau check, and obviously they have to be recognised members of the church as well.

      --
      ...these aren't my real teeth.
    91. Re:That explains it... by Dizzle · · Score: 1

      Never ever did I claim that it wasn't illegal, just that the sentence for child porn should be far higher than that of copyright infringement. It's like how murder is more harshly prosecuted than, say, jaywalking.

      --
      -Dizzle
      "I most likely AM so interested in myself."
  2. Gee, no China? by bensafrickingenius · · Score: 5, Funny

    I just can't believe our friends in the Chinese government didn't want to get in on this crackdown...

    --
    I am not left-handed, either!
    1. Re:Gee, no China? by sTalking_Goat · · Score: 0, Flamebait
      Coalition: We're raiding all the pirates in our country want to join in?

      China: Nah, The governers would be pissed if I shut down their side business...

      --

      My days of not taking you seriously are certainly coming to a middle...

    2. Re:Gee, no China? by Infinityis · · Score: 0, Flamebait

      Because even at the 90 raids-to-4 arrests ratio, when you multiply that by a few billion, you get a really big number, and they just don't have enough prison space.

    3. Re:Gee, no China? by no_opinion · · Score: 3, Informative

      You jest, but actually China is stepping up efforts due to international pressure.

    4. Re:Gee, no China? by Mr.+Maestro · · Score: 1

      Not to mention the Russians...

    5. Re:Gee, no China? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I just can't believe our friends in the Chinese government didn't want to get in on this crackdown

      Dude, the US has hardly any friends in ANY governments. Your on your own.

    6. Re:Gee, no China? by afidel · · Score: 1

      China has a very real reason to crack down on piracy and trademark infringement, as their economy grows so too will the IP portion of the economy. NPR had an interesting bit about the Chineese buyout of major international brands like Lenevo buying the IBM PC brand. The reporter noted that in China it is VERY difficult to build a brand name because as soon as you get to reaping rewards from your investment in PR your competitors can simply volume produce the same junk and throw your logo on it. If they want to go about brand making as a homegrown art rather than buying the talent and product abroad then they will need to strengthen domestic IP law and enforcement.

      --
      There are 4 boxes to use in the defense of liberty: soap, ballot, jury, ammo. Use in that order. Starting now.
    7. Re:Gee, no China? by mOdQuArK! · · Score: 2, Insightful
      China has a very real reason to crack down on piracy and trademark infringement, as their economy grows so too will the IP portion of the economy.

      China has very _little_ reason to pay IP any more attention than lip service. By ignoring the bogus economic arguments given by intellectual property proponents, China can grow their economy in a robust manner by developing real goods & services instead of wasting their resources by supporting the parasitic overhead caused by "intellectual property" laws.

      IP laws are just a way for developed countries to try and reduce competition from the economies of developing countries. If the developing countries are smart, they'll continue to pay lip service about IP (to avoid being punished by the developed countries), but will still basically keep ignoring it so that they can grow their economy in a robust manner.

      This is basically the method that the U.S. used to become an economic superpower (ripping off industrial devices & processes from Europe & ignoring their complaints about IP violations).

    8. Re:Gee, no China? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Wow. I bet you enjoy being called a communist.

    9. Re:Gee, no China? by w9ofa · · Score: 1

      Actually, he is advocating free market without government intrusion.

      If we had no IP laws here, the only way a company could make money would be to innovate and integrate at a rate faster than everyone else. If that isn't a free market meritocracy, I don't know what is.

    10. Re:Gee, no China? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yeah, well, why are millions of your countrymen trying to come live here? I don't give a fuck where you're from -- I'll bet you'd rather be here, wouldn't you? Oh, sure, you can't admit it in this America-bashing forum, but we Americans know one thing: there's no better place on Earth to live. Boy, bet that really gets your goat, doesn't it?

    11. Re:Gee, no China? by Shajenko42 · · Score: 1

      Actually, a company could make money by saving their initial investment capital until another company has blown a lot of money inventing something new, then using their extra capital to get their manufacturing up to speed quicker than them and/or undercutting them.

      That is, until every other company figured that out, and then the only people inventing things would be hobbyists who would then have their inventions stolen by corporations.

  3. Coordination of Efforts by Deinhard · · Score: 5, Funny

    This is not meant to be a flame, but...

    If the US Justice Department can coordinate such an effort among 11 different nations and justice systems, why can't we find Osama Bin Laden?

    --
    Successfully condensing fact from the vapor of nuance since 1998.
    1. Re:Coordination of Efforts by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      We know where Osama is. We just need Pakistan to let us go in and get him.

    2. Re:Coordination of Efforts by derEikopf · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Because Osama Bin Laden won't bring them money.

    3. Re:Coordination of Efforts by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Well duh, because he isn't trading movies, music or warez online.

    4. Re:Coordination of Efforts by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Because he lives in a cave in a section of Afganistan controlled by hill people and ex-government-previously-hippy-student-revolutiona ries. And he doesn't post his IP for everyone to see.

    5. Re:Coordination of Efforts by Alex+P+Keaton+in+da · · Score: 1

      I do think this will be a nail in the coffin of swapping trademarked works... I think people are more worried about the FBI kicking in your door than the RIAA sending a letter.
      But keep in mind, distributing it beofre it is out is eveidence of another crime, i.e. stealing the work in the form of a proof or whatever from the studio... a bit different from buying it and then sharing....
      And re: your post- My guess is they know where Bin Laden is, but he is in a country we can't get him (e.g. China or Saudi Arabia)for a plethora of reasons.

      --
      And All I Ask is a Tall Ship And a Star to Steer Her By
    6. Re:Coordination of Efforts by bheer · · Score: 1

      Because OBL isn't in Europe? Given that the South Asian grapevine is that he's being treated in Pakistan, it would help if the Pakistani government had more control over their own territories so they could help more.

    7. Re:Coordination of Efforts by Tweak232 · · Score: 1

      In that case, Who ever said that they were ever going to find the pirates?

    8. Re:Coordination of Efforts by ERJ · · Score: 1

      Because Pakistan, China, Iran, etc. are not in that list?

    9. Re:Coordination of Efforts by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

      There's a catch, if we catch him, then we've got a LOT of people who want to try and save his sorry ass; so they try to kill a lot of Americans, or at that, any other people, or anyone they don't like.
      If we kill him, he's a maryter(sp?), he goes up as a people's hero; etc...

      If we just forget about him, he dies, and no one cares; it's a catch-22, we don't get our photo shoot, but they (the terrorists), get nothing.

      $

    10. Re:Coordination of Efforts by Mantorp · · Score: 0, Offtopic

      I heard he's on Freenet

    11. Re:Coordination of Efforts by Clockwurk · · Score: 1

      Because warez groups don't generally move around or live in remote areas.

      ON a side note, anyone know which, if any, release groups(like Fairlight or Class) were netted?

    12. Re:Coordination of Efforts by epicstruggle · · Score: 0, Offtopic

      Because OBL is most likely hiding in the northern tribal region of pakistan. This region is fundieville. Musharaf would have a major problem allowing americans to go in and raid there. So the US/cia has a tough choice of looking for him and pissing local fundies or letting him stay quarantined and keeping musharaf in power.

      for a good read on the subject:
      http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2005/Jun /28/op/op05p.html

      --
      "Im drowning here, and you're describing the water!"
    13. Re:Coordination of Efforts by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Well the moment Osama starts posting torrents of pirated copies of Batman Begins, his goose is cooked.

      www.jihadtorrents.com

    14. Re:Coordination of Efforts by Ph33r+th3+g(O)at · · Score: 0, Flamebait

      Precisely. I kind of hope they're holding him in secret right now and torturing him, but keeping him quite alive.

      --
      I too have felt the cold finger of injustice.
    15. Re:Coordination of Efforts by Infinityis · · Score: 1

      Because Osama doesn't use Microsoft products?

    16. Re:Coordination of Efforts by Isldeur · · Score: 1, Offtopic


      If the US Justice Department can coordinate such an effort among 11 different nations and justice systems, why can't we find Osama Bin Laden?

      Probably because he doesn't download movies. He just goes to the theater in Detroit.

    17. Re:Coordination of Efforts by twifosp · · Score: 1
      Because Osama doesn't isn't a media mogul with an empire of politicians begging for "contributions". Didn't you get the memo? "Infringing on copyrights" is a more henious crime than "stabbing someone in the spinal cord with an ice pick".

      I wonder if we added: "Pirated 200 terrabytes of music and movies from the MPAA and RIAA" next to "Orchestrated and funded a terrorist entity responsible for thousands of murders globally", if we'd catch him any faster.

    18. Re:Coordination of Efforts by 00squirrel · · Score: 5, Informative
      If the US Justice Department can coordinate such an effort among 11 different nations and justice systems, why can't we find Osama Bin Laden?

      Bin Laden didn't pirate Star Wars did he? What do you think the Department of Homeland Security is supposed to be doing? They can't be bothered with people like Bin Laden when the real threat is people downloading MP3's. Read down the article for DHS involvement info.

    19. Re:Coordination of Efforts by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

      Not only that, but they're going after people who share movies on the Internet. They use the business term distributor and try to make it sound like a money-making operation (a la street sales of pirated product), but that's not what is going on here. This is person to person sharing in its purest form. Most of these so-called first run movies wouldn't even be out there if the movie studios hadn't chosen to release them to the P-2-P networks in order to accelerate their own sales. See, for instance, the "work print" copy of Star Wars:ROTS. I wonder what Grateful Dead would have done if the Feds went after their fans?

      P.S. - George Bush really needs to explain the Downing Street Minutes... an ineffectual President too busy trying to avenge his daddy and achieve "war president" status through the next election that he fails utterly to capture the person responsible for the attacks against America... a failure.

    20. Re:Coordination of Efforts by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      From TFA:

      Among the warez groups targeted 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.

    21. Re:Coordination of Efforts by jZnat · · Score: 1

      First we need a **AA corporation that is hellbent on taking down Osama and/or all terrorists.

      --
      'Yes, firefox is indeed greater than women. Can women block pops up for you? No. Can Firefox show you naked women? Yes.'
    22. Re:Coordination of Efforts by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Because OBL is Saudi and he is in protected hiding in Saudi Arabia.

    23. Re:Coordination of Efforts by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

      Because it would be inconvenient for the war to end. It is much more convenient for the war to continue forever, the Constitutional erosion to go unabated and lavish spending to be without bonds. Go read what Goebbels had to say about presenting the aggresion war Germany perpetrated as Germans "being attacked".

    24. Re:Coordination of Efforts by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      ask pakistan, he is there.

      you are talking about an area of the world where bin laden is highly regarded (especially in the more remote regions) and basically the pakistan president is worried about being assassinated or overthrown if he allows the US to just get him

    25. Re:Coordination of Efforts by aqsv49 · · Score: 2, Funny

      We cant find Osama because he is hiding in a datacentre in sweden somewhere.

    26. Re:Coordination of Efforts by ozric99 · · Score: 1

      Way to distance yourself from the terrorists, dumbass.

    27. Re:Coordination of Efforts by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Just as it happens, my favourite places to visit are of course United States, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Israel, the Netherlands, Portugal and the United Kingdom.

      - Osama

    28. Re:Coordination of Efforts by Ph33r+th3+g(O)at · · Score: 1

      Turning the other cheek doesn't work in the real world, dumbass.

      --
      I too have felt the cold finger of injustice.
    29. Re:Coordination of Efforts by Fussen · · Score: 1

      I heard he's on Undernet.

    30. Re:Coordination of Efforts by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      To answer your (sp?), it's martyr.

    31. Re:Coordination of Efforts by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Why? c'mon, piracy is real!

    32. Re:Coordination of Efforts by The+Master+Control+P · · Score: 1

      Neither does ignoring international law, which does minor things like outlaw torture...

    33. Re:Coordination of Efforts by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Get it right they live in Dearborn, Michigan not Detroit. The niggers hate the sand niggers and there will one day be all out war. Thankfully we have Redford, "Gateway to the Suburbs".

    34. Re:Coordination of Efforts by Ucklak · · Score: 1

      He didn't say he was going to blow up children and innocent civilians.

      --
      if you steal from one source, that is plagiarism, if you steal from many, well, that's just research.
    35. Re:Coordination of Efforts by ricklow · · Score: 2, Informative

      It was Goering, wasn't it?

      "...the people can always be brought to do the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same way in every country."

      --
      "Oh God help us. We're in the hands of engineers."
    36. Re:Coordination of Efforts by TripMaster+Monkey · · Score: 3, Insightful


      I kind of hope they're holding him in secret right now and torturing him....

      References to torture aside (we're not supposed to be doing that...we're the good guys...aren't we?), if we did in fact have Osama in custody, do you honestly think the current administration would keep it a secret? Dubya would have hourly announcements going out about his latest 'victory' in his demented little 'war on terror'.

      Sure, I'm bitter. You'd be too, if you knew what I know.

      --
      ____

      ~ |rip/\/\aster /\/\onkey

    37. Re:Coordination of Efforts by meringuoid · · Score: 5, Insightful
      If the US Justice Department can coordinate such an effort among 11 different nations and justice systems, why can't we find Osama Bin Laden?

      As long as we're looking for Osama bin Laden, we have a valid pretext for continuing our agenda of social control. 'We need these extra powers to protect ourselves from terrorists. We mustn't be too squeamish about civil liberties. After all, Osama bin Laden is still out there.' Once we actually catch Osama bin Laden we suddenly have a problem. People will ask: 'Doesn't that mean the war is over?' That undermines the entire project.

      Therefore it's better to have a token search for Osama that occasionally turns up a suitably lunatic Arab whom we can market to the press as The Al-Qaeda Nth-In-Command, and meanwhile go ahead with the police state project and the Middle Eastern Imperial Oil Hegemony plan.

      --
      Real Daleks don't climb stairs - they level the building.
    38. Re:Coordination of Efforts by mc900ftjesus · · Score: 1

      Why would Bush want Osama? He can run his dictatorship as long as the big terrorist is still at large. That guy will go free until the last year of Bush's presidency.

    39. Re:Coordination of Efforts by cdrguru · · Score: 1

      Apparently beheading people on TV isn't against "international law". About the only thing that can be said for "international law" is that it has to be a concensus of all nations. Just like the UN - one veto and that clause is struck out. So, torturing a mass murderer or capital punishment is "against international law", beheading infidels can't be.

    40. Re:Coordination of Efforts by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Sure, I'm bitter. You'd be too, if you knew what I know.

      Yes, because we all know that you have many, many, contacts in high government positions around the world feeding you information.

    41. Re:Coordination of Efforts by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Why not? That's what the military in Iraq has done. 100,000+ dead because of a falsified link to the killings of 3,000.

      Who's the more "moral" again?

    42. Re:Coordination of Efforts by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Of course it is, you fuckwit. That's the point. Because the terrorists are doing it doesn't is PRECISELY why we shouldn't do it--it's a terrorist act, and it's illegal. Places like Abu Ghraib and Gitmo make the USA party to the terrorist acts, not above them like we should be.

    43. Re:Coordination of Efforts by ozric99 · · Score: 1
      Of course it is, you fuckwit. That's the point. Because the terrorists are doing it doesn't is PRECISELY why we shouldn't do it--it's a terrorist act, and it's illegal. Places like Abu Ghraib and Gitmo make the USA party to the terrorist acts, not above them like we should be.

      Try telling that to the RA RA HUUUUUUURGH pigfuckers you know.
      Extra points for a eliciting a response of "but them tharr darn terrist folks behead people omglol!?! we should torture them!!"

    44. Re:Coordination of Efforts by danikar · · Score: 1

      Its harder to find someone hiding in the mountians than it is to trace an IP and ask the ISP where the person lives.

    45. Re:Coordination of Efforts by Fareq · · Score: 3, Insightful

      I choose not to do evil things, because I am not evil, not because of some law that says I shouldn't.

      Therefore, I do not believe in torturing anyone, regardless of who they are, because torture is evil, and I am not.

    46. Re:Coordination of Efforts by CaptainThunderbolt · · Score: 1

      If the US Justice Department can coordinate such an effort among 11 different nations and justice systems, why can't we find Osama Bin Laden? You havn't seen Fahrenheit 9/11 yet, have you? :P

      --
      I heard its cool to talk about not having a sig, as a sig.
    47. Re:Coordination of Efforts by bill_kress · · Score: 1

      Moreover, why do we hear about crap like this but never about how they cracked that gigantic SPAM/bot ring that is slowly encrapifying computers across the globe???

    48. Re:Coordination of Efforts by imr · · Score: 1

      Pffew, i feel better, i was getting worried that they might actually be unable to do it.

    49. Re:Coordination of Efforts by Ph33r+th3+g(O)at · · Score: 0, Troll

      Those "pigfuckers" are the reason you aren't goosestepping and eating sauerkraut. A simple "Thank you" will suffice.

      --
      I too have felt the cold finger of injustice.
    50. Re:Coordination of Efforts by jonwil · · Score: 1

      Its simple.
      Once we catch Bin Laden and his cronies, the "War On Terror" would be effectivly over.
      Which makes it much harder for the US govermnemt to do things like invading foriegn countries in the name of the "War On Terror"

    51. Re:Coordination of Efforts by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      He's more useful to them alive than dead. Ever read 1984? Everyone needs a unifying hate figure...

    52. Re:Coordination of Efforts by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No, those pigfuckers are the ones who ran away from the vietnam war when it was their turn to fight, but have no problem sending other people to kill and to die. Bush, Cheney, Rove, etc. used their money and connections to stay out of the military during Vietnam. As usual, the people who are most for wars are the people who have never and will never fight in them.

      Most of the people I know who fought in the World Wars have nothing but disdain for Rove and his cronies.

      A simple "fuck you" is in order for the pigfuckers who are sending people off to murder and die in Iraq.

    53. Re:Coordination of Efforts by Crashmarik · · Score: 1

      Did you read the article ?

      11 Nations

      90 raids

      And 4 arrests ?

      If they had any worse a batting average I'd figure they broght in the yankees to conduct the operation

    54. Re:Coordination of Efforts by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You'd be too, if you knew what I know.

      We already do.

      Sincerely,
      The FBI

    55. Re:Coordination of Efforts by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      They won't "capture" Osama because they need him to be a threat. If they capture him then they have less ammo to throw around, they need the "bad" guy out there so they can keep the flock scared.

    56. Re:Coordination of Efforts by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Actually, if you knew anything, you'd know that as soon as the politicians found out about it it'd be impossible to keep secret anyways.

    57. Re:Coordination of Efforts by Alsee · · Score: 1

      From your link:
      Within 24 hours, more than 10,000 copies of the "Star Wars" film had been swiped.

      Swiped? Swiped? Swiped?!?

      Is it just me, or is that writer smoking crack? Doesn't "swipe" specifically mean a particular style of physically removing something?

      What next? How about:

      More than 10,000 copies of the "Star Wars" film had been abducted.
      More than 10,000 copies of the "Star Wars" film had been embezzled.
      More than 10,000 copies of the "Star Wars" film had been burglarized.
      More than 10,000 copies of the "Star Wars" film had been palmed.
      More than 10,000 copies of the "Star Wars" film had been looted.
      More than 10,000 copies of the "Star Wars" film had been kidnaped.
      More than 10,000 copies of the "Star Wars" film had been hijacked.
      More than 10,000 copies of the "Star Wars" film had been swindled.
      More than 10,000 copies of the "Star Wars" film had been filched.
      More than 10,000 copies of the "Star Wars" film had been pocketed.
      More than 10,000 copies of the "Star Wars" film had been pillaged.
      More than 10,000 copies of the "Star Wars" film had been pilfered.
      More than 10,000 copies of the "Star Wars" film had been heisted.
      More than 10,000 copies of the "Star Wars" film had been lifted.
      More than 10,000 copies of the "Star Wars" film had been seized.
      More than 10,000 copies of the "Star Wars" film had been boosted.
      More than 10,000 copies of the "Star Wars" film had been hustled.
      More than 10,000 copies of the "Star Wars" film had been fleeced.
      More than 10,000 copies of the "Star Wars" film had been poached.
      More than 10,000 copies of the "Star Wars" film had been hustled.
      More than 10,000 copies of the "Star Wars" film had been mugged.
      More than 10,000 copies of the "Star Wars" film had been snatched.
      More than 10,000 copies of the "Star Wars" film had been pirated.
      More than 10,000 copies of the "Star Wars" film had been plundered.
      More than 10,000 copies of the "Star Wars" film had been spirited away.

      -

      --
      - - You can't take something off the Internet! That's like trying to take pee out of a swimming pool.
    58. Re:Coordination of Efforts by aug24 · · Score: 1

      I do not believe in torturing anyone because unless you can test the answers in some way, it's no damn use whatsoever.

      If it was 'tell me how to destroy this bomb' I might see the point, but 'tell me where you last saw Osama' is utterly useless.

      'sides, it's evil, like you said.

      J.

      --
      You're only jealous cos the little penguins are talking to me.
    59. Re:Coordination of Efforts by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      As long as we're looking for Osama bin Laden, we have a valid pretext for continuing our agenda of social control.

      Osama Bin Laden has become America's Emmanuel Goldstein.

    60. Re:Coordination of Efforts by fastdecade · · Score: 1

      This is not meant to be a flame, but... ... that's just the way it turned out?

      A bit OT but Linux sucks (not meant to be construed as flamebait).

    61. Re:Coordination of Efforts by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      ...now you see that evil will always triumph because
      good is dumb.

    62. Re:Coordination of Efforts by jo42 · · Score: 1

      Because the Bin Laden family funded Bush's first oil company. Look it up...

  4. Just pirate bad movies by Trigun · · Score: 3, Funny

    Pirate the ones that the MPAA are unwilling to admit to making, and you're safe!

    Nobody ever got arrested for pirating 'Gigli'

    1. Re:Just pirate bad movies by Mysticalfruit · · Score: 1

      Am I the only person here who saw the part "11 Nation raid" and thought "What the hell is RAID 11?" (mirroring with mirroring?)

      --
      Yes Francis, the world has gone crazy.
    2. Re:Just pirate bad movies by TubeSteak · · Score: 3, Funny
      If I was a Pirate I'd definitely want to make off with Jennifer Lopez's booty.

      Yarrrrrrrr

      --
      [Fuck Beta]
      o0t!
    3. Re:Just pirate bad movies by Rude+Turnip · · Score: 1

      You're going to need a wide-bottomed boat. /zing!

    4. Re:Just pirate bad movies by pembo13 · · Score: 1

      No, you're not alone.

      --
      "Thanks for all the money you paid to us. We've used it to buy off ISO among other things" -Microsoft
    5. Re:Just pirate bad movies by BewireNomali · · Score: 1

      ..... and I approve this message!!!!!

      *cough* Jessica Alba *cough*

      *cough* Jessica Biel *cough*

      --
      un burrito me trampeó.
    6. Re:Just pirate bad movies by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Ben and Jen just got married yesterday. But it's Jennifer Garner instead.

    7. Re:Just pirate bad movies by hal200 · · Score: 1

      Don't you mean, "gobble, gobble"?

      AAAH! Gigli flashback! AAAH! Talk me down, man! Talk me down! Damn you, TubeSteak! Damn you! *twitch* *twitch* *asplode*

      --

      I just want to take over the world...Why does that automatically make me EVIL?

  5. Not the first post! Woo hoo! by cshark · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I still don't see why they don't go after the real pirates, who make and distribute these things commercially, and mostly in foreign countries. Seems to me that the non net pirates are probably a bigger threat. But they wouldn't need an international crack down force to find them (just walk through manhatten sometime), so I imagine they have to spend money on something. A shame.

    --

    This signature has Super Cow Powers

    1. Re:Not the first post! Woo hoo! by Vodak · · Score: 3, Insightful

      The reason they go after the online community is simple. The current beleif is that everyone eho downloads a movie, mp3, or game is a direct sales deduction for the bottom line.

      Using that structure of thought.. in the grand scheme of things. The guys on the corenr selling these copies are little fish in the big internet pond. Hell, you might even stop a couple of them pirates too since alot of these guys are just downloading them from the interweb as well.

      Big scale pirates? Well China is our(US) allie right.

    2. Re:Not the first post! Woo hoo! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And where do you think the non-net pirates get their illegal releases? Probably for free from these release groups, although I'm sure they have a few of their own insiders too, since they pay for such things.

      Getting the people by walking through Manhattan won't do you any good, just like busting the drug dealer on the street corner won't do you any good. Someone else will just take their place next week.

    3. Re:Not the first post! Woo hoo! by AlexMidn1ght · · Score: 1

      Using that structure of thought.

      Yes... because that structure of thought really worked well for the "war on drugs". When will they ever learn!

    4. Re:Not the first post! Woo hoo! by Marnhinn · · Score: 1

      I wonder that also - alot. Since the pirates which distribute the software / movies commerically are ripping off - not only the consumer, but the author/owner.

      For example www.cdrbstore.net is obivously a website selling pirated software. They are still up and doing business.

      I'd much rather see them taking down someone that makes a PROFIT off stealing than someone that gives it away free.

      --
      There is always a frontier where there is an open and willing mind
    5. Re:Not the first post! Woo hoo! by FreeUser · · Score: 2, Informative
      Yes... because that structure of thought really worked well for the "war on drugs". When will they ever learn!

      "They" have learned perfectly:

      'Oceania has always been at war with Eastasia. Since the beginning of your life, since the beginning of the Party, since the beginning of history, the war has continued without a break, always the same war. Do you remember that?'


      War on Drugs, War on Terror, War on Copyright Violators, and the forthcoming War on Patent Violators will be no different.

      Welcome to the new world order. Second Verse, same as the first.
      --
      The Future of Human Evolution: Autonomy
    6. Re:Not the first post! Woo hoo! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Or, maybe go for real pirates that carry guns and steal from the poor..

      http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000080&si d=aRo40A8Muqmg&refer=asia

    7. Re:Not the first post! Woo hoo! by Jackie_Chan_Fan · · Score: 2, Interesting

      I know exactly what you mean. Here in NY. You can walk into any of the major shopping malls and find a pirated dvd booth setup. I know of 2 on Long Island.

      The problem is... they only sell pirated asian films... and Hollywood doesnt care about that...

      No MONEY in it for them :) So why bust them?

      These guys have been working in 2 malls with a booth for atleast 10+ years. Pirated VHS tapes, to now very convincing looking pirated DVDs

      Hollywood doesnt give a shit because its Asian cinema and they have no stake in it...

      They did bust some guy not to long ago here in NY. He had a whole setup in his house... ROOMS filled with multiple DVD/CD burning towers. He would burn and package thousands of DVDs. his house looked like a Disc duplication company :) There was defintaly some funny and interesting footage on the local news about it showing this guys house inside and out. The feds were pulling out tons of dvds. even Playstation and Xbox pirated games.

      So they do bust those guys but... certainly they should be going after those guys more than the small guys on the net who do it for non-profit reasons.

      These CD/DVD pirate rings on the net are more or less enthusiasts doing it for a non-profit reason. Perhaps even as protest to high prices, or corperate abuse and to give the people a stake in the buisness world, a way to protest...

      However the CD/DVD pirates on the streets selling copies, are part of mafia crime syndicates. They are the real deal bad guys. They're not some teenager trying to be elite in his dormroom.

      They're mixed up in serious organized crime for profit.

      They're out to profit, not protest, not share freely. they're the ones REALLY taking money away from the movie/recording industry... because people are paying them for pirated copies. Which is a clear example of actual money lost and not the false claims numbers that the RIAA and MPAA make up.

      In China they'll buy XP pro on CD for $5 pirated in the same shops where XP pro authentic versions are sold for $300

      The point worth noting is... people are PAYING for pirated software/movies/music

      The would-be customers of authentic items are PAYING for a pirated item because its cheaper.

      I really thing its time companies rethink their prices.

      Lets be honest. With the current state of our US economy... Lets all make a bet... Who is going to bet that Movie ticket sales will go up, or down? :) I bet you they go up.

      They never seem to go down do they? Not even when our economy is in decline...

      Greed is a bitch, legit or criminal.

    8. Re:Not the first post! Woo hoo! by snorklewacker · · Score: 1

      > For example www.cdrbstore.net is obivously a website selling pirated software. They are still up and doing business.

      Complain to the registrar. Most are quite unwilling to be the registrar for blatantly illegal material. Oh wait, they're hosted by enom. Never mind.

      Anyway, they appear to be Russian, which is pretty much a haven for this sort of thing. There ain't squat that US companies can really do about it.

      --
      I am no longer wasting my time with slashdot
    9. Re:Not the first post! Woo hoo! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      WTG, I'm sure they just made several hundred dollars from that link alone...

    10. Re:Not the first post! Woo hoo! by gormlessOrganisation · · Score: 1

      Do you mean Hollywood?

    11. Re:Not the first post! Woo hoo! by Jherek+Carnelian · · Score: 1

      Lets be honest. With the current state of our US economy... Lets all make a bet... Who is going to bet that Movie ticket sales will go up, or down? :) I bet you they go up.

      Attendence down 9% over last year, 18 weeks of straight revenue decline

    12. Re:Not the first post! Woo hoo! by Pulse_Instance · · Score: 1

      And with attendance going down, all that will happen is that ticket prices will go up to make up for lost profits. Or they will just try and crack down on piracy more.

    13. Re:Not the first post! Woo hoo! by Jackie_Chan_Fan · · Score: 1

      They'll use it to blaim piracy and of course raise ticket prices.

      Here in NY ticket prices are ridiculous.

    14. Re:Not the first post! Woo hoo! by ultranova · · Score: 1

      Anyway, they appear to be Russian, which is pretty much a haven for this sort of thing. There ain't squat that US companies can really do about it.

      US companies can do in Russia the exact same that they do in the US: bribe the officials. The only difference is that they need to bribe the police and mafia, too, and not just politicians.

      --

      Forget magic. Any technology distinguishable from divine power is insufficiently advanced.

    15. Re:Not the first post! Woo hoo! by snorklewacker · · Score: 1

      Actually, I meant "agencies", not "companies". Sort of a freudian slip. You're right though, companies have more power to act.

      --
      I am no longer wasting my time with slashdot
    16. Re:Not the first post! Woo hoo! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Neat web site. Thanks for the link. I can stock up now. :-)

  6. Canada!? by MistabewM · · Score: 1

    I thought there were no copywrong laws in canada.

    --
    "A learning experience is one of those things that says, 'You know that thing you just did? Don't do that.'" - DNA
    1. Re:Canada!? by golden_spray · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Canada has normal copyright laws. It lacks abnormal copyright laws like the DMCA. For now at last. Just say no to C-60

    2. Re:Canada!? by Nos. · · Score: 2, Informative

      No, we have a levy we pay on blank media. This levy is charged to consumers and supposedly distributed to artists. The idea is, we're downloading music, burning it to CDs. We pay a tax on the CDs and the artists collect that tax, everyone is happy. However, that levy is only for music. Its not for movies or other forms of media.

    3. Re:Canada!? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And, IIRC, why it's still legal to download music, it's not legal to share/distribute* the files.

      * Not entirely true, from what I've heard. There are rules about how you can get ahold of the files, but that just starts getting too confusing for a non-copyright expert, like myself, to try and explain.

  7. Good. by MSFanBoi · · Score: 0, Redundant

    Software piracy is illegal. Software piracy is theft. Enjoy your fines and jail.

    1. Re:Good. by emidln · · Score: 1

      Dear Mr. Sheep^W^H^H^HSFanBoi,

      Software piracy is copyright infringement and possibly a crime in your part of the world. It isn't theft unless something physical is involved. So unless these guys are boarding ships in international waters and looting the said ships for DVDs and CDs, it isn't really piracy or theft.

      Thanks,

      your local diction nazi.

    2. Re:Good. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      When you fall off that moral and ethical pedestal that you put yourself on, I want to be there to see you land right on your head. Maybe it will knock some sense into you.

      Damn. I think I just fed a troll.

    3. Re:Good. by samdu · · Score: 1

      Software piracy is illegal. Software piracy is not theft.

  8. Pirates? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The article doesn't mention anything about any of these sites making money selling unlicensed copies of movies. So how exactly are they "Pirates"?

    1. Re:Pirates? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      Wow, you're fractionally more intelligent than the "Pirates? That's about robbery at sea isn't it?" crowd.

      But you're still wrong. The definition of "pirate" is:

      pirate Audio pronunciation of "pirate" ( P ) Pronunciation Key (prt) n.
      1. 1. One who robs at sea or plunders the land from the sea without commission from a sovereign nation.
        2. A ship used for this purpose.
      2. One who preys on others; a plunderer.
      3. One who makes use of or reproduces the work of another without authorization.
      4. One that operates an unlicensed, illegal television or radio station.
      (Source: The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition )

      You'll note that "making money" is not part of the definition. As well as it shouldn't be - I've heard the term applied to all copyright infringers since I heard the word, which, I guess, would go back to the early eighties. Most pirate radio stations, similarly, were strictly amatuer operations.

  9. And while they do this, Bin Laden escapes. by Adolph_Hitler · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    But hey, we have to protect the vital record industry from the cyber pirates er terrorists or whatever we call those people.

    Welcome to Germany.

    --
    People don't exist to serve systems, systems exist to serve people.
    1. Re:And while they do this, Bin Laden escapes. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Interesting, although your post reflected a sentiment fairly common among the rest of the opinions expressed here, you got modded down as flamebait.
      I'm guessing your user name had something to do with this.

  10. Wrong category by pmike_bauer · · Score: 1

    Shouldn't this store be filed under "Your rights online"?

    --
    I read /. for the (Score:-1, Conservative) comments.
    1. Re:Wrong category by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Sure, if you think pirating movies and programs is a right.

    2. Re:Wrong category by pmike_bauer · · Score: 1

      um...some people can't take a joke.

      --
      I read /. for the (Score:-1, Conservative) comments.
  11. Well... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    this whole thing would have happened earlier, but the FBI had to figure out how to say "Avast you scallawags" and "Aaaar!" in 11 different languages.

  12. 11 nations, 90 raids by Haenk · · Score: 5, Insightful

    and only 4 people arrested? Man, industry seems to be able to buy a lot of "justice" nowadays...

    1. Re:11 nations, 90 raids by Infinityis · · Score: 5, Funny

      Either that, or the people pirating watched a lot of action movies that featured REALLY good escapes...

    2. Re:11 nations, 90 raids by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'm more interested in RAID 1...

    3. Re:11 nations, 90 raids by gwayne · · Score: 1

      In Soviet America, pirates raid you...

    4. Re:11 nations, 90 raids by t35t0r · · Score: 2, Insightful

      They may have arrested only 4 people, but that doesn't mean they didn't search and seize computers from 100's of locations. Being searched does not necessarily mean that you are put under arrest.

  13. Offical Release by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative
    1. Re:Offical Release by TubeSteak · · Score: 1
      Read Google News
      You'll get more information that way
      AND you'll see the different ways the story gets spinned
      and you'll realise how many fucking news stations reprint the exact same article

      According to a search warrant affidavit filed in connection with the case and unsealed Wednesday in San Francisco, two undercover FBI agents infiltrated the warez group in 2003 by offering large amounts of storage space on their computer server. Ultimately, 27 terabytes of pirated material -- including such first-run movies as... wound up on the servers owned by the FBI. ...

      Investigators also found $389,101.82 worth of software on the servers, including such titles as Adobe Photoshop.

      --
      [Fuck Beta]
      o0t!
    2. Re:Offical Release by jo42 · · Score: 1

      What's the word I'm looking for, oh yes, entrapment...

  14. More rumors... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative
  15. China actually supports freedom of speech by Adolph_Hitler · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    at least if its digital speech in the form of a music CD or a DVD movie from America. You can forget about accessing that same information on the internet.

    So while you can watch movies about how America pretends to be, you can't really see how America actually is, its funny but if China actually did access the American internet and they saw the last set of elections we just had, what would they think of Democracy?

    --
    People don't exist to serve systems, systems exist to serve people.
  16. A good thing by Shadow+Wrought · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I realize that most of the /. crows has an anti **AA stance and to a certain extent I do as well. However, it is people like this who cause the damages cited by the **AA types, which in turn lead to the heavy handed **AA policies. It is nice to see those most responsible for the problem caught. Good riddance.

    --
    If brevity is the soul of wit, then how does one explain Twitter?
    1. Re:A good thing by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No, it's the bootleggers in China that get access to new content, stamp out a bunch of bootleg DVD's and then sell them with piss-poor chinese subtitles for a few bucks that causes the problem. Raiding online file sharers solves little, if anything at all.

    2. Re:A good thing by j35ter · · Score: 1

      "which in turn lead to the heavy handed **AA policies" I dont think that having a legal right to do something also gives you a moral right! Dont forget that **AA members have ONE sole purpose of existance : Making money for their shareholders (thats right, the guys sitting on their fat asses and doing nothing!) Since revenues are free-falling due to a lack of good movies (*cough* Disney *cough*), they have to pass the blame on others - guess who!

      --
      Delta-Mike November Bravo Tango
    3. Re:A good thing by TubeSteak · · Score: 2, Insightful
      I'm calling Bull Shit

      You notice how all the countries they named are 'first' world countries?

      How come they don't have any Asian countries in their little piracy party?

      What about Russia? You'd think ex-KGB Putin would love this type of iron gloved action

      The fact is, the countries they mentioned are countries where most people can afford to buy dvd's or pay 10 bucks to see a movie.

      Cheap Dvd's and Vcd's cost the **AA more than the $50 million they claim from this raid.

      --
      [Fuck Beta]
      o0t!
    4. Re:A good thing by ^Case^ · · Score: 2, Insightful
      However, it is people like this who cause the damages cited by the **AA types
      Uhm, actually no. It's the **AA's invisible friends who comes up with the damages cited by the **AA. As has been shown numerous times.

      I'm not saying piracy isn't taking a lump out of the **AA's pocket but it sure isn't anywhere near the numbers they like to claim every so often.
    5. Re:A good thing by Dirk+Pitt · · Score: 1
      Sooo... you're surprised that the law is going after the people that cause the most fiscal harm? How is that 'Bull Shit'?

      In related news, FBI pursues organized crime families laundering billions of dollars a year, doesn't spend as much resource on nickel-and-dime street grifters.

      I'd say you've proven the parent's post - it's the miserable people that can *afford* to pay $10 to see a movie, and violate international copyright law instead, that are causing stupid laws to be made that limit my fair-use rights.

      I don't like the **AA, I don't like the lawmakers, and I really don't like the people who can very well afford to buy the media but hide behind false principles so they can save a few bucks.

    6. Re:A good thing by TubeSteak · · Score: 1
      You managed to miss the entire point of my post.

      THEY ARE NOT GOING AFTER THE PEOPLE CAUSING THE MOST FISCAL HARM

      The FBI is not pursuing the rampant piracy that happens in any large city

      Why would i mention Asia or Russia? Because you can buy pirated vcd's and dvd's for a few bucks on the street.

      Yes, I mean the entire CONTINENT of Asia

      >90% of the software & movies are pirated over there.

      In closing, its the miserable asshats in the **AA who're "causing stupid laws to be made that limit my fair-use rights."

      thank you, come again

      --
      [Fuck Beta]
      o0t!
    7. Re:A good thing by cdrguru · · Score: 1
      According to your philosophy, any corporate entity is obviously evil. Heck, anyone not out there digging weeds in their field is a lazy good-for-nothing being supported by the work of others.

      Good 13th century view of the world, there.

    8. Re:A good thing by j35ter · · Score: 1

      I am actually trying to have a somewhat utopian view of the the world. Money is actually nothing more than a substitute for energy. you pay for resources and human labor. Making profit IS ESSENTIAL for a human being - even you have to make a profit in order to balance your energy consumption. On the other hand, there are a lot of people who consume tremendous quantities of energy without giving anything back to the society they took it from; these people, although legally not in wrong, actually do harm to the rest of us who work our asses off to enable them a carefree living. I can see some comfort in the fact that these people actually wont need your service anymore, giving your job to a poor indian who will deliver them the same amount of energy (labor) for just a small part of energy (money) they would have recontributed to you thus you wont be able have enough energy (money) to contribute to your ISP, thus I wint have to invest any more energy (labor) in reading your posts. If you really think that predatoreus capitalism is the solution for the 21st century, you will have a hard time to prove yourself worthy of being one of the predators - or do you want me to think you want to be prey??

      --
      Delta-Mike November Bravo Tango
    9. Re:A good thing by Pulse_Instance · · Score: 1

      It is because of a stance like this that America will never win the war on drugs. The problem is not the producer, the problem is that people do pirate/use drugs. If the demand is there someone will find a way to meet that demand.

    10. Re:A good thing by Dirk+Pitt · · Score: 1
      Wow, so much for rational discourse. Too much to expect here, I guess. I suppose 'thank you, come again' is some pithy slam-dunk supposition on your part. Maybe if you were a little less self-important in your little pseudo-intellectual meanderings, you might learn something.

      I didn't miss the point, you missed mine. The continent of Asia is no more a fiscal hit to the MPAA than the African AIDS drug market is for the pharms. Why? You like the yelling so I suppose I will too:

      THE PEOPLE THERE CAN'T AFFORD THE PRICES, THEY WOULDN'T BE BUYING THE MEDIA EVEN IF THE LAWS WERE ENFORCED

      Yes, I mean the entire CONTINENT of Asia. Japan has stringent anti-piracy enforcement - any guess why? Would you care to compare per-capita income to China or Russia? Or the relative values of their currencies?

      This is intellectual property being violated, not product being stolen. They're only going to enforce in places where money is being lost, not where no money is to be made at all.

      And yes, the copyright-infringers selling copied media *are* the ones causing the stupid laws. The MPAA/RIAA couldn't give two shites if you copy one for your car, but before it's over, you won't be able to anyway b/c of these morons.

      No, no - really, thank YOU, come again. Next time try to sound a little less like the Simpsons comic book store guy.

  17. Sheesh.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
    is the MPAA looking for a new revenue stream?

    We should just hire them out to hunt for terrorists.

    Terrorist 1: The US army's headed this way.
    Terrorist 2: Let's get ready to ambush them.

    Terrorist 1: The MPAA right's behind them.
    Terrorist 2: Retreat!

  18. And no Sweden. Pirate Bay still all good. by glrotate · · Score: 1

    At least until the new Swedish law goes into effect tomorrow.

    1. Re:And no Sweden. Pirate Bay still all good. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I thought the law was supposed to go into effect on June 1st. They did go down then, but they were back up June 2nd with the new interface you see now on their site.

    2. Re:And no Sweden. Pirate Bay still all good. by TripMaster+Monkey · · Score: 1

      They were just down for system maintenance. The blurb saying that they were shut down permanently was a joke.

      --
      ____

      ~ |rip/\/\aster /\/\onkey

  19. Maybe the MPAA listened... by slapout · · Score: 5, Interesting

    ...to Wil Wheaton:

    "I'm no expert, but it seems like the MPAA would get a much bigger return on their investment if they stopped going after college students and went after the factories that turn out legitimate movies by day, and switch over to pirated material at night."

    --From the Wil Wheaton Slashdot interview
    http://interviews.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=05/0 6/27/0926218/

    --
    Coder's Stone: The programming language quick ref for iPad
    1. Re:Maybe the MPAA listened... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What Will doesn't know is all the big factories already pay protection money to the **AA. So the **AA will not go after the CD/DVD pressing plants.

    2. Re:Maybe the MPAA listened... by Ubergrendle · · Score: 1

      I've always wondered this as well, but realised that the RIAA/MPAA is smart enough to look the other direction. I figure these asian or 3rd world manufacturing companies pay their slave wages at $0.10/hr or something crazy like that. Their operating costs are increadibly low even if you include writting off all resultant losses due to piracy.

      So just remember kids....piracy is VERY BAD, but not as bad as paying someone minimum wage in Iowa to manufacture CDs and DVDs domestically.

      --
      John Maynard Keynes: "When the facts change, I change my mind. What do you do?"
    3. Re:Maybe the MPAA listened... by Rosco+P.+Coltrane · · Score: 2, Funny

      Yes, I can just see the meeting between the 11 nations' head of police:

      US copper: Sirs, we have been reading this Slashdot site, where Wil Wheaton (no no, stop cursing, he's not *really* like Wesley Crusher) has given us great insight. Want to hear what it is?
      Germany: Ach, ya, I vant to know vat Vil Vheaton said.
      France: Oui Oui, let'z ear it!
      US: Well then, he said we should go after the source of pirated stuff, and not the downloaders. Isn't that very insightful?
      UK: Bloody hell yes, let's go get the buggers!
      Canada: Yeah, aboot time we cracked down on 'em hey.
      Denmark: Dårn right, let's gø!
      US: So all for Wil's plan?
      All: Yeah/Oui/Ja/...!!


      In short, I'm quite sure the *AAs had the idea too, and they have been working on it for a long time to get 11 countries to pull this off. No need for Wil's input there I think.

      --
      "A door is what a dog is perpetually on the wrong side of" - Ogden Nash
    4. Re:Maybe the MPAA listened... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Unfortunately, in this case, they went after the endusers again. Oh, for a sane copyright policy.

    5. Re:Maybe the MPAA listened... by Marc2k · · Score: 1

      Uh, yeah..that's not what happened though. So they didn't listen, in actuality.

      --
      --- What
    6. Re:Maybe the MPAA listened... by dr_dank · · Score: 1

      They invited the Russians to join in the raids but were refused.

      Russia: I must decline, comrade. In Soviet Russia, Pirates find US!

      --
      Where does the school board find them and why do they keep sending them to ME?
    7. Re:Maybe the MPAA listened... by ipjohnson · · Score: 1

      Small nitpick .... it's eh not hey.

    8. Re:Maybe the MPAA listened... by Pulse_Instance · · Score: 1
      As to the C-Style comment in your sig, it is good form for single lined comments to use the single line comment form.

      // This is a single lined comment

      /*
      *This
      * is a multi lined
      *comment
      */

    9. Re:Maybe the MPAA listened... by Aussie · · Score: 1

      you forgot one.

      Aus: No worries mate, who's bringing the beer ?

  20. Operation Site Down by Fredrik+Leijon · · Score: 1

    couldn't they atleast think of a cool name?

    1. Re:Operation Site Down by tktk · · Score: 2, Funny

      ( All(TM) cool(TM) cames(TM) have(TM) been(TM) trademarked(TM) )(TM)

    2. Re:Operation Site Down by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      How about OWCHBGAKFBTIWOCMW

      Operation We Could Have Been Going After Kiddy Fiddlers But This Is What Our Corporate Masters Wanted.

      I mean sure, just because there are murderers out there, doesn't mean the police shouldn't arrest an erratic driver. But devoting all the resources of a multi-nation police infiltration operation to some college kids shuttling around movies on their sftp servers when it's going to happen anyway no matter how many arrests they make?....please.

    3. Re:Operation Site Down by shahruz · · Score: 1

      (All(TM) your(TM) names(TM) are(TM) belong(TM) to(TM) us!(TM))(TM)

    4. Re:Operation Site Down by benna · · Score: 1

      Actually, I think its a pretty good choice of name. Just about all of the high level sites (including those not raided) which display "site down" in their irc channels for at least a couple weeks. Usually when a major stike like this occurs (Operation FastLink on 4/21/04 being the last such strike) all of the high level sites shut down as a percausion for a while.

      --
      "It is not how things are in the world that is mystical, but that it exists." -Ludwig Wittgenstein
  21. So which sites got hit? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Reply below and list.. this way ppl don't waste time trying to re-connect.

  22. 11-Nation RAID? by ndansmith · · Score: 5, Funny

    Wow, an 11 nation RAID? Now that is redundancy!

    1. Re:11-Nation RAID? by Rudeboy777 · · Score: 0, Flamebait

      Wow, an 11 nation RAID? Now that is redundancy!

      You're referring to the content of your comment, right?

      --

      From hell's heart I fstab at /dev/hdc

    2. Re:11-Nation RAID? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

      Imagine a Beowulf cluster of those!

    3. Re:11-Nation RAID? by suitepotato · · Score: 2, Funny

      Wow, an 11 nation RAID? Now that is redundancy!

      Yeah, but it was ReiserFS and everyone is hoping no one looks at it funny and causes it to crash.

      --
      If my grammar and spelling are off, I am [distracted/tired/careless] (take your pick)
    4. Re:11-Nation RAID? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Unfortunately it is RAID 0 so there really wasn't any redundancy just more room to look over

    5. Re:11-Nation RAID? by Java+Ape · · Score: 1

      The USA is obviously hosed. . . I'm waiting for failover to a functioning system. ;-)

    6. Re:11-Nation RAID? by mink · · Score: 1

      Would Iraq and Afganistan count as "hot spares"?

      --
      Well I've wrestled with reality for thirty five years doctor, and I'm happy to say I finally won out over it.
  23. They did find Osama! by ShaniaTwain · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    It's true! they found osama here.

    Osama was just a movie all along! We're safe now!

  24. Ah yes... by Vonotar82 · · Score: 0, Troll

    I look at this story, and the first thing that comes to mind is: VCR's. I seem to remember that there was a similar uproar about VCR's being able to record way back when. Isn't this the same thing? Of course, we all remember when the government recalled all the VCR's and watched everyone like a hawk to make sure you didn't have a pirated episode of Doogie Howser or Night Court in your home. Face it, Hollywood...you may have the money to buy some Federal aid, but ANYTHING put out on the Net or on the Air becomes public domain, one way or another......Besides, how else is little Hadji going to go to college????

    --
    "I drank WHAT?!"--Socrates
    1. Re:Ah yes... by gnownaym · · Score: 0, Flamebait

      Because only people in India (or Pakistan?) pirate for profit. Yeah. Way to go racism!

    2. Re:Ah yes... by gnownaym · · Score: 1

      That was sarcasm, you dolt.

  25. this rocks my grogosphere by paulsgre · · Score: 1

    Shit. My desktop at home still has monkey island installed... Guybrush Threepwood may only be a wannabe software pirate, but better safe than sorry.

    1. Re:this rocks my grogosphere by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      Because no one else will say it

      LOL ROFLMAO!!!!!1111!!!eleven!!!

  26. New Tshirt for sale! by gosand · · Score: 5, Funny
    If the US Justice Department can coordinate such an effort among 11 different nations and justice systems, why can't we find Osama Bin Laden?

    Makes me want make the Tshirt:

    Osama Bin Laden is pirating music
    NOW will you go catch the fucker?

    --

    My beliefs do not require that you agree with them.

    1. Re:New Tshirt for sale! by Elminst · · Score: 0, Offtopic

      I'd buy one.

      (fillerfillerfillerfillerfillerfiller)

      --
      No unauthorized use. Trespassers will be shot. Survivors will be shot again.
    2. Re:New Tshirt for sale! by macaulay805 · · Score: 1

      Osama Bin Laden is pirating music

      Now the terrorists have already won!

    3. Re:New Tshirt for sale! by ch-chuck · · Score: 2, Interesting

      I think we're going to have to ammend Godwin's law to include OBL as well as Hiter - they never found Hitler but that didn't stop all law enforcement cold either. Life went on, traffic tickets were handed out, criminal rings rounded up, boys peeking thru knotholes in the baseball statium walls were chased off by the local flatfoot, and people copying dvds are prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

      --
      try { do() || do_not(); } catch (JediException err) { yoda(err); }
    4. Re:New Tshirt for sale! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative
    5. Re:New Tshirt for sale! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Osama Bin Laden is pirating music
      NOW will you go catch the fucker?


      Between you and me, strictly off the record of course :) NO

      You see, Osama is our boy. He was funded and trained by the CIA. The master plan is to take away your rights and freedom, as well as to centralize power so only a few people have all the money and power. So the rich need a boogeyman, something to threaten the people with, a scapegoat. Some event will happen, "terrorist act", and immediately afterwards, they'll start pointing a finger at their scapegoat, no evidence... 9/11 (reichstag fire), blame the terrorists (blame the commies), what's the difference here?

      You people better give up your rights, we're passing the the patriot act, real-id act, etc etc, until there is a full on police state, if you object, well something bad might just happen to your beautiful city here see? Oh watch out, that evil boogey man Osama Bin Laden is gonna get you. Aren't you glad that you have us, along with all these police, and surveillence technology to protect you?

    6. Re:New Tshirt for sale! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

      Osama bin Laden == Emmanuel Goldberg

    7. Re:New Tshirt for sale! by Alsee · · Score: 1

      We can even crank the sarcasm factor up a bit more...

      Osama bin Laden has an MP3 collection.
      NOW will you go catch the fucker?

      -

      --
      - - You can't take something off the Internet! That's like trying to take pee out of a swimming pool.
  27. Funny. by NoMoreNicksLeft · · Score: 1

    Not that I have any particular sympathy for them, but you'd think these people would learn. This is the same kind of thing we've seen for the past decade with international raids against groups like DoD.

    And I don't mean "learn" as in, stop pirating. But there is software out there that would make them more or less invulnerable to this sort of sting operation. Duh.

    1. Re:Funny. by MynockGuano · · Score: 1

      Well, a good start would be to not include massively gratuitous "credits" files with everything they pirate.

      (I'd normally include a sarcastic example with a comment such as this, but I can already hear the lameness filter salivating.)

    2. Re:Funny. by benna · · Score: 1

      Its not like they put anything in the credits that isn't public knowledge. They just list some groups they like. If anyone wanted a list of groups all they'd have to do is go to a site like nforce.nl.

      --
      "It is not how things are in the world that is mystical, but that it exists." -Ludwig Wittgenstein
  28. Did you see Crapistan in that list? by glrotate · · Score: 1

    I'm sure if OBL regularly seeded jihad material it would be much easier to find him.

    1. Re:Did you see Crapistan in that list? by snorklewacker · · Score: 1

      > I'm sure if OBL regularly seeded jihad material it would be much easier to find him.

      Actually, he DOES. He just uses cassettes. Very old-skool.

      --
      I am no longer wasting my time with slashdot
  29. Oh no! by ChrisF79 · · Score: 0, Troll

    If the feds keep taking all of the shady sites down, where in the world will we get the next Paris Hilton sex tape?

    On a more serious note though, I know they keep going after the distributors but why not start going after the downloaders in big swoops as well? The media would surely hype that up and I think a lot of the casual downloaders would think twice if they knew their IP were being logged. Just my $0.02.

    --
    Finance tutorials and more! Understandfinance
  30. Great! Now the world is a better place... by presarioD · · Score: 4, Insightful

    ... for the corporations to arbitrate and exploit (legally) with the backup of politicians and law enforcement agencies.

    I knew it that my crazy uncle was right when he said that:

    police is there to protect the rich from the poor. Nothing else.

    Don't worry uncle I have faith in the system. For each pirate server they shut down, three more will spring out.



    On other news today: Software piracy in its last throes. Exclusive interview with Joe Sixpack Pirate. Administrator officials have been regularly holding meetings with pirates...

    --
    Yam, yam, uga booga, yam, yam, yade, yade, uga booga, yam, yam, yade, yade
    1. Re:Great! Now the world is a better place... by micromuncher · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Your uncle was totally correct. The police exist to keep the law abiding citizens in line, because when They figure out that something is actually messed up, They are the threat that needs to be controlled.

      In our city, of the 2 top revenue generating civic agencies, were...
      1) the police department
      2) the transit system

      Why does it seem I was the only one to think that it was really wrong for these "public services" to turn a profit?

      --
      /\/\icro/\/\uncher
    2. Re:Great! Now the world is a better place... by presarioD · · Score: 1

      In our city, of the 2 top revenue generating civic agencies, were... 1) the police department 2) the transit system

      Well in corporate america I am not sure if there is a thing like a "public" service, at least in the sense that you encounter it in europe. Everybody has to fund-raise. Church, police, schools, everything is a corporate entity and is run by corporate mentality that beats down to:

      If it does not profit it should close down.

      You of course are right, there are some "public" or public services that should not be profit oriented. But then again this is a conversation we should have 100 years from now when neo-capitalism will be taught in schools in the same class as feudalism...

      --
      Yam, yam, uga booga, yam, yam, yade, yade, uga booga, yam, yam, yade, yade
    3. Re:Great! Now the world is a better place... by jratcliffe · · Score: 1

      In our city, of the 2 top revenue generating civic agencies, were...
      1) the police department
      2) the transit system

      Why does it seem I was the only one to think that it was really wrong for these "public services" to turn a profit?


      There's a big difference between generating revenue and turning a profit. I severely doubt that the police department generates enough in fines for the city to cover the cost of policing, or that the public transport system collects enough in fares to cover its operating and capital costs - if it did, it would be a first.

    4. Re:Great! Now the world is a better place... by micromuncher · · Score: 2, Informative

      You're correct of course. But there is more emphasis on fines a source of revenue for the department.

      http://www.calgary.ca/docgallery/bu/finance/2005bu dget/operating/07_police.pdf

      46m of revenue, 200m, that means fines account for 1/4 of their expendature... its the ONLY thing they have control over - and there has been a trend increase over the last 5 years when actually crime statistics have decreased

      anyhow this is off topic

      --
      /\/\icro/\/\uncher
    5. Re:Great! Now the world is a better place... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Last throes? You mean probably not six months, or 10-12 years?

  31. Perhaps I just don't get it, but... by fdrake76 · · Score: 2, Insightful
    Movies have been downloadable for years now, so why suddenly have the feds gone apeshit over Episode 3??

    And from TFA:

    Those groups are believed responsible for stealing and distributing copyrighted works including films "Star War Episode III: Revenge of the Sith,"...

    It's not like these warez groups broke into George's office and stole his film reel.. why don't they focus on the person that leaked it from Lucasfilm in the first place?

    1. Re:Perhaps I just don't get it, but... by Rosco+P.+Coltrane · · Score: 1

      Movies have been downloadable for years now, so why suddenly have the feds gone apeshit over Episode 3??

      Wow, you know what, I was downloading the complete Knight Rider DVD rip the other day, and I was drenched in cold sweat, expecting my door to be knocked down any minute and an entire SWAT team barging in to arrest me!!

      I mean honestly, why do you need to ask? it's obvious Georges Lucas has his hand down many congresscritters' pants, and probably his other hand quietly slipping money in their wallets...

      --
      "A door is what a dog is perpetually on the wrong side of" - Ogden Nash
    2. Re:Perhaps I just don't get it, but... by benna · · Score: 1

      This has absolutly nothing to do with episode 3. I guarentee you the feds have been running the stings that resulted in this action since long before episode 3 was released. The mention of star wars was just for the media.

      --
      "It is not how things are in the world that is mystical, but that it exists." -Ludwig Wittgenstein
  32. Don't see any effect by JohanV · · Score: 5, Interesting

    When they raided last year in Operation Fastlink I saw some significant changes in traffic patterns. This time, I am not seeing anything.

    1. Re:Don't see any effect by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Most of the Warez groups distribute the material cracked. Once it has left their hands, they no longer control it. You will not see any change in the software that is already out there, just don't expect to catch HP: Goblet of Fire out there from anyone in these groups.

    2. Re:Don't see any effect by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      ..and who are you exactly?

    3. Re:Don't see any effect by math0ne · · Score: 2, Insightful

      This whole thing is pretty interesting.

      The reason you wont see any major change in traffic is that these operations dont actually take down any extablished servers.

      The feds just set up 2gbit server and convince groups to affil on them and then bust all of the FEDS OWN users. The reason you seen so much traffic drop with Operation fast link is that the REAL scene sites were scared and shut down temporarily, until everyone realized that the only sites that got taken down were in fact run by the FEDS.

      I assume that the idea is that the info on the siezed computers can be used to take down other top sites, but the fact of the matter is that the world's largest most repsected top sites are now located in countries that the US gov cannot get to, even if they had the info on them.

      The scene will never die

      At least thats my opinion,

      math0ne

    4. Re:Don't see any effect by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Only one .NL site was busted, and the four west-coast .US sites (all hosted at he.net) had small user databases. When I say small, I mean, no more than 10 or 20 people. Only the siteops' most trusted friends were permitted access. Describing these sites as "exclusive" would be an understatement.

      I speak with some authority on this matter; I was on one of the sites that was busted and I knew and many of the people who's names appeared on the US/CA search warrants.

      Needless to say, I am shocked by the whole thing. Some of these people were the most security-concious "anal" people in the whole scene.

      Today, I have made my own arrangements to "get out" of this business. The hammer hit a little close to home, this time, and no doubt my name appears in syslogs on the site boxes the FBI seized (?). While it seems I wasn't deemed a significant target, I don't want my name to appear on the next round of scene-busts.

      My life isn't worth ruining for a few movies and mp3s.

      PS: The reason they caught these people before Osama Bin Laden: Osama doesn't use Shaw cable!

  33. Have to... by mogrify · · Score: 5, Funny

    I'm gonna fight 'em all
    Eleven-nation army couldn't hold me back
    I'm gonna rip it off
    Taking their films right behind their back ...
    And if I catch 'em coming back my way
    I'm gonna serve 'em to you
    And that aint what they want to hear
    But thats what I'll do ...

    --
    perl -e 'foreach(values %SIG){$_="IGNORE";}while(){}'
    1. Re:Have to... by suitepotato · · Score: 1

      Thank you for this. If it could be modded +25 funny, I'd see it done.

      --
      If my grammar and spelling are off, I am [distracted/tired/careless] (take your pick)
    2. Re:Have to... by mogrify · · Score: 1

      Thank you very much. It was the "11-Nation" thing that started it, but it's surprising how little you have to change the lyrics to make it relevant to film piracy.

      --
      perl -e 'foreach(values %SIG){$_="IGNORE";}while(){}'
    3. Re:Have to... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Forgive me, but it's the end of the day and the brain is fried. That's a lyrical parody of ... ?

    4. Re:Have to... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Cool, I just finished watching an episode of firefly when I saw that. :)

    5. Re:Have to... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      White Stripes
      dont know the name of the song

    6. Re:Have to... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      really?? it was the "11-Nation" thing that started it? so, you somehow saw a similarity between "Seven Nation" and "11-Nation," and decided to change the lyrics? fascinating

    7. Re:Have to... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      7 Nation Army

  34. anonymous encrypted filesharing by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

    I wonder how many constitutional rights were violated by the US Justice Department and those various "authorities"...

    It's time for anonymous encrypted filesharing and software like Freenet: http://freenet.sourceforge.net/
    Enjoy!

    1. Re:anonymous encrypted filesharing by Ex-MislTech · · Score: 1

      don't forget these three choices as well :

      http://mute-net.sourceforge.net/

      http://konspire.sourceforge.net/

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anonet used with OpenVPN or SSH

      Peace,
      Ex-MislTech

      --
      google "32 trillion offshore needs IRS attention"
    2. Re:anonymous encrypted filesharing by benna · · Score: 1

      Freenet is not at all well adapted to scene releases. Let me know when freenet has a gigabit of bandwidth.

      --
      "It is not how things are in the world that is mystical, but that it exists." -Ludwig Wittgenstein
    3. Re:anonymous encrypted filesharing by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      or http://tor.eff.org.../

      It doesnt have huge amounts of bw right now, but it could have in the future

  35. FEDS prefer soft targets by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

    like students who can't fight back with huge money lawyer.

    Better to leave alone corporate criminals, drug cartels who hide behind political connections and big money lawyers.

  36. In other news 78 people needlessly raided by NitsujTPU · · Score: 1

    FBI agents and investigators in the other nations conducted 90 searches starting Wednesday, arresting four people and shutting down at least eight major online distribution servers for pirated works

    In other news, 78 people are shaken up from being raided over something as stupid as filesharing.

    The FBI, brought to you by the RIAA

  37. The Article by TubeSteak · · Score: 4, Informative
    The Associated Press Updated: 3:16 p.m. ET June 30, 2005

    WASHINGTON - The government announced an 11-nation crackdown Thursday on Internet piracy organizations responsible for stealing copies of the latest Star Wars film and other movies, games and software programs worth at least $50 million.

    FBI agents and investigators in the other nations conducted 90 searches starting Wednesday, arresting four people, seizing hundreds of computers and shutting down at least eight major online distribution servers for pirated works.

    The Justice Department "is striking at the top of the copyright piracy supply chain -- a distribution chain that provides the vast majority of illegal digital content now available online," Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said.

    Called Operation Site Down, the crackdown involved undercover FBI operations run out of Chicago, San Francisco and Charlotte, N.C., and involved help from authorities in Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Israel, the Netherlands, Portugal and the United Kingdom.

    Among those arrested was Chirayu Patel of Fremont, Calif., on charges of violating federal copyright protection laws. Patel is alleged to be a member of a "warez" group, a kind of underground Internet co-op that is set up to trade in copyrighted materials.

    Warez (pronounced "wares") groups are extraordinarily difficult to infiltrate because users talk only in encrypted chat rooms, their computer servers require passwords and many are located overseas, the FBI has said.

    The investigations targeted "release groups" that are the original sources of pirated works that can be distributed worldwide in hours. Among the warez groups targeted 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.

    Those groups are believed responsible for stealing and distributing copyrighted works including films "Star War Episode III: Revenge of the Sith," and "Mr. and Mrs. Smith," and Autodesk's Autocad 2006 and Adobe's Photoshop software.

    Warez groups differ from popular file-swapping networks, where millions of files are shared without precautions to limit access.

    Last month, authorities shut down a popular Web site that facilitated the downloading of movies and other materials. Investigators said many of the copyright movies were available through the Elite Torrents site even before their commercial release. No arrests were announced at the time.

    President Bush signed a new law last month setting tough penalties of up to 10 years in prison for anyone caught distributing a movie or song before its commercial release.

    Though I'm not up-to-date on my "warez" kn0wl3dge
    Myth and Centropy are old skool and HUGE.

    as of 5/31 "Rumors have it that Centropy is going INTERNAL on all future releases"
    Looks like too little, too late.

    --
    [Fuck Beta]
    o0t!
    1. Re:The Article by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      as of 5/31 "Rumors have it that Centropy is going INTERNAL on all future releases" Looks like too little, too late.

      Mayby not:
      Quote taken from Herbie.Fully.Loaded.SVCD.TS-Centropy nfo :

      Hey you stupid bitches FBI you FORGOT ME !!!
      And don't think i'll make it easy on you to catch me :D

    2. Re:The Article by Insightfill · · Score: 1

      $50 million in value? Just think how bad it would have been if they had used 2x burners, instead. $100 million, easy.

    3. Re:The Article by Murphy+Murph · · Score: 2, Informative
      as of 5/31 "Rumors have it that Centropy is going INTERNAL on all future releases"
      Looks like too little, too late.


      INTERNAL in this instance does not mean that Centrophy was planning to drop below the radar.

      From a Scene glossary: (emphasis mine)

      INTERNAL

      In the Internet piracy scene, this term is used to mark a release that is only intended for the group who released it and not an external release. Basically, by the rules of the scene, you cannot release a PROPER release after a certain number of days, so if that number of days passes you will have to label your release as INTERNAL to protect it from being nuked. Some groups have used this term to protect a lot of their releases from being nuked. The term is also often misunderstood when people refer to a group as going internal, they mean that from now on, they wont be releasing anything to the general public, just to the group. A group may also label a release as INTERNAL if it is not up to the scene standards.


      But don't be under the impression that Centropy releases would become any less common in the real world. Just because couriers can no longer earn credit for posting them to servers doesn't mean that they won't.
      --
      I dub thee... Sir Phobos, Knight of Mars, Beater of Ass.
    4. Re:The Article by baadger · · Score: 1

      In response remaining Centropy members have made the following statement:

      "Nanananana to slow :P~"

    5. Re:The Article by agent4256 · · Score: 1

      "Hoodlum, Vengeance"
      Those are popular in the pc game industry, when i saw centropy in the list i shouted out a "no!!!" my boss came in my office and was like "what!, what happened?!?!"

  38. Yet, they leave China alone by Electric+Eye · · Score: 1

    I love how the FBI is wasting our money doing this shit. I know, financially, a few people are hurting b/c of piracy. But, I can think of a few better things for the feds to target right now. But I guess all the pedophiles in Florida or extremists in Indonesia aren't deserving of the FBI's time anymore. Let's target some geeks.

    1. Re:Yet, they leave China alone by TubeSteak · · Score: 1

      You forgot the extreme pedophiles who travel to Indonesia to get their jollies.
      but surprised? No.
      Has the gold, makes the rules
      **AA has the gold . . .

      --
      [Fuck Beta]
      o0t!
    2. Re:Yet, they leave China alone by Beardo+the+Bearded · · Score: 1

      In Canada, they get put into jail when they come back. A guy just got 10 years for hiring a few girls to "service" him.

      --

      ---
      ECHELON is a government program to find words like bomb, jihad, plutonium, assassinate, and anarchy.
    3. Re:Yet, they leave China alone by TubeSteak · · Score: 1
      Same in the United States of A.

      But you don't hear about anyone making an 11 country effort to arrest the bastards.

      --
      [Fuck Beta]
      o0t!
  39. Ooh, that'll teach those nasty movie pirates! by gmknobl · · Score: 1

    Ahuh, yeah, you betchya.

    And all that 10s of dollars that they make off the stolen movies will now go directly the the MPAA, and of course, the actual people who made the movie.

    Ahuh, yeah, you betchya.

    (This post has been exagerated for your protection.)

  40. Really? by paranode · · Score: 1
    If you know where some murderers and rapists are hiding in mass numbers I'm sure the police would be interested to know. Last I heard they didn't hang out on websites advertising their activities to the world, hoping nobody would ever have the balls to cross a border to get them.

    Perhaps Sweden isn't a big player in the global entertainment industry and that's why they don't really care. Nah, you're probably right, it's because the government is ignoring murderers and rapists. The police just aren't thinking of the children.

  41. What'd be cool... by CrazyJim2 · · Score: 3, Funny

    ...is if they made a MMORPG where you could get xp for reporting pirates. That way you could turn in your friends who run ftp servers full of games and movies for epic level items. There are a lot of MMORPG players out there and I'm sure they could catch all the pirates. You could call the game "Buccaneer's Bounty" and it could be awesome. If I wasn't so busy inventing True A.I. I'd probably make that game myself. If properly marketed it could make billions!

    --
    "But theres things mightier than a sword, and there are things mightier than pens. Guns and rap." - CrazyJim1
    1. Re:What'd be cool... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      This sounds like a great game idea, can't wait till it comes out so I can torrent it!

    2. Re:What'd be cool... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      tat b ah-sum dood u be teh bestest!!1! programmer efvar evaree1 wull by et i means jest put da truf on da box "GOD speked ta me dand says ud'd by et, so dare. allds ai in da gaam ours greet dey hav bodees sos dey havs ""tru ai" fer ooltimat " " " "" er semthin'

      mi mommy sayz GOD oftens spekes ta rereads
      eyes no differnt

  42. they've got the wrong guys... by Avohir · · Score: 1

    okay... these are shut down, now where the hell are the raids on the CoolWebSearch servers?! I mean, I know its never been a secret that lobbyists run the show, but could they be any more blatant? Maybe they could go after the people who are making a living screwing up the internet rather than nailing a few warez hackers who are keeping to themselves. I'm not saying piracy is right, but for gods sake, if they can coordinate 11 nations and spend untold amounts to take down software pirates, certainly they can spare a portion of it to fight the virus makers!

    --
    To err is human, to really foul up requires a computer
    1. Re:they've got the wrong guys... by Kojiro+Ganryu+Sasaki · · Score: 1

      I can donate to the cause of blowing that shit up. Got paypal?

  43. 10 years in prison? by Electric+Eye · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Also...
    So the law signed by Pres. Howdy Doody says a file/movie pirate can spend ten YEARS in jail?? Yet, people who rape and murder often get less. I see now that our priorities are finally straight. How much faster can we go downhill?

    1. Re:10 years in prison? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      How much faster can we go downhill?

      A lot faster. There's always room to fuck up more.

    2. Re:10 years in prison? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      See, you're missing the point. Raping, killing, only affects a few folks per crime, and doesn't rob the RIAA/MPAA. Now, robbing those folks, THAT needs to be stopped!

      And the RIAA/MPAA are also mis-figuring their losses. That 30-second Taco Bell spot that got pirated is really a loss of $53,547,236,987,362,768,967,342,568,325.45 if you figure it over the next five centuries. Let's get those losses right!

    3. Re:10 years in prison? by Conception · · Score: 1

      I wonder how difficult it would be to fight such a sentence with the ideal of "Cruel and Unusual"?

    4. Re:10 years in prison? by Ingolfke · · Score: 1

      people who rape and murder often get less.

      You're absolutely right... we need to kill those motherfuckers quick. Damn societal parasites.

    5. Re:10 years in prison? by Jackie_Chan_Fan · · Score: 1

      I dont know... but these last 2 weeks with the supreme court rulings were pretty fucking fast :)

      You could almost say we've hit bottom. The goverment can no spy on every citizen without a single reason. :)

      Yeah... we're pretty much at the bottom. All that is left is level 10 - Rioting and Final Collapse.

      I used to get to that level in Mario Brothers on one coin... but now it only takes a congress with no interest in citizen representation, a senate that says yes to everything, a supreme court with backwards rulings and an adminsitration run by a corperatist with a shitty heart (big suprise there huh?) and a monkey for president.

      Oh we're so fucking there man :) WE'RE SOFA KING THERE :)

    6. Re:10 years in prison? by Jackie_Chan_Fan · · Score: 1

      I meant to say "The goverment can now spy on every citizen without a single reason. :)" And whats interesting is now the government is creating an organization of civil liberties to over sea our overlords at the FBI/CIA that will be spying on our own citizens without just cause. So basically we have a government organization set up to watch these organizations so that your liberties are not compromised. Frankly whoever they apoint to run this new organization in government should stand up and say "before we build the fucking building... I accept the job, and now feel it is my duty as an oversear of liberty to state that YES.. our liberties have been compromised already... Good day, Good night... We're fucked"

    7. Re:10 years in prison? by SloJohn · · Score: 1

      If the federal government is funded by the people buying pirated files/movies, isn't this a step in the wrong direction?

      --
      erin go bragh!
    8. Re:10 years in prison? by dtfinch · · Score: 1

      The goverment can now spy on every citizen without a single reason.

      They can, but they'd have no reason to, unless they had a reason.

    9. Re:10 years in prison? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Not only that, but by turning murderers and rapists loose in society around the masses, they can continue to wreak havoc on the populations. And then the general public will turn around and demand more police and stricter laws.

      Even sicker, it looks like the prison system, being privatized into a brutal corporate profitably run slave labor system. But out of site out of mind. Even though the last figure I read said 1 in 138 Americans are in prison. Highest per-capita in the world. Land of the free sounds like a good marketing slogan, but I think you have to already be an American to believe it. There is not much truth left in it. I heard a rumor that world-wide China has more goodwill than the USA now. The world is rightly sick of us. But with American media so tightly controlled, I suppose the average American still believes all this shallow drivel being shoveled. I guess to the rest of the world I'd just say that it's a few bad apples with a lot of money and power run amok, most of the people here are being fooled.

      But have no fear, I'm sure things will get much worse. Apparently the fabled 'joe six-pack' can't feel the pinch yet.

    10. Re:10 years in prison? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's like the court jester's running the kingdom.

    11. Re:10 years in prison? by Shajenko42 · · Score: 1

      Exactly. The feudal lords didn't especially care about people who just terrorized the peasants. But poach their cattle and you'd get the rope.

    12. Re:10 years in prison? by Shajenko42 · · Score: 1

      Exactly. The feudal lords didn't especially care about people who just terrorized the peasants. But poach a nobleman's cattle and you'd get the rope.

    13. Re:10 years in prison? by houghi · · Score: 1

      They CAN spend ten years. People who rape and murder CAN get more then that. It is not because they CAN they WILL.

      It is not like: you pirated a movie: you get ten years.

      --
      Don't fight for your country, if your country does not fight for you.
  44. I'm good with it. by erroneus · · Score: 1

    I think it's cool to be able to get whatever online too... but... hey, it's not legal and that carries a penalty when you get caught. It's not quite a "speeding ticket" but I feel pretty much the same way about that too... I speed and when I get caught, I pay my ticket (or get a lawyer to fix it or something). Whoever you are doing whatever it is you're doing, be prepared to lose whatever it is you have when you're playing this game 'cause once in a while, they'll come down on you... and just like this time, it's a coordinated ton of bricks.

    1. Re:I'm good with it. by iamwahoo2 · · Score: 1

      Speeding can put other drivers lives in danger. Copyright Infringement has been made into a crime because of corporate interests and lobbyists.

  45. I'm in the last place you'd ever expect to look :[ by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
    on /.

    peace out, I mean in

  46. Dramatic! by Grendel+Drago · · Score: 1

    I suppose "seized some major online distribution servers" sounds better than "nicked about a thousand bucks worth of equipment from some joe who never saw a dime from all the evil, evil crime he did.

    Besides, busting down some dorks' doors must be a whole lot easier than running around after, y'know, violent people.

    --grendel drago

    --
    Laws do not persuade just because they threaten. --Seneca
    1. Re:Dramatic! by value_added · · Score: 1

      I suppose "seized some major online distribution servers" sounds better than "nicked about a thousand bucks worth of equipment from some joe who never saw a dime from all the evil, evil crime he did.

      Admittedly, it does sound better than

      The investigation culminated in the apprehension of an unemployed college student in his parents' basement, catching him red-handed inserting lewd and lascivious ascii artwork into an NFO file. Investigators have declared Eugene Roshal, John Cowan and Paul Burton to be Persons of Interest and ask for the public's help.

  47. Easy to see our priorties... by centipetalforce · · Score: 1

    When instead of going after international rings that actually do harm to society like spammers, shild pornographers, DDOSers, we go after those that our big industry complains about the most.

    1. Re:Easy to see our priorties... by t_allardyce · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Its all about money and im as greedy as the next man. Its in the economies best interests to enforce these laws because in the end of the day, 'sharing' or allowing free downloads and charging for concerts or taking donations just does not bring in as much money as the current industry approach, and im not talking about money for artists, the ones without it are too small a voice to matter and the ones with it got it from selling music. Its all very well cracking down on paedophiles but paedophiles don't hurt the economy so in the eyes of the government and business they are less important. It might seem harsh (well actually it IS harsh) but just ask yourself this: if you could be rich beyond your wildest dreams or you could put a paedophile behind bars what would you do? Im sure you would stop the paedophile but you would probably be thinking about the money for the next few weeks.

      --
      This comment does not represent the views or opinions of the user.
  48. attn jackass by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    you are a stupid shiteating cockgobbler please close your ass.

  49. July 4th Weekend by kid_wonder · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I wonder if they planned this crackdown timeframe with the MPAA so that the 'big' movie releases wouldn't be 'harmed' from the piracy of their movies?

    It seems a little conspicuous

    --

    "Oh, you hate your job? There's a support group for that, it's called everyone, they meet at the bar."
    1. Re:July 4th Weekend by LiquidCoooled · · Score: 1

      Nahhhhhhh, the timeframe hasn't harmed anything.

      I for one didn't know Mr n Mrs Smith was available yet.
      After this press release, I do now.

      Thank you MPAA :)

      --
      liqbase :: faster than paper
  50. i thought fundieville by Run4yourlives · · Score: 0

    was somewhere in texas.

    1. Re:i thought fundieville by beanlover · · Score: 1

      Actually it's in Tulsa, OK. :)

  51. Torrent Link? by OsirisX11 · · Score: 0

    Anyone have a torrent of the Justice official making this statement? :)

  52. It's good to see... by Das+Auge · · Score: 2, Insightful

    that they focusing on the important issues, like copyright infringement and not the child sex trade.

    This the kind of shit that happens when a corporations pocket book means more than the people that government was meant to server.

    1. Re:It's good to see... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No shit, eh?

      I agree with ya, I just wanted to mention that you accidentally put an extra 'r' in the last word of your sentence.

      I think that you really meant:

      "a corporations pocket book means more than the people that government was mean to sever"

      Cheers!
      T

  53. Maybe we need... by airship · · Score: 1

    Maybe we need to tell the MPAA and RIAA that Osama is a huge pirate of first-run copyrighted works, and then they'll get their friends in international law enforcement to find him and shut him down.
    This is brilliant. Whay hasn't anyone thought of it before? :)

    --
    Serving your airship needs since 1995.
  54. I wonder by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Whether the citizens of Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Israel, the Netherlands, Portugal and the United Kingdom are fully aware they are subject to U.S. law, and if not, how they would react if they knew.

  55. Evidence part of the public record? by inherent+monkey+love · · Score: 0

    So as part of the raids one can only assume the "evidence" is now part of the public record. Can they set all the evidence up on a website so the public can review it properly? It would be especially convenient if the larger files were stored in .torrent form.

  56. Oh! Pirating! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    So THAT'S why Sith only made $360 MILLION dollars in six weeks! That explains the low numbers!

  57. Whew! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Good thing you can get 10 years in prison for pirating a movie... and only 5 for raping a child. Our society sure has it priorities straight!

    1. Re:Whew! by Ham_belony · · Score: 0

      Well I doubt they will be in prison for 10 years. The few that might have been arrested in Belgium for pirating probably only spend 6 months in prison if they go at all. The US judicial system is maybe harder, but I doubt they will do 10 years at all and will get out a lot sooner.

  58. the scene by tropicdog · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Recently I ran across the link for The Scene, http://www.welcometothescene.com/ Yeah, I know I'm a bit slow on some things and this has been out for some time (9 episodes already available with #10 coming out very soon) It is a "made for the Internet series" whose storyline revolves around this very topic, distributing pirated movies. Available by bittorrent. Check it out.

    1. Re:the scene by TubeSteak · · Score: 1
      Ugh, I saw the first eps of welcometothescene and welcometotehscene and both were soooooooooooooooooooooooo bad.

      Mind you this was a long time ago, but ::shivers at the memory:: don't say nobody warned you.

      At least Welcome to Teh Scene doesn't pretend to be anything but a joke.

      --
      [Fuck Beta]
      o0t!
  59. Priorities by tf4 · · Score: 0

    Great to know that I could have a pediphile living right down the street from me who only served 10 months in jail yet if Lucas loses some scratch and the same dude wouldn't be there for the next 10 years. Hillary for President in 2008!

    1. Re:Priorities by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Don't worry, pedophiles are known to only attack the children of parents who can spell, so your family is safe.

  60. oxymoron on commercial releases by pikine · · Score: 1

    From TFA: President Bush signed a new law last month setting tough penalties of up to 10 years in prison for anyone caught distributing a movie or song before its commercial release.

    MPAA/RIAA: we're pleased to release a movie/song that has never been released before. To all you smart asses out there, say no to piracy!

    FBI: you said, it's never been commercially released?

    MPAA/RIAA: no, it's the hottest new release ever!

    FBI: okay, I'll have to put you in jail.

    MPAA/RIAA: why?

    FBI: this movie/song has never been commercially released before so you're violating a law. Sorry. See you in jail.

    --
    I once had a signature.
  61. yes but Will can lick my beard now can't he? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    :-|[>>
    ^
    |
    Do you like Osama's goatee bear Willy??

  62. Ten years in jail for distributing a movie... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0


    President Bush signed a new law last month setting tough penalties of up to 10 years in prison for anyone caught distributing a movie or song before its commercial release.



    Ken Lay makes $90 million unlawfully and walks. Joe Schmo trades a movie and goes to jail for 10 years.

  63. Profits up! by IdleTime · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Well, at least we will be able to see the great effect this has on *AA's bottom line. If they don't report several billion dollar increase in revenue, I'd be shocked! Shocked, I'm tellin' ya'...

    --
    If you mod me down, I *will* introduce you to my sister!
    1. Re:Profits up! by Dunbal · · Score: 1

      If they don't report several billion dollar increase in revenue, I'd be shocked! Shocked, I'm tellin' ya'...

      Not to mention unemployment figures have to go down now, since all those people that have been PUT OUT OF WORK by "piracy" (or so the MPAA claim) will now be able to get a job in the industry again...Quick, now is the time to move to California and get a job in the movie industry...

      --
      Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
  64. There's not a lot to say by suitepotato · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    It really writes itself. As others said, they go after copyright infringement, and infringement of AMERICAN copyrights, over everything else, like terrorism, counterfeiting, etc.

    Whenever I think this administration is going to wake up and be briefly sensible, things like this happen. What worries me is that after this administration things will snap back in the other direction with a vengeance and we'll see one of the most business-unfriendly left-wing Democrat regimes ever. I don't need to see the economy take another dump because politicians take control who see all business and money making as the root of evil. I rather like having a paycheck to pay my bills and whatnot with. I really don't need to pay more taxes than I already do.

    Of course, no one in power seems to grasp that angle and how much damage they are permanently doing to the conservative right's reputation, never mind America's (and I supported the Iraq war, but not based on that WMD nonsense).

    For those of you thinking so what, forget it. The Democrats will continue the lapdog behavior for their own peculiar politics. The only way to fight is to not watch their movies ever. Period. No more. Not one more dime to them. Same for the CDs. It's the only thing they understand.

    --
    If my grammar and spelling are off, I am [distracted/tired/careless] (take your pick)
  65. obligitory... by bad_outlook · · Score: 1

    p0wn3d!

  66. Because it's easier to find A guy than THE guy by jfengel · · Score: 1

    We're catching plenty of miscellaneous insurgents and Talibani. That's because there are lots of them and only one Osama bin Laden.

    They went out after pirates, and found some. They didn't say how many specific pirates they missed.

    And, to echo other posters, it's a lot easier to coordinate with other European countries than it is with the Islamic countries in Asia and/or Africa where they might like to raid.

    Not to mention that Osama's life is dedicated to hiding; these guys didn't even realize the FBI was after them. If the FBI had announced a reward on their heads, it would have been a lot harder to catch them.

  67. Arrrrgg by plutonium83 · · Score: 1

    Arrrrgg... Ze net pirates of the seas with nevar be defeated!

  68. Word abuse by Psionicist · · Score: 1

    "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."

    Interesting. The gun manufacturers are the primary suppliers of guns used in murder.

    By the way, is it just me, or isn't it incredibly annoying that these press releases uses "illegal" or "theft" (or "stolen") in every freaking paragraph?

  69. Give the FBI 27 Terabytes of warez, go to jail... by javaxman · · Score: 1
    That's the lesson here. From what I read this morning the busts are related to an 'infiltration' job by FBI agents who offered up "large amounts" of server space. How large? According to the article I linked there, they collected over 27 TB of pirated movies and software. Of course, most of that has to be movies, but still... that's a staggering amount of data.

    One really does have to wonder if this will do anything to slow distribution of pirated works, though. Actually, no, you don't... it hasn't changed much in the past, and it's not likely to change much now... except for these guys facing chages, that is. It definitely changes things for them.

  70. AI by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Your AI stuff is interesting, and I think you're sort of on the right track. Linguistics is the key; particularly the ability to convert language into a sort of conceptual map. As you say, one of the side effects of this will be almost trivial language translation. I would worry about vision later.

    1. Re:AI by CrazyJim2 · · Score: 1

      I tried computer vision and it was hard. Most of the problem was in trying to read a picture in c++. Micro$oft make everything impossible. Maybe they don't want me to figure out True A.I. I gave up after 8 days, and played Warcraft III, where I was the first to 10,000 wins. My theories on A.I. can be a bit like soap operas. I don't want to discuss soap operas, I'm not the street on operas. I am the street on video games, and that is where True A.I. is really gonna impact the world.

      --
      "But theres things mightier than a sword, and there are things mightier than pens. Guns and rap." - CrazyJim1
  71. Well worth the man hours. by g0bshiTe · · Score: 4, Informative
    "According to the article: "FBI agents and investigators in the other nations conducted 90 searches starting Wednesday, arresting four people and shutting down at least eight major online distribution servers for pirated works, a Justice official said."


    This is a worthwhile venture for citizens tax dollars.

    All the effort put forth, planning, execution. And they managed to get 4 really hardened criminals off the streets.

    In an unrelated story, 700 elderly people died in the US today, from heat stroke after having their power turned off because they couldn't pay their bill.
    --
    I am Bennett Haselton! I am Bennett Haselton!
  72. Fraud by nurb432 · · Score: 1

    I'm so glad that all *real* threats to society have been eradicated, and now my tax dollars are being spent on *civil* issues.

    Issues that most people dont even feel are wrong.

    What a farce. Remove them all from office and positions of power. They dont deserve it.

    --
    ---- Booth was a patriot ----
  73. Remakes by Beardo+the+Bearded · · Score: 1

    Uh, the current movies out are Bewitched, Longest Yard, Batman, and Herbie.

    The songs are just made on computer based on what they think will sell. The market is artifically created by propaganda and the manipulation of teenage angst. Further, anything more than a few weeks old is sent to the dustbin to be replaced by a newer song.

    Of course, the fact that they release horrible crap with no shelf life has NOTHING to do with any perceived loss in profit.

    --

    ---
    ECHELON is a government program to find words like bomb, jihad, plutonium, assassinate, and anarchy.
  74. Sad ain't it? by Grimster · · Score: 1

    I am unfortunate enough to know of 2 people who went to prison for such acts:

    #1 - raped his 2 year old son, 5 years in prison
    #2 - raped his daughter from 11 till she ratted him out at 17, he started touching her around 7, 8 years in prison, will most likely be out in 5 (early next year)

    So if you get popped for pirating a movie, rest easy in the knowledge that you could have raped a child instead, and gotten less prison time than "stealing" that movie.

    --
    --- www.f-theocean.com
  75. Oh no! A Whole 8 servers?!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    And a few hundred end use pcs....ooooooh I'm scared, with 8 main servers down, how will the movie undernet survive!!!! Fucking asshats.

  76. shoulda known better by MatD · · Score: 1

    If these pirates had been smart, they would have just stolen the movies from their local walmart and given them away. That is a much less serious offense (shoplifting vs violating the DMCA). One gets you a fine and community service, the other gets you years of ass rape in prison.

    --
    Since when did operating systems become a religion?
  77. MOD UP: FUNNY by Norfair · · Score: 1

    nt

  78. 11 Nation RAID ? by dark-br · · Score: 1

    And I was all about my RAID 5 setup... bah...

  79. Stop kissing Wil's ass! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    You got your karma points, now go away.

  80. Carla Homolka by HermanAB · · Score: 2, Insightful

    who aided in the rape and death of her own little sister, amongst others, was released from jail today, having spent 12 years behind bars...

    --
    Oh well, what the hell...
    1. Re:Carla Homolka by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative
      Well duh! She played the "I'm a battered wife and he made me do it" routine, and the prosecutors bought it hook, line and sinker. When they realized they'd been had they:

      -Banned any news reports of the terms of the deal. (Haha, internet beats ban, even 12 years ago.)
      -Charged Bernardo (hubby)'s lawyer with possession of kiddie porn and obstruction of justice because he found the tapes after they couldn't. That charge got tossed at great expense to all concerned.
      - Didn't cancel the deal when the tapes showed hermolesting another victim she'd "forgot to mention".

      Bernardo insisted on a trial, despite being caught on tape, because he wanted to make sure the whole world knew that Homolka was as guilty or more so than he was. There's still some question who did the actual strangling of the two girls, but she supplied the tranquilizers which killed her sister.

    2. Re:Carla Homolka by willy_me · · Score: 1
      I was too young when this first came out to remember the exact details. However, I do remember it being a big screw up for the prosecution.

      While I'll still have to do some research, (taking the word of an AC on slashdot isn't the smartest thing to do), I suspect there is a certain amount of truth in your post. It's informative to say the least.

  81. Net Effect of this Action? by rueger · · Score: 1

    Nothing. Utterly nothing. Movies and music will be pirated. They will be distributed on the 'net and on disc. People will download and watch them. And the big corporations will make more or less the same gigantic profits that they do now.

    So what was accomplished?

    Oh right, millions of teenagers will now stop "stealing" music....

  82. *anger* by ShoobieRat · · Score: 0, Troll

    Personally, I work hard for the money I make, with which I like to use to buy movies and CDs once in a while. The fact that some shmuck(s) out there is stealing the stuff for free and doesn't see a problem with that, infuriates me to no end. I have no problem with the US government romping around the known world slaughtering the locations, equipment, and people involved in these mass piracy groups. They should all be castrated and sent to the salt-mines to be used as free labor and forgotten.

    1. Re:*anger* by ShoobieRat · · Score: 1

      Woops, didn't know the moderator was pro-piracy. Sorry I bitched about yer loved-ones dude.

  83. Did you notice Italy is also missing? by jd · · Score: 2, Interesting
    Rumor has it, they're going after pirates of another sort...!

    Seriously, given the questionable legality of a lot of the movie industry (dubious contracts, the "zero profit syndrome", affiliations with drugs and prostitution rackets, the church of scientology - oops, that one's not illegal), the Governments involved are in essence assisting criminals with profiting from their crimes.


    Now, I don't know about most of the countries listed, but I know the US has laws against such profiting.


    Britain is a slightly different case, in that Common Law defines a "reasonable man" and largely protects anything that a reasonable man might do as, well, reasonable. I am not sure piracy, per se, could be called "reasonable", but it might be construed as reasonable for people to see what they're getting in advance of paying. I don't think all British judges would see it that way, but there's a number of fairly "innovative" and "creative" judges out there who might well do so. (Judge Pickles tended to deliver some, ummm, novel lines, for example.) As such, a prosecution in England tends to be rather unpredictable, especially on controversial issues.

    --
    It's a small world and it smells funny; I'd buy another if it wasn't for the money; Take back what I paid (SoM)
  84. Keep Your Eye on the Ball by ThisIsFred · · Score: 1

    I hope this isn't the beginning of a smear campaign against everyone involved in technology related to this, discussion of it, technical proofs of concept, and people they merely said "hello" to. I have a feeling that it's going to go beyond the infringers, what with the recent SCOTUS decision. It's a shame if bittorrent were to be relegated to the underground, because I *don't* want to go back to getting 1 byte a second off some crappy HTTP mirror that wastes more bandwidth on ads than downloads.

    I have a feeling it's going to go that way, though. Preemptive law enforcement is very trendy these days, despite the fact that it's a huge waste of resources.

    --
    Fred

    "A fool and his freedom are soon parted"
    -RMS
    1. Re:Keep Your Eye on the Ball by Ex-MislTech · · Score: 1

      Dood forget HTTP , go old school use IRC , lean and mean .

      The fast downloads are still there, just not p2p .

      Servers are who they nail now .

      Just host all the stuff overseas remotely guys, stop serving
      in the 11 nations that jail ppl for this .

      That or make a VPN based encrypted bit torrent, guess u could
      run bit torrent on "Anonet" over "OpenVPN", hehe .

      Peace,
      Ex-MislTech

      --
      google "32 trillion offshore needs IRS attention"
    2. Re:Keep Your Eye on the Ball by Dunbal · · Score: 1

      Preemptive law enforcement is very trendy these days, despite the fact that it's a huge waste of resources

      By pre-emptive law enforcement do you mean "catching criminals before they have commited a crime"? Not only is it a waste of resources, there's a basic flaw in the logic there somewhere hmmm let's see where it is ohhh yes, perhaps it's the fact that if they haven't commited a crime yet they are not guilty of the crime - no matter how much you want them to be?

      We've had this sort of thing before (pointing finger) "I heard him say "long live the king", go on, chop his head off".

      --
      Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
    3. Re:Keep Your Eye on the Ball by ThisIsFred · · Score: 1

      Yes, as in prima facie evidence. You have bittorrent? You must be infringing copyright! I'm sure that, sadly, you will be able to find many more examples like this one, no matter where you live.

      --
      Fred

      "A fool and his freedom are soon parted"
      -RMS
  85. But slashdot told me ... by crucini · · Score: 1

    But slashdot told me that IP laws only apply in the US, and by passing and enforcing them the US will just be at a disadvantage compared to "the rest of the world".

    Could it be that all civilized countries act together in these matters? Could slashdot really be wrong?

  86. This new bulletin brought to you by MS(NBC) by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Wow, a Microsoft owned news network reporting on piracy! Wow! next we'll see ABC badmouthing Disney and GE/Westinghouse getting clubbed by CBS reporters! The terminity!

  87. Theft by golden_spray · · Score: 1
    It isn't theft unless something physical is involved.

    I see people using this definition of theft a lot on slashdot. Does anyone have any references to verify if it is correct?

    1. Re:Theft by NuclearDog · · Score: 1
      "The dishonest appropriation of property of another with the intention of permanently depriving the other of it."
      - http://www.iib-uk.com/dictionary_display_by_letter .asp%3Ffirst_letter%3DT


      It's not Webster's or anything, but it's a reference.


      ND

      --
      This statement is forty-five characters long.
    2. Re:Theft by golden_spray · · Score: 1

      That link did not work for me. Here is what I found with a quick search.

      Theft: is, in general, the wrongful taking of someone else's property without that person's willful consent

      Property: Within the law, property is a general legal category for rights of ownership in land, money, tangible objects, intangible objects, etc. Property is defined as the right to use, enjoy or possess a determinant thing, and the right to exclude others from doing the same

      I think the important parts are that property can be intangible and that property rights allow the owners to exclude others from using the property. In this case the property is the intangible property of music, movies, etc, the "theft" occurs when someone violates the owners right to exclude those who have not paid for the right to use.

      I recognize that I am really pushing the definitions here, but I think this is reasonable.

    3. Re:Theft by NuclearDog · · Score: 1

      Sorry, should've checked my links:
      https://vault2.secured-url.com/iib/dictionary_disp lay_by_letter.asp?first_letter=T

      (Just stripped all but the domain off of the link I posted and hit the dictionary link.)

      Third definition down.

      ND

      --
      This statement is forty-five characters long.
  88. Oh god no! by mc900ftjesus · · Score: 1

    It will take them days to set up 8 new servers.

  89. MOD PARENT UP! by Progman3K · · Score: 1

    He makes sense, dammit.

    --
    I don't know the meaning of the word 'don't' - J
  90. Gejave by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Anyone know whatever happened to gejave? That was an awesome site in Holland (I think) that disappeared a few years ago. He/she/they cracked, hacked keygens, anything. Miss that sight... >>sniff<<

  91. Nice one! by lakeland · · Score: 1

    That's pretty funny. I know I'd get one if I saw it for sale.

  92. But they still haven't found BinLaden... by FatSean · · Score: 1

    ...Ahhh....I guess cancer must be cured as well.

    Silly scumbag media cartels...fighting a losing battle.

    --
    Blar.
    1. Re:But they still haven't found BinLaden... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      Maybe if we rename him to BitLaden the american authorities will try to shut him down.

    2. Re:But they still haven't found BinLaden... by geoffspear · · Score: 0, Flamebait
      You're right. If only these cops would all start working on a cure for cancer, they'd have found one by now.

      BTW, what the hell are you doing reading Slashdot instead of studying biochemistry or something, you hypocritical asshat?

      --
      Don't blame me; I'm never given mod points.
  93. That explains the 6:30am RCMP visit (seriously) by Rikardon · · Score: 4, Interesting

    My wife and I manage an apartment building; yesterday the RCMP showed up at 6:30am asking for a suite master key. They had a search warrant, so we gave them the key. When I left for work later that morning, they were loading about a dozen PCs into a minivan.

    They had told us it was a large, coordinated effort, so seeing the computers my first thought was child porn. We have two kids, 5 and 3, so at that point I wanted to know which of our tenants it was. They assured us it was nothing of the sort, however, so I declined to press further (the guy's innocent until proven guilty, after all, and while a warrant means probable cause it wasn't for something violent). I assumed it was something like this announcement -- most likely, I thought, selling DVDs of software and movies on eBay or in the local classified paper, i.e. profiting from piracy, rather than facilitating individual copying. Looks like I got it only partly right.

    1. Re:That explains the 6:30am RCMP visit (seriously) by resentment · · Score: 1

      That guy/girl should've busted out the magnets!

  94. Soon To Be a Major Motion Picture by Doc+Ruby · · Score: 1

    How about those priorites over there at Justice. Hey, Alberto, WHERE'S OSAMA? Didn't you rationalize torturing those people we bought from Afghan warlords, in Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib, to get them to talk? After blowing the only conviction of a 9/11/2001 terrorist, your FBI has a lot of catching up to do. I guess that now that your Justice Department has bungled it's conviction of the Frist family's pet CEO, HealthSouth's Scrushy, it can find the time to move on to keeping the Internet safe for movie pay-per-view. Maybe the only thing you can get the Gitmo kidnapees to talk about is their favorite movies. So I guess it's all worth it.

    --

    --
    make install -not war

  95. I guess I'll find out tonight by botlrokit · · Score: 1

    ...if they were successful, if I can't watch War of the Worlds after dinner.

    (from my desk)

  96. Re:Give the FBI 27 Terabytes of warez, go to jail. by TubeSteak · · Score: 1
    yea, read the same thing, but 27 TB???

    My guess is that's the total amount of movies/warez/etc that passed through their server during the 2 years they ran it.

    I'm guessing that because the article says "Ultimately, 27 terabytes..."

    As for changing things... read the note in this nfo

    gotta love 'em

    --
    [Fuck Beta]
    o0t!
  97. Here's one for the Flamebait column by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Just to throw a little gasoline on the fire. Everyone has noticed that remakes and sequels are out of control. Film revenues have dropped. Increased tickets prices have partially but not completely offset the drops. Point being revenues are no longer going up. More and more films are tanking so Hollywood responses by getting more and more paranoid and defaulting to what is seen as safe bet pictures. The end result is due in part to piracy the overall quality of movies and music is dropping like a rock. It's just one factor granted but it's having an effect. Just when entertainment should get more daring they feel they have to be more conservative. It may feel good to get something for nothing but eventually the material will get so bad it's not worth stealing. Shouldn't we be encouraging Hollywood and music to take chances not be more careful? Simple math, the more difficult it gets to turn a profit the fewer chances they will take. It's a business to them and it makes sense. Mod away but I shudder at the crap they'll all be cranking out in another ten years. The percentage of us willing to pay won't be enough to save quality entertainment. The good fairy don't make it and it don't grow on trees. Makes a nice fairy tale that everything should be free but some of us live in the real world.

    1. Re:Here's one for the Flamebait column by Ugly+American · · Score: 1

      The entertainment industry has always churned out a ton of crap; for every Lord of the Rings, they make at least 10 steaming piles like Battlefield Earth, Gigli, and Alien Vs. Predator. Ever watch Mystery Science Theater 3000? Someone, somewhere, paid good money to see those movies in the theater. They've been a sequel mill forever, too... Friday the 13th, anyone?

      People aren't going to the theaters because they can watch movies at home without the hassle of traffic, lines, astronomical ticket and concession prices, and assholes with cell phones. It's just part of an ongoing shift that started with VHS.

      --
      For sale: one sig space, gently used. Inquire for details.
  98. Global Police Force by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Is it just me or is anyone else concerned that
    the FBI has turned into something of a global
    police force. Didn't the FBI's original charter
    run out about five or six years ago? And, isn't
    that about the time they started taking on this
    (apparently) new role?

    Your take please...

  99. Osama premise for war by mcsynk · · Score: 1

    Indeed. There would be less premise for a war on terror without Osama at large.

    I wouldn't be surprised if they _had_ captured him for that matter.

    Peace
    Synk

    (first post woo hooo!)
  100. It's time to crack down... by db10 · · Score: 1

    ...on those terrorists across the world that are watching our movies... for free! Let the world unite against this terrorist threat against Hollywood profits... huzzah!

  101. How Is This Not Entrapment? by Bodysurf · · Score: 2, Interesting

    http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/busines s/12021852.htm

    [...]

    "FBI case agent Julie B. Jolie's 11-page affidavit described the investigation, which took place largely over the Internet but ultimately included face-to-face meetings between Patel and the undercover agent, who was not identified. According to the affidavit, in 2003 an undercover agent began inviting warez operators from all over the country to store pirated material on his site. As the word spread, more storage space was added and numerous groups began storing their stolen games and films that could be uploaded and downloaded by hundreds of warez members. A member who uploaded three movies to the server was entitled to download one movie, many of them pre-released movies that were placed on the site long before a DVD was released to the public."

    [...]
    1. Re:How Is This Not Entrapment? by Reziac · · Score: 1

      Same thing as when some local cop dresses up as a hooker and goes looking for johns to arrest.

      --
      ~REZ~ #43301. Who'd fake being me anyway?
    2. Re:How Is This Not Entrapment? by Bodysurf · · Score: 1

      "According to the affidavit, in 2003 an undercover agent began inviting warez operators from all over the country to store pirated material on his site."

      Same thing as when some local cop dresses up as a hooker and goes looking for johns to arrest.

      But the local cop dressed up like a hooker doesn't invite johns to have sex with him.

  102. Actually, by Infinity+Salad · · Score: 2, Funny

    You mean "Bork, bork, bork."

    1. Re:Actually, by RealityMogul · · Score: 2, Funny

      You mean "Bjork, Bjork, Bjork"

    2. Re:Actually, by CapnGrunge · · Score: 2, Informative

      Björk is from Iceland

      --
      I see 57005 people
    3. Re:Actually, by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      She's Icelandic.

  103. DON'T FORGET... by Spy+der+Mann · · Score: 1

    those who pirate for revenge. A friend of mine told me about someone who bought a game and it sucked. Then he never bought an original console game again.

  104. Real Pirates? by SlightlyOldGuy · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I thought Real Pirates did things like taking over ships at sea and murdering their crews. This is a nasty craime that still takes place in some parts of the world. How did this term get attached to copyright violations? Should we be using it?

  105. Free Trade agreements work by cheekyboy · · Score: 1

    See, they freely trade in lwyers and FBI agents

    --
    Liberty freedom are no1, not dicks in suits.
  106. Real Crime by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I wish they showed this much vigor in tracking down killers and rapists. Just goes to show, the law is meant to keep the status quo - if you have the status, that is...

  107. But again no terrorists by grimharvest · · Score: 1

    A handful of media pirates get busted, but wouldn't it be great to see: "11 Nation Action Nets Scores of Al Quaida members In Joint Agency Raids" for once? Just for once could the government stay focused on the real threat out there or is just too lucrative to be on the payroll of Hollywood?

  108. Wil Shipley had something interesting to say about by 5n3ak3rp1mp · · Score: 1

    ... piracy. Wil runs a successful boutique-app company called Delicious Monster and is something of a geek celeb in the Mac world.

    Replace "applications" with "movies" and I bet it still applies.

    It is my informed impression that the large majority of the people downloading this stuff (i.e., the market) either A) can't afford it due to youth or income and therefore wouldn't have bought it anyway (i.e., it's not a lost sale), or B) don't have it available to them via normal channels.

    If you like what Wil had to say about this, definitely check out the PDF of his presentation on "doing your own thing". It is pretty inspiring stuff if you are a creative geek who is tired of not doing what you'd really like to be doing.

  109. Body Count of Terrorism vs. Piracy by kyoko21 · · Score: 1

    Bombing of the USS Cole: 17 deaths.
    World trade center: 2,726 deaths.
    Iraq conflict: 1932 deaths.
    Downloading appz, gamez, mp3s, and movies: 0 deaths.

    There are some things terror can't buy. For everything else, there's the Terror Card.

    If only the terrorists start trading appz, gamez, mp3s, and movies, maybe then will the FBI be able to find them. Apparently they can only effectively hunt people down in Cyberspace... *sigh*

  110. Heh by bulio · · Score: 1

    Well, you had to have known that corporate America would be in there, if it hasn't been for the past few years already _

  111. Done and Done by Flumbo · · Score: 3, Informative
    1. Re:Done and Done by Flumbo · · Score: 1

      Ummm, if you had put up a link to your own store I wouldn't have put up mine. Several people posted replies saying they would be interested and wanted the shirt, so I decided to post it for them. Considering that this is a phrase I've seen posted before, I don't think you can claim ownership. If it really bothers you that much, make your own version and put up a link as a reply to your original post. Doesn't bother me...

  112. Gosh ... by kitzilla · · Score: 1

    ... if only the FBI had been so efficient before 9/11.

    --
    This is my post. There are many others like it. If you don't like what you read here, go try one of the others.
  113. Gee I am glad by suezz · · Score: 1

    the fbi spent time doing this while Osama Bin Laden sips wine and eats bread in his safe cave.

    Is there something wrong with this picture?

  114. FBI Ran ILLEGAL Servers To Catch People by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

    According to the article on slyck

    http://www.slyck.com/news.php?story=844

    The " law enforcement " were breaking the law in order to catch others , they were running servers for people to download files from and upload files to.

    This is what the article said if it is true,

    " The FBI had been posing for a considerable amount of time as server operators, inviting people to upload and download material. Once a solid relationship had been established between the FBI and top warez sites, the trap had been set. It was only a matter of time until the FBI had collected enough evidence to make an arrest. While the FBI has only announced the arrest of one individual, it is expected that more information will be released today implicating additional people.

    According to Restless.ugtech.net, who broke this news event, the FBI ran a server name "Chud" and "Lad". They were administered by an undercover agent named "Griffen." The warrant, which was released yesterday, named "killaz, marvel/cartel, cin, sidar, dact, korax, bourbon, and burner." When more information is released today, more specific information on these individuals will be available.
    "

    So they allowed people to break the law ( with their help ) and helped to distribute files , then changed up once they were satisfied.

    How is that legal , for them ?

  115. That list of countries... by PyroSas · · Score: 1

    Why... China is not on the list??

  116. Good thing they missed Rumania and Iceland by WillAffleckUW · · Score: 1

    everyone knows those are the hacker homelands - so the raid basically didn't work.

    --
    -- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --
  117. Myth!!! by Sayo · · Score: 1

    Oh god they got Myth!!!! :(((( Nooooooo

    1. Re:Myth!!! by intheory · · Score: 1

      yeah; myth helped me waste some serious time back in high school. as another post said, they are huge, and probably not going anywhere.

  118. Where's Waldo? by xant · · Score: 1

    Sure. An 11-nation search to grab evil copyright infringers, we can do that. Osama? Can't find him. Why don't you try a Google Maps search.

    --
    It's rare that you're presented with a knob whose only two positions are Make History and Flee Your Glorious Destiny.
  119. Waste waste waste... by gmby · · Score: 1

    What a fucking waste of tax dollars!

    ugh... It's just a movie.

    If the cost of seeing one was a little lower then none would pirate them.

    I want a refund on my tax dollars!

    --
    I don't want a pickle; I just want a Motor-Cycle! A four foot cop arrived with a five foot gun!
  120. No!! by fbartho · · Score: 1

    Its not redundancy, its fast! I just wonder how they get the controller cards to connect across that distance.

    --
    Gravity Sucks
  121. Birch by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Björk is swedish for birch. Not sure why you should go around saying 'Birch, birch, birch' though :P

  122. Eleven Nation Army? by DaedalusLogic · · Score: 1

    One busted hacker was quoted as saying,

    "I'm going to Wichita, Far from this opera for evermore"

    Now I have that song stuck in my head... Crafty pale white people...

  123. Re:Give the FBI 27 Terabytes of warez, go to jail. by EzInKy · · Score: 1

    From the article:


    The announcement about the investigation follows Monday's unanimous Supreme Court ruling that developers of file sharing software can be held liable if consumers use the software to download copyrighted music, movies or other materials.


    I see they are forgetting to include the promoting infringing use for profit part of that decision, just as CNN did. Man, even Fox got that part right.

    --
    Time is what keeps everything from happening all at once.
  124. and Mexico? by chandoni · · Score: 1

    KTVU reported that the FBI raided "Juarez sites" based in the Bay area. Then I realized the announcer was trying to say "warez."

  125. amazing... by cryptocom · · Score: 1

    they can conduct an international raid on movie copiers in 11 different nations, yet they cant track down Osama Bin Laden...hmmm....priorities...

    --
    It takes just a moment and an action to destroy. It takes some time and thought to create.
  126. Phooey by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Where the hell do they get these numbers from? Fifty million? Even if these "pirates" (who, after all, aren't actually selling anything, for the most part) really did have fifty million dollars worth of stolen property on hand (that's a lot of DVDs, you'd have to jack more than few semi's worth of shipments to reach 50 mil) I bet these raids cost the various police forces around the world a lot more than that. Hardly worth the effort, from a purely law-enforcement standpoint. No, this is just typical movie studio hyperbole and not really newsworthy. The only reason the cops co-operate in this crap is that it's high-profile and makes nice headlines. It's also safe ... not much danger in raiding some 17-year old kid's parent's basement, is there. Too bad that corporate influence has shifted police priorities away from serious crime into locking up more kids.

    I guess the only good news is that more people are becoming aware of the existence of downloads and are searching them out. People at work are always asking me about "this Torrent thing" and "newtella".

  127. Re:Give the FBI 27 Terabytes of warez, go to jail. by cyril3 · · Score: 1
    My guess is that's the total amount of movies/warez/etc that passed through their server during the 2 years they ran it.

    Actually 27TB is only 27,000 GB. A friend said that he noticed one participant on a dc hub had just hit the 1TB share the other day and that was in a reggae hub with only a few movies included in the share.

    27TB is a lot but its not that surprising. As for traffic, i imagine that was in the peta region [I think thats the next step up isn't it]

  128. Confirmation on Feds running the sites... by -audiowhore- · · Score: 1

    Looks like someone on the inside has confirmed that the Feds were in fact running some topsites:
    http://restless.ugtech.net/Todays.Raids.UPDATED..B rought.To.You.BY.-FBi.nfo

  129. about the oldest groups that were raided by t35t0r · · Score: 2, Informative

    LND est ~1995?, RiSC(ISO) est ~1995?, and Myth est 1998.

    LND = Legends Never Die is a group that releases the ripped version of applications from CD's and DVD's (e.g. autocad, photoshop, etc). I guess they are dead now, but they may surprise the Feds yet.

    RiSCISO = is the ISO division (or a group that releases the full unripped CD/DVD version of high end applications, e.g. autocad with all the plugins and documentation left intact) of Rise In Superior Couriering. Couriering is the competition of moving files as quickly as possible between sites frequented by other couriers.

    Myth = this group releases ripped versions of games from the CD/DVD's without music, cut scene movies, and of course the annoying CD protection. This group was formed from what was Paradigm and some other group ..i forget. Vengeance (VGN) was a couriering group as well.

    Here's a picture of the guy and some more info: http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/news/062905_nw_fed_bust .html

  130. Good job...I feel safer from terrorists already by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Way to go law enforcement...good job hunting down those terrorist bastards.

    Way to use our tax dollars for the benefit of rich movie studios and their shareholders instead of other real priorities like terrorists...

  131. HAH! LAMERS! THEY DIDN'T GET ME ! I'M TOO L33T! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    They'll NEVER catch me, I'm 2 SLICK.

    Those fedz and lamers will never catch m!@#$Q@#V%VG

    +++NO CARRIER

  132. IKEA crackdown by TheStonepedo · · Score: 1

    Despite the apparent calm at IKEA Atlanta's grand opening this week, the damage was already done. To confiscate computers without disrupting the flow of office demo displays The Man gutted all HP desktops and laptops before opening day leaving only shells.

    Nothing to see here, soccer moms and Jeff Foxworthy fans. Move on along.

    --
    I'll be your candy shop of infinite deliciousity if you'll be my discotheque of endless rump-shaking.
  133. mastercard commercial by chicago_bulls · · Score: 2, Insightful

    stealing millions of dollars from your employees... 10 years in prison
    (http://www.fbi.gov/dojpressrel/pressrel04 /enron01 1404.htm)

    inflating your companies earnings by $2.7 billion dollars, so you can get rich off the stock...acquittal on 36 counts.
    (http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/050628/healthsou th_scrush y.html?.v=25)

    using what amounts to slave labor to fatten your pockets...become the largest and richest company in the world.
    (http://www.businessweek.com/2000/00_40/b3 701119.h tm)

    revealing the identity of an undercover cia officer because her husband doesn't like your president...get off scot free.
    http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2003/10/02/novak /index_np.html

    sharing a movie with friends...5 years in prison.

    this is insane.

    1. Re:mastercard commercial by Ham_belony · · Score: 0

      If I read the story from businessweek I can image why they want to crush our economy and have our companies bankrupt. If they don't they will be left with nothing because they can't keep such a sharade going for much longer.

  134. "Warez" by presidentbeef · · Score: 1

    Warez (pronounced "wares")

    I'm sure glad they cleared that one up!

    --
    Everything I need to know about copyrights I learned from Slashdot.
    1. Re:"Warez" by jo42 · · Score: 1

      Obviously you haven't met all the dweebs that pronounce it "war - ez" or "war - rez"... ;)

  135. Who is stealing from who? by iSeal · · Score: 1

    "Those groups are believed responsible for stealing and distributing copyrighted works including... and Autodesk's Autocad 2006 and Adobe's Photoshop software."
    --AP

    Autocad 2006 is $3,750. Photoshop is equally prohibitively expensive. And yet, the worth of the product itself (a $0.50 disc) as well as the research that went into is only worth a fraction of what they're charging.

    It's the equivalent of someone selling you a $4 paintbrush for $600. Since no one person in their right mind is able to afford that, the individual decides to copy the paintbrush and produce their own [at their expense]. The original maker did not loose a paintbrush in the process.

    So when this article makes claims of theft; I ask in return: Who is stealing from who exactly? I am against "piracy"; but I am more against companies that blatantly rip off their consumers every which way.

  136. You might be next.. but probably not. by btgreat · · Score: 1

    "...arresting four people and shutting down at least eight major online distribution servers for pirated works, a Justice official said. Authorities also seized hundreds of computers in raids..."

    Let's see, thats 2 major online distribution servers per person, and at least 50 (hundreds is plural) computers per person as well.

    Whew! I'm safe. I only have 4 computers and don't run a single major online distribution server. This strikes fear into the hearts of the 0.000007% of the people in the world (my guess is 500 out of 7 billion) that run major online distribution servers and own 50 or more computers.

    I personally will continue my "risky" pirate ways.

  137. Wesley gets the point! by patio11 · · Score: 1

    Bonus nerd points for anyone who catches the reference.

  138. Bush doesn't care about Osama (In his own words) by adius · · Score: 1

    http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2002/03/20 020313-8.html

    Q: ...don't you believe that the threat that bin Laden posed won't truly be eliminated until he is found either dead or alive?

    THE PRESIDENT: Well, as I say, we haven't heard much from him. And I wouldn't necessarily say he's at the center of any command structure. And, again, I don't know where he is. I -- I'll repeat what I said. I truly am not that concerned about him. I know he is on the run. I was concerned about him, when he had taken over a country. I was concerned about the fact that he was basically running Afghanistan and calling the shots for the Taliban.

    But once we set out the policy and started executing the plan, he became -- we shoved him out more and more on the margins. He has no place to train his al Qaeda killers anymore.

  139. Alphabetical order... by AyeRoxor! · · Score: 1

    United States, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Israel, the Netherlands, Portugal and the United Kingdom

    As an (yes, American) OCD nerd who appreciates order, why would one place the US first and then strive to put the rest in perfect order?

    Just an observation.

  140. We are really fscked... by xmda · · Score: 1

    Well, here in Sweden we are from today really fscked... Why? Because today, our newly changed copyright law is "enabled". Previously it was, like in many countries, illegal to upload copyrighted content. Today it is also illegal to *download* it, something I haven't heard any other country has. Yet... This morning, hundreds of thousands of Swedes (we are only 9 million) woke up being criminals, while our file sharing apps was downloading the latest piece of music or movies.

    These are dark times, very dark... :(

  141. Speaking if pirating.... by gosand · · Score: 1

    I am willing to bet that store went up shortly after you read my comment. How creative of you. BTW, I would suggest before anyone buy one of these, you simply make your own cafepress store with the exact same shirt. It's free, and you'll save a few bucks.

    --

    My beliefs do not require that you agree with them.

    1. Re:Speaking if pirating.... by Flumbo · · Score: 1

      Ummm, if you had put up a link to your own store I wouldn't have put up mine. Several people posted replies saying they would be interested and wanted the shirt, so I decided to post it for them. Considering that this is a phrase I've seen posted before, I don't think you can claim ownership. If it really bothers you that much, make your own version and put up a link as a reply to your original post. Doesn't bother me... Sorry for the dupe.

    2. Re:Speaking if pirating.... by gosand · · Score: 1
      Ummm, if you had put up a link to your own store I wouldn't have put up mine. Several people posted replies saying they would be interested and wanted the shirt, so I decided to post it for them. Considering that this is a phrase I've seen posted before, I don't think you can claim ownership. If it really bothers you that much, make your own version and put up a link as a reply to your original post. Doesn't bother me... Sorry for the dupe.

      If that phrase has been posted before, then it is entirely cooincidental. I can only claim that I hadn't seen it before, it came from my brain. If that is indeed the case, then others have thought the same thing and it is an argument AGAINST intellectual property. (which I am not claiming I own or anything close to it) I am saying that it is a free idea, and people can create their own store on cafepress if they want it on a Tshirt. That is why I didn't create a store and put it on a shirt.

      --

      My beliefs do not require that you agree with them.

  142. Archiving and copyright by AmicoToni · · Score: 1

    There is an interesting aspect in the whole copyright argument that I think is not being discussed enough.
    Why, in the first place, do people want to accumulate so much software/movies/music, most of which will never be looked at again after download?
    The desire to possess can be part of the justification, but I believe there is a further issue: the desire, almost the compelling need to save material from disappearing. Think about the retrogames saved from distruction, fragments of television advertising, old time radio, music videos and the such. Isn't this part of what humans have always done, preserving their history?
    The worrying part is that, while copyright laws have good reasons to exist, their enforcement is in direct contradiction with the aforementioned need. Libraries would never have been invented in modern times: they would have been raided by police. For instance, they store CDs that anyone can listen to and copy. Does that not mean they facilitate piracy? Another example: a person duplicating a show on a tape can be seen as violating copyrights today. Yet, in 50 years, that tape might be the only copy of the show in existance. And so the list goes on.
    My point is that copyright laws exist in order to preserve the ability of content producers to make money. But an exception should ALWAYS be made for archival purposes, on a level that legislators should care to define. That need is not catered for when software or digital content is involved today. As a result, we risk losing a tremendously important part of our history.

  143. C-style comments by Marc2k · · Score: 1

    In general, yes. However, the // to indicate a comment was _not_ actually a C-style comment until (relatively) very recently, that was first introduced with C++, but most modern compiler suites have recognized the // convention as an extention to the language for awhile.

    The original ANSI specification (and I have a copy of the Kernighan & Ritchie book, which is pre ANSI) only included the /* */ commenting convention. Thus,
    /* This was the only way to comment-out one line of text. */
    The // comment was often included in modern C compilers, but it wasn't officially adopted until ISO 9899:1999 (C99), which, unsurprisingly enough, came out in just 6 years ago. Granted, this sig is only about 4 years old, but hey.

    Ref

    --
    --- What
    1. Re:C-style comments by Pulse_Instance · · Score: 1

      Thanks a lot for informing me, I started coding C sometime in 2000 (which was my second last year of high school).

  144. I was one of the RAIDED by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    After reading through these reply threads, I figured it is time to set the record straight on a few things here.
    YES I was one of the ones RAIDED early in the morning @ 7:00 AM
    > 7:00AM NO KNOCK on the door as the police got the key from the caretaker and let themsleves in.
    Then they shouted at me while I was sleeping ' RCMP WE HAVE A WARRANT !'
    > I opened my eyes to find 8 RCMP officers in armor vests GUNS DRAWN and pointing at me as they repeated 'RCMP WE HAVE A WARRANT, PUT YOUR HANDS ABOVE THE COVERS SO WE CAN SEE THEM.
    > They had taken EVERY piece of computer and even those that did not belong to me and were dropped off because they had problems with them and needed fixed ie: hardware or some other issue.
    > Myself, I had owned 3. One had slackware o/s and the other mandrake with absolutly nothing on them other then for my learning linux with.
    Since I had burned the iso image onto CD to install these O/S's and according to the RCMP ' THAT WAS ILLEGAL' and so they got hauled off.
    > My winbloz box I had DL movies, and other apps, utilities and looked at them or was saving them to look at some future date when time allowed.
    I watched (albiet very poor quality some of these movies they mentioned and I might add Mr & Mrs SMITH movie SUCKED HUGE! Rip off if you pay at a theatre to see a pooely constructed storyline for a movie! )
    Now I also explained and told them, I DO NOT SELL or TRADE or MAKE AVAILABLE for upload what I have DL and never have. They kept insisting that I do and after reading the warrant, this was the reason and excuse they gave the judge for the warrant. (more info about this to follow)
    In the warrant they had on my OnLine user name from the group where I DL the stuff (RISCISO) and the only place I ever have DL from. I have never used TORRENT, or any other P2P Share.
    They looked at the other itmes I owned and checked boxes of stuff. I was informed some of the itmes I owned were ILLEGAL because it DID NOT CONTAIN FRENCH LANGUAGE on the box even though I had purchased these itmes legally from a large local retail store who had brought these itmes up from the U.S.. I live in WESTERN CANADA were 99% all speak only ENGLISH! ANOTHER BULLSHIT NAZI GASTAPO TACTIC eveidence of how CANADA is becoming a POLICE STATE.
    > After speaking with my lawyer and they (lawyers)trying to get coart records as to how they obtained the search warrant we found that the coart records and transcripts were SEALED! (more evidence of a POLICE STATE) This is very rare and hard to get from a judge. But reading through the warrant, they have claimed I was selling the movies and other stuff I DL. This is an OUTRIGHT LIE !!! And if this is what they told the judge, no wonder they wanted it sealed to protect their LIES.
    > The warranted stated they had an option to enter at 7:00AM or 6:00Pm and they chose 7:00 AM.
    > Now here is an interesting thing. About 3 weeks ago I had seen a person break and enter into a business across the street from me. I phoned the police and informed them as such. Guess what.....
    Not one police officer showed up and about 2 1/2 hours later the Alarm Security guard drives up to check the premises.
    Goes to show those that murder and commit other serious crimes are afforded more rights then others here in Canada.
    > Onto other questioning by our gastapo RCMP police force.... I told them that when I check out these movies or stuff I DL and if somebody asks is it any good, is it worth buying I will tell them YES it is worth buying or NO it is crap, save your money. Well.... guess what?
    That is ILLEGAL according to this one RCMP officer who kept on asking me questions. He said it is illegal to DL anything from the internet. You have web browsiers and email and you can search for information but DONT DL anything off the internet.
    >>> OH, And I have NO PORN and DO NOT VISIT PORN SITES of any sort.
    It was because I belonged to a group and DL stuff (RISCISO)
    I told the cops, I know no one and could not even remember nick

  145. Wrong by Luthair · · Score: 1

    Employees are just automatically on it. When offenders are hired its one less step in the process!

  146. You know what? by Datrio · · Score: 1

    They forgot Poland.

  147. Spend less on cops, duh? by FatSean · · Score: 1

    When I say "They" I mean the government in all it's many facets. Government should be spending the money budgeted for pleasing the medial cartels on new medical procedures, helping the poor, maybe even better intelligence!

    You know...better than the intelligence that told the President of the USA that there were Weapons of Mass Destruction in Iraq? Yeah...that bad intelligence that started a war? You fucking think that maybe the money spent on these cops who are chasing copyright infringers could be better spent on intelligence? Or medical research?

    You don't think these two goals are more important to humanity than chasing down some idiots who trade first-run movies?

    Shit man...you got some learning to do.

    --
    Blar.
  148. Poorer Neighborhoods by wintermute1974 · · Score: 1

    At 5 bucks a pop, they do brisk business, especially in poorer neighborhoods where going to the movies and/or buying a full price dvd is a costly proposition.

    Agreed. This is the point which the MPAA is missing: For the poor and dispossessed, the cost of going to watch a movie in the cinema is prohibitive.

    It is likely that these pirate DVDs are counted as lost sales, when in fact they are not. If the poor had no access to these cheap, pirated materials, they simply would have stayed away from the theatres and waited for it to appear on television.

    Piracy by the middle classes may be a nightmarish proposition for the studios, but for those at the bottom of society, the impact for the copyright holders is negligible.

    The lives of the poor are hard enough. It is too bad for the movie distributors that they are unwilling to create a cheap way for the ragged masses to watch their films legitimately.