Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

11-Nation Raid on Net Pirates

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the won't-somebody-please-think-of-the-children dept.

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.""

86 of 487 comments (clear)

  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 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.

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

      Don't forget PacketNews.

    3. 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.

    4. 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.
    5. 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!"
    6. 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.

    7. 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.
    8. Re:That explains it... by ribo-bailey · · Score: 2, Funny

      Don't forget Poland!!!

    9. 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.
    10. 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.

    11. 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
    12. 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
    13. 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.

    14. 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.

    15. 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.

    16. 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

    17. 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."
    18. 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.

    19. 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"
  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 no_opinion · · Score: 3, Informative

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

    2. 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).

  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 derEikopf · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Because Osama Bin Laden won't bring them money.

    2. 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.

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

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

    4. 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."
    5. 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

    6. 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.
    7. 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.

  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 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!
  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 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
    3. 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.

  6. 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.

  7. 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 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.

  8. 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 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!
    2. 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.
  9. 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 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
  10. 11-Nation RAID? by ndansmith · · Score: 5, Funny

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

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

      Imagine a Beowulf cluster of those!

    2. 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)
  11. 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 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); }
    2. Re:New Tshirt for sale! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

      Like this?

    3. 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?

  12. 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 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
  13. 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?

  14. 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 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

    2. 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!

  15. 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(){}'
  16. Re:Operation Site Down by tktk · · Score: 2, Funny

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

  17. 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

  18. 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 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.
  19. 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.

  20. 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
  21. 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?

  22. 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."
  23. 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.

  24. 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!

  25. 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.

  26. 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!
  27. 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.
  28. 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!
  29. 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...
  30. 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)
  31. 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.

  32. 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."

    [...]
  33. 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
  34. 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?

  35. Done and Done by Flumbo · · Score: 3, Informative

    Get yer tshirts! http://www.cafepress.com/amalgamatedimag

  36. 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

  37. 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.