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19 Charged in Alleged Software Piracy Plot

Posted by samzenpus on from the they-don't-look-like-pirates dept.

Brainsur writes " A federal grand jury has indicted 19 people on charges they used the Internet to pirate more than $6.5 million worth of copyrighted computer software, games and movies.The indictment outlines an alleged plot by defendants from nine states, Australia and Barbados to illegally distribute newly released titles, including movies like "The Incredibles" and "The Aviator," and games like "Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2005."

16 of 311 comments (clear)

  1. Its just a .... by scenestar · · Score: 5, Insightful

    A warez group.

    Not some super secret terrorist organisation out to destroy america's economy.

    --
    perpetually dwelling in the -1 pits
    1. Re:Its just a .... by ScrewMaster · · Score: 5, Insightful

      One could easily argue that the unfettered multi-lettered organizations of various nationalities that are going after these (ahem) "pirates" are guilty of a degree of terrorism themselves. Of course, they would use words such as "justice" or "deterrence", but that's really a matter of perspective. Oh sure, we aren't talking explosives or mass-murder here ... but we are talking about private organizations conscripting law-enforcement agencies into putting the fear of God (or Allah, or whatever deity you choose) into groups of people whose crime really doesn't warrant the attention it is receiving. My own take is that it is not the responsibility of the taxpayer to support their businesses, or to protect their oh-so-valuable "intellectual property". If the media companies want to spend their money taking people to court for their alleged improprieties that's one thing ... but misusing police resources this way is just unacceptable. Personally, I'd rather see my tax dollars going to deal with somewhat more serious issues. Certainly there are more than enough of those to go around.

      --
      The higher the technology, the sharper that two-edged sword.
  2. Ahh, sweet conspiracy... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    ...my favorite trumpin'-up charge.

  3. WAREZCO at your serViZ by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Excellent! Now that RISCISO is out of the way, WAREZCO can sweep in and fill the void unopposed. I keep reading the history of Al Capone, its so easy, I didn't even have to line these guys up and mascacre them in a fake police sting!

    Long live darknets! A thousand more spring up...

  4. IN CAPITALIST AMERICA by RLiegh · · Score: 5, Insightful

    we don't make that distinction.

    1. Re:IN CAPITALIST AMERICA by MttJocy · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I personally don't know where they get their idea that terrorists make their income from piracy, I might be more inclined to believe such a comment made about drugs myself than piracy, I would have thought the former was an alot more lucretive faster than piracy personally.

      I guess that comment is just another scare tactic, I suppose they think that claiming links to terrorism may stop people buying pirate software.

  5. Image from TFA by _Hellfire_ · · Score: 5, Funny

    "AFP/File Photo: Computer connected to the internet."

    Just in case, ya know... You didn't know what a computer connected to the internet looked like.

    --
    "And then I visited Wikipedia ...and the next 8 hours are a blur..."
  6. That's a lot of money... by rnpg1014 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I have no idea how they managed to pirate $6.5 million in software. Assuming the average price of a movie is $7, they would have needed to pirate over 900,000 movies. And to think that they can only be given up to 5 years of prison. They should have to pay for all that stolen software, which is quite a figure even when divided by 19.

    It's people like these who make it more and more difficult just to use software because of the security features they add. I can't tell you how many times iTunes has spontaniously wiped all the files on it.

    --
    - Nick
  7. Nice stock photo there by XXIstCenturyBoy · · Score: 5, Funny

    Their "Computer connected to the internet" picture is one of IE saying there is no connection.

  8. That's the amount... by IAAP · · Score: 5, Funny

    that these pirates can hold in their ships. What they don't say is if that's per ship or per fleet. I don't know. If you don't stop them, they'll get bigger and faster ships, and who knows how much software they can pirate then!

  9. Warez Is Now An Extraditable Offence by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Parent article misses the major problem here - the US DOJ is going to spend boatloads of cash extraditing two of the kids in this case, one from Australia and one from Barbados. Warez is justification for extradition? The DOJ even admits in its press release that profit was not an issue here. This makes it wide-scale file sharing, and a waste of John Q. Public's tax dollars. Good job FBI/DOJ/assorted alphabet organizations wasting funds and following orders from bribed politicians... oh sorry, those were "campaign contributions" from the movie and software industries...

    As a shareware developer, I could care less about kids cracking my software, but I'm getting damn sick of the charade going on as the BSA cries (to its own benefit only) about the evils of piracy.

  10. WTF? by snookums · · Score: 5, Interesting
    From TFA:
    Each defendant was charged with one count of conspiracy to commit copyright infringement, which carries a five-year maximum prison sentence. Fifteen also were charged with copyright infringement, which carries a three-year maximum.

    Anyone care to explain why conspiracy attracts a harsher sentence than the actual crime? I mean, leaving aside the whole moral quagmire surrounding the criminalization of copyright infringement, how can thinking and talking about doing something carry a harsher penalty than actually doing it. Does this type of duality apply in traditional crimes like assault, murder and larceny?


    --
    Be careful. People in masks cannot be trusted.
    1. Re:WTF? by TubeSteak · · Score: 5, Informative

      Conspiracy is usually treated harshly because we tend to assume that one person can only do so much damage. Gather other people into your crime allows you and your conspirators to side -step all the laws & procedures that are in place to prevent abuses by one person.

      Conspiracy also implies premeditation, which automatically makes any crime worse.

      --
      [Fuck Beta]
      o0t!
    2. Re:WTF? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Back in 2000 I participated with one of the groups that was indicted the following year in "Operation Bandwidth". The rundown they gave us was that if we didn't plea out as a group under conspiracy, they would go after us as individuals with an actual copyright infringement charge instead of conspiracy(they stated they had all the evidence they would need from the computers confiscated from the raids they performed to put each one of us away). On a side note, this is currently still an active case and I have yet to be sentenced in this case due to the fact that the U.S. prosecutor wants us all to be present at the same time for each of our own sentences and there are still people waiting to goto trial.

  11. Now that these nutty cyber terrorists are gone... by Spiffness · · Score: 5, Insightful

    We can all sit back and relax once again.

    The frustrating/disappointing thing about all these lawsuits and 'victories' over piracy is that with every win, groups like the MPAA/RIAA only feel more firmly that their new business model (CRUSH, SUE, EXTORT, EXTERMINATE!) is a successful and long term one. Each time a major 'piracy bust' hits the news it only further propagates the myth that Piracy is what's driving declines in Movies, Music, Software and Games. When the real culprit (though, obviously Piracy does play some part) is Quality, Price, and the Media (DRM disks, copy once CDs, Theaters, Star-Force, ect).

    But then again, I'm preaching to the choir here...

  12. Thought Police- How many lives have you saved? by ThoreauHD · · Score: 5, Insightful

    You cannot know anything unless you pay for it first- and without a money back guarantee. You cannot listen to music, see theater, or learn unless you pay- and without a money back guarantee. If I buy a lemon, and it's core is rotten and infested- I can return it. If I buy a music CD and the music is complete crap complete with DRM so that I can't actually play it- not only do I not get my money back but I don't even own the said piece of crap. It's a rental.

    Is this how humanity evolved? Is this how we will be able to retain knowledge in the future? What the fuck are libraries but mass piracy collectives?

    Here is the truth of it, and it will piss off pretty much everyone in this non-manufacturing based economy.

    You either know something or you do not. It is either secret or it is not. And in the end, all things are known.

    You cannot own knowledge. It was never yours to begin with. The language I am speaking now was giving to me by thousands of years of other English speakers. It is not mine to own. The word "fkucherry" that I just made up does not belong to me. It is a contruct of what I've learned from others. It is knowledge.

    When this understanding is realized, say after a catastrophic event, then Linux will no longer need the GPL along with all other proprietary software/entertainment data. And the data that will be able to survive at that point will be open data, as Linux is today. It will save our asses- mark my words. Windows and all those shit programs that those people copied won't be worth a drop of piss. Nobody will be able to modify it. It will be useless.

    And so here is what I think of arresting very smart people in high end technical positions. Maybe they know something that you don't? Maybe they aren't paid by people that get their money from PAC funded politicians. Maybe they are archiving data educating more people than your broken government ever could. Maybe we should all think about what this means.

    I have to tell you that the moment Intellect and Knowledge became legal property is the moment that you have no "lawful" rights to your own thoughts. That does not serve anyone and never has.