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US police say $100m worth
of illegal material was removed from the net |
The US authorities have charged eight people in connection with the illegal trading
of copyrighted films, music, games and software over the net.
The Justice Department said they were key members of online piracy networks.
They were charged following an international police operation across 15 countries.
Acting Assistant Attorney General John C Richter said the "charges strike
at the top of the copyright piracy supply chain".
"Cases like these are part of the Justice Department's coordinated strategy
to protect copyright owners from the online thieves who steal and then sell
the products they work so hard to produce."
Targeting warez
The eight men were charged with copyright infringement in Charlotte, North
Carolina, following two FBI investigations known as Operation FastLink and Operation
Site Down.
The US-led investigation involved 15 countries - Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark,
France, Germany, Hungary, Israel, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, the Netherlands, Portugal,
the UK and the US.
The Justice Department alleged the defendants were leading members in the illegal
online trade of copyrighted material known as the "warez scene".
It said that once a film or game is copied, the pirated material is sent to
servers throughout the world in minutes and then makes its way to file-sharing
networks.
"This FBI Charlotte undercover operation was very successful in identifying
and collecting evidence against those individuals who were the primary source
of pirated digital material around the globe," said Acting Special Agent-in-Charge
Robert Clifford.
"Those committing the cyber crimes can be identified and located anywhere
in the world," he said.
