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Justice Department Launches Attack on Piracy Networks

By Jeralyn, Section Crime Policy
Posted on Thu Jun 30, 2005 at 05:02:47 PM EST
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The Justice Department issued this press release today:

Beginning yesterday morning, the FBI and law enforcement from 10 other countries conducted over 90 searches worldwide as part of “Operation Site Down,” designed to disrupt and dismantle many of the leading criminal organizations that illegally distribute and trade in copyrighted software, movies, music, and games on the Internet.

“By dismantling these networks, the Department is striking at the top of the copyright piracy supply chain - a distribution chain that provides the vast majority of the illegal digital content now available online,” said Attorney General Gonzales. “And by penetrating this illegal world of high-technology and intellectual property theft, we have shown that law enforcement can and will find - and we will prosecute - those who try to use the Internet to create piracy networks beyond the reach of law enforcement.”

[hat tip to John Wesley Hall]

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    Justice Department Launches Attack on Piracy Networks | 8 comments (8 topical)
    Re: Justice Department Launches Attack on Piracy N (none / 0) (#1)
    by Al on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:00:44 PM EST
    I am curious: Is copyright infringement a crime? I was aware that a copyright holder can sue a violator, but that's not the same thing.

    Re: Justice Department Launches Attack on Piracy N (none / 0) (#2)
    by Sailor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:00:44 PM EST
    Al - Yes, copyright infringement is a crime. But shouldn't these agencies be putting these resources to fighting terrorism instead of protecting american corporate interests? After all, the corps have a lot of resources to fight piracy on their own, since the Digital Millennium Copyright Act’s (DMCA) expedited subpoena provisions let corps issue subpoenas w/o actually having a court or state/fed prosecutors approve them. We have become a country of the corporation, for the corporation and by the corporation.

    Re: Justice Department Launches Attack on Piracy N (none / 0) (#3)
    by Last Night in Little Rock on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:00:44 PM EST
    Publish something that you've put heart and soul into and watch somebody pirate it. Then tell me how you feel about copyright infringement. The warnings on DVDs and Videos says that infringement is subject to criminal penalties. The problem is that it is hard to prove.

    Re: Justice Department Launches Attack on Piracy N (none / 0) (#4)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:00:45 PM EST
    "Publish something that you've put heart and soul into and watch somebody pirate it." Discover something, and watch the company you work for steal the patent. Work your arse off your whole life, and then watch Ken Lay ENRON your retirement-- and still be out walking around in his $900 Italian shoes, laughing. Raise a child for two decades, and watch Coward Bush blow him away for profit. The warnings on the Constitution say that high crimes are subject to impeachment. The problem is that the Rs who stole the Congress use the C. as toilet paper. There are a lot of thefts going on. Cry me a river for the super-profitable companies that pander VIOLENCE to sell their garbage.

    Re: Justice Department Launches Attack on Piracy N (none / 0) (#5)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:00:45 PM EST
    Last night in Little Rock wrote:Publish something that you've put heart and soul into and watch somebody pirate it. Then tell me how you feel about copyright infringement. I feel VERY strongly about having the product of my heart and soul ripped off. WHich is exactly what Sony, Capitol Records, and the RIAA have been doing to musicians for decades. You can have an album go Gold, yet the record companies somehow manage to make the books say you own them $$. Paraphrasing Pachino, at least the fans kiss me while they're f@#$%^! me. I understand your point about artists being ripped off, but the record companies did it first and now they want to claim 'but he's OUR ni**er'.

    Re: Justice Department Launches Attack on Piracy N (none / 0) (#6)
    by Aaron on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:00:45 PM EST
    Copyright infringement is not a good thing for artists, but it's catastrophic for the record companies, movie production companies and software manufacturers who have no interest in producing quality products or advancing the art forms. Their primary interest is promoting as much valueless garbage as they can to make as much money as they can. Here's a newsflash, music has always been free, since you can't control sound waves. It's about time that these people got a dose of their own medicine. I download music and movies all the time, music and movies I would never listen to or see if I didn't download. For me it's a filtering process. I'm able to filter out the 95% of garbage which is foisted upon me and the public, and labeled movies and music. Most of it is a complete ripoff and I have no intention of ever again paying for movies and music that has no value whatsoever. The average musician gets between $.10 and one dollar for every album sold. If I think something has real value I will certainly pay for it. It's high time we cut out the middleman, because they are superfluous now. They've been stealing money from me and the public worldwide for long enough. I'll never pay for a piece of music again, and I defy the FBI, who has nothing better to do then hunt down file sharers, and who have now classified eco-terrorists as the number one threat to US security, I defy them to prosecute me and millions of other people who are filtering the garbage which is presented as music, art and entertainment. US security agencies are in actuality little more than the enforcement arm for corporate interests, they obviously have no interest in hunting down Osama bin Laden since he's a close friend of George W. Bush. I have personally sent checks to a number of artists, when their art has proven to be of entertainment or artistic value to me. The others can go screw themselves. I'm not going to be ripped off anymore. I encourage all of you to follow in my footsteps, fight the power my brothers and sisters. The digital world has brought a new day to the realm of art and entertainment. I'm certainly willing to support artists who provide something of value, but I'm not willing to support PR companies and music industry executives who have been exploiting artists and the public at large for decades. As far as I'm concerned they can go out and get a job digging ditches.

    Re: Justice Department Launches Attack on Piracy N (none / 0) (#7)
    by dead dancer on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:00:45 PM EST
    Well said Aaron.

    Re: Justice Department Launches Attack on Piracy N (none / 0) (#8)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:00:46 PM EST
    Aaron, I could argue many of your points, but I think I agree with the main points. People should understand that the pointmen on prosecution have been MPAA and RIAA, both are industry groups, not artist groups. Actors, musicians and other arts and tech folks associated with with the creative side have mixed emotions. All the industry is trying to do is protect an outdated business model. CDs for example sell for around $15, the artist might receive $1. The suits get the rest. Of course the 'programming services' (can you say legal payola, I thought you could;-), promotions and distribution via trucks and hiways eat up a fair amount of that. OTOH, why would they keep that distro network when every bricks and mortar music store could download and burn the CDs and artwork on demand? And not just the whole album, but compilations of only the songs they wanted. And home users w/ a fast connection should be able to DL them directly at a reduced cost. In the last century what the rec companies are trying to do was called featherbedding, when railroads needed far fewer folks to run diesel/electric than steam, but the unions insisted that firemen and other outmoded jobs be kept. It's a thorny problem, but basically the artist can still make their cut and more by direct distro, but the record companies would have to fire execs to make the new biz model work. And while they are always eager to ship production overseas, they never seem willing to cut execs, (see remora), or their salaries. Apple was brilliant with iTunes, but it was an obvious solution that all the major rec companies just couldn't see. ASCAP and BMI have done amazing work in tracking down violaters of copyright holders, (including Pat Sajack), and have made sure that I and some of my clients got paid for work that would have been ripped off.

    Justice Department Launches Attack on Piracy Networks | 8 comments (8 topical)