Thursday, August 26, 2004
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Department of Justice P2P sharing raids
Federal agents raided five homes and one ISP in Texas, Wisconsin and New York as part of "Operation Digital Gridlock", in search of a file-swapping group named the "Underground Network".
From CNET, "Although no charges have yet been filed, the action is a milestone in federal law enforcement's treatment of peer-to-peer technology. It could portend deeper scrutiny of casual online copyright infringement, expanding beyond the tightly organized groups typically targeted by investigators in the past."
"Like most high-profile federal actions, Wednesday's searches targeted a group suspected of being high-volume copyright infringers rather than everyday computer users who might use a mainstream program such as Kazaa or eDonkey. But unlike the secretive "warez" groups that have been the focus of earlier FBI investigations, the Underground Network appeared to have had minimal membership requirements and little organization linking its most casual users."
"According to documents provided by the Justice Department, the sting operation has been under way since at least March. Undercover FBI agents joined the network by loading two computers with copyrighted material and applying for membership with those machines. Like many other similar groups, the Underground Network required that members be able to provide copyright materials for download by other users instead of simply "leeching" on others."
"Once a part of the network, the FBI agents identified five of the most active "hubs" in the United States and downloaded a total of 72 gigabytes of copyrighted material--including 84 movies, 40 software applications, 13 games and 178 songs, according to the Justice Department documents."
Posted by Al on 08/26 at 07:34 PM
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