FBI's covert "Operation Site Down" targets top international warez and piracy sites
{{date|July 1, 2005}}
{{publish}}

The [[w:United States Department of Justice|U.S. Department of Justice]] has announced actions taken in eleven nations as part of the [[w:FBI|FBI]]'s covert "[[w:Operation Site Down|Operation Site Down]]". The infiltration of so-called 'Topsites' resulted in searches, arrests, and seizures in [[Australia]], [[Belgium]], [[Canada]], [[w:Denmark|Denmark]], [[France]], [[Germany]], [[Israel]], the [[Netherlands]], [[w:Portugal|Portugal]] and [[w:Great Britain|Great Britain]] in addition to the [[United States]].

Messages in response posted on a communications page for warez users read:

: ''RiSCISO, Myth, TDA, LND, Goodfellaz, Hoodlum, Vengeance, Centropy, Wasted Time, Paranoid, Corrupt, Gamerz, AdmitONE, Hellbound, KGS, BBX, KHG, NOX, NFR, CDZ, TUN, and BHP were all hit, and were all hit hard.''

: ''EdN not pre'ing for awhile, investigations still going on!''

An email lists people targeted, updated in Mountain Time (UTC-7) at 6:31pm, 6:36pm, 6:38pm. The last update is at 6:41pm.

The FBI began the sting in 2003, offering hosting for software cracks and movies. As the covert site infiltrated the underground warez and piracy community, it was repeatedly expanded to provide storage for an increasingly large collection of pirated material. Eventually it held some 27 terabytes of copyrighted files, including 188 copyrighted software titles valued at more than [[w:United States dollar|US$]]300,000.

In the U.S.A. William Venya, 34, of Chatworth, Calif., Chirayu Patel, 23, of Fremont, Calif., Nate Lovell, 22, of Boulder, Colo., and David Fish, 24, of Watertown, Conn were all arrested on criminal complaints of copyright infringement and conspiracy to commit copyright infringement.

== Sources ==

* {{source|title=Online Pirates Nailed in Sting
|url=http://www.wired.com/news/digiwood/0,1412,68059,00.html?tw=wn_tophead_1
|author=Associated Press
|pub=Wired News
|date=02:10 PM Jun. 30, 2005 PT}}
* {{source|title=Operation Site Down
|url=http://p2pnet.net/story/5414
|author=
|pub=p2pnet.net
|date=Friday 1st July 2005}}
* {{source|title=Internet piracy crackdown leads to arrests, works worth $50 million
|url=http://www.bradenton.com/mld/bradenton/news/politics/12027152.htm
|author=Shannon McCaffrey, Knight Ridder
|pub=Herald Today
|date=Thu, Jun. 30, 2005}}
* {{source|title=FBI sting busts piracy net
|url=http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/business/12021852.htm
|author=By Pete Carey, Mercury News
|pub=Mercury News
|date=Thu, Jun. 30, 2005}} - requires registration

== External links ==

* [http://www.usdoj.gov/opa/pr/2005/June/05_crm_353.htm U.S. Dep't of Justice] Press release: "JUSTICE DEPARTMENT ANNOUNCES INTERNATIONAL INTERNET PIRACY SWEEP"
* [http://www.scene-busts.org/index2.html Scene communication board]
* [http://s29.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=07SFEKGIMBG3A1IZRPB0B8VURP email message]

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[[Category:World]]
[[Category:United States]]
[[Category:Internet]]
[[Category:Crime and law]]
[[Category:Science and technology]]
The U.S. Department of Justice has announced actions taken in eleven nations as part of the FBI's covert "Operation Site Down". The infiltration of so-called 'Topsites' resulted in searches, arrests, and seizures in Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Israel, the Netherlands, Portugal and Great Britain in addition to the United States.

Messages in response posted on a communications page for warez users read:

: RiSCISO, Myth, TDA, LND, Goodfellaz, Hoodlum, Vengeance, Centropy, Wasted Time, Paranoid, Corrupt, Gamerz, AdmitONE, Hellbound, KGS, BBX, KHG, NOX, NFR, CDZ, TUN, and BHP were all hit, and were all hit hard.

: EdN not pre'ing for awhile, investigations still going on!

An email lists people targeted, updated in Mountain Time (UTC-7) at 6:31pm, 6:36pm, 6:38pm. The last update is at 6:41pm.

The FBI began the sting in 2003, offering hosting for software cracks and movies. As the covert site infiltrated the underground warez and piracy community, it was repeatedly expanded to provide storage for an increasingly large collection of pirated material. Eventually it held some 27 terabytes of copyrighted files, including 188 copyrighted software titles valued at more than US$300,000.

In the U.S.A. William Venya, 34, of Chatworth, Calif., Chirayu Patel, 23, of Fremont, Calif., Nate Lovell, 22, of Boulder, Colo., and David Fish, 24, of Watertown, Conn were all arrested on criminal complaints of copyright infringement and conspiracy to commit copyright infringement.
World United States Internet Crime and law Science and technology