FEDERAL LAW ENFORCEMENT ANNOUNCES OPERATION D-ELITE,

[ConfuZed]

FEDERAL LAW ENFORCEMENT ANNOUNCES OPERATION D-ELITE,
CRACKDOWN ON P2P PIRACY NETWORK

First Criminal Enforcement Against BitTorrent Network Users


WASHINGTON, D.C. - Acting Assistant Attorney General John C. Richter of the Criminal Division, Homeland Security Assistant Secretary for Immigration and Customs Enforcement Michael J. Garcia, and Assistant Director Louis M. Reigel of the FBI's Cyber Division today announced the first criminal enforcement action targeting individuals committing copyright infringement on peer-to-peer (P2P) networks using cutting edge file-sharing technology known as BitTorrent.

This morning, agents of the FBI and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) executed 10 search warrants across the United States against leading members of a technologically sophisticated P2P network known as Elite Torrents. Employing technology known as BitTorrent, the Elite Torrents network attracted more than 133,000 members and, in the last four months, allegedly facilitated the illegal distribution of more than 17,800 titles-including movies and software-which were downloaded 2.1 million times.

In addition to executing 10 warrants, federal agents also took control of the main server that coordinated all file-sharing activity on the Elite Torrents network. Anyone attempting to log on to Elitetorrents.org today will receive the following message: "This Site Has been Permanently Shut Down by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement."

"Our goal is to shut down as much of this illegal operation as quickly as possible to stem the serious financial damage to the victims of this high-tech piracy-the people who labor to produce these copyrighted products," said Acting Assistant Attorney General Richter. "Today's crackdown sends a clear and unmistakable message to anyone involved in the online theft of copyrighted works that they cannot hide behind new technology."...

http://www.fbi.gov/dojpressrel/pressrel05/bittorrent052505.htm


On a personal note its about time they crack down on these kids after the great success in iraq and the war on terror along with the capture of osama bin ladenn its about time they focus on REAL issues here in the holy land.


:sarcasm:

[wakeme2008]

1. And do not forget the Anthrax murder is on death row because of the

Great Work of the FBI ...:sarcasm: :sarcasm:

[efhmc]

2. They need to show that they can do something.

[Trillo]

3. Is there ever any legal activity on Bit Torrent?

If so, it seems like shutting the main server down is draconian, as that would keep "legal" users from sharing files.

[LifeDuringWartime]

10. yes

http://bt.etree.org hosts hundreds of torrents for live recordings of artists who authorize taping and trading of their concerts


edit:
most of the torrent sites that are going to be shut down in the near future will be shut down because nearly 100% of the files being downloaded are copyrighted. and yes, many more will be shut down, because the guy who created bittorrent just the other day announced a search engine for searching all .torrent files. it's gonna make it a whole lot easier for the cops.

[Trillo]

12. Perhaps some artists are becoming more popular than the corporate

entertainment media would like them to be?

On edit:
I read here on DU months ago that academics use Bit Torrent to share their own copyrighted PDFs with peers and others.

[short bus president]

14. who needs torrent sites? there's torrent search.

http://www.bittorrent.com/

or you can always google with "***whatever*** filetype:torrent"

[montana_hazeleyes]

4. What does this have to do with Homeland Security?

I guess everyone can feel "safer" now.

[dethl]

5. Nice to know the DHL

is using their power to go after those "terrorists". :sarcasm:

Why is the DHL even involved with this? Isn't this a matter left up to the FBI and state agencies?

[XemaSab]

6. 3l337 h4x0r5 rUl3

UR 0wn3d!

4ll y0ur s3rv3r5 4r3 b3l0ng t0 u5!

[Jose Diablo]

15. Howdy h4x0r5

l0n5 t1m3 n0 c. w3r u b33n?

[PartyPooper]

7. D-ELITE

Who thinks these names up?

I would be D-ELITED to know.

:patriot:

[sleipnir]

8. Damn shame Star Wars III only made $15.75 because of piracy

Damn you internet pirates, you cost Georgie L. his record movie! Damn, that Star Wars movie didn't break a single record at the box office, it barely had two people attend. All because of internet piracy.

[lazarus]

9. LOL

Yeah, good job. All we need is for the FBI and DHS to seriously piss off the crackers. I give it a month, two tops, before they start having serious issues with their systems.

[Coventina]

11. So, when the entertainment industry has successfully jailed all customers,

who the hell are they going to sell to then?

[Rex]

13. Ha! At least John Crisco Ashcroft bagged Chong and 9 whores!

These guys would be lucky to do that! If the Justice Dept really gave a shit then they would go after China. This is just bullshit 'feelgood' propaganda.