Warez Scene Crushed

Bozo Galora

Diamond Member
Oct 28, 1999
7,271
0
0
The FBI set up their own servers and invited peeps to upload stuff, getting their confidence.
The big busts came today - got quite a load of "first supply" sites.

http://www.usdoj.gov/opa/pr/2005/June/05_crm_353.htm

(Partial Quote)
In addition to attacking piracy globally, Operation Site Down struck at all facets of the illegal software, game, movie, and music trade online, which is commonly referred to as the "warez scene." The investigations focused on individuals and organizations that were the ?first-providers? of copyrighted works to the warez underground - the so-called ?release? groups that operated as the original sources for a majority of the pirated works distributed and downloaded via the Internet. Once a warez release group prepares a stolen work for distribution, the material is distributed in minutes to secure, top-level warez servers throughout the world. From there, within a matter of hours, the pirated works are distributed globally, filtering down to peer-to-peer and other public file sharing networks accessible to anyone with Internet access.

The release groups targeted by Site Down specialize in the distribution of all types of pirated works including utility and application software, movies, music, and games. Among the warez groups hit yesterday are: RiSCISO, Myth, TDA, LND, Goodfellaz, Hoodlum, Vengeance, Centropy, Wasted Time, Paranoid, Corrupt, Gamerz, AdmitONE, Hellbound, KGS, BBX, KHG, NOX, NFR, CDZ, TUN, and BHP. These groups alone are allegedly responsible for stealing, cracking and distributing hundreds of well-known titles, such as Autodesk?s Autocad 2006, Adobe?s Photoshop, and the movies ?Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith? and ?Mr. and Mrs. Smith.? Operation Site Down is expected to dismantle many of these international warez syndicates and significantly disrupt the illicit operations of others.
 

ntdz

Diamond Member
Aug 5, 2004
6,989
0
0
Crushed? Nah. Busts like these happen yearly, there are always new groups to come along and take the old ones' places.
 

Infohawk

Lifer
Jan 12, 2002
17,844
1
0
The costs of enforcing copyright infringement should be paid by copyright holders and those that purchase copyrighted materials, instead of out of the general purse.
 

Bozo Galora

Diamond Member
Oct 28, 1999
7,271
0
0
http://slyck.com/news.php?story=844

Everything has a beginning on the Internet. The material found on BitTorrent, eDonkey2000 and even the Newsgroups have their origins. Many times, movies - especially prereleased ones - originate from "Top Sites." Top sites are the tip of the piracy iceberg, where material typically trickles down to more common forms of exchange. Yesterday, the FBI arrested Chirayu Patel who ran a top site server.

The FBI had been posing for a considerable amount of time as server operators, inviting people to upload and download material. Once a solid relationship had been established between the FBI and top warez sites, the trap had been set. It was only a matter of time until the FBI had collected enough evidence to make an arrest. While the FBI has only announced the arrest of one individual, it is expected that more information will be released today implicating additional people.

According to Restless.ugtech.net, who broke this news event, the FBI ran a server name "Chud" and "Lad". They were administered by an undercover agent named "Griffen." The warrant, which was released yesterday, named "killaz, marvel/cartel, cin, sidar, dact, korax, bourbon, and burner." When more information is released today, more specific information on these individuals will be available.

Chirayu Patel, aka "Dact" was arrested 9 AM yesterday. During the arrest, police seized his computers and burned DVD/CD discs. More troubling, he was told the police were working with the FBI to "round up people that were on a FBI run site." The story concludes, "ITS TIME FOR EVERYONE BIG TO GO HIDE."

According to the Mercury News, two FBI servers and two warez server contained 27 terabytes of information. Such pirated material as the movies "Star Wars", "Batman Begins" existed, while software valued at almost $400,000 also was seized.


 

ShadesOfGrey

Golden Member
Jun 28, 2005
1,523
0
0
Infohawk said:
The costs of enforcing copyright infringement should be paid by copyright holders and those that purchase copyrighted materials, instead of out of the general purse.

Quite true.
 

Tab

Lifer
Sep 15, 2002
12,145
0
76
Crushed? That should be changed to poked, they arrested 4 people! Wow! I doubt anyone here or even myself knows the size of Groups like Centropy or Myth. They're massive and are next to impossible to kill. It's pretty sad that it tooks this much law enforcement to get a bunch of college kids to stop downloading and uploading files. How about we go after the people tha actually leak the material in the first place? Not to mention lets not put them in jail with REAL criminals.

Not to mention the united states can group up with 11 other countries and peform a globally cordinated raid, but we still can't find Osama Bin Laden.
 

Rainsford

Lifer
Apr 25, 2001
17,515
0
0
Originally posted by: Tab
Crushed? That should be changed to poked, they arrested 4 people! Wow! I doubt anyone here or even myself knows the size of Groups like Centropy or Myth. They're massive and are next to impossible to kill. It's pretty sad that it tooks this much law enforcement to get a bunch of college kids to stop downloading and uploading files. How about we go after the people tha actually leak the material in the first place? Not to mention lets not put them in jail with REAL criminals.

Not to mention the united states can group up with 11 other countries and peform a globally cordinated raid, but we still can't find Osama Bin Laden.

If Osama bin Laden was costing some rich trade group (that "supports" politicians) a lot of money, we'd find him tomorrow. Just kidding...sort of.
 

stars

Golden Member
Feb 27, 2002
1,068
0
0
I think they care more about scare tatics than actually stopping the problem. Considering how pathetic the current content of mainstream movies and music are, I wouldnt view/listen to it if was free and legal. I fail to see why anyone would bother to illegally download to begin with. I understand some release groups and couriers are rewarded by hardware, cash, etc. To me, that would be the only logical incentive to get involved.
 

BarneyFife

Diamond Member
Aug 12, 2001
3,875
0
76
I thought the FBI was supposed to capture terrorists instead of bothering a bunch of kids who are not hurting anyone.
 

daclayman

Golden Member
Sep 27, 2000
1,207
0
76
Originally posted by: BarneyFife
I thought the FBI was supposed to capture terrorists instead of bothering a bunch of kids who are not hurting anyone.


The pen (or dollar) it seems is mightier than the sword. Plus, it's always easy to bully people weaker and poorer than yourself. I am not condoning piracy in any way, shape or form; merely responding to the above quote. In the future, I also expect more source theft and more aggressive distribution considering the FBI's tactics. I expect that the leaders of the better groups will join and create a tighter knit society, leaving more fringe for the FBI to scoop up (maybe they'll get 10 people next time).


Anyhoo, send me your IP address and a list of movies, apps and/or games that you have to trade and I'll get back with ya. ;)
 

slurmsmackenzie

Golden Member
Jun 4, 2004
1,413
0
0
at least they can't get them for selling stolen goods.....because they gave it away for FREE! RIP vengance, centropy, TDA, and MYTH.

see you at the movies......NOT!
 

Sureshot324

Diamond Member
Feb 4, 2003
3,370
0
71
Originally posted by: Infohawk
The costs of enforcing copyright infringement should be paid by copyright holders and those that purchase copyrighted materials, instead of out of the general purse.

If someone robs your home, should you have to pay for the investigation?
 

junkerman123

Golden Member
Jul 4, 2003
1,935
0
0
haha, Centropy has been "busted" in some way about 15 times now from my memory, and they're still doing A-OK!