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The Protecting Intellectual Rights Against Theft and Expropriation Act of 2004, better known as the Pirate Act, was a bill in the United States Congress that would have let federal prosecutors file civil lawsuits against suspected copyright infringers. Prior to the introduction of this act, only criminal lawsuits could be filed against suspected infringers.
Operation Buccaneer is an "ongoing international copyright piracy investigation and prosecution" undertaken by the United States federal government. It was part of a crackdown divided into three parts: Operation Bandwidth, Operation Buccaneer and Digital Piratez.
Operation Fastlink is a coordination of four separate, simultaneous undercover investigations by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Cyber Division, the Department of Justice, the Computer Crimes and Intellectual Property Section (CCIPS) of the Criminal Division and Interpol. The four different investigations have not been publicly enumerated, but the U.S. Department of Justice has said in at least one press release that "Operation Higher Education" is the largest component, with participation from twelve nations. Mention has also been made of an investigation into pre-release music groups led by FBI agents from the Washington Field Office. As of March 6, 2009, the FBI states that Operation Fastlink has yielded 60 convictions. The raids occurred in similar fashion to those from Operation Buccaneer and Operation Site Down. Other somewhat-related law enforcement actions include Operation Gridlock and Operation D-Elite.
Kim Dotcom, also known as Kimble and Kim Tim Jim Vestor, is a German-Finnish Internet entrepreneur and political activist who lives in Glenorchy, New Zealand.
Rabid Neurosis (RNS) was an MP3 warez release organization which was founded in 1996, following in the footsteps of Compress 'Da Audio (CDA), the first MP3 piracy group. In 1999, the group claimed to have released over 6,000 titles a year. RNS occasionally used the tagline "Rabid Neurosis - Spread The Epidemic." RNS were best known for releasing highly anticipated albums by hip hop, pop, rock and dance artists weeks and sometimes months before their official release date. RNS is known to have greatly contributed to the mp3 scene.
Pirates With Attitudes (PWA) was a major international warez release group between 1992 and 2000. The group was established by two former International Network of Crackers members known by the pseudonyms Orion and BarManager. PWA was also very well known during the tail end of the BBS-era for their development of modifications and enhancements ("mods") for the PCBoard BBS software.
Operation Safehaven was a fifteen-month investigation conducted by the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement ("ICE") in conjunction with the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Connecticut and the Department of Justice against those affiliated with the warez scene.
Risciso was an online warez group, founded in approximately 1993, dedicated to distributing newly released copyrighted software, games and movies. The acronym "RISC" stood for Rise in Superior Couriering, and "ISO" referred to a file format commonly used for the storage and transfer of disc images although the group RISC and RiSCiSO were two completely separate groups. The organization operated until the Operation Site Down raids in the summer of 2005. American authorities are still searching for the organization's ring leader Sean Patrick O'Toole, after he failed to appear in an American court in February 2006. He placed a call to his friend and group leader Sandy Fury, wishing her a happy birthday and an apology and then disappeared at Heathrow Airport.
The Federation Against Copyright Theft (FACT) is a British organisation established in 1983 to protect and represent the interests of its members' intellectual property (IP). FACT also investigates fraud and cybercrime, and provides global due diligence services to support citizenship investment and trade, business, financial and legal compliance.
Per Gottfrid Svartholm Warg, alias anakata, is a Swedish computer specialist, known as the former co-owner of the web hosting company PRQ and co-founder of the BitTorrent site The Pirate Bay together with Fredrik Neij and Peter Sunde.
Megaupload Ltd was a Hong Kong–based online company established in 2005 that operated from 2005 to 2012 providing online services related to file storage and viewing.
BuysUSA.com was a United States-based internet site created to illegally distribute software from companies such as Adobe Systems, Autodesk, and Macromedia.
Operation Site Down is the umbrella name for a law enforcement initiative conducted by the United States' FBI and law enforcement agents from ten other countries which resulted in a raid on targets on June 29, 2005. Three separate undercover investigations were involved, based in Chicago, Charlotte and San Jose. The raid consisted of approximately 70 searches in the U.S. and approximately 20 others in ten other countries in an effort to disrupt and dismantle many of the leading Warez groups which distribute and trade in copyrighted software, movies, music and games on the Internet.
DrinkOrDie (DoD) was one of the most prestigious underground software piracy group and warez trading network during the 1990s. On 11 December 2001 a major law enforcement raid - known as Operation Buccaneer - forced it to close under criminal charges of infringement. DoD, as a rule, received no financial profit for their activities. The DoD network - which primarily consisted of university undergraduates - was also supported by software company employees, who leaked copies of software and other digital media. DoD was also actively involved in illicit file-trading with other networks.
Copyright infringement is the use of works protected by copyright without permission for a usage where such permission is required, thereby infringing certain exclusive rights granted to the copyright holder, such as the right to reproduce, distribute, display or perform the protected work, or to produce derivative works. The copyright holder is usually the work's creator, or a publisher or other business to whom copyright has been assigned. Copyright holders routinely invoke legal and technological measures to prevent and penalize copyright infringement.
NinjaVideo was a website created in February 2008 containing links to uploaded videos of TV shows, movies, and documentaries. Since June 30, 2010, the site has been unavailable, as a result of a multinational anti-piracy effort led by the US federal government. At the centre of the takedown, was the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) initiative as Operation In Our Sites, citing that they were, "targeting pirate websites run by people who have no respect for creativity and innovation". Federal search warrants were executed at servers in the United States and the Netherlands. At the time of its seizure, the site was visited more than 6 million times a month.
Richard O'Dwyer is a British entrepreneur & computer programmer who created the TVShack.net search engine while a student at Sheffield Hallam University.
Multiple criminal indictments and enforcement actions were taken against Megaupload owner Kim Dotcom in various jurisdictions. On 19 January 2012 the United States Department of Justice seized and shut down the file-hosting site Megaupload.com and commenced criminal cases against its owners and others. On 20 January 2012 Hong Kong Customs froze more than 300 million Hong Kong dollars in assets belonging to the company.
Anton Vickerman is a British disc jockey and website operator. He was the operator of Surfthechannel.com, a link site. He was sentenced to four years in jail following a privately funded legal campaign after British public prosecutors refused to try him. It has been called the first high-profile successful prosecution for the film industry. He is the first UK citizen sent to prison for linking to films and TV shows.
Maverickeye UG is a copyright enforcement company that is based in Germany. It detects and retraces copyright infringement using software technology.
References
 | This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations .(July 2009) |
- Aussie software pirate extradited, Sydney Morning Herald, 7 May 2007
- Software pirates not safe at home, The New Zealand Herald, 7 September 2004.
- Accused web pirate back behind bars, Sydney Morning Herald, 8 July 2004.
- The unsolicited views of Internet Users, broadbandreports.com blog, 17 July 2004.
- Illegal Internet Network reproduced and distributed pirated software, films and music worth $50 million – US DOJ 12 March 2003.
- Robbery under arms: Copyright law and the Australia–US Free Trade Agreement by Matthew Rimmer, First Monday, March 2006.
- How To Kill A Country: Australia's Devastating Trade Deal With the United States paper by Linda Weiss, Elizabeth Thurbon & John Mathews, Evatt Foundation, 2 April 2005.
- Global Software Piracy costing $54 Billion in 2005 – Computing.co.uk 23 May 2006.
- Australian Copyright Act 1968
- Copyright Law of the United States of America contained in Title 17 of the US Code.
- IP Chapter of AUSFTA 2004.
- 'Bandido' Software Pirate Arraigned In U.S. On 2 Charges, Information Week, 21 February 2007.
- Another One Sacrificed in the Name of an Alliance, Opinion Article by Richard Ackland, Sydney Morning Herald, 16 February 2007.
- BitTorrent issues weblog 21 April 2007.
- IPKAT intellectual property law issues weblog 23 April 2007.
- Australian alliance issues weblog 8 May 2007.
- Extradited Software Piracy Ringleader Sentenced to 51 Months in Prison 22 June 2007
- Discussion on Australian Larvatus Prodeo blog of extradition 18 February 2007