Pressing on in its fight against illegal Internet distribution of copyright-infringing materials, the U.S. Department of Justice today announced a massive antipiracy sweep of at least 120 locations worldwide, including 80 domestic searches in 27 states. The FBI, coordinating with law enforcement in at least 10 foreign countries, has seized computers and servers said to be holding at least $50 million worth of illegally pirated material. Agents raided various locations in the United States, while other raids were conducted in Singapore, Israel, and European countries including Great Britain, Belgium, Denmark, France, and Germany.
Operation Fastlink resulted in the seizure of 200 computers, including more than “30 computer servers” that are said to have been functioning as storage and distribution hubs for pirated materials. These pirated materials include movies, music, and computer programs. One server reportedly contained 65,000 separate pirated titles. There were no arrests in the United States, and the DOJ was unable to confirm any arrests overseas.
“Operation Fastlink dealt a serious blow to some of the most well-known and prolific online theft organizations,” Attorney General John Ashcroft said in a prepared statement. “Over the past few months, the Department of Justice’s Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section and the FBI and its cyber-division worked closely with our foreign counterparts to achieve unprecedented levels of international coordination in this worldwide enforcement effort. “Investigators and prosecutors across the globe,” he added, “worked for months to develop the evidence leading to yesterday’s enforcement action.” Also seized were an undisclosed number of “elite” servers containing highly sought-after materials and “new releases,” which are not yet available to the general public.
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