Authorities in 11 countries, including Canada, carried out raids Wednesday that were aimed at stopping the illegal distribution of first-run movies and other copyrighted material over the internet.
Agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, as well as investigators around the world, took part in 90 searches that resulted in the arrests of four people.
The U.S. Justice Department “is striking at the top of the copyright piracy supply chain – a distribution chain that provides the vast majority of illegal digital content now available online,” Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said.
Eight major servers used to distribute pirated materials were also shut down.
The raids took place in the U. S., Canada, Australia, Belgium, Britain, Denmark, France, Germany, Israel, the Netherlands, and Portugal. Hundreds of computers were seized.
The moves are part of a crackdown dubbed Operation Site Down by law-enforcement officials. It is aimed at stopping people who traffic in high volumes of copyrighted material.
Chirayu Patel, of Fremont, Calif. was among those arrested. He was charged with violating U.S. federal copyright protection laws.
It’s alleged that Patel is a member of an online “warez” group, which is different from an open file-sharing network such as Kazaa.
Warez (pronounced “wares”) groups are hard to infiltrate because users contact one another only in encrypted chat rooms. Their servers require passwords and many are based overseas, according to the FBI.
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