Operation Fastlink Nets 1000s in Pirate Sting 844
womanfiend writes "The Iowa City (Iowa) Press Citizen has been reporting the last two days about "'Operation Fastlink,' a multi-national investigation launched in April." Apparently, the investigation has netted a local college student hosting 13,000 titles worth a bundle of money both in simple value and liability for as many times as logs show the titles were downloaded. According to the P-C: "...'Operation Fastlink,' which targeted the underground community's hierarchy with [FBI] agents conducting more than 120 searches within 24 hours in 27 states and 11 foreign countries. At the time, authorities identified nearly 100 people as leaders or high-ranking members of international piracy groups."
Sounds like somebody's in deep doo doo."
Call me when the headline reads: (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Call me when the headline reads: (Score:3, Insightful)
*thinks of what Constitution says about federal crimes...
Re:Call me when the headline reads: (Score:2)
So the current headline should really say, "Operation Fastlink Nets 1000s in Counterfeiting Sting' or something?
Or is it because of some obscure cost/packaging/distribution reason that this isn't technically counterfeiting?
Re:Call me when the headline reads: (Score:5, Insightful)
Counterfeiting is when you try to pass something off as the real thing.
An MPEG2 file named "Gigli.mpg" is not a counterfeit.
A DVD-R with Gigli.mpg burned to it and "Gigli" written on it in Sharpie marker is not a counterfeit.
A DVD-R with a scan of the Gigli disc art printed on it with an inkjet printer, in a DVD snap case with a scan of the Gigli cover sheet is a poor counterfeit.
A DVD pressed in Hong Kong with the Gigli disc art silkscreened on it, and a 4-color printing of the Gigli cover sheet is a good counterfeit.
The same applies to money:
A piece of paper with "ONE DOLLER" written on it is not a counterfeit.
A piece of paper where someone has drawn something vaguely looking like US currency but with no attempt to copy the artwork or face is not a counterfeit.
A xerox of a $1 bill, trimmed to size, is counterfeit, especially if you attempt to pass it off as such, like by using it in a vending machine.
A $200 bill with the face of George W. Bush is not a counterfeit. Neither is a $3 bill with the face of Bill Clinton.
Re:Call me when the headline reads: (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Call me when the headline reads: (Score:3, Funny)
Did you make that one up yourself? Cause it's SOOO funny! I've never ever heard anyone make a reference like that before!
Re:Call me when the headline reads: (Score:2)
Aren't Fed Law Enforcement Priorities Broken? (Score:5, Insightful)
I can accept that they'd go after commercial counterfeiters and pirates of intellectual property, but given the extent of fraud and other naughtyness associated with spam (ie, selling prescription drugs), why hasn't the FBI gone after that before college kids trading bad movies they'll never watch and probably won't even have five years from now (hard disk crashes, changes in life priorities, etc), let alone wouldn't have bought or paid to see anyway (and despite the fact that the movies have probably broken even or made a profit *anyway*).
I'm sure if they actually *did* investigate spam via stings, they'd find massive tax evasion, fraud, violations of more substantive drug laws, and a bunch of otherwise legitimate corporations collecting a tidy profit by selling services needed to run a spam operation. Which is probably why they won't make the effort -- whenever big business gets involved, somehow the law doesn't seem to apply.
Oh well, at least we'll know that "college kids" and "bong makers" can be safely removed from the Bad Guy checklist.
Re:Aren't Fed Law Enforcement Priorities Broken? (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Aren't Fed Law Enforcement Priorities Broken? (Score:5, Insightful)
It's entertainment. It's not food or some basic utility (electricity, etc). You don't *need* to see any movie. If you want some entertainment you go see whatever you find entertaining that you can find for a price you think is reasonable. Don't want to spend $7 for a movie ticket? Don't. You don't NEED to see it. And you don't have a RIGHT to see it at some price you consider reasonable. Get over it.
Re:Aren't Fed Law Enforcement Priorities Broken? (Score:3, Insightful)
Can somebody tell me... (Score:3, Insightful)
Has software piracy become a right? Perhaps sometime when I wasn't looking?
Re:Can somebody tell me... (Score:4, Insightful)
And actually, this has a lot to do with your rights. I've said it here before (and I'll keep repeating it until you folks get it :-)) that the old line "If you haven't done anything wrong, you have nothing to fear." is about as big a fairy tale as you can find. False accusations, and the arrests they can lead to, can ruin your life without your ever being convicted of a crime.
This has everything to do with your rights. The sooner you realize this, the safer you'll be.
Re:Can somebody tell me... (Score:5, Interesting)
NO, not at all. If you were innocent and had ANYTHING adverse happen to you (excluding work time missed to be in court, and I don't even agree with that) the system did not work. You were bullied into paying $5000 that you should not have. THAT MEANS THE SYSTEM IS BROKEN.
I can't see how you aren't totally pissed off about that. I don't know what kind of job you had in college (or if your parents are/were wealthy), but many college students don't have 5 grand to their name, let alone able to shell it out suddenly due to a wrongful accusal.
Of course, I have my own reasons to believe the system doesn't work. I was accused for possession of pot, although they had no proof that it was mine -- it wasn't on my person or in my car. They said "no charges will be filed," 1 year probation, then it gets expunged, so I took your stance (although I was not fined) -- sure, nothing bad will come of it, so I'll just play along.
Two years later, I have an FBI record and am almost denied a job because of that (I explained the circumstances and our HR director said a similar thing happened to someone else there and basically ignored it). That was the only time I've ever encountered the police for anything other than traffic violations. Certainly not worthy of an FBI record, but there you have it. I'm on par with an international terrorist because I liked smoking pot when I was 23.
Re:Can somebody tell me... (Score:4, Insightful)
Oh... So it's a fundamental right to profit from somebody else's labor?
Thanks for clearing that up.
Re:Can somebody tell me... (Score:3)
Re:Can somebody tell me... (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Can somebody tell me... (Score:5, Insightful)
It's not my law and it's my right to speak out agains the frivolous use of my taxpayer money to enforce the rights of the yuppie next door to his latest finger-painting. Screw him. His work sucks, his art sucks, and it's not worth my protection.
Also, pursuit of unlimited profits IS a right. It's capitalism
You want to be a hard-nose? Fine. Copying is a right. It's called nature and nature existed long before capitalism.
providing jobs for millions of Americans
Has nothing to do with the DMCA or file-sharing. Artists existed long before any laws.
The movie industry funds a lot of other industries, and perhaps you should take an economics class to learn about it.
I did. I learned about monopolies, cartels, and money-laundering. Perhaps you slept through those classes.
Re:Can somebody tell me... (Score:4, Informative)
Um...no.
Theft is when I take something from you, in such a way as to incur loss. For example, if I take your wallet, you no longer have it. You have experienced loss, thus taking your wallet is theft.
Copyright Infringement is very different. If I download a copy of a song, album, movie, or piece of software, the original is still there, and still in the hands of the person who "owns" it. They have experienced no loss. They still have everything they had before I downloaded anything. Therefore it's not theft. The person making the download available has, however, infringed the author's copyright, if this was done without permission.
Re:Can somebody tell me... (Score:3, Informative)
This monopoly is state controlled becase the state enforces this monopoly with copyright laws.
You may think this is a good thing. I may not, in certain circumstances, disagree with you. Nevertheless you do have to recognise that this is a state controlled monopoly.
I'd reply to this (Score:5, Funny)
Re:I'd reply to this (Score:2)
Re:I'd reply to this (Score:2, Troll)
Fill with 254. Filling with 0 or 1 may, on fast fills, leave the other bits. That's the origin of your residual effect.
If "residual effect" were real, why don't you see random r/w errors on a regular basis?
Re:I'd reply to this (Score:4, Funny)
Dawn of the Undead Data [computerworld.com]
Re:I'd reply to this (Score:4, Funny)
Re:I'd reply to this (Score:3, Informative)
Your link points to a company that sells magnets. A better word than `program' would probably be `product'.
But no matter. It takes very strong magnets to erase today's high density media. Yes, you can erase (or at least seriously distort the data) a floppy or cassette tape with your average magnet, but to erase a DLT tape requires something much more powerful. As for a hard drive, I'd expect the required strength to be similar to that of a DLT.
Why do I know th
Re:I'd reply to this (Score:3, Interesting)
* I Would sugest that you try in on a system you are not afraid of formatting over in the case that.
A. You are not using Microsoft Format.
B. The speed of your computer from 99 to 100 is to fast for you to hit brake.
C. I am compleatly wrong which I
Comment removed (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:yeah the American people (Score:2, Insightful)
Re: (Score:2)
Re:yeah the American people (Score:2, Insightful)
Are you sure of that? I thought that building prisons for non-violent drug offenders was the current priority.
Re:yeah the American people (Score:2, Informative)
Comment removed (Score:5, Informative)
Re:yeah the American people (Score:3, Insightful)
"but allowed you to run an efficent, competitive, and focused organization."
This is a rather vague statement... it could be a calendar application.
"The fact is that in this situation everyone knows what happened. A few key employees from one established place took a copy of the server with all the data files and software and all that, and went to establish a competitor in an adjoining state. Same product, 25% cheaper. That 25% is almost entirely made up by the fact that they did not
Comment removed (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:yeah the American people (Score:3, Insightful)
Why should one HAVE to do that [factor piracy into sales]? Because software pirates say so?
No, you factor it in because the reality of the situation (not pirates) dictates it. It's like factoring the cost of the locks on the doors when you build your house. The fact that some people ignore such an unnatural convention as "intellectual property," is a reality no different than the fact that some people will steal.
Which doesn't matter. You don't have the right to pirate something just because you thin
Re:yeah the American people (Score:3, Insightful)
This software package that was cracked and passed around so viciously on many of the big warez networks was the lifebloo
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
Re:yeah the American people (Score:3, Insightful)
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:yeah the American people (Score:5, Insightful)
Or slavery that kept the south in business with cotton. What is your arguement that we can tolerate something bad (like stopping information flow or slavery) if it gives us jobs or coin?
[The] free flow of information is the only safeguard against tyranny...Beware of he who would deny you access to information, for in his heart he dreams himself your master.
- Commissioner Pravin Lal, Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri
Re:yeah the American people (Score:3, Insightful)
"Or slavery that kept the south in business with cotton. What is your arguement that we can tolerate something bad (like stopping information flow or slavery) if it gives us jobs or coin?"
I think you've nailed it. My right to say how my program or my musical composition is distributed is just like the enslavement of black people in the 19th century.
Re:yeah the American people (Score:3, Insightful)
There's a big difference between an operation like this and the lawsuits filed by the RIAA.
First of all, the RIAA stated previously that the people they sue on average are distributing 1,000 titles. The college student mentioned in the story was distributing about 13,000 titles. That's a big difference. I also can bet you that most of the peo
Re:yeah the American people (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:yeah the American people (Score:3, Insightful)
I agree that this is a total waste of taxpayer money. As of June 2002, 1 in 142 US residents are in jail [about.com]. The average annual cost to incarcerate an inmate in state prison is $22,650 [washingtonpost.com] . This is the country that is supposed to be the world leader in freedom and democracy? Am I to believe that this many people constitute a threat to society, that we have to lock them up? What about the real criminals... those that raid the resources of the world and kill thousands (millions?) of innocent people a
Wrong Department (Score:5, Insightful)
We pissed and moaned when the authorities went after the makers of P2P software, crying that they should go after the people doing the infringement.
Predictably, now that authorities are actually going after the infringers, we have something new to piss and moan about. Let's get consistent, can we?
Amen to that! (Score:3, Insightful)
These idiots are stealing other peoples/companies stuff and redistributing
They know it's illegal but they do it anyway so they get no simpathy from me.
I speed (allot) normally doing 80-90 mph on the way to/from work. If I get busted, guess what? I got busted! I know I'm breaking the law so you won't see me whine when I get a ticket.
Re:Amen to that! (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Amen to that! (Score:3, Insightful)
Yeah.. but this guy can get 15 years for something which isn't even close to doing a person bodily harm. However, if he did that he would face far less prison time.
C'mon ppl, these sentences are way too heavy for these kind of crimes. Punishment should be equal to the crime and not public (or corporate) outcry.
I can't wait to see the first death sentence spoken out for offering 100.000 illegal software titles.
Re:Amen to that! (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Amen to that! (Score:3, Informative)
A used car salesman sells you a lemon, you cannot have him arrested, rather you have to sue him. Civil violations are considered less of a legal probelm than criminal ones.
Re:Amen to that! (Score:3, Insightful)
The counter-argument to my position is, at least so far as I can tell,
Re:Wrong Department (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Wrong Department (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Wrong Department (Score:5, Insightful)
Come on Teal'C. I would have thought you'd have a much higher sense of honor than this! JaffaKREE!!
Re:Wrong Department (Score:3, Insightful)
If you were to "prioritize" all of law enforcement based on the severity of crime, every cop on the street would be fixated on catching every murderer. Once the murderers were all behind bars, the cops would all swoop en masse down on child molesters. Then, once every molester was in prison, they'd focus on rap
My collection is bigger than yours ... (Score:5, Insightful)
And in other news... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:And in other news... (Score:2)
Jerry
http://www.syslog.org/ [syslog.org]
Poor college students easy targets (Score:2, Insightful)
Read the article... (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:Poor college students easy targets (Score:2)
Rule number two of operation fastlink: Oh, who am I kidding?
Re:Poor college students easy targets (Score:3, Informative)
You're kidding, right? The BSA actively [bsa.org] goes [bsa.org] after companies that use pirated software. Canada has CAAST [caast.org] who is also [caast.org] actively [caast.org] pursuing companies that use pirates software.
So where did you dig up the fact that the software industry is only going after college students and not companies again?
Don't copy... (Score:4, Funny)
College kids? (Score:5, Interesting)
"Yeah mom, I was expelled. Why? Oh, uh, um, the FBI caught me using my net connection to distribute movies illegally. Yes, yes. With the computer you bought me. What? No. The tuition you paid is not refundable. Books? I'm off campus in under 24 hours, I don't have time to sell them. Another college? This is on my permanent record. BTW you wouldn't happen to have a couple thousand to settle this case would "
Tom
Re:College kids? (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:College kids? (Score:2)
first off...
COLLEGE STUDENTS
So you're saying retarded immature ignorant people go to college? I thought college was for the bright students who were already mature enough to take on an adult learning setting [e.g. no mommy or daddy around].
second, this kid will probably think he's some sort of martyr. He'll likely get news time as "the kid the big evil corps took down" just like all asshat criminal hackers [caveat being not all hac
Re:College kids? (Score:3, Insightful)
You can share your DVDs or CDs all you want. That's not illegal and in fact a nice gesture. I'll presume this is what you are talking about.
You can't download media for which you haven't paid then re-distribute it. I'll presume this isn't what you are talking about.
Don't tell me my presumptions are wrong.
Tom
Re:College kids? (Score:3, Interesting)
Again, stop being an asshat.
You can still be kind in this world. You just have to actually be kind. There is nothing "kind" with P2P distribution of stuff you don't have rights to.
If you physically share things [e.g. DVD or CD] that's kind because you are making a sacrifice so someone else can benefit [if not temporarily].
Of course I guess that's
Re:College kids? (Score:5, Funny)
I once heard that Bernie Ebbers of Worldcom once shared a copyrighted VHS tape with his neighbors. If he had only been stopped then...
Re:College kids? (Score:3, Insightful)
Also what says this kid had any tech knowledge about him? I can easily go on gnutella and get a GB or two of hot titty porn in oh say a couple hours.
I do agree that prison isn't a solution for non-violent crimes but I think that's the case for all non-violent crimes [drugs included].
But as per my other comment, the martyrdome has already become. Just look at the one of your post. You almost revere th
Is it obvious to anyone else.. (Score:4, Interesting)
Explains why he rolled over on himself so easily.
false Math (Score:5, Insightful)
That is making the assumption that everyone who pirated software would actually buy it and if they bought it they would pay full price..
Re:false Math (Score:2)
If these are true losses, and can be enumerated so exactly, are they filing them in their taxes or not?
Re:false Math (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:false Math (Score:5, Insightful)
To make the distinction crystal clear, if the guy from TFA had stolen a CD from Best Buy, it would be operating loss for Best Buy. If all he stole was the music on the CD (which he borrowed from a friend because he couldn't afford to buy the disc), no loss. The reason I know that there's no loss is that if there were, it wouldn't be claimed by only Best Buy, but also by everyone else who sells the same CD. That doesn't make any sense at all.
What little I know of basic microeconomics tells me that what's going on here is a black market. People aren't willing to pay full price, so they pay less through non-legit channels. The point is that they weren't willing to pay full price, so you can't count them as customers in the first place, hence no "lost revenue". It was never there to begin with, which is what I think GP post is saying. Again, the reason that this scenario is different from ordinary retail is that the thing being 'stolen' is intangible. If my CD ends up in someone's hands without them paying me for it, I can (and should) nail them for it. This situation is different.
Black market transactions take into account the cost of being discovered. This guy is facing 15 years in jail. Usually, this cost prevents black markets unless there is a serious cost/value discrepancy, such as (in this case) artificial scarcity through legal fiction. From what I understand, the reason there's so much piracy is that many people feel that the scarcity is a little too artificial. If the sales price would come down to something actually approaching marginal cost, maybe there would be less piracy. If the music distributors can't sustain at MP=MC, then they obviously can't compete in an open market, and should fold. This is the basic cycle of destruction and renewal brought about by technological advancement, and it's been working fine for several hundred years. Why muck it up now?
Just goes to show (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Just goes to show (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Just goes to show (Score:5, Insightful)
Laws are not necessarily made to prevent bad behavior, but to prevent behavior that is considered harmful. Murder is an obvious one. But taking software/songs/movies without paying for them is harmful to the people that put it together. And don't think for a minute it's hurting the label/movie executives. It's hurting the few people they're going to lay off when their revenue dips.
I think your assumption that everyone is alright with file sharing is way off, given that not even everyone on
15 years.... (Score:5, Interesting)
Ok - I know it was wrong - but 15 years! come on, 2nd degree murder is right aroung the same Sentence for ILLINOIS, anyone else think that this is a bit much....
Re:15 years.... (Score:2)
Re:15 years.... (Score:5, Insightful)
Terrible idea... (Score:3, Interesting)
Argue it how you like, but he does not seem like a casual pirate to me. He seems to have been actively leading a criminal life by pi
Because we don't have enough people in jail (Score:5, Insightful)
This way we can pay to keep them in prison, then continue to pay when they end up going back and back and back because they can't ever get a job anywhere.
But we sure showed them we're serious about getting tough, didn't we? Ha! Just like getting tough on drugs. That's been a really successful program, too. Got tough on those druggies to where today the cost of drugs is...well,lower than it used to be but that's besides the point. You gotta throw those bastards in jail! Not a grain of common sense, but we're definitely tough.
Now we know... (Score:4, Insightful)
I feel so much safer knowing those dangerous file-sharers are off the Net and no longer threatening the American way of life.
I can now look forward to the next riveting season of MTV Cribs and see millions of dollars being wasted by morons with good lawyers.
Re:Now we know... (Score:3, Insightful)
The other way around, probably still true, but almost certainly less so.
And the usual BSA propaganda (Score:5, Insightful)
is personally responsible for as much as $200,000 in losses to the industry
Business Software Alliance, which represents several software manufacturers, examined the two computer servers linked to Desir and reported that each contained client titles exceeding $2,500 in retail value. The $2,500 value is a benchmark in the federal criminal code.
This is, of course, complete bullshit. It's like Adobe always trying to claim that 12-year-olds warezing Photoshop are thousands of dollars worth of "losses" when there's no way in hell they would be able to buy the software. In many instances the widespread warezing of their software actually helps Adobe, since in a couple of years those 12-year-olds are going to enter their professional lives trained on Adobe's product, not their competitors'. Doesn't matter, though, piracy is wrong and you shouldn't do it (like doom2 said, if you're playing a pirated copy you're going to HELL) but these claims always strike me as ridiculous. Sure, send him to jail for a couple months or whatnot, but don't yell about how one pirate cost you bullions and bullions of dollars because it just isn't true!
Re:And the usual BSA propaganda (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:And the usual BSA propaganda (Score:3, Interesting)
now, i am not saying i like the current state of copyright laws, i am a strong believer that copyrights shouldn't last forever. i also didn't intend for this to become a debate about them, if it did i would probably agree with you. i agree with you in that you can't hold a monopoly on an idea.
what this thread is about is all the stupid arguments
I wonder (Score:2)
I'm trying to think if this is similar to how the alcohol-is-illegal laws were enforced before an actual debate (and other factors) led to the legalization of alcohol.
It would really suck to go to jail for 5 years for a crime that 20 years from now is not really a crime anymore...
Worse (cyber) crimes in the world. (Score:3, Insightful)
When I drive, I speed all of the time. I don't see anything fundamentally wrong or unsafe with the speed that I drive. But I know what the law is, whether I like it or not. And I know that I am breaking it. So if I get a speeding ticket, I deal with it like a big boy. I wish people would take the same approach to illegal file trading. If you want to do it, fine. But you know it is illegal, and there isn't much you can do about the laws. (lets be realistic, there are powerful influences behind these laws) So if you get busted, deal with it. You knew what you were doing.
Re:Worse (cyber) crimes in the world. (Score:4, Insightful)
Yeah, nothing wrong with doing 40 in a 25 mph zone. After all, instead of having 5 seconds to react to a kid running into the street you have less than 2 seconds.
Of course doing 90 in a 65 means you've increased the time it takes you stop by an additional 3 seconds and roughly 90 more feet.
Yeah, nothing unsafe about speeding.
Only difference (Score:3, Insightful)
This you can protest: why not fine them instead ?
Or, to go along your analogy, why not sentence you to 15 years for speeding, knowing that there is a chance you will hurt someone else ?
It is the absurdity of the punishment that strikes me odd here.
Virus Writers (Score:3, Insightful)
It seems to me, that even a middle of the road virus does alot more damage than any p2p group can. Not to mention, there is malicious intent behind the people who write viruses.
In an age, where the number of viruses released each year continues to rise at an incredible rate. It would seem a better use of taxpayers fund to find the people who are trying to maliciously attack other computer user's computers.
time to go wireless (Score:3, Interesting)
In other words.. (Score:4, Insightful)
On a more serious note, these guys aren't in big trouble for using/sharing pirated material, they're into mass distribution. The fellow who's looking at a maximum of 15 years is there because he's 1337 and is distributing tons copyrighted material for the heck of it. If you don't want the time, don't do the crime. Pretty easy to avoid this one.
I'd want the help of law enforcement if someone was stealing things from my place of business. I don't see that it's all that much different to have help with the piracy issue. It's true that the developer doesn't physically lose anything, but surely the developer's license ought to be respected. If you don't like the licensing or cost of Photoshop, use The Gimp. There's really no excuse.
It's good... I don't care... (Score:5, Interesting)
I like open source stuff. I get warm fuzzies any time I run it for anything I do on a daily basis. I don't waste my time with games... haven't for years... (one day I found myself calling in sick to work because I wanted to play a game... omg... I'm addicted... so I quit... after I finished the mission of course!) But I can see where there are plenty of areas where certain commercial apps are 100% necessary. (Use photoshop because the gimp isn't quite "there" yet...)
I personally, think "misappropriation" of software for personal and non-commercial use should be "ignored" though it should never be considered "okay." (I think games, if they are good and worthy should be paid for as a means of applause.) But the commerial benefit of misappropriated software is way out there "wrong."
These college kids are not the users of the software. I remember back in those days myself. It was just cool to try to get the latest "whatever" was out there and share it. When Win95 was new, it was the coolest thing ever to play with. Sleek new UI, came with TCP/IP already and a browser too! MSIE was my favorite back in those days... it was included with the OS! How convenient! And free? Who could beat that?
Are they really causing a lot of damage to the industry? I just don't know the answer to that question... I just don't know. Do I feel like these kids are "evil" and just want to do damage? Hell no. Should they be shut down? Hell yeah! Should they be allowed to lead a normal life afterward! Hell yeah... the first time only. Do it again and f@ck'em!
That's my few cents anyway...
FBI Presence Outside US (Score:3, Informative)
The FBI has a considerable presence outside the United States:
Re:FBI searches (Score:2)
Re:Repost (Score:3, Informative)