Operation Fastlink
Encyclopedia
Operation FastLink is a coordination of four separate, simultaneous undercover investigation
s by the FBI, the FBI Cyber Division, the U.S. 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 April 20, 2007, the U.S. Department of Justice states that Operation FastLink has yielded 47 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
.
The operation led to the successful busts of nearly 100 individuals involved in illegal copying of copyrighted software (i.e "software piracy
"), and alterations thereof, worldwide. There were around 120 total searches executed in 27 states and in 10 foreign countries. Foreign searches were conducted in Belgium
, Denmark
, France
, Germany
, Hungary
, Israel
, the Netherlands
, Singapore
, Sweden
as well as Great Britain
and Northern Ireland
.
Among the prolific warez
release groups targeted by Fastlink were Fairlight
, Kalisto
, Echelon
, Class
,and DEViANCE - all of which specialized in pirating computer and console video games. Recent convictions have included members of music release groups Apocalypse Production Crew
and Chromance.
Varying degrees of information for all cases can be obtained (for a nominal fee) via the various courts' electronic document retrieval systems with a PACER
account.
Sting operation
In law enforcement, a sting operation is a deceptive operation designed to catch a person committing a crime. A typical sting will have a law-enforcement officer or cooperative member of the public play a role as criminal partner or potential victim and go along with a suspect's actions to gather...
s by the FBI, the FBI Cyber Division, the U.S. Department of Justice, the Computer Crimes and Intellectual Property Section (CCIPS) of the Criminal Division and Interpol
Interpol
Interpol, whose full name is the International Criminal Police Organization – INTERPOL, is an organization facilitating international police cooperation...
. 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 April 20, 2007, the U.S. Department of Justice states that Operation FastLink has yielded 47 convictions. The raids occurred in similar fashion to those from Operation Buccaneer
Operation Buccaneer
On December 11, 2001, in an international operation known as Operation Buccaneer, law enforcement agents in six countries targeted 62 people suspected of software piracy, with leads in twenty other countries.U.S...
and Operation Site Down
Operation Site Down
Operation Site Down is the umbrella name for a law enforcement initiative conducted by the 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...
. Other somewhat-related law enforcement actions include Operation Gridlock and Operation D-Elite
Operation D-Elite
Operation D-Elite was an operation by agents of the FBI and U.S. Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement against leading members of EliteTorrents, a BitTorrent tracker site, resulting in five months of prison, five months of home arrest, and a $3,000 fine against Grant T. Stanley on October...
.
The operation led to the successful busts of nearly 100 individuals involved in illegal copying of copyrighted software (i.e "software piracy
Copyright infringement of software
Copyright infringement of software=The copyright infringement of software refers to several practices which involve the unauthorized copying of computer software. Copyright infringement of this kind varies globally...
"), and alterations thereof, worldwide. There were around 120 total searches executed in 27 states and in 10 foreign countries. Foreign searches were conducted in Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
, Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
, Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
, the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
, Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
, Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
as well as Great Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
and Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
.
Among the prolific warez
Warez
Warez refers primarily to copyrighted works distributed without fees or royalties, and may be traded, in general violation of copyright law. The term generally refers to unauthorized releases by organized groups, as opposed to file sharing between friends or large groups of people with similar...
release groups targeted by Fastlink were Fairlight
Fairlight (group)
Fairlight is a warez and demo group initially involved in the Commodore demoscene, and in cracking to illegally release games for free, since 1987. In addition to the C64, Fairlight has also migrated towards the Amiga, Super Nintendo and later the PC...
, Kalisto
Kalisto
Kalisto is a console warez group established in March 1998 which specializes in the release and distribution of PlayStation and PlayStation 2 ISO images, briefly moonlighting on the Dreamcast platform in mid to late 2000....
, Echelon
Echelon (warez)
Echelon is a warez group which specializes in the illegal release and distribution of copyrighted console games, such as Dreamcast and PlayStation 2 ISO images...
, Class
Class (warez)
CLASS was a notorious and prolific warez group that existed between January 1, 1997 and January 9, 2004. The group was the repeated target of federal raids such as Operation Fastlink. They specialized in cracked games, and sometimes had elaborate art in the cracktro or release...
,and DEViANCE - all of which specialized in pirating computer and console video games. Recent convictions have included members of music release groups Apocalypse Production Crew
APOCALYPSE pRODUCTION cREW
Apocalypse Production Crew was a major MP3 warez organization founded by two individuals known under the pseudonyms acid^rain and Viper in May 1997...
and Chromance.
Cases
- Jathan Desir, 26, (aka jd333) (a University of IowaUniversity of IowaThe University of Iowa is a public state-supported research university located in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. It is the oldest public university in the state. The university is organized into eleven colleges granting undergraduate, graduate, and professional degrees...
student) of Iowa City, IowaIowa City, IowaIowa City is a city in Johnson County, State of Iowa. As of the 2010 Census, the city had a total population of about 67,862, making it the sixth-largest city in the state. Iowa City is the county seat of Johnson County and home to the University of Iowa...
, pleaded guilty on December 22, 2004 to charges related to his role and faces a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison, 5 years for each of the 3 counts of copyright infringement, when he is sentenced on September 30, 2005. This was the first conviction stemming from Operation Fastlink. Sentencing was originally scheduled for March 18, 2005, but the defendant filed an unopposed motion to continue sentencing until June. The judge then later postponed the sentencing further due to "a change in the court's schedule". On July 26, 2005, the judge ordered all the computer-related material seized in the original raid to be forfeited, as agreed to by Desir in his plea bargain. The case is 4:04-cr-00336 from the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa.
- Abell (a.k.a. "joebob") pled guilty to conspiracy to commit copyright infringement on February 28, 2005. He was sentenced to 15 months in prison, 400 hours of community service and two years probation. The case is 5:04-cr-00681 from the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas.
- Lai (a.k.a. "doplgnger") pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit criminal copyright infringement on January 6, 2006 related to his administering several warez FTP sites. He was sentenced on June 18, 2007 to three years of probation, the first six months of which he must serve confined to his home. He was also ordered to pay a fine in the amount of $7200 and to perform 120 hours of community service, by cracking games for the government to lower taxes. The case is 3:06-cr-00004 from the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut.
- Kleinberg (a.k.a. "basilisk") pled guilty on March 8, 2005 and faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison. Sentencing was originally scheduled for July 1, 2005, but has been delayed to January 6, 2006. He admitted to being a supplier for FairlightFairlight (group)Fairlight is a warez and demo group initially involved in the Commodore demoscene, and in cracking to illegally release games for free, since 1987. In addition to the C64, Fairlight has also migrated towards the Amiga, Super Nintendo and later the PC...
and KalistoKalistoKalisto is a console warez group established in March 1998 which specializes in the release and distribution of PlayStation and PlayStation 2 ISO images, briefly moonlighting on the Dreamcast platform in mid to late 2000....
while being Executive Editor of Game Over Online Magazine. The case is 3:05-cr-00049 from the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut. Kleinberg eventually received a reduced sentence of 3 years probation, 200 hours of community service and was ordered to pay a $15,000 fine. http://areacontrol.org/news.php?extend.518.9.
- Jeffrey Lerman (a.k.a. "ht"), 20, a University of Maryland, College ParkUniversity of Maryland, College ParkThe University of Maryland, College Park is a top-ranked public research university located in the city of College Park in Prince George's County, Maryland, just outside Washington, D.C...
student from Long Island, New York, pleaded guilty on March 8, 2005 and was sentenced to six months of house arrestHouse arrestIn justice and law, house arrest is a measure by which a person is confined by the authorities to his or her residence. Travel is usually restricted, if allowed at all...
, three years probation, and a $7500 fine.http://www.technologynewsdaily.com/node/7737 Lerman repackaged and restructured Playstation 2 games, originally distributed on DVDs, for redistribution on CDs for KalistoKalistoKalisto is a console warez group established in March 1998 which specializes in the release and distribution of PlayStation and PlayStation 2 ISO images, briefly moonlighting on the Dreamcast platform in mid to late 2000....
. The case is 3:05-cr-00050 from the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut.
- Albert Bryndza, 32, of Flushing, New York, pleaded guilty on March 8, 2005 and faces a maximum sentence of 5 years in prison. Sentencing was originally scheduled for July 1, 2005, but has been delayed to January 13, 2006. The case is 3:05-cr-00051 from the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut.
- Weiss pleaded guilty on September 12, 2005 to criminal copyright infringement. Sentenced on January 12, 2006 to three years probation, pay $20,914 in restitution, and complete 500 hours of community service. Unknown case from the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York.
- Ringe was indicted for criminal copyright infringement on September 13, 2005. Unknown case from the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona.
- Christopher M. Streit was originally indicted on a criminal copyright infringement charge in the Southern District of Iowa. On March 10, 2005, his case was transferred to the Eastern District of North Carolina. He pleaded guilty on April 11, 2005 and was sentenced to five years probation, 180 days of home confinement, and imposed a 500 dollar fine on September 6, 2005. The case is 5:05-cr-00066 from the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina.
- Joseph J. Huss, Jr., pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiracy and criminal copyright infringement on July 28, 2005. He was sentenced to five years probation, a $200 special assessment, and a $5,000 fine for each of the counts on November 10, 2005. The case is 2:05-cr-00002 from U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
- Timothy Mentzer's three criminal copyright infringement charges were transferred from the Southern District of Iowa. He pleaded guilty on August 3, 2005. He is scheduled to be sentenced June 19, 2006. The case is 2:05-cr-00002 from U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
- George Scott Hayes, 31, of Danville, Virginia, pleaded guilty on February 13, 2006 to one count of criminal copyright infringement related to his involvement in music release group "Chromance." Sentencing is scheduled for May 19, 2006. The case is 1:06-cr-00032 from the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia.
- Derek A. Borchardt ('Mickey')), 21, of Charlotte, North Carolina, Ramiesh Yogarada, 18, of Winston-Salem, North Carolina, Matthew B. Howard, 24, of Longmont, Colorado, and Aaron O. Jones, 31, of Hillsboro, Oregon each pleaded guilty on February 28, 2006 to one count of conspiracy to commit copyright infringement for their involvement in the music release group aPOCALYPSE pRODUCTION cREW (aPC)APOCALYPSE pRODUCTION cREWApocalypse Production Crew was a major MP3 warez organization founded by two individuals known under the pseudonyms acid^rain and Viper in May 1997...
. Sentencing is scheduled for May 19, 2006. The case is 1:06-cr-00041 from the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia.
- Sergey Ribiakost, 21, of Bardonia, New York, pleaded guilty on April 17, 2007 to one count of conspiracy to commit copyright infringement for his involvement with the music release group aPOCALYPSE pRODUCTION cREW (aPC)APOCALYPSE pRODUCTION cREWApocalypse Production Crew was a major MP3 warez organization founded by two individuals known under the pseudonyms acid^rain and Viper in May 1997...
. Sentencing is scheduled for July 10, 2007. The case is in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia
- Bryan Thomas Black, 30, of Waterloo, Illinois pleaded guilty on March 6, 2009 to one count of conspiracy to commit criminal infringement of a copyright for his involvement in a multinational software piracy organization. Sentencing is scheduled for May 26, 2009.
Varying degrees of information for all cases can be obtained (for a nominal fee) via the various courts' electronic document retrieval systems with a PACER
PACER (law)
PACER is an electronic public access service of United States federal court documents. The system is managed by the Administrative Office of the United States Courts...
account.
External links
- Justice Department Announces International Internet Piracy Sweep, US DoJ press release announcing operation (April 22, 2004)
- First ‘Operation Fastlink' Defendant Pleads Guilty to Online Software Piracy, US DoJ press release on Desir plea (December 22, 2004)
- Officials unseal piracy records - about Jathan Desir, first person prosecuted following the raid (December 24, 2004)
- First U.S. Convictions in Largest Ever Multinational Investigation of Internet Piracy, US DoJ press release on Kleinberg, Lerman, and Bryndzda guilty pleas (March 8, 2005)
- Justice Department Announces Four Pleas In Internet Music Piracy Crackdown, US DoJ press release on Borchardt, Howard, Jones, and Hayes guilty pleas (February 28, 2006)
- Two Defendants Plead Guilty in Internet Music Piracy Crackdown, US DoJ press release on Gomez and Ribiakost guilty pleas (April 20, 2007)
- Software Piracy Crackdown ‘Operation Fastlink’ Yields 50th Guilty Plea, US DoJ press release on Eaves guilty plea (May 14, 2007)