US closes Australian-based computer piracy ring
The underground "warez" group was charged with pirating more than $6.5 million in copyrighted material including the movies "Sin City", "Closer" and "Meet the Fockers", the games "Super Streetfighter II", "NASCAR Simracing" and "Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2005", and software from Microsoft, Intel and Hewlett-Packard.
One server recorded uploads and downloads of over 19,000 gigabytes,n or enough material to fit on 23,000 CD ROMs, according to a 15-count indictment unsealed in Chicago yesterday.
"Online thieves who steal merchandise that companies work hard to produce and protect might think that cyberspace cloaks them in anonymity and makes them invulnerable to prosecution, but we have the ability to infiltrate their secret networks and hold them accountable for their criminal conduct," US Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald said.
The indictment alleges that a man living in Perth, Australia who went by the handle of "chucky" was the defacto leader and set policy for the group, decided who could have access to the servers and uploaded copyrighted material from remote sites.
The group, which called itself RISCO – an acronym for Rise in Superior Couriering – used sophisticated security measures to conceal their activities, communications and identities and block unauthorised access to the material stored on its servers, the indictment alleges.
The FBI said they managed to infiltrate the group through the aid of an informant who maintained one of the main servers. Charges of conspiracy to infringe a copyright were laid against 19 people in the US, Australia and Barbados. The charge carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
The US government has begun extradition proceedings for Sean Patrick O’Toole, 26, of Perth, Australia and Linda Waldron, 57, of Barbados, the Chicago Tribune reported. The remainder of the 19 defendants are US citizens and all must appear in Chicago for an arraignment.
Sapa-AFP
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