Feds disable movie piracy websites in raids

["Michael Painter" <tvhawaii () shaka com>]

As randy said not too long ago, First they came for...

BURBANK, Calif. (AP) -- U.S. officials on Wednesday announced a major crackdown on movie piracy that involved disabling 
nine websites that were offering downloads of pirated movies in some cases hours after they appeared in theaters.

Officials also seized assets from 15 bank, investment and advertising accounts, and executed residential search warrants 
in North Carolina, New Jersey, New York and Washington.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials worked with the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York and 
other government agencies. The investigation involved about 100 agents in 11 states and the Netherlands.

Officials wouldn't say how many people were suspected of intellectual property theft, but said the penalties could include 
prison time.

The raids were the first actions in a new "Operation In Our Sites" initiative to combat Internet counterfeiting and 
piracy.

The government only seized domain names for the sites in question, however, meaning the computers that run the sites could 
still be used under a different name.

http://www.technologyreview.com/wire/25690/?nlid=3195&a=f