[IP] Ashcroft Targets Illicit Distribution Of Movies, Music
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Dave Farber +1 412 726 9889
..... Forwarded Message .......
From: Barry Ritholtz <ritholtz@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: Dave Farber <dave@xxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Thu, 26 Aug 2004 07:45:38 -0400
Subj: Ashcroft Targets Illicit Distribution Of Movies, Music
Hey Dave,
I find it hard to believe that this has become a priority for the DoJ
in these times -- but it apparently has. We may not have captured OBL,
but at least we stopped these kids from swapping files of Usher and
Britney Spears!
Barry L. Ritholtz
Market Strategist
Maxim Group
britholtz@xxxxxxxxxxxx
(212) 895-3614
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The Big Picture: A blog of capital markets, geopolitics, with a dash
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Ashcroft Targets Illicit Distribution Of Movies, Music
http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB109345404554600906,00.html
By MARK WIGFIELD and ETHAN SMITH
Staff Reporters of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
August 26, 2004; Page B6
Attorney General John Ashcroft announced what he called the first
federal law-enforcement action targeting distribution of copyrighted
materials over so-called peer-to-peer networks.
Mr. Ashcroft said five homes and one Internet-services provider, or
ISP, were raided in a probe of networks organized to distribute massive
quantities of copyrighted movies, music, software, games and other
materials over the Internet.
No charges have been filed, and Mr. Ashcroft wouldn't reveal the name
of the ISP while the investigation continues. He said the five networks
had made 45 terabytes of materials available for distribution, or
material the equivalent of more than four times the size of the print
collection of the Library of Congress.
The networks consisted of individuals who, as a condition of
participation, were required to make available for download as much as
100 gigabytes of material, Mr. Ashcroft said. One gigabyte is about the
amount of space required to store 250 songs on a computer hard drive.
Peer-to-peer, or P2P, software enables Internet users to download
materials from other individuals' computers connected to the Internet.
Popular peer-to-peer platforms include Grokster and Kazaa. Mr. Ashcroft
noted that there are legal uses of file-sharing programs.
According to an affidavit by an FBI special agent filed in support of
the search warrant executed yesterday morning, the people whose homes
were searched were members of a 7,000-member operation called the
Underground Network. The network ran using freely available software
called Direct Connect. The investigation leading to the search began in
March.
The affidavit alleges that 200 to 300 users were typically active on
the Underground Network at any given time, trading movies, music and
software, including Bruce Springsteen's "Greatest Hits" album, and the
films "Cold Mountain" and "The Road to Perdition."
An e-mail to the Underground Network site wasn't answered.
Mr. Ashcroft's announcement came on the same day the Recording Industry
Association of America brought copyright-infringement lawsuits against
744 people using a variety of peer-to-peer platforms to share music.
The music industry has attributed a sharp decline in sales to
file-sharing, but said traffic on one of the largest systems is down as
a result of the trade group's decision to sue downloaders.
Separately, the Justice Department is preparing to announce the results
of a nationwide campaign against the purveyors of fraudulent e-mail
"spam" that involves more than 100 arrests, search warrants, subpoenas
and other law-enforcement actions, industry and law-enforcement
officials said.
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