Feds Nick Pair Who Downloaded 14.3 Million Illegal Movies
By David Richards | Thursday | 04/12/2008
Australian Federal Police, who were recently accused of failing to take action over movie and music copyright infringements, have smashed a major operation run by two men who stand accused of illegally downloading the equivalent of more than 14 million movies and television programs.
Intelligence supplied by private investigators working for Hollywood movie Companies is believed to have been used to smash the illegal download operation using an offshore video sharing website. It is alleged the men facilitated the transfer of more than 10,000 terabytes of information which is equivalent to 14.3 million downloads of videos and television programs.
The Australian Federation Against Copyright Theft, who last week smacked a copyright claim on Australia's third largest ISP iiNet for alleged breach of Copyright laws, has been working with the Federal Police and have been the co-ordinators of the information supplied to the police.
Two Queenslanders, aged 21 and 27, have been arrested and are facing charges. Also seized are more than $50,000 and more than 1200 DVD's.
Investigators allege the pair made $10,000 a month by managing an illegal offshore video sharing website with 400,000 international members, including thousands of "VIPs" who paid up to $10 a month for access to direct downloadable media. The men have been charged with copyright and living off the proceeds of crime. The maximum penalty for the offence is a fine of $66,000 or 10 years jail.
AFACT's director of operations, Neil Gane said in a statement issued by his organisation, "BitTorrent is a legitimate and efficient software for sharing files but, like any tool, it can be misused,"
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