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  1. #1
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    U.S. shuts down network that leaked 'Star Wars'

    Wednesday 25th May 2005

    WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. law enforcers said on Wednesday that they have shut down a computer network that distributed illegal copies of "Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith" before it appeared in movie theaters.

    Federal agents executed 10 search warrants and seized the main server computer in a network that allowed people to download nearly 18,000 movies and software programs, including many current releases, the
    FBI and Homeland Security Department said.

    The Elite Torrents network, found online at www.elitetorrents.org, relied on a technology called BitTorrent that allows users to quickly download digital movies and other large files by copying them from many computers at once.

    The network signed up 133,000 members who collectively downloaded 2.1 million files, according to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement division of the Homeland Security Department.

    Visitors to the Web site on Wednesday saw a notice that read, "This site has been permanently shut down by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement."

    The raid targeted administrators of the network and those who provided movies and other copyrighted material. Similar cases in the past have found that such "first providers" are typically entertainment-industry insiders, rather than outside hackers.

    Agents executed search warrants in Arizona, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Kansas, Texas, Virginia and Wisconsin. No arrests have been made, but the investigation continues, ICE spokeswoman Jamie Zuieback said.

    Elite Torrents offered a "virtually unlimited" selection of material, ICE said. The latest Star Wars movie was available on the network more than six hours before it was first shown in theaters, and within 24 hours it was copied more than 10,000 times.

    The Motion Picture Association, an industry group, helped with the investigation, ICE said. Movie studios are trying to avoid the fate of the music industry, which claims it has lost hundreds of millions of dollars worth of sales due to online file sharing.

    Digital movies are about 50 times larger than music files, which makes them more cumbersome to download. New technologies like BitTorrent, however, and increased high-speed Internet use are closing the gap.

    The MPAA has managed to shut down at least five BitTorrent networks through lawsuits and has also sued individuals who use them.

    BitTorrent networks have caused headaches for software makers as well. Apple Computer Inc has sued three men for posting the latest version of its OS X operating system on a BitTorrent site six months before it was commercially released.

    Source:- Reuters News

    Tinyurl is the answer for posting long urls!!!

  2. #2
    Great News! Stopping theives is not all that bad.

    I am sure others will not agree. No worries... Criminals usually end up getting nailed.
    Don't you walk thru my words
    You got to show some respect
    Don't you walk thru my words
    'Cause you ain't heard me out yet

  3. #3
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    *

    Originally posted by TalkMilitary
    Great News! Stopping theives is not all that bad.

    I am sure others will not agree. No worries... Criminals usually end up getting nailed.
    criminals...

    Peace,
    Testing 1.. Testing 1..2.. Testing 1..2..3...

  4. #4
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    Interesting! Nice little home page the FBI has got their too!

    http://192.31.21.68/


  5. #5
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    Just out of interest on that page...

    I wonder why they have loads of page breaks then at the bottom in the same color as the background, they've written:

    RTJKJAS

    ?

  6. #6
    Originally posted by azizny
    criminals...

    Peace,
    Well, what else do you call a theif? Is their a more "politically correct" name that they want to be called now?
    Don't you walk thru my words
    You got to show some respect
    Don't you walk thru my words
    'Cause you ain't heard me out yet

  7. #7
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    Originally posted by KI-ChrisE
    Just out of interest on that page...

    I wonder why they have loads of page breaks then at the bottom in the same color as the background, they've written:

    RTJKJAS

    ?
    Hmmm,i wonder what it stands for


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  8. #8
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    Probably code for the case file or something.

  9. #9
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    Well good on Microsoft. FBI used MS Word to create that page haha.

    As for RTJKJAS - get loads of results on Google but just sifting through - no answers yet.

  10. #10
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    Originally posted by Camp2Win
    Probably code for the case file or something.
    If it was that - I don't see why they've hidden it so far down the page and in the same color as the background.

    And if it had to be hidden like that - why did they put it their in the first place?

  11. #11
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    I believe it was on TorrentSpy (do a search on digg) that banned the searches for "Star Wars" and you get a notice about searching for illegal items. But I am glad they are starting to take action, just a bit too much to some.
    Tyler Cole
    Eeek, a Blog

  12. #12
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    Some are saying that it's a hack... but 192.31.21.68 looks like it's owned by the government.

  13. #13
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    http://www.google.com/search?q=RTJKJ...f&start=0&sa=N


    http://www.slyck.com/news.php?story=801 ? Hacked?

    EDIT:

    It was shut down, it's not a hack -


    http://www.ice.gov/graphics/

    Look down,

    "Agents Crack Peer-To-Peer Internet Piracy Network in Groundbreaking Investigation "
    Last edited by Mark L; 05-27-2005 at 07:26 PM.

  14. #14
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  15. #15
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    http://www.whois.sc/192.31.21.68

    IP Location: United States United States - California - San Diego - San Diego Supercomputer Center
    Reverse IP: No websites hosted using this IP address
    Reverse DNS: www.dhs.gov

    It's legit

  16. #16
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    The site being shut down doesnt concern me. What DOES concern me is the fact that Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs were involved.. are these now the new faces of companies like the BSA, RIAA, etc, etc? I mean come on, it's not like it was illegal mexicans hiding out in Iraq that were running the site...

    It's the legal territory of the FBI, not HS or Immigration. The fact they can cross such boundaries should be a concern...

  17. #17
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    <3 Canada...
    Warning: include('signature') [function.include]: failed to open stream: No such file or directory in eval'd code on line 38
    Warning: include() [function.include]: Failed opening 'signature' for inclusion (include_path='.:/usr/local/php5/lib/php') in eval'd code on line 38

  18. #18
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    Originally posted by Webdude
    The site being shut down doesnt concern me. What DOES concern me is the fact that Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs were involved.. are these now the new faces of companies like the BSA, RIAA, etc, etc? I mean come on, it's not like it was illegal mexicans hiding out in Iraq that were running the site...

    It's the legal territory of the FBI, not HS or Immigration. The fact they can cross such boundaries should be a concern...
    That's exactly what I was thinking!

  19. #19
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    Question I found some more on this

    Copy from irc


    Quote:
    [11:29pm] ok this is the deal people listen closely
    [11:30pm] this whole ordeal started with a stolen workprint form lucas films
    [11:30pm] this promted a federal investigation on that particular release
    [11:30pm] now mpaa could not touch et (civily) but because a criminal
    [11:30pm] case was issued that now changes the rules
    [11:31pm] lucas wanted someones head on a platter
    [11:31pm] said it cost the film big dollars making it a felony
    [11:31pm] said it was taken over seas to foreign countries
    [11:31pm] thus bringing in ice
    [11:32pm] now someone from et leaked to the wrong people that et had this release up
    [11:32pm] 6 hours prior to its first showin
    [11:32pm] and that it was dl 10k times
    [11:32pm] this focused the criminal case on to et
    [11:33pm] (thinking it was probably someone here) but no it was not anyone from et who stole the movie
    [11:33pm] fbi shuts et down issue warrants for admins pc
    [11:33pm] not all warrants were et staff
    [11:33pm] two admins were raided and only their pc was taken
    [11:33pm] no arrest have been made
    [11:33pm] no other details have been leaked
    [11:34pm] right now there is still a criminal case going on with the sw3 workprint release
    [11:34pm] those who dl may have something to worry about
    [11:34pm] but for now only those who made it available has to worry about it
    [11:35pm] now i do not
    [11:35pm] know what is to become of the logs with the star wars dl
    [11:36pm] i dont know what kryl0n is doing
    [11:36pm] or gone to
    [11:36pm] this came from a mod who called to update someone on what happened to the 2 admins
    [11:36pm] that is it for now

    I dont really understand still,they made over 300 MILLION DOLLARS in 4 days!!!!!!!! This didnt seem to hurt them 1 bit!!!!!!

    I dunno......

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  20. #20
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    Re: I found some more on this

    Originally posted by The Dude

    I dont really understand still,they made over 300 MILLION DOLLARS in 4 days!!!!!!!! This didnt seem to hurt them 1 bit!!!!!!

    I dunno......
    Are you ****ing kidding me? So it made 300 million dollars, didn't hurt them? What the **** are you smoking? It's stealing. PERIOD.

    Attitudes like that piss me off. At least accept the fact that it's illegal and it hurts them money wise, if you want to steal fine, but don't lie to yourself by saying it didn't hurt them 1 bit.
    Last edited by Rob83; 05-28-2005 at 02:32 PM.

  21. #21
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    I gue$$ so Rob

    Tinyurl is the answer for posting long urls!!!

  22. #22
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    While I don't condone theft, and the legitimate enforcement of law is necessary I think the MPAA should really start their housecleaning a bit closer to home. All these studio grade prereleases, especially the ones that still had the production data in them, had to be leaked from someone inside the studios or their affiliates. Time for the studios and MPAA to acknowledge that they have internal problems and clean up their own act as well. Remeber what they say about people who live in glass houses ...
    "Obsolesence is just a lack of imagination."

  23. #23
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    Re: Re: I found some more on this

    Originally posted by Rob83
    Are you ****ing kidding me? So it made 300 million dollars, didn't hurt them? What the **** are you smoking? It's stealing. PERIOD.

    Attitudes like that piss me off. At least accept the fact that it's illegal and it hurts them money wise, if you want to steal fine, but don't lie to yourself by saying it didn't hurt them 1 bit.
    Get off your high horse, it isn't stealing, it is copyright infringement, both are illegal. Whether they are morally wrong is a debate for another thread. Maybe instead of going after the site that posts it, they should go after the Lucas employee who leaked the film? It was a workprint, it had elapsed time rolling across the top, and it was released before the film was. This means it is almost surely someone who works for Lucas that leaked the film.
    hm what should I put in my sig?

  24. #24
    How much you wanna bet that the person who says "it's not stealing" throws a hissyfit when someone rips their site design?
    So far I have not needed to make 31 posts thanks to the search function.

  25. #25

    Re: Re: Re: I found some more on this

    Originally posted by ChaosHosting
    Get off your high horse, it isn't stealing, it is copyright infringement, both are illegal. Whether they are morally wrong is a debate for another thread. Maybe instead of going after the site that posts it, they should go after the Lucas employee who leaked the film? It was a workprint, it had elapsed time rolling across the top, and it was released before the film was. This means it is almost surely someone who works for Lucas that leaked the film.
    High Horse? Not stealing? You gotta be kidding me?
    Those that stole it got to see it for free, right?
    You are normally charged $$ to see it... and a portion of that fee goes to the creators of the film (that is why they go to the trouble of making these fils.. profit!)

    Those that downloaded it and watched it did so illegaly and stole a copy. To me, it is black and white. Either pay to see it and be within the law, or STEAL it and suffer the potential consequences. No other way about it.

    Should Lucas and the MPAA seal up their leaks? Sure. But as long as theifs are around (within and out), leaks will happen. They do pursue those leaks. But that does not mean it is OK to steal their work.
    Don't you walk thru my words
    You got to show some respect
    Don't you walk thru my words
    'Cause you ain't heard me out yet

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