Operation Site Down is the umbrella name for a law enforcement initiative conducted by the FBI and law enforcement agents from ten other countries which resulted in a raid on targets on June 29, 2005. Three separate undercover investigations were involved, based in Chicago (Operation Jolly Roger), Charlotte and San Jose (Operation Copycat). The raid consisted of approximately 70 searches in the United States and approximately 20 others in ten other countries in an effort to disrupt and dismantle many of the leading warez groups which distribute and trade in copyrighted software, movies, music and games on the Internet.
On February 1, 2006, the U.S. Attorney's Office under Patrick Fitzgerald announced that it was indicting nineteen members of Risciso, a software and movie piracy ring, in U.S. District Court in Chicago. The lead prosecutor for the government in this case was Assistant U.S. Attorney Pravin Rao.
Up to May 6, 2008, there had been over 40 convictions as a result of the ongoing investigation. As part of each plea agreement, each defendant has agreed to forfeit the equipment that was seized during the federal search warrants executed on June 29, 2005. The current tally is:
- 118 computers;
- 13 laptops;
- 4,567 infringed CDs and DVDs;
- 413 VHS tapes and floppies;
- 28 keyboards and monitors;
- 5 digital cameras;
- 28 PlayStations and Xboxes;
- 7 computer towers; and
- 1 plasma TV, cell phones, speakers, an MP3 player, and a DSL modem.
Operation Site Down has primarily targeted ISO (movies and software) groups. TV, 0-day, and MP3 groups seem relatively unaffected.
Read more about Operation Site Down: Summary, Groups/sites Affected, Arrest Locations, Sentences, Similarities To The Scene Miniseries
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