10-07-2003 21:15									#1
	Leader of "warez" software piracy group gets 18 months prison Support Apolyton, buy Civilization: The Boardgame

(it's a bit old, but I dont remember a thread about it)

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/030606/323/e1re9.html

quote: Leader of "warez" software piracy group gets 18 months prison WASHINGTON (AFP) - An alleged leader of an online software piracy group known as Razor1911 was sentenced Friday to 18 months in prison for conspiracy to violate copyright laws, officials said. The Justice Department said in a statement that Shane Pitman, 31, of Conover, North Carolina, was sentenced by federal Judge James Cacheris in Alexandria, Virginia. Shane Pitman, known by his screen nickname "Pitbull," was a leader of the underground Internet piracy community or "warez scene" and was accused of piracy of computer and console game software. "The group prided itself on cracking and illegally distributing the most popular software games, usually before their public release date, including such games as Quake, Red Alert, Terminal Velocity, and Warcraft II and III," the Justice Department said. "Shane Pitman's conviction and sentence should send a strong message to organized Internet gangs like Razor1911 that stealing and illegally distributing game software online is not a game," said US Attorney Paul McNulty. "If other software pirates still entertain the false belief that the Internet offers anonymity for this type of copyright infringement, they do so at their own peril." Pitman was among more than 40 individuals targeted worldwide by Operation Buccaneer, a 14-month undercover investigation by a variety of law enforcement agencies. Other groups targeted were known as DrinkOrDie, RiSC, RiSCISO, Request To Send (RTS), ShadowRealm (SRM), We Love Warez (WLW), and POPZ. The statement said Pitman is the 22nd person convicted to date on on felony copyright infringement charges as a result of Operation Buccaneer.

	10-07-2003 21:17									#2
	Inflate your Upload Space

Look like you'll have to pay for your software now Eli.

	10-07-2003 21:18									#3
	Support Apolyton or Terrorists Win

While many countries now have official laws for using warez... USA is apparently the only one where anyone cares. I mean the authorities - noone here enforces the laws.

If you ask me, he got lucky to only be charged in conspiracy against copyright.

	10-07-2003 21:19									#4
	Got spare money?

quote: Look like you'll have to pay for your software now Eli.

Hey, he lives in a free country .

	10-07-2003 21:20									#5
	Support Apolyton, buy Alpha Centauri

I'll have to this one. Pirating great games such as Warcraft isn't accpetable.

	10-07-2003 21:20									#6
	Avatar Enlargement: We've got the solution

quote: Originally posted by Solver Hey, he lives in a free country .

I forgot. No one pays for software in Israel.

	10-07-2003 21:20									#7
	Support Apolyton, pre-order Civilization IV

What on earth is "conspiracy to violate copyright?"

	10-07-2003 21:21									#8
	Help yourself to an AD-FREE life

quote: Originally posted by Urban Ranger What on earth is "conspiracy to violate copyright?"

Legalese way of saying software piracy, I imagine.

	10-07-2003 21:22									#9
	Lose 30 kilos (of popups)

Conspiracy to pirate? Easy stuff.

	10-07-2003 21:23									#10
	Full PM-box? Change here!

it's good to see the Justice Department going after software pirates instead of CORPORATE CRIMINALS AND TERRORISTS...

	10-07-2003 21:25									#11
	Avatar Enlargement: We've got the solution

Yeah, how dare they enforce federal laws! Thanks for pointing that out Sava.

	10-07-2003 21:25									#12
	Support Apolyton, buy Alpha Centauri

Yeah, because they use legal software and only help others obtain illegal copies, it's conspiracy .

	10-07-2003 21:26									#13
	Support Apolyton, buy GURPS/ Alpha Centauri

quote: Originally posted by DinoDoc Yeah, how dare they enforce federal laws! Thanks for pointing that out Sava.

Lovely! Now only if they do it to Kay, other Enron execs, and the MCI Worldcom types.

	10-07-2003 21:28									#14
	Support Apolyton buy from Amazon

quote: Yeah, how dare they enforce federal laws! Thanks for pointing that out Sava.

there are X amount of federal resources... it's obscene that they are wasting resources on some 30 year old bum copying software from his parents' basement rather than corporate crooks stealing billions or terrorists plotting to kill us... it's this kind of misappropriation of resources that allowed 9-11 to happen. But then again, why should the fed's go after corporate crooks when the country is led by their buddies.

	10-07-2003 21:30									#15
	Enter the AD-FREE zone

Is anyone going to go see "Pirates of The Carribean" ?

	10-07-2003 21:31									#16
	Browse Apolyton AD-FREE

yeah sloww.. it looks good...

	10-07-2003 21:31									#17
	Support Apolyton, buy Civilization: The Boardgame

quote: Originally posted by Sava there are X amount of federal resources... it's obscene that they are wasting resources on some 30 year old bum copying software from his parents' basement rather than corporate crooks stealing billions or terrorists plotting to kill us...

Oh for the love of God, based on your histrionics one would think that you believe that the entire Justice Department's budget was dedicated to this.

	10-07-2003 21:33									#18
	Suffering from ads?

quote: Oh for the love of God, based on your histrionics one would think that you believe that the entire Justice Department's budget was dedicated to this.

it's a simple question of priorities... each dollar, each man-hour spent catching this guy is a theft from the effort to prosecute bigger fish.

	10-07-2003 21:50									#19
	Support Apolyton buy from Amazon

Yay for justice!

Why are people so often shocked and outraged when people who knowingly break the law are punished?

	10-07-2003 21:51									#20
	Support Apolyton buy from Amazon

quote: Why are people so often shocked and outraged when people who knowingly break the law are punished?

I'm outraged because there are REAL threats to society running around out there.

	10-07-2003 21:54									#21
	Support Apolyton, buy Alpha Centauri

i find it funny that in the article, they quoted some specific things as if it wouldn't be obvious what they meant:

quote: the underground Internet piracy community or "warez scene"

	10-07-2003 21:56									#22
	Tired of ads?

quote: I'm outraged because there are REAL threats to society running around out there.

And, funnily enough, they'll be punished when they're caught too.

Somehow I don't think the people in the Justice Department that deal with software pirates are the same ones who have to deal with corporate fraud and terrorism.

If nobody stops the "little criminals" the world will collapse much faster than the "big criminals" could make it do.

The argument of "There are more serious crimes than this! Why are they investigating these crimes?" is an absurdity.

This person essentially stole money from software publishers and developers. Probably several thousand dollars worth. Theft = theft = illegal.

	10-07-2003 21:58									#23
	Full PM-box? Change here!

As long as this doesn't affect abandonware sites I don't see a problem with it. After all abandonware sites are mostly attempting to keep this stuff around rather than rip off the software manufacturers

	10-07-2003 22:01									#24
	Support Apolyton, buy GURPS/ Alpha Centauri

quote: And, funnily enough, they'll be punished when they're caught too.

not if they aren't pursued or the Fed gets appropriate funds to do so

quote: Somehow I don't think the people in the Justice Department that deal with software pirates are the same ones who have to deal with corporate fraud and terrorism.

duh... it's a misappropriation of funds AND manpower.

quote: If nobody stops the "little criminals" the world will collapse much faster than the "big criminals" could make it do.

so if a skyscraper is on fire, you'd worry about putting out a single pack of matches before the inferno?

quote: The argument of "There are more serious crimes than this! Why are they investigating these crimes?" is an absurdity.

no, it's a fact and legitimate gripe. A cop sees two crimes happen at the same time... a man shooting a person in the head, and a kid stealing a candy bar from a 7-11... who should the cop pursue?

	10-07-2003 22:29									#25
	Tired of ads?

quote: Originally posted by Solver Yeah, because they use legal software and only help others obtain illegal copies, it's conspiracy .

They were jailed for being hummanists, saying in simple words.

They cought small warezist. Really serious warezist live in Germany, Russia and Asia Pasific.

	10-07-2003 22:37									#26
	Support Apolyton buy from Amazon

quote: Originally posted by Sava A cop sees two crimes happen at the same time... a man shooting a person in the head, and a kid stealing a candy bar from a 7-11... who should the cop pursue?

That analogy just doesn't make any sense. Are you suggesting that these particular justice officials saw two crimes at once and decided to pursue the software pirate at the expense of another crime?

Yes, software piracy is not the most serious crime around. However, to describe investigations into it as a "misappropriation of funds and manpower" is just stupid.

Are you suggesting that no attempt should be made to catch and prosecute software pirates? Or do you simply think it needs to be downgraded in priority so that money and manpower can be spent on more serious offences? If the latter, then do you have any source to document the levels of money and manpower devoted to investigations into softwatre theft as compared to terrorism or corporate fraud? I'd like to see such a source if you have one.

	10-07-2003 22:51									#27
	Browse Apolyton AD-FREE

FPoet, its really waste of money. There are millions of people who share warez and thousands of those who crack software. So USA simply has no enought room in the jails.

	10-07-2003 23:02									#28
	Full PM-box? Change here!

an easy way to shut down a lot of piracy in the united states is to kill off the highspeed access to universities.

college students are too poor to afford the programs, movies and music they want, want everything, and know how to use it.

	10-07-2003 23:17									#29
	Support Apolyton or Terrorists Win

Isn't this like year old news? Or did they just sentence this guy.. ?

Anyway, these are the ones that investigators should go after. They are the reason why these things get released and later on makes it possible to public download software, operating systems and games.

But, scene is still as active as ever. Out with the old, in with the new.

	10-07-2003 23:19									#30
	Avatar Enlargement: We've got the solution

Yeah, Sava, your argument is silly. There are different divisions dedicated to different crimes. One is software piracy, another (and MUCH bigger) is corporate crimes. Of course the main problem with corporate crimes is the corporations are MUCH better at hiding wrong doing. It is hard to get a smoking gun. Software piracy? Much easier.

for getting these guys.