Law enforcement authorities from around the world raided illegal filesharing networks, making arrests and seizing computers. Today’s assault led by the FBI hammered multiple locations in the Netherlands after a dozen raids yesterday.
Raids conducted in Australia, Israel, Germany, South-Korea, Norway, France, Sweden, Denmark, Russia, Poland, Canada and Hungary provided computers and suspects in the war being waged by RIAA and the MPAA.
Authorities say this was one of the largest networks involved in file sharing of copyrighted material including music, movies, games and other software. Some of the stuff hadn’t even been released yet. The RIAA and MPAA claim the creators of the content as well as the companies that produce them lose vast quantities of revenue every year from the downloading of illegal.
This is the second such raid targeting an international ring. Back in April of 2004, authorities staged another massive raid against members of the “Fairlight” group.
These raids come on the heels of a controversial Supreme Court decision (aren’t they all) that said companies who built their businesses around illegal activities could be possibly held liable for the actions of people who illegally file share copyright content. The high court sent the decision down to be tried since all decisions in the case came from summary judgments.
The court decision against Grokster and Streamcast Networks came down on Monday. No new trial date has been set.
John Stith is a staff writer for murdok covering technology and business.
