----------------------------------- hbgator Tue 28 Feb, 2006 Online piracy crackdown nets three guilty pleas ----------------------------------- Three members of an online music piracy operation pleaded guilty in federal court on Tuesday in response to a government crackdown, the U.S. Justice Department said. Members of the group "Apocalypse Crew" pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit copyright infringement in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, the department said. Derek Borchardt, 21, of Charlotte, North Carolina; Matthew Howard, 24, of Longmont, Colorado; and Aaron Jones, 31, of Hillsboro, Oregon, each obtained digital "pre-release" copies of songs and albums before their U.S. commercial release, the government said. The music was then distributed globally through file-sharing networks. The supply of pre-release music was often provided by music industry insiders, employees of music magazine publishers, or workers at compact disc manufacturing plants and retailers, the Justice Department said. The material was sent to secure computer servers and then distributed globally, "filtering down to peer-to-peer and other public file sharing networks accessible to anyone with Internet access and potentially appearing for sale around the world," it added. Steven McCool, a lawyer representing Howard, said his client had not gained financially from his misconduct. "At the time of the offense, Mr. Howard did not recognize the seriousness of his actions. He now understands that he committed a crime, and he has accepted full responsibility for his misconduct," McCool said. A fourth defendant, George Hayes, 31, of Danville, Virginia, previously pleaded guilty to one count of criminal copyright infringement for his involvement in another pre-release music group called "Chromance." Each of the four men faces up to five years in prison and a fine of $250,000, the Justice Department said. Attorneys representing the other three defendants either declined comment or were not immediately available. ----------------------------------- jkf Tue 28 Feb, 2006 ----------------------------------- Yeah, I remember Sony busted one of their media distribution agencies a few years ago by putting in a digital watermark in their video. And each of the agencies received a copy with a different code in it to identify who was leaking it. It took them a long time but they were able to narrow it down to a few people. They fired the entire outfit and pressed charges on 2 people. This was in the Philippines.