| http://us.news2.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/afp/20040422/lthumb.sge.jpc08.220404190520.photo00.default-384x255.jpg
(AFP/File/Luke Frazza)
Eat Me
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Investigators have raided 120 sites across the globe to break up online piracy networks that distribute copyrighted music, movies and software, the U.S. Justice Department (news - web sites) said on Thursday.
The investigation, carried out in 27 U.S. states and 10 foreign countries, targeted covert "warez" groups that distribute computer games and other works before they are officially released, the Justice Department said.
More than 200 computers have been seized so far and nearly 100 individuals have been identified, the Justice Department said.
Warez groups, consisting of tech-savvy hackers and industry insiders, compete with each other to post pirated works on secret computer servers.
From there, the works quickly spread across the Internet and become available to millions through file-sharing networks like Kazaa and Morpheus.
Server computers seized in the raids contained hundreds of thousands of illegally copied works, the Justice Department said.
Foreign searches were conducted in Great Britain, Germany, France, Israel, Singapore, Belgium, the Netherlands, Denmark, Hungary and Sweden, the Justice Department said.
Thu Apr 22, 1:22 PM ET Yahoo | |
