Operation Fastlink

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Operation FastLink is a coordination of four separate, simultaneous undercover investigations by the FBI, the FBI Cyber Division, the U.S. Department of Justice, the Computer Crimes and Intellectual Property Section (CCIPS) of the Criminal Division and Interpol. The four different investigations have not been publicly enumerated, but the U.S. Department of Justice has said in at least one press release that "Operation Higher Education" is the largest component, with participation from twelve nations. Mention has also been made of an investigation into pre-release music groups led by FBI agents from the Washington Field Office. As of February 26, 2006, the U.S. Department of Justice states that Operation FastLink is "ongoing" and has yielded felony convictions of 27 individuals. The raids occurred in similar fashion to those from Operation Buccaneer and Operation Site Down. Other somewhat-related law enforcement actions include Operation Gridlock and Operation D-Elite.

The operation led to the successful busts of nearly 100 individuals involved in illegal copying of copyrighted software (i.e "software piracy"), and alterations thereof, worldwide. There were around 120 total searches executed in 27 states and in 10 foreign countries. Foreign searches were conducted in Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, Israel, the Netherlands, Singapore, Sweden as well as Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

Among the prolific warez release groups targeted by Fastlink were Fairlight, Kalisto, Echelon, Class,and DEViANCE - all of which specialized in pirating computer and console video games. Recent convictions have included members of music release groups Apocalypse Production Crew and Chromance.

[edit] Cases

  • Jathan Desir (a.k.a. jd333), 26, (a University of Iowa student) of Iowa City, Iowa, pleaded guilty on December 22, 2004 to charges related to his role and faces a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison when he is sentenced on September 30, 2005. This was the first conviction stemming from Operation Fastlink. Sentencing was originally scheduled for March 18, 2005, but the defendant filed an unopposed motion to continue sentencing until June. The judge then later postponed the sentencing further due to "a change in the court's schedule". On July 26, 2005, the judge ordered all the computer-related material seized in the original raid to be forfeited, as agreed to by Desir in his plea bargain. The case is 4:04-cr-00336 from the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa.
  • Derek A. Borchardt ('Mickey')), 21, of Charlotte, North Carolina, Ramiesh Yogarada, 18, of Winston-Salem, North Carolina, Matthew B. Howard, 24, of Longmont, Colorado, and Aaron O. Jones, 31, of Hillsboro, Oregon each pleaded guilty on February 28, 2006 to one count of conspiracy to commit copyright infringement for their involvement in the music release group "Apocalypse Crew". Sentencing is scheduled for May 19, 2006. The case is 1:06-cr-00041 from the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia.

Varying degrees of information for all cases can be obtained (for a nominal fee) via the various courts' electronic document retrieval systems with a PACER account.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

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