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First criminal BitTorrent bust in USA: Elite Torrents

If this was already posted in a different section then you can delete this.

Snipped from the Department of Homeland Security press release:

Acting Assistant Attorney General John C. Richter of the Criminal Division, Homeland Security Assistant Secretary for Immigration and Customs Enforcement Michael J. Garcia, and Assistant Director Louis M. Reigel of the FBI's Cyber Division announced today the first criminal enforcement action targeting individuals committing copyright infringement on peerto- peer (P2P) networks using cutting edge file-sharing technology known as BitTorrent.
This morning, agents of the FBI and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) executed 10 search warrants across the United States against leading members of a technologically sophisticated P2P network known as Elite Torrents. Employing technology known as BitTorrent, the Elite Torrents network attracted more than 133,000 members and, in the last four months, allegedly facilitated the illegal distribution of more than 17,800 titles - including movies and software - which were downloaded 2.1 million times.

In addition to executing 10 warrants, federal agents also took control of the main server that coordinated all file-sharing activity on the Elite Torrents network. Anyone attempting to log on to Elitetorrents.org today will receive the following message: "This Site Has Been Permanently Shut Down By The Federal Bureau of Investigation and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement."

Quote:

than 133,000 members and, in the last four months, allegedly facilitated the illegal distribution of more than 17,800 titles - including movies and software - which were downloaded 2.1 million times.

I have a tough time believing those numbers. Now, unless the webmasters were smart, they wouldn't log anything, especially the number of downloads (the number of users is easy, but could have been helped by using a non-ratio site script ala SuprNova), since database performance would take a hit.

Who knows, I guess it all depends on how the backend technology was employed.

Damn check out the actual site now

www.elitetorrents.org

Department of Homeland Security? Did the webmaster commit terrorism crime or something?

Yeah ... and the department of Immigration and Customs? What the hell?

This doesn't add up ... why this site and none others? I guess they have some terrorist connection or they're just making that up as an excuse to take 'em out.

ICE Cyber Crimes Center – ICE agents in the United States and abroad work closely with the ICE Cyber Crimes Center to combat the problem of piracy and related IPR violations over the Internet. The Cyber Crimes Center is ICE’s state-of-the-art center for computer based investigations, providing expertise and tools to help agents target Internet piracy. The Cyber Crimes Center coordinates its anti-counterfeiting efforts closely with the National IPR Center.

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http://www.ice.gov/graphics/investig...yberbranch.htm
The ICE Cyber Crimes Center

C3 Cyber Crime Center Pamphlet

Every crime that can be committed in the "real" world can be committed or facilitated using computers and the Internet. From child pornography to arms and drug trafficking, the criminal underworld has embraced this medium of commerce and communication.

The Cyber Crimes Center is recognized nationally and internationally as a leader in the investigation of international criminal activities conducted on or facilitated by the Internet. Created in 1997, the Center brings the full range of ICE computer and forensic assets together in a single location to combat such Internet-related crimes as:

* Possession, manufacture and distribution of child pornography.
* International money laundering and illegal cyber-banking.
* Illegal arms trafficking and illegal export of strategic/controlled commodities.
* Drug trafficking (including prohibited pharmaceuticals).
* Trafficking in stolen art and antiquities.
* Intellectual property rights violations (including music and software).

The Cyber Crimes Center essentially serves as “mission control” for ICE’s Internet related investigations. The center develops leads generated by domestic and international sources; validates if those leads constitute violations of law, then turns over these leads to ICE field offices for further investigation.

The Center has also provided hundreds of leads to foreign law enforcement agencies. Another important component of the center is training. The Center provides cyber crime training to Federal, state, local and international law enforcement agencies.

The Cyber Crimes Center is divided into three primary sections: child exploitation, computer forensics, and cyber crimes.
Child Exploitation

Child Exploitation focuses on child pornography and child sex tourism violations occurring over the Internet through the use of the World Wide Web, newsgroups, Internet Relay Chat Channels, and other technologies. Over the years, the Cyber Crimes Center has achieved great success in identifying and apprehending Internet child pornographers. Recent investigative successes include:

* Operation Hamlet -- a joint investigation by ICE and the Danish National Police into a ring of pedophiles that molested their own children and posted images of this molestation on the Internet. Launched in 2001, this case has to date resulted in the arrest of 34 individuals and the rescue of more than 100 children subjected to this torturous environment. The majority of these children were U.S. citizens.

* Operation Mango -- an extensive investigation that closed down an American-owned beachside resort in Acapulco, Mexico that catered to child sex predators. The resort was a haven for pedophiles that traveled to the facility for the sole purpose of engaging in sex with minors. As a result of this investigation and others, the government of Mexico recently created a Federal task force to address crimes against children in its country.

Cyber Crimes

Cyber Crimes focuses on an array of Internet-related crimes that are not connected to child pornography. This section investigates the use of the Internet to further criminal activities such as intellectual property rights violations, money laundering, narcotics trafficking, fraud, stolen cultural property (including missing Iraqi artifacts), and arms trafficking/illegal exports.

LOL! I've never even heard of this site. There are plenty of other torrent sites outside US jurisdiction.

Yeah, I've never seen it as well.

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Originally Posted by Redjake

Damn check out the actual site now

www.elitetorrents.org

On the lower left of the screen of this link, there's red lettering (on the red background): RTJKJAS. Does anyone know what this means/is?

Edit: My Google searh just turns up questions of the same on other forums.

I was a member on that site. I don't see how it could of had 133K users, since there was a 100K user cap. Unless they never actually deleted the older members. It had tons of things to download, at great speeds too. Also, that site was based out of the netherlands. On their forums a lot of people were asking what the chances were of being caught, and something happening to the site, etc. Almost all of the members/admins said there wasn't that big of a chance since it was in the Netherlands. Couple of weeks later - Guess they were wrong. :crazy:

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Originally Posted by Jesus Pimp

LOL! I've never even heard of this site. There are plenty of other torrent sites outside US jurisdiction.

With the formation of ICE, there really is no site outside of US jurisiction. If any of the activity comes from a single user inside the US, Warrents can be issued. There are really NO safe illegal tradeings sites now.