100 People Identified in Piracy Raid

An international effort to dismantle major Internet piracy groups has identified more than 100 people in the United States and abroad who were potentially involved in the theft of more than $50 million in music, movies, games and computer software, U.S. authorities said Thursday.

Synchronized searches by the FBI in 27 states and by other authorities in 10 countries beginning Wednesday resulted in the seizure of more than 200 computers, including 30 servers used as storage and distribution hubs for the material, Atty. Gen. John Ashcroft said.

“This is thievery,” Ashcroft told reporters. “This is criminal.”

The initiative is the largest of its kind undertaken by the Justice Department against piracy of intellectual property over the Internet. The film, music and software industries have been pushing for greater criminal prosecution while in some cases pursuing their own civil cases.

Industry officials applauded the action.

“Without copyright protection and enforcement, piracy will dramatically and deleteriously impact the future of the American film industry,” said John Malcolm, chief of antipiracy operations for the Motion Picture Assn. of America.

Although no arrests were announced, Ashcroft said charges would be brought against some of the people. They could face copyright infringement and conspiracy charges, among others, punishable by up to five years in prison on each count.