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Jan. 19, 2005

Justice Dept. gains first P2P piracy convictions

By Brooks Boliek
WASHINGTON -- The Justice Department on Tuesday notched its first-ever convictions for copyright piracy perpetrated on P2P networks as two suspects nabbed by the G-men in the department's "Operation Digital Gridlock" pleaded guilty to felony intellectual property crimes.

William Trowbridge, 50, of Johnson City, N.Y., and Michael Chicoine, 47, of San Antonio each pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit felony criminal copyright infringement before Judge Paul Friedman in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. The men made available millions of dollars worth of movies, music, computer games and software on P2P sites they maintained for at least two years, the department said.

"As today's pleas demonstrate, those who steal copyrighted material will be caught, even when they use the tools of technology to commit their crimes," Attorney General John Ashcroft said. "The theft of intellectual property victimizes not only its owners and their employees but also the American people, who shoulder the burden of increased costs for goods and services. The Department of Justice is committed to pursuing and bringing to justice those who commit intellectual property theft."

The convictions resulted from Operation Digital Gridlock, an investigation conducted by the FBI, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia and the Justice Department's Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section. Under Ashcroft, the Justice Department has made the prosecution of copyright pirates a priority, and Operation Digital Gridlock is one of several efforts under way in the government's crackdown.

Operation Digital Gridlock, announced Aug. 25, targeted illegal file-sharing of copyrighted materials over five P2P networks that belonged to an online group of hubs known as the Underground Network. These networks required their users to share large quantities of computer files with other network users, all of whom could download each others' shared files.

From around August 2002 through August 2004, Trowbridge owned, maintained, operated and moderated a direct connect hub named the "Movie ?om" and Chicoine owned, maintained, operated, and moderated a hub named "苗h??'s Alley TM."

During the investigation, government agents downloaded 35 copyrighted works worth $4,820.66 from Chicoine's hub and more than 70 copyrighted works worth $20,648.63 from Trowbridge's hub. Both men pleaded guilty to acting for commercial advantage or private financial gain because, in addition to distributing unauthorized copyrighted works, their hubs operated in order to obtain valuable infringing works from others.

"These prosecutions, the first federal enforcement actions ever taken against criminal copyright theft over peer-to-peer networks, send a powerful message to cyber-criminals," said Kenneth Wainstein, interim U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia. "Like the defendants who pleaded guilty today, those who steal the work of others over the Internet stand to face serious consequences."

The maximum penalty for a first-time offender convicted of conspiracy to commit felony criminal copyright infringement is five years in prison, a $250,000 fine, restitution to the victims and the forfeiture and destruction of infringing copies and all equipment used to manufacture infringing copies. Trowbridge and Chicoine will be sentenced April 29.

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Copyright 2004 The Hollywood Reporter