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."
Link to copy of DHS press release (PDF).
More information in the public affairs section of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement website (DHS):
News Release (PDF Version)
Elite Torrents Video (AVI) Video Transcript
(Thanks, Jason!)
