Suspected file-swappers arrested in global raid
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Police in a dozen countries have seized computers and made arrests in a raid of groups that illegally copied more than $50 million worth of software, movies, music and video games, U.S. and Dutch authorities said on Thursday.
Investigators across the globe conducted 90 searches in an effort to disrupt the sophisticated “warez” groups that are responsible for the vast majority of copyrighted material that is available illegally online.
The 22 groups distributed “Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith,” Adobe Systems Inc.’s (Nasdaq:ADBE - news) Photoshop software, and hundreds of other well-known titles that had been stripped of their copy protection, the U.S. Justice Department said.
Four people were arrested in the United States and three more in the Netherlands, authorities in those countries said.