(Hamburg, March 2004) The most comprehensive worldwide search action in the area of film and entertainment software copyright theft was successfully conducted on 16 and 18 March 2002, based on investigative reports by the German Federation Against Copyright Theft (Gesellschaft zur Verfolgung von Urheberrechtsverletzungen e.V., GVU) .

Nearly 800 homes, offices and computer centres in the metropolitan areas of Munich, Frankfurt/Main, Bremen, Cologne and the Ruhr region were searched. Numerous arrests were made. The action was the largest blow the world has ever seen against the organised production of bootleg copies and their distribution on the Internet. Damages to the entertainment business are estimated to exceed ten million euros.

More than two years of intensive investigative work on the part of the GVU yielded detailed information and evidence against the “bootleg industry”. Following a demand by the GVU for prosecution, and thanks to comprehensive cooperation with justice authorities in Munich, Bochum/Herten and Frankfurt/Main, it was for the first time possible to determine the identities of organisations (“release groups”) responsible for the illegal production and first-ever releases of German versions of cinema films such as “The Lord of the Rings” and “Cheaper by the Dozen” as well as newly released software. Not only the producers of premiere releases but also their entire premiere structure using fast Internet servers was uncovered. Most of the structure for post-premiere commercial distribution – on the one hand through a multitude of smaller download servers and on the other through trade with bootleg copies – was revealed as well.

Nineteen Internet servers were confiscated. They stored film and software bootlegs with a total of 38 terabytes (38,000 gigabytes) for distribution. That is roughly the equivalent of nearly 800 conventional modern computers. Also confiscated were more than 40,000 data carriers and more than 200 computer systems, which is equal to the storage capacity of 800 modern computers or 8000 movies. The culprits arrested were responsible for the production and first-ever publication of more than 500 cinema films between 2001 and 2004.

Gangs busted!
In a related development, a gang of commercial criminals in the Ruhr metropolitan area was disbanded. They had supplied dealers with current cinema films and the latest software on DVDs and video CDs. These criminals received the source material earlier through a direct connection with the release groups, which gave them enough time to make large quantities of copies for sale. These organisations were highly conspirative and had a clear division of labour. For example, maintenance of the technical equipment, cover production and manufacturing of the CDs were all handled by different specialists. The 42-year-old head of the gang had put together his own security service to monitor pedestrian and automobile traffic around the production sites and protect against possible measures by authorities. The group ran a production line with 24 high-speed laser disk burners. According to the investigation, it had been active for about five years.

Hackers caught!
Simultaneously, police in Cologne/Hürth were conducting criminal investigations pursuant to pressing charges against a large gang of hackers who had infiltrated computing centres, especially those of large companies, in order to store films and software on the companies’ servers for further distribution.