Federal Indictments Returned In Las Vegas Against Software
Pirates
Nabbed In Operation Bandwidth
LAS VEGAS - - Daniel G. Bogden, United States Attorney for the District
of Nevada, announced that today indictments were returned against 21 individuals
who were allegedly members of a computer software piracy group known as
the Rogue Warriorz (RWZ), a secretive underground organization
which illegally altered and distributed copyrighted software, movies,
and games over the Internet. The individuals: JOHN J. AMOROSI, (06/20/1980)
aka Sloanman, Falls Church, VA; WOLF BACHENOR, (07/02/1951)
aka Walter Bachenor, aka Drinfotheif, DrinfoTHV,
and Doctor, Park Slope, NY; DAVID BRANDT, (05/05/1967) aka
Bocephus, Wake Village, TX;
ALEXANDER CASTANEDA, (01/01/1982) aka Prentice, and Alex,
Federal Way, WA; JACOB PAUL CLAPPTON, (02/04/1973) aka Axxess,
Livermore, CA; LUKASZ DOUPAL, (03/26/1978) aka Luk@s, Brooklyn,
NY; JONATHAN DOW, (11/09/1968) aka Demon Furby, Ilion, NY;
JORGE GARCIA, JR., (01/31/1973) aka Lh, and Lordhacker,
Reddick, FL; BRYAN RAY HARSHMAN, (01/04/1980) aka Carrier,
St. Joseph, MO; MARK KONARSKE, (07/23/1961) aka Markus, and
Markruss, Flat Rock, MN; TIMOTHY J. LASTORIA, (09/12/1978)
aka Waldorf, Brecksville, OH; DAVID LOWE, (04/06/1961) aka
Dragon, Akron, OH; CHRISTOPHER MASTRANGELO, (04/13/1971) aka
Floyd, Toms River, NJ; MICHAEL MEACHAM, (08/08/1967) aka Dvorak,
Barberton, OH ; SUZANNE PEACE, (12/19/1965) aka Peaces, Lombard,
IL; LINDLE ROMERO, (08/19/1965) aka Rahman, Houston, TX; ELISA
SARINO, (05/10/1975) aka Elisa, and ElisaEGO,
San Jose, CA; JEFFREY SASSER, (01/15/1961) aka Inferno, and
Inferno00, Charlotte, NC ; PETER M. SEMADENI, (10/24/1974) aka Davinci,
and Rev. Wolf, Overland Park, KS; DEAN WUESTENBERG, (09/01/1958)
aka Xochi, Donahue, IA; JOSEPH YANO, (05/21/1968) aka Jozef,
Saskatoon, SA, were charged with Conspiracy to Commit Criminal Copyright
Infringement. The Indictments are part of Operation Bandwidth, a two-year
undercover law enforcement investigation whose goal was to identify and
prosecute entities and individuals involved with illegal access to computer
systems and the piracy of proprietary software.
According to the Indictment, certain members of the organization were
designated as Council Members(individuals who set the terms
and conditions under which RWZ was run, and which the other members were
required to follow if they wished to continue their membership in RWZ),
"Site Operators" (Site Ops) (individuals who maintained File
Transfer Protocol (FTP) sites on the internet that were used to store
and transfer the copyrighted software, movies, and games), Couriers
(individuals who specialized in transporting the copyrighted software,
movies, and games to RWZ's various FTP sites around the internet), or
Members (individuals who had achieved access into RWZ's FTP
sites, but had no specific role within the hierarchy).
All the various Members of RWZ were required to apply for membership to
the organization. The new members applications were screened through
security and placed on a trial (probation) period,
with the different roles having different probationary periods and requirements.
For example: the probationary period for a Site Ops ensured that his FTP
Site was available, was large enough, and was fast enough for the regular
Members and Couriers to utilize it to store and transfer the copyrighted-protected
programs, games, and movies; the probationary period for the Couriers
ensured that they regularly contributed and transferred enough copyright-protected
software, games, and movies to RWZs various FTP sites for storage
and usage by other members.
The RWZ leadership and RWZ members communicated with each other on a private
Internet Relay Chat (IRC). Some of the IRC channels used by
the defendants were: #roguewarriorz.EFnet, #rwz.EFnet, and #rwzchat.EFnet.
Access to the channels was available only to members with a password.
In the IRC channels, members conducted meetings at which they sometimes
voted on key topics, included the security of RWZ against law enforcement,
the probationary period of a prospective new member, or the performance
of a Site Op or Courier.
RWZ also maintained a private, password-protected web page which was accessible
only to Members with a password. Members of RWZ utilized the web page
to post the statistics of the Site Ops and Couriers, such as which Site
Op maintained the most amounts of illegal copyright protected programs,
and which Courier had moved the most illegal copyright protected programs
for the previous week. The web page was also used to update the current
Site Ops and Members list.
RWZ also maintained numerous FTP sites which were accessible through the
internet to authorized users only. These FTP sites served as online warehouses
for the pirated computer software, movies, and games, and the individuals
who maintained these FTP sites were the Site Ops for RWZ. Undercover agents
for the FBI, Defense Criminal Investigative Services (DCIS), and the Environmental
Protection Agency Office of Inspector General (EPA-OIG) infiltrated RWZ
and were made Site Ops for the Shatnet FTP site, which was
physically located in Las Vegas, Nevada. Each defendant had, or had access
to, an active account on the Shatnet FTP site. Each member who logged
on to Shatnet could view a directory of the all the pirated software,
movies, and games available on the site. Thousands of copyrighted computer
software programs, movies, and games were uploaded to the Shatnet site
by RWZ members, and were therefore made available for downloading to other
members, in violation of those copyrights, including, among others: operating
systems; utilities; applications such as word processing programs, data
analysis programs, spreadsheets, communications programs, graphics, desktop
publishing programs; games; and movies. From November 2000 through December
2001, RWZ obtained, made available for distribution over the internet,
and stored on the FTP site Shatnet, approximately 8434 application and
utility software programs, 356 movies, and 432 computer games worth more
than approximately $7,000,000.
If convicted, the defendants are facing up to 5 years imprisonment and
a $250,000 fine on the Conspiracy charge. In addition to any term of imprisonment
or fine which could be ordered following a conviction, the court is required
to order restitution to the victims. The actual sentence, however, will
be dictated by the United States Sentencing Guidelines, which take into
account a number of factors, and will be imposed at the discretion of
the Court.
The former Vice President of RWZ has already pleaded guilty and is cooperating
with the authorities. Another RWZ member has signed a plea agreement and
will enter a guilty plea shortly.
The case is a joint investigation among the Department of Defense Criminal
Investigation Service, the Environmental Protection Agency Office of Inspector
General, the FBI, and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, and is being
coordinated by the U.S. Attorneys Office in the District of Nevada.
Assistant United States Attorney Matt Parrella is in charge of coordinating
the investigation and prosecution for the U.S. Attorneys Office
in the District of Nevada.
The public is reminded that an indictment contains only charges and is
not evidence of guilt. The defendants are presumed innocent and are entitled
to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving guilt
beyond a reasonable doubt.
###
|