Internet pirates had base in Vegas, feds say

Jace Radke

Wednesday, June 12, 2002 | 11:08 a.m.

Las Vegas was the home of an virtual "warehouse" for a group of computer pirates allegedly dealing in more than $7 million in stolen video games, movies and software internationally, according to an indictment handed down by a federal grand jury Tuesday.

Twenty-one people from the United States and Canada, ranging in age from 20 to 50, are named in the indictment. They allegedly belong to the "Rogue Warriorz," an underground organization that illegally reproduces and distributes of copyrighted material over the Internet.

"This type of piracy is pretty widespread, and involves trading of these illegally obtained items," FBI special agent Ray Leber said. "It hurts the businesses that produce these products and ultimately the consumer."

None of those named in the indictment is from Las Vegas, but the group reportedly used a computer server at a local Environmental Protection Agency office to store stolen software, videos and games that were then distributed throughout the world.

The indictment alleges that the Rogue Warriorz maintained numerous file transfer protocol sites where they kept thousands of illegally obtained programs. One of these online warehouses that the group used was located in Las Vegas and was known as "Shatnet."

The site was set up by the FBI to catch the alleged cyber criminals after a "threat" to government computers was found in the Las Vegas Environmental Protection Agency's office.

FBI spokesman Daron Borst said an investigation is continuing into further Las Vegas ties, and additional charges are pending. Those named in the indictment are all facing a felony charge of conspiracy.

Everyone named in the indictment is currently living in the United States or Canada, and they have been summoned to appear in Las Vegas, Leber said.

Many of these pirate groups consider what they do a game, and the Rogue Warriorz even ran a private website to keep score of their illegal activities, authorities said.

"They like to brag and for many of them it's a competition," Leber said. "When you're transferring a couple hundred files a day, you're not doing it because you want to watch one of those movies, you're doing it to see how many you can transfer."

Group members, going by code names such as "Demon Furby," "Bocephus," "Lordhacker" and "Davinci," used the private site to track the production of the pirated materials.

"This is a big enough group that it will make an impact on the problem that's out there, but it's not going to stop these kinds of enterprises from continuing," Leber said. "But it is something that will be known online. There will be a lot of chatting about this and people will know we're looking for them."

Thousands of games, movies and software was available on Shatnet, including word processing and spreadsheet programs, video games such as "NFL Gameday 2002," and such movies as "Legally Blonde" and "American Pie 2."

The value of the games, movies and software exceeded $7 million, authorities said.

A recent survey by the Business Software Alliance, a watchdog group dedicated to stopping software piracy, shows that even people who aren't criminals sometimes illegally download materials while online.

The survey of 1,026 Internet users was conducted from April 23 to May 12, and showed that 46 percent of Internet users have downloaded commercial software.