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How The FBI Dismantled a BitTorrent Community

torrentfreak.com — On June 25th 2005, the homepage of the EliteTorrents.org tracker displayed an ominous message. Thousands of members trying to log in to get a sneak peak at a leaked copy of Star Wars: Episode 3 were surprised and confused in equal numbers. Had the FBI really raided one of the largest BitTorrent communities and put up a badly made Word document, or

Who dugg this? Made popular Jul 1, 2008

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173 Comments

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  • chris9902, on 07/01/2008, -1/+162FBI: using a paper cup to drain the ocean since 2005.
  • sexybobo, on 07/01/2008, -3/+93FBI are just doing their job. RIAA/MPAA and the screw balls that passed the law are the ones to blame.
  • ironeus, on 08/01/2008, -1/+84what if these comments are traced by the DOJ to weed out Torrent supporters?
  • say592, on 06/30/2008, -23/+77***** the FBI/RIAA/MPAA/!
  • Thrilltone, on 07/01/2008, -0/+50If only the authorities would display equal zeal in going after email spammers and hackers who spread viruses
  • eminn3m, on 07/01/2008, -3/+49Why is TF trudging up a story that's is over 2 years old and simply serves as MPAA propaganda to make people think that running a tracker is a criminal offense (which this case does not show btw)?
  • inactive, on 07/01/2008, -3/+49MAN THE HARPOONS!! WE'LL SHOOT THEM LIVE ***** IT
  • Catbert107, on 07/01/2008, -1/+42***** the RIAA.
  • Zpanzer, on 07/01/2008, -0/+32FBI can't shut down the piratebay because they have no power in sweden.
  • DaviDaviDaviD, on 07/01/2008, -0/+31Department of Homeland Security was involved...why? Once again, massive beaucracy getting involved where they shouldn't.
  • dOOBiEx213, on 07/01/2008, -1/+32I, for one, refuse to sponsor terrorism... which is why I download movies, and music for free.
  • DarkDx, on 07/01/2008, -1/+30WHy has "!" done to you? :(
  • queondatavo, on 07/01/2008, -0/+28I remember the day when I tried to log in and I saw the red FBI page instead of the Elite Torrents "goodness". I immediately though "*****, Torrentbits all over again".

  • inactive, on 07/01/2008, -1/+28A big ***** you to the FBI. Hurrah.
  • Goose31, on 06/30/2008, -0/+26I remember downloading the Star Wars III Workprint. I learned of it when they talked about this site going down. I signedup at The Pirate Bay back when Swedish was the only language available, and I managed to download the movie, somehow.
  • inactive, on 07/01/2008, -2/+27I, for one, refuse to propagate porn effectively... which is why I download porn and close the app so that it is harder for other people to download it, thus I help people in their quest for redemption by delaying their porn downloads.
  • KMartSheriff, on 07/01/2008, -0/+24I'm stealing that analogy.
  • falafelkiosken, on 07/01/2008, -0/+21soon piracy will be rated as a worse "crime" than murder :<
  • Renton, on 07/01/2008, -0/+19More importantly, who the ***** would want to torrent a school musical?
  • queondatavo, on 07/01/2008, -0/+18Then I'm screwed.
  • geneticlemon, on 07/01/2008, -0/+15The moral is, despite the fact that one guy uploaded SW: Ep III pre-maturely because he thought he was doing favor to the site's users, that the film grossed over 1 billion dollars, proving that uploading and downloading media from bittorrent sites does NOT affect the performance of said media in a "legal" environment. The film and movie industry are filled with greedy ***** who charge people $10 to watch a ***** movie, then laugh their way to the banks. Companies like Warner Bros., 20th Cent. Fox ... they're paying their actors $20mil a movie and claiming that internet pirates are affecting sales ... *****.

    Also, I don't know if used "affect" properly in this paragraph. Effect? Affect?
  • Charlotte_Web, on 07/01/2008, -0/+15If ANYBODY should have gone to jail over Star Wars Episode III, it should have been George Lucas and Hayden Christensen.
  • KMartSheriff, on 07/01/2008, -1/+16MAN THE ***** IT!! WE'LL SHOOT THE HARPOONS LIVE
  • yowhat2002, on 07/01/2008, -1/+16You're actually going to say "Down with torrents!" on Digg?

    Oh boy..this isnt going to end well for you.
  • dOOBiEx213, on 07/01/2008, -3/+18No. Once they knew it sucked, why would they watch it? NO ONE likes to watch a cam version IF it's something REALLY worth watching. Would you have watched The Bourne Trilogy in cam? Your musical sucked, your performance sucked, your life sucks. NEVER insult my torrents. Please grab the nearest razor, and vertically use it across your wrists. Thank you for playing.
  • jakash, on 06/30/2008, -8/+22This is a great story to read, but what's the moral? That "around 130,000 users had nothing to worry about", there were, and still are, too many pirates to take down, and they'll never be able to stop us.
  • spikyface, on 07/01/2008, -1/+14Interesting how the Lucas employee who leaked the film was never caught

    Maybe the whole thing was a setup by the MPAA
  • Lax32, on 07/01/2008, -5/+17Yeah you guys might complain now but the FBI is the only thing keeping terrorists from turning our computers into bombs and blowing us all up.
  • Kyrgizion, on 07/01/2008, -5/+16I salute those who are brave enough to offer up significant portions of their young lives to stand against the old and obsolete laws of a perishing generation. It is thanks to the sheer force of will of these people that we enjoy a somewhat free internet today - regardless of your stance on copyright infringement, don't let them use it as a scapegoat to take away our freedoms.
    You know they will try. They have already begun.
  • and303, on 07/01/2008, -0/+10My current 2mbps Cloverfield 1080p download says that they didn't dismantle *****.
  • Sil369, on 07/01/2008, -0/+10Try it bitch.
  • jman583, on 07/01/2008, -0/+9Uhh... guys, I think he is kidding.
  • inactive, on 07/01/2008, -0/+9***** THING SUCKS
  • mikesbaker, on 07/01/2008, -1/+9I remember that. I got it from there and was glad I saved myself the money on seeing that crap movie.
  • Radar3D, on 07/01/2008, -0/+8Ahh, but had the school recorded it themselves and offered it for $5, they could have made a ton from all the relatives and others in the community who couldn't make it to the show. But that's okay, it's easier to blame filthy pirates than to adapt!
  • inactive, on 07/01/2008, -1/+8your single bran cell must b hard at wrk.
  • Disfnord, on 07/01/2008, -0/+7Well, you see, torrenting is sharing, and sharing is communism, and communism is evil. Terrorists are evil, therefore communists are terrorists. Ipso facto.
  • KMartSheriff, on 07/02/2008, -0/+7You are old years twelve?
  • DaHuuuuuudge, on 07/01/2008, -0/+6effect=noun
    affect=verb

    You used it right.
  • Matt2k, on 07/01/2008, -0/+6Your civil liberties to download Star Wars ep3
  • mstrat135, on 07/01/2008, -0/+6What does the DHS have to do with this?
  • inactive, on 07/01/2008, -0/+6for some reason I read that as "How The FBI Dismantled the BitTorrent Community" and I was like "what the *****..."
  • MudMan69, on 07/01/2008, -1/+7Exactly what freedoms are they trying take away in this case? The freedom to steal *****? Pirating movies and music does nothing to help improve freedom of speech on the Internet.
  • inactive, on 07/01/2008, -0/+6et in the spirit man. You are leeching his analogy.
  • Suricou, on 07/01/2008, -0/+6The DHS once dispatched two agents to investigate a toy store for selling a not-a-rubix-cube (The term 'rubix' being trademarked, it was sold under another name. They demanded the toy be pulled from shelves because it was patent infringing. Their justification is thus:

    1. The toy infringed patents.
    2. Patents protect US businesses from overseas competition.
    3. Protecting US businesses is good for the economy.
    4. The economy is a national security concern.
    5. Therefore, selling an immitation rubix cube is a threat to American national security.

    Essentially it's a case of a department working to justify it's own existance. But, I suspect there would be a similar bit of logic going on behind the scenes: What's good for Hollywood is good for US interests, because Hollywood's productions are displayed internationally and help spread American cultural influence.
  • inactive, on 07/01/2008, -1/+7Don't forget BREIN and the CRIA
  • wigren, on 07/01/2008, -0/+6How big is your wallet?
  • Sil369, on 07/01/2008, -0/+5An MPAA employee probably uploaded it.
  • whatever01, on 07/01/2008, -1/+6You do realize that in a few years, you will be a member of the "perishing generation" and wondering who these damn kids are who have no respect for your efforts, behaviors or civility?

    You also realize that the Internet was created not by a bunch of kids born in the 1980's? There was no freedom on the internet before the 1960's, as there was no internet. The internet was created for the US Department of Defense. You want to thank someone for providing you with this freedom to communicate, thank the US military.
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