Operation Fastlink Defendant Sentenced For Software Piracy

Press Release, Sep 26, 2006

was sentenced to 15 months incarceration and 400 hours of community service for his role in an underground network that distributed pirated software, games, movies..

U.S. Attorney Johnny Sutton of the Western District of Texas announced today that a San Antonio, Texas man was sentenced to 15 months incarceration and 400 hours of community service for his role in an underground network that distributed pirated software, games, movies and music over the Internet.

Joshua Abell, 24, of San Antonio, Texas, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Orlando L. Garcia. Abell, was also sentenced to two years of supervised release. He previously pleaded guilty to a two-count felony information charging copyright infringement and conspiracy to commit copyright infringement.

Abell one of 35 individuals convicted as a result of "Operation Fastlink," one of the largest multi-national law enforcement actions ever taken against online software piracy. Operation Fastlink, is the Department of Justice’s most aggressive and far-reaching criminal enforcement effort directed at intellectual property crime to date. Abell was one of the top four in his group. Abell’s group consisted of 175 members, of which 28 have been targeted for prosecution and 15 have already been convicted.. In April 2004 U.S. and foreign investigators conducted over 120 searches in 27 states and 11 foreign countries, including Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, Israel, the Netherlands, Singapore, Sweden, Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Subsequent action was taken in Spain, bringing the total number of foreign nations involved to twelve. Nearly 100 individuals worldwide were identified by the investigation as leaders or high-level members of various international piracy organizations. Read more at usdoj.gov