United States: Authorities shut down online record distributor Elite Torrents based on allegations that the site illegally distributed copyrighted materials, according to Sci-Tech Today report.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), together with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, has shut down the main server of the bittorrent site.
According to the authorities who conducted the operation, they confiscated over 18,000 copyrighted materials including movies and software applications inside the main office of Elite Torrents.
In an interview, acting assistant attorney general John C. Richter said that the Federal government is trying its best to track down illegal operations in the Internet to protect record labels who are the main victim of the modern-day piracy, adding that people who own copyrighted products are experience slumping sales due to illegal content distributors found in the Internet.
Richter also said that the recent crackdown should serve as a warning sign for people who are violating the copyrighted law, saying that illegal media distributors cannot hide themselves behind the new technologies.
Meanwhile, the FBI said that it will continue its operation against websites which use bittorrent, p2p, and eDonkey protocols to illegally distribute copyrighted materials to the public.
Elite Torrent has long been under fire as various record groups including Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) has charged the bittorrent site with various lawsuits based on allegations of violating the copyrighted law.
Few days ago, online research firm comScore said that online spending on movies and music records fell 23 percent during the last quarter of 2008. While some experts argue that the slumping sales is not correlated with online piracy, the record industry blamed this activity as the main culprit for the its declining profit.