Operation Safehaven was a fifteen-month investigation conducted by the

United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement The United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE; ) is a federal law enforcement agency under the United States Department of Homeland Security. ICE's stated mission is to protect the United States from transnational crime and ill ...

("ICE") in conjunction with the

U.S. Attorney's Office United States attorneys are officials of the U.S. Department of Justice who serve as the chief federal law enforcement officers in each of the 94 U.S. federal judicial districts. Each U.S. attorney serves as the United States' chief federal ...

for the

District of Connecticut The United States District Court for the District of Connecticut (in case citations, D. Conn.) is the federal district court whose jurisdiction is the state of Connecticut. The court has offices in Bridgeport, Hartford, and New Haven. Appeals ...

and the

Department of Justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice, is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...

against those affiliated with the

warez scene The Warez scene, often referred to as The Scene, is an underground network of piracy groups specialized in obtaining and illegally releasing digital media before their official release date. The Scene distributes all forms of digital media, incl ...

. In April 2003, over twenty search warrants were simultaneously executed, resulting in the seizure of dozens of

computer A computer is a machine that can be Computer programming, programmed to automatically Execution (computing), carry out sequences of arithmetic or logical operations (''computation''). Modern digital electronic computers can perform generic set ...

s and

file server In computing, a file server (or fileserver) is a computer attached to a network that provides a location for shared disk access, i.e. storage of computer files (such as text, image, sound, video) that can be accessed by workstations within a co ...

s, including what the

United States government The Federal Government of the United States of America (U.S. federal government or U.S. government) is the Federation#Federal governments, national government of the United States. The U.S. federal government is composed of three distinct ...

reported as "the largest warez site ever seized in the United States to date."

Cases

U.S. v. Myers et al. (D. Conn.) Travis Myers, 29, of

Yakima Yakima ( or ) is a city in and the county seat of Yakima County, Washington, United States, and the state's 11th most populous city. As of the 2020 census, the city had a total population of 96,968 and a metropolitan population of 256,728. The ...

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

; Terry Katz, 26, of

Yorktown Heights Yorktown Heights is a census-designated place (CDP) in the town of Yorktown in Westchester County, New York, United States. The population was 1,781 at the 2010 census. History Yorktown Heights is in the town of Yorktown, New York, in northern ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

; Walter Kapechuk, 55, of

Schenectady Schenectady ( ) is a City (New York), city in Schenectady County, New York, United States, of which it is the county seat. As of the United States Census 2020, 2020 census, the city's population of 67,047 made it the state's ninth-most populo ...

; and Warren Willsey, 53, of East Berne,

, all waived

indictment An indictment ( ) is a formal accusation that a person has committed a crime. In jurisdictions that use the concept of felonies, the most serious criminal offense is a felony; jurisdictions that do not use that concept often use that of an ind ...

and pleaded guilty to charges of Conspiracy to Commit Criminal Copyright Infringement on October 2, 2003. These were the first convictions stemming from the operation. Myers admitted to being a courier and a member of several leading warez groups, including "

DrinkOrDie DrinkOrDie (DoD) was one of the most prestigious underground software piracy group and warez trading network during the 1990s. On 11 December 2001 a major law enforcement raid - known as Operation Buccaneer - forced it to close under criminal ...

." Katz admitted to being a site operator. Kapechuk admitted to running a site at

SUNY Albany The State University of New York at Albany (University at Albany, UAlbany, or SUNY Albany) is a public research university in Albany, New York, United States. Founded in 1844, it is one of four "university centers" of the State University of N ...

. Willsey admitted to assisting Kapechuk. All but Willsey faced maximum sentences of five years. Willsey faced a maximum sentence of one year. U.S. v. Singh (D. Conn.) Manpreet Singh, 22, of

Middleburg Heights Middleburg Heights is a city in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, United States. It is a suburb about southwest of downtown Cleveland. The population was 16,004 at the 2020 census. History Middleburg Heights is part of the historic Connecticut Western Re ...

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

, pleaded guilty to the charge of conspiracy to commit criminal copyright infringement on February 20, 2004. He admitted to being a courier for the groups "We Love Warez" ("WLW") and "pHASE." The maximum sentence is five years in prison. He was scheduled to be sentenced in May, 2004. U.S. v. Perello (E.D. Tex.) Pleaded guilty to a single count of conspiracy to commit criminal copyright infringement on November 21, 2005. U.S. v. Pine (D. Conn.) Pleaded guilty to a single count of conspiracy to commit criminal copyright infringement on November 22, 2005. U.S. v. Brink (D. Me.) Kurt M. Brink, 25, of

Portland, Maine Portland is the List of municipalities in Maine, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maine and the county seat, seat of Cumberland County, Maine, Cumberland County. Portland's population was 68,408 at the 2020 census. The Portland metropolit ...

, pleaded guilty on September 8, 2005 to conspiring to commit criminal copyright infringement. Sentenced to three years of probation, ordered to perform 300 hours of community service, and to pay a fine in the amount of $6,000 on December 12, 2005. U.S. v. Carter (N.D. Cal.) Pleaded guilty to a single count of conspiracy to commit criminal copyright infringement on December 12, 2005. U.S. v. Szoke (D. Conn.) Carole Szoke, 62, of

Nazareth Nazareth is the largest Cities in Israel, city in the Northern District (Israel), Northern District of Israel. In its population was . Known as "the Arab capital of Israel", Nazareth serves as a cultural, political, religious, economic and ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

, pleaded guilty on September 27, 2005. Sentenced to three years of probation, ordered to perform 312 hours of community service, and to pay a fine in the amount of $2,000 on December 22, 2005.

References

{{more footnotes, date=June 2010
Operation Safehaven
DOJ Operation Safe Haven page

press release by the US Department of Justice on Myers, Katz, Kapechuk, and Willsey pleas (October 2, 2003)

press release by the US Department of Justice on Singh plea (February 20, 2004)

press release by the US Department of Justice on Brink plea (September 8, 2005)

press release by the US Department of Justice on Szoke plea (September 27, 2005) Copyright enforcement Safehaven April 2003 in the United States