United States Attorney's Office District of Connecticut
Press Release

Operation Safehaven: HAWAII MAN SENTENCED FOR COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT

Kevin J. O'Connor, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut announced today that ROSS ISHIDA, age 23, of 1080 Ala Napunani Street, Honolulu, Hawaii, was sentenced on April 6 by Senior United States District Judge Ellen B. Burns in New Haven to three years of probation, the first six months of which he must spend confined to his home with electronic monitoring. Judge Burns also ordered ISHIDA to pay a fine of $2000. On January 23, 2004, ISHIDA waived indictment and pleaded guilty to an Information charging him with conspiracy to commit criminal copyright infringement.

According to documents filed in federal court, ISHIDA, also known as "daphantm" or "daph," was a participant in the "warez scene" – an underground online community that consists of individuals and organized groups who use the internet to engage in the large-scale, illegal distribution of copyrighted software. In the warez scene, certain participants (known as "suppliers") are able to obtain access to copyrighted software, video games, DVD movies, and MP3 music files, often before those titles are even available to the general public. Other participants (known as "crackers") then use their technical skills to circumvent or "crack" the digital copyright protections. Others (known as "couriers") distribute the pirated software to various file servers on the internet for others to access, reproduce, and further distribute.

ISHIDA has admitted that he acted as a distributor or "courier" of pirated software and that he uploaded and downloaded numerous illegal copies to and from warez sites on the internet. In addition, ISHIDA admitted that he was responsible for installing and maintaining his own warez server, which was attached to a high-speed internet link located at the University of Hawaii.

"Stealing the intellectual property of others is no different from any other form of thievery," U.S. Attorney Kevin J. O'Connor stated. "It is a priority of this Office and the Department of Justice to protect the intellectual property rights of our nation's inventors and creators."

"Software piracy is theft by criminals, plain and simple," added Robin Avers, Special Agent in Charge of the New England Office of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. "It is multi-billion dollar thievery, and ICE will continue to target and dismantle those criminal organizations that abuse the internet by facilitating and participating in this activity."

This case was prosecuted as part of Operation Safehaven, a fifteen-month investigation conducted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement ("ICE") and the ICE Cyber Crimes Center, in conjunction with the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Connecticut and the Department of Justice, Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section ("CCIPS"). This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Shawn J. Chen and CCIPS Trial Attorney Kenneth L. Doroshow.

CONTACT:

U.S. ATTORNEY'S OFFICE
Tom Carson
(203) 821-3722
thomas.carson@usdoj.gov