United States Attorney's Office District of Connecticut
Press Release

Operation Safehaven: WASHINGTON MAN SENTENCED FOR CRIMINAL COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT

Kevin J. O'Connor, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut announced today that TRAVIS MYERS, age 30, of Yakima, Washington, was sentenced today by Senior United States District Judge Ellen B. Burns in New Haven to three years of probation. Judge Burns also ordered MYERS to pay a fine of $6000 and to perform 200 hours of community service. On October 1, 2003, MYERS waived indictment and pleaded guilty to an Information charging him with conspiracy to commit criminal copyright infringement.

When he pleaded guilty, MYERS admitted that he participated 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. MYERS specifically admitted to participating in the warez group "DrinkOrDie," and acted as a courier for this and other groups, uploading and downloading numerous illegal copies to and from warez sites on the internet.

In sentencing MYERS, Judge Burns departed from the Sentencing Guidelines range of 33 to 41 months of imprisonment, noting MYERS' significant cooperation with the Government in exposing and breaking up several warez groups. Judge Burns also suggested that MYERS could perform his community service in a manner where he can educate others as to the criminality and consequences of copyright infringement.

"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 Attorneys Shawn J. Chen and Dave Vatti, and CCIPS Senior Counsel Kenneth L. Doroshow.

CONTACT:

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