Feds Convict First IRC Warez Pirate

The Department of Justice has successfully won its first conviction against someone arrested through Operation Fastlink, a multinational law enforcement operation to fight software piracy on IRC and P2P networks. The agency said that this is just the beginning of their effort to fight piracy online!

Jathan Desir, 26, of Iowa City, Iowa has pleaded guilty to a three-count felony that charged him with copyright infringement and conspiracy to commit copyright infringement related to his role in a criminal enterprise that distributed pirated software, games, movies and music over IRC and P2P Networks. Desir will face a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison when he is sentenced in March.

Since the debut of Operation Fastlink, law enforcement investigators have conducted more than 120 searches in 27 states and 11 foreign countries, resulting in the identification of nearly 100 people considered by the investigation to be leaders or high-level members of international piracy organizations. According to the agency, they are continuing to identify leaders of IRC and P2P warez groups and they will be making more searches and arrests.