Dillon Levenque wrote:
Innula Zenovka wrote:
For what it's worth, I did a double-take when I read what he'd written, but I think he was simply -- though rather clumsily, maybe -- asking what the FBI can do about complaints about possible criminal offences apparently committed by people based outside the USA (which some of the KingGoon crowd certainly are).
Yes, that could have been the intent, I guess. I think the way it was written made it possible to understand the statement in very different ways. As for the what the FBI can do—plenty, it appears. This recent
article about the international takedown of a crime ring based in Facebook shows that.
Not sure I can see that happening over a Second Life crime but who knows?
The FBI does go after the big fish but not ONLY the big. Smaller ones think the FBI does not notice them -- until they find themselves in handcuffs. Surprise!
Here is one of the international big fish shut down by the FBI this year: fbi.gov/news/pressrel/press-releases/justice-department-charges-leaders-of-megaupload-with-widespread-online-copyright-infringement
Here is an excerpt:
The indictment alleges that the criminal enterprise is led by Kim Dotcom, aka Kim Schmitz, and Kim Tim Jim Vestor, 37, a resident of both Hong Kong and New Zealand. Dotcom founded Megaupload Limited and is the director and sole shareholder of Vestor Limited, which has been used to hold his ownership interests in the Mega-affiliated sites.
In addition, the following alleged members of the Mega conspiracy were charged in the indictment:
Finn Batato, 38, a citizen and resident of Germany, who is the chief marketing officer;
Julius Bencko, 35, a citizen and resident of Slovakia, who is the graphic designer;
Sven Echternach, 39, a citizen and resident of Germany, who is the head of business development;
Mathias Ortmann, 40, a citizen of Germany and resident of both Germany and Hong Kong, who is the chief technical officer, co-founder and director;
Andrus Nomm, 32, a citizen of Estonia and resident of both Turkey and Estonia, who is a software programmer and head of the development software division;
Bram van der Kolk, aka Bramos, 29, a Dutch citizen and resident of both the Netherlands and New Zealand, who oversees programming and the underlying network structure for the Mega conspiracy websites.
Dotcom, Batato, Ortmann, and van der Kolk were arrested today in Auckland, New Zealand, by New Zealand authorities, who executed provisional arrest warrants requested by the United States. Bencko, Echternach, and Nomm remain at large. Today, law enforcement also executed more than 20 search warrants in the United States and eight countries, seized approximately $50 million in assets, and targeted sites where Megaupload has servers in Ashburn, Va., Washington, D.C., the Netherlands, and Canada. In addition, the U.S. District Court in Alexandria, Va., ordered the seizure of 18 domain names associated with the alleged Mega conspiracy.