U.S. Department of Justice
United States Attorney
Eastern District of Virginia
PAUL
J. McNULTY
UNITED STATES ATTORNEY
2100 Jamieson Avenue
Alexandria, Virginia 22314
703/299-3700
FAX 703/299-3981 Media Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
FEBRUARY 27, 2002
ALEXANDRIA, VIRGINIA United States Attorney Paul J. McNulty and Michael
Chertoff, Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal Division, announced
today the first guilty plea in the Eastern District of Virginia in the
largest international online copyright piracy investigation conducted by
federal law enforcement. John Sankus, Jr., age 28, of Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania, co-leader of one of the oldest organized software piracy
groups on the Internet, pled guilty this morning before U.S. District Court
Judge Leonie M. Brinkema to one felony count of conspiracy to commit
criminal copyright infringement. Sankus, who will be sentenced on May 17,
2002, at 9:00 am, could receive a maximum sentence of five years in
federal prison and a $250,000 fine.
Sankus was the co-leader of an international Internet software piracy group
known as DrinkOrDie. DrinkOrDie engaged in the illegal distribution of
copyrighted software, games and movies over the Internet, specializing in
being the first to release high-end software applications and
utilities. DrinkOrDie is one of many highly structured, security conscious
organizations that illegally reproduce and distribute hundreds of thousands
of copies of copyrighted works around the world worth billions of dollars
in losses each year. Members rarely meet in person and frequently only
know each other through their screen nicknames.
U.S. Attorney Paul J. McNulty said, "This is a crime against the integrity
of our electronic infrastructure. It is imperative that we stop these
"techno-gangs" from exploiting new technologies for criminal
purposes. This plea is another significant step in our effort to eliminate
intellectual property crime on the Internet and to make it safe for
individuals and businesses to develop and use new software and
technologies". As part of the plea agreement, the United States and Sankus
agreed that the amount of damage attributable to the defendant's actions,
during the period charged, exceeds $2.5 million but is less than $5 million.
As co-leader of DrinkOrDie, Sankus was principally responsible for the
management and supervision of the day-to-day operations of the criminal
enterprise. Sankus supervised approximately 60 individuals who acquired,
cracked, and distributed ("released") the pirated
software. Company insiders ("suppliers") often provided the group with
new software, frequently days or weeks before the software would be
released to the general public. Group members known as "crackers" would
defeat the software's embedded copyright protections, allowing the software
to be illegally reproduced and used by anyone obtaining a copy. The
finished product was then quickly distributed to sites located throughout
the world for further distribution to an ever-expanding web of
sites. Within hours, a new release could be found on hundreds of illegal
sites throughout the world.
DrinkorDie concealed these sites and conducted business in closed
invite-only Internet relay chat channels. Sankus and other high ranking
members of DrinkOrDie used encryption to conceal all e-mails discussing the
group's illegal activities. "John Sankus and his group knew what they were
doing was illegal and they took every technological step possible to
conceal their activity," said McNulty.
DrinkOrDie was the primary group targeted by "Operation Buccaneer," a
15-month undercover investigation by the United States Customs Service with
assistance from the Department of Justice's Computer Crime and Intellectual
Property Section (CCIPS) and the United States Attorney's Office for the
Eastern District of Virginia.
On December 11th, the primary investigative phase of Operation Buccaneer
culminated in the simultaneous execution worldwide of over 70 search
warrants against targets of the investigation. To date, warrants and/or
arrests have been executed in the United States, Australia, Norway, Sweden,
the United Kingdom and Finland. Numerous targets of the investigation were
arrested and taken into custody in the United Kingdom and investigations
are currently ongoing in each of these countries. "Operation Buccaneer
brought to light the severity and scope of a multi-billion-dollar software
swindle perpetrated over the Internet," said U.S. Customs Commissioner
Robert C. Bonner. "This investigation is the first of several cases by the
U.S. Customs Service to dismantle the top groups engaged in this illegal
activity."
Marty Stansell-Gamm, Chief of CCIPS, said, "The Internet makes it essential
for law enforcement to cooperate across international borders in order to
effectively target all members of these warez groups. Operation Buccaneer
is an excellent example of how international cooperation can result in
effective criminal enforcement on a global scale. We are committed to
protecting the intellectual property rights of this country and will
continue to work diligently, both here and abroad, to investigate and
prosecute those individuals and groups who traffic in pirated products."
In addition to the plea agreement entered this morning, the United States
Attorney expects additional prosecutions in the Eastern District of
Virginia as a result of the first phase of Operation Buccaneer. Assistant
United States Attorney Robert Wiechering, Michael DuBose, Senior Counsel,
CCIPS, and Michael O'Leary, Trial Attorney, CCIPS, are prosecuting the case
for the United States.
Further questions may be directed to the United States Attorney's Office. ###
