14 DAY TRIAL // The Italian authorities managed to arrest no less than 35 persons due to Operation Crack, a special campaign started by the police in order to stop a criminal gang from distributing pirated software. According to IFPI, the shocking element of the investigation was revealed after the authorities arrested all the members of the gang and discovered that a policeman and an official from the Minister of Interior were also involved in the illegal actions. The cracking group used to distribute counterfeited CDs, DVDs and video games to every corner of the world.
"The investigation was coordinated by Aldo Aceto, the public prosecutor from Pescara, and was carried out by local police assisted by music, movie and business software anti-piracy experts as well as SIAE, the authors' collecting society anti-piracy team. More than 12 CD burning facilities were found and dismantled in and around Pescara and police officers also seized more than ?400,000 in cash," IFPI reported.
As I said before, the authorities from every corner of the world struggle to stop this illegal phenomenon because numerous companies are recording losses due to pirated copies of their solutions. Take for example Microsoft, the Redmond company that created the famous Windows operating system. Since the software giant developed Windows 95, it was affected by the pirates who were intending to use the application without an original license. Windows 95 was cracked two weeks before the official launch date by the well-known hacker DrinkOrDie.
Russia is regarded as the territory that hosts the biggest amount of illegal activity including hackers, spammers and other malicious people. However, it seems like the country's authorities are trying to improve the image of the nation and rolled out a powerful campaign to block these illegal activities. Recently, they managed to close Allofmp3, a website that was accused for distributing pirated music to users from every corner of the world.