AfterDawn: News

EliteTorrents Admin gets 5 months inside

On May 25 back in 2005, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) along with the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) halted what was then the largest US based BitTorrent tracker - EliteTorrents.com - in an operation known as "D-Elite."

Now, in the first criminal conviction related to BitTorrent network fileswapping, 23-year-old Administrator Grant T. Stanley will spend the next 5 months in prison followed by an additional 5 months of home detention after pleading to guilty to conspiracy to commit copyright infringement and copyright infringement charges under the Family Entertainment Copyright Act. He was also fined $3,000 for his involvement in a BitTorrent node.



At its peak, the EliteTorrents service had more than 133,000 members and was estimated to have distributed some 2 million movie files in its lifetime, according to a government statement.

EliteTorrents' other administrator, Scott McCausland, pleaded guilty in September to "conspiracy to commit copyright infringement" and "criminal copyright infringement" and will be sentenced next month.

"This is the first criminal enforcement action against copyright infringement on a P2P network using BitTorrent technology," said United States Attorney John Brownlee. "We hope this case sends the message that cyberspace will not provide a shield of anonymity for those who choose to break our copyright laws."

Source:
Betanews

Written by: Ben Reid @ 28 Oct 2006 3:43

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• 35 comments

• rav009

  Wow, thats unlucky..usually the admin is safe, due to the fact that none of the pirated material is hosted on there server, the torrents are, but they, themselves are only a peer-to-peer link to the material, the trackers users are more prone to stuff like this.

  28.10.2006 03:57 #1

• The_Fiend

  That's what they get for pleading guilty.
  If they would have pleaded not guilty and fought the battle, chances are they'd have gotten away with most of it.

  28.10.2006 04:11 #2

• kepners

  thats just brutal! i bet they wish they moved all that abroad! and kept moving it.

  28.10.2006 06:11 #3

• Ripper

  Ouch; that's got to hurt.
  

  
  
  My burner: LG GSA 420b
  My Media: 16x DVD+R Verbatim (YUDEN000T03)
  My programs: AnyDVD or WinAVI 6.3 --> DVD Shrink --> Nero 6.6.0.18

  28.10.2006 06:36 #4

• IM1

  so if they havent hosted the copyright files why are they going down for it?

  28.10.2006 07:19 #5

• Gradical

  why are they going to jail?
  
  Doesnt the phrase "pleaded Guilty" kind of explain that?
  they charge you with murder and plead guilty and then ask why you go to jail

  28.10.2006 07:28 #6

• Ripper

  Ouch, that's gotta hurt even more!
  

  
  
  My burner: LG GSA 420b
  My Media: 16x DVD+R Verbatim (YUDEN000T03)
  My programs: AnyDVD or WinAVI 6.3 --> DVD Shrink --> Nero 6.6.0.18

  28.10.2006 08:17 #7

• CiDaemon

  "conspiracy to commit copyright infringement"
  talk about a BS charge. This is the only way they could actually jail a torrent admin who dosen't actually host any illegal files. Just shows that we really did beat their system, and they had to play dirty and make up BS charges to get us.
  
  And why the $#%# did he plead guilty? Hasn't he seen the other 100+ trials of the same type in which every admin got acquitted?

  28.10.2006 08:24 #8

• gogochar

  Sucks to be them.

  28.10.2006 08:45 #9

• ofolion

  I'm also confused, if he didn't do any sharing of copyrighted materials himself, then he probably should of got away with it, shouldn't of pleaded guilty i guess?

  28.10.2006 10:21 #10

• georgeluv

  so in the us did they force the legislature to make up an offence that is "conspiricy to comit copywrite infringement" or can anything be "conspiricy to comit [blank]"?
  
  3,000 and 5 months is a walk in the park for helping distribute multiple hundreds of thousands of copywrited works.
  
  in america we prosecute the free transfer of information but in china they let it go like wildfire, makes you wonder wich one is realy the "land of the free"

  28.10.2006 11:18 #11

• Gradical

  I bet you that the chinesse music and video industry starts producing billions a year and i can betcha they will start jailing and convicting whoever distrubutte their matterials, its basical animal incstincts inside the human being we`re predators after all ;)

  28.10.2006 13:42 #12

• ZippyDSM

  conspiracy to commit copyright infringement.
  in other words
  conspiracy to infringe on public rights around the world.

  28.10.2006 17:17 #13

• o71g

  Thats another fine mess you got me into Stanley!!!
  
  Sounds like he's paying for the 133,000 members sharing.
  
  I would imagine that he pleaded guilty because he was adviced he couldn't win this one and they were going to make an example of him.
  
  A sad time for torrent networks!!!

  28.10.2006 21:01 #14

• xhardc0re

  I agree with The_Fiend
  
  u never plead guilty, or accept the first offer given to you by the prosecution. NEVER...ever.
  
  As for these guys, is that 2 million figure about right? If so then KICK ASS!! That's over $20 million deprived to the blood-sucking corporate vultures. If people would stop downloading all the crap movies (mostly anything released by Hollywood in the last 5-6 yrs), then the BT/P2P traffic would prob be much less than it is.
  
  My idea is to either run a tracker using a proxy service, and/or run it off a server outside the U.S. entirely. Other than the seeders (which can easily hide behind multiple stringed proxies), the entire site will be mostly outside the hands of the authorities. Unless China decides to get in bed with these a$$holes, in which case, they will have entirely sold out...

  29.10.2006 01:21 #15

• ZippyDSM

  xhardc0re
  please the corperations would claim imonantdomain over it since its infringing on their IP/CP,it would be easier to just have the goverment tax the net and make sharing leagle then all the software company's would have to do is have the updates only avalbile to people hat has fuly registred with all thier keys and such.
  
  but then again the governments of the world kiss up to the corperations and then they wonder why things go wrong....

  29.10.2006 01:27 #16

• Mik3h

  Quote: never plead guilty, or accept the first offer given to you by the prosecution. NEVER...ever. Sounds like you talking from experience there, hardcore ;)
  
  -Mike
  

  http://my.afterdawn.com/mik3h/blog_entry.cfm/351/myafterdawnguides - Guides written by me.
  http://www.adbuddies.org/java/ - I No longer support the Afterdawn IRC channel..
  
  Xbox Live Gamertag - Mik3h (Kudos to Ripper For The Beautiful Sig!)
  
  

  29.10.2006 09:24 #17

• Chris1000

  That is the first thing that they teach you as a defense attorney in law school - Don't take the prosecutions first offer.
  
  Usually, if they have enough evidence to convict you, they will not WANT to give an offer in the first place, period and done with.
  
  The Elitetorrent's admin should have told them politely to "Go pound sand!" and looked for a new lawyer if he was advising him to take the deal.

  29.10.2006 10:03 #18

• ZippyG

  Wow, there was really no solid case against this guy...he should have stood and fought, possibly enlisting the assistance of the EFF.
  
  BTW- I think this case was already open and ongoing from the prior incident where the admin of this site was busted for allegedly being involved with the distribution of the star wars movie prior to its theater release.
  
  OT: Can anyone post some links to other US-Based bit torrent sites or trackers? Or was elitetorrents the last of them?

  29.10.2006 13:29 #19

• hot_ice

  They could not afford attorney fees, that's why they pleaded guilty.

  29.10.2006 18:44 #20

• Gosurf101

  I would have at least got an public defender. I mean that is one right they should have used.

  29.10.2006 21:24 #21

• anony22

  i knew grant personally, he was barely an admin of the site. he was an uploader with top access and provided the uploaders with the content to upload to ET's website.
  
  he had a lawyer, barely a lawyer anyways, and yes, i think he made a mistake signing the first plea to but he told me he just wanted it over with ;/
  
  guess it aint over though

  30.10.2006 07:34 #22

• o0cynix0o

  I to would want it over with but not at the expence of my freedom. And does this mean I should get my grand ma out of town. ha ha ha. Wouldn't want her to end up going to jail, like that old lady in Florida.

  30.10.2006 16:11 #23

• t3ddyo

  "I agree with The_Fiend
  
  u never plead guilty, or accept the first offer given to you by the prosecution. NEVER...ever."
  
  "That is the first thing that they teach you as a defense attorney in law school - Don't take the prosecutions first offer."
  
  Did anyone consider the possibility that maybe this wasn't the FIRST offer, or did i miss part of the article?

  30.10.2006 21:09 #24

• ZippyDSM

  this is a civail case right? you only get a public arrenery when its criminal,for civail you will only get one IF your state or city has soemthign setup.

  31.10.2006 01:28 #25

• garmoon

  This is why only the rich can afford an attorney who can protect a person's rights. I agree they should have never pled guilty. Should have retained a new lawyer. Sounds like they got bad advice. You get what you pay for. Unfortunately that's also the case in the medical and most other professions. The poor and middle-class suffer. JM2C

  31.10.2006 16:28 #26

• craftyzan

  A smart admin would run a tracker in open water on a boat in neutral water, and move frequently, and SURE AS HELL not in the USA which is in bed with the MPAA.

  31.10.2006 19:04 #27

• anony22

  he accepted the first plea he received, just like scott did

  31.10.2006 21:51 #28

• jetyi83

  what an asshole lawyer he got..

  2.11.2006 10:01 #29

• MCSA1099

  wow, performance artists are honestly making me sick and I know it's not just hurting them but the people behind the music, technology is not going to stop... were going to break through anything and everything
  
  PS: Jay Z makes $1,000,000 a show for a 50 min. performance well thats $20,000 a minute, wow everyone should be thanking me for stealing music

  2.11.2006 12:34 #30

• seb32

  ya, pirating a song or thirty isn't that much of a deal... until everyone starts doing it.

  8.11.2006 16:05 #31

• ZippyDSM

  stealing music is not the problem,the RIAA that poorly distributes money to artists and assaulting the consumers,if they would streamline and get with the times they would make as much if not more,but much liek the goverment why change for the better of all when you can stay the same and horde it for yourself.

  8.11.2006 16:33 #32

• seb32

  Quote:stealing music is not the problem,the RIAA that poorly distributes money to artists and assaulting the consumers,if they would streamline and get with the times they would make as much if not more,but much liek the goverment why change for the better of all when you can stay the same and horde it for yourself.Exactly.

  8.11.2006 17:15 #33

• bmx_punk

  yah just like every one else its all bs f^&( a holes

  29.7.2007 23:32 #34

• Ripper

  What the hell was that about? >.<

  30.7.2007 01:04 #35