Infringement of Copyright—File-sharing and Counterfeits

A Connecticut woman, Carol Szoke, has pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit criminal copyright infringement for her participation in a file-sharing ring which was investigated in part by the Cyber Crime Center of Immigration and Customs Enforcement [hereinafter ICE].^[1] The ring operated by having suppliers give certain copyrighted material—such as audio CDs, movie DVDs, and video game CD-ROMs—to crackers who would try to circumvent any of the copyright protection used on the material.^[2] The crackers then gave the pirated material to couriers who placed it on the internet for the world to access.^[3]

Ms. Szoke’s guilty plea comes as part of ICE’s Operation Safehaven, a 15-month investigation that has resulted in the seizure of thousands of pirated CDs and DVDs, plus dozens of computers and servers.^[4]

Elsewhere, ICE agents seized 8,725 DVDs and CDs from the Val Verde Flea Market in Donna, Texas.^[5] Each of the discs were being sold for roughly $10, but no arrests were made at the time of the seizure.^[6] ICE agents, however, will continue the investigation into how the discs were made available at the flea market, and where they came from.^[7]

We have previously discussed copyright infringement and counterfeit DVDs and labels, here.

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[1] ICE, Operation Safehaven: Pennsylvania Woman Pleads Guilty to Federal Software Piracy Charge, Sept. 27, 2005, available here.
[2] Id.
[3] Id.
[4] Id.
[5] ICE, ICE Agents Seize Thousands of Pirated Music CDs and Motion Picture DVDs, Sept. 29, 2005, available here.
[6] Id.
[7] Id.

Piracy at Sea—Somalia

Earlier this year, we mentioned that a band of Somali pirates had seized a ship carrying UN food aid. It now appears that they have used that ship to seize a vessel transporting cement from Egypt.^[1] The pirates had been located in the port of El Maan, but local authorities expelled the pirates recently when they raised fresh ransom demands and refused to meet a deadline to release the ship, its crew, and its cargo.^[2]

The Somali government is asking the world community for assistance in creating a coast guard to cut down on piracy in the region.^[3] Somali Prime Minister Ali Mohamed Gedi’s aide has said that shipping companies “should try and avoid the waters of Somalia.”^[4]

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[1] Tom Maliti, Somalia Piracy Reaching Alarming Levels, Boston Globe, Sept. 29, 2005, available here.
[2] Id.
[3] Id.
[4] Id.

Disclosure of Classified Information—Lawrence Franklin

Lawrence A. Franklin, a Pentagon analyst charged with disclosing classified information to an Israeli official and members of the American Israeli Political Action Committee, will plead guilty today.^[1] The exact charges to which he will plead guilty have not yet been released.^[2] We have discussed Mr. Franklin previously here.

Update: The announcement was a bit premature. According to Reuters, a source close to the case expects a deal to be worked out next Wednesday.^[3]

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[1] Pentagon Analyst to Plead Guilty to Leak, Associated Press, Sept. 29, 2005, available here.
[2] Id.
[3] Pentagon Analyst Close to Guilty Plea, Reuters, Sept. 29, 2005, available here.

Arms Trafficking—Aircraft Components

Arif Ali Durrani, a Pakistani national convicted in 1987 of illegally exporting missile components to Iran, has been charged in a criminal complaint with conspiring to illegally export US military aircraft components to the United Arab Emirates, Malaysia, and Belgium.^[1]

According to the complaint, Mr. Durrani knowingly and intentionally conspired with others to export from the US a rear canopy panel for the T-38 training aircraft, and amplifiers for the J85 turbine jet engine used on the F-5 military and T-38 training aircrafts.^[2] Mr. Durrani is charged with conspiracy and violating the Arms Export Control Act.^[3]

Conspiracy
We have covered conspiracy previously here.

Arms Export Control Act
The Arms Export Control Act is codified at 22 U.S.C. § 2778. Under this section it is illegal for a person to export articles which are designated on the US Munitions List without first obtaining a license or written authorization from the Department of State.^[4]

The punishment for violating this section is a fine of up to $1,000,000, imprisonment for up to 10 years, or both.^[5]

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[1] Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Press Release: Convicted Pakistani Arms Dealer Charged in Conspiracy to Export U.S. Military Items to Middle East, Asia & Europe, Sept. 27, 2005, available here.
[2] Id.
[3] Id.
[4] 22 U.S.C. § 2778(b)(1)(A)(ii)(III).
[5] Id. § 2778(c).

Trafficking in Antiquities—J. Paul Getty Museum

Italy is demanding the return of 42 objects in the J. Paul Getty Museum’s collection which they believe were stolen, including ancient urns, vases, and a 5-foot marble statue of Apollo.^[1] Over the weekend, the Los Angeles Times ran a story that claimed that internal documents of the museum acknowledged knowing as early as 1985 that some of the artifacts in the museum were obtained from sellers who had probably stolen them.^[2] In all, it is estimated that nearly half the masterpieces in the Getty’s antiquities collection were stolen or looted long after Italy made it illegal to sell artifacts from Italian ruins.^[3]

Today, the museum claims that the documents on which the L.A. Times based its report were stolen from the museum’s files.^[4]

We previously discussed trafficking in antiquities yesterday.

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[1] Paper: Getty Bought From Suspected Looters, Associated Press, Sept. 25, 2005, available here.
[2] Jason Felch and Ralph Frammolino, Getty Had Signs it was Acquiring Possibly Looted Art, Documents Show, L.A. Times, Sept. 25, 2005, available here.
[3] Id.
[4] Getty: Art Story Used Stolen Papers, Monterey County Herald, Sept. 27, 2005, available here.

Trafficking in Antiquities—Peruvian Artifacts

US Immigration and Customs Enforcement [hereinafter ICE] special agents seized more than 300 pre-Columbian Peruvian artifacts in Florida.^[1] The artifacts, some of which date back to 1500 BC, were discovered during the execution of three federal search warrants at several South Florida locations.^[2] Among the items recovered were a 3,500 year-old clay vessel, an 1,800 year-old clay statue, and a burial shroud link to ancient Peruvian royalty.^[3]

Trafficking in antiquities is a serious transnational crime. 19 U.S.C. § 2607 states that no article of cultural property which is documented as belonging to the inventory of a museum, a religious or secular monument, or a similar institution in a party to the Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property, may be imported into the United States. Peru is a party to the Convention.

“Cultural property” is defined as an article described in article 1(a) through (k) of the Convention.^[4] This includes property relating to history,^[5] products of archaeological excavations,^[6] and antiquities more than one hundred years old.^[7]

The enforcement of the ban on importation is found in 18 U.S.C. § 2315, which states that any person who possesses any goods which have crossed the United States boundary after being stolen can be fined, imprisoned for up to ten years, or both.

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[1] ICE, Press Release: More than 300 Pre-Columbian Peruvian Artifcacts Recovered by ICE and BSO, Sept. 26, 2005, available here.
[2] Id.
[3] Id.
[4] 19 U.S.C. § 2601(6).
[5] Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property, Mar. 3, 1973, art. 1, para. b, 823 U.N.T.S. 231.
[6] Id. art. 1, para. c.
[7] Id. art. 1, para. e.