There has been a collaboration between the Department of Justice, FBI, multiple US attorneys’ offices, Dutch and French law enforcement to seize Android based piracy websites. The Department of Justice released a statement noting that this is the first time domains involved in mobile phone app marketplaces have been seized.
“Software apps have become an increasingly essential part of our nation’s economy and creative culture, and the Criminal Division is committed to working with our law enforcement partners to protect the creators of these apps and other forms of intellectual property from those who seek to steal it,” said Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the DOJ’s Criminal Division.
If you visit appbucket.net, appplanet.net or snappzmarket.com you will now notice they are under Federal control showing a seizure banner. The seizer banner states that these websites have been taken over and reminds users that willful copyright infringement is a federal crime with heavy penalties for anyone found guilty.
“This domain name has been seized by the FBI – Federal Bureau of Investigation pursuant to a seizure warrant issued by a United States District Court under the authority of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 981 and 2323.
Willful copyright infringement is a federal crime that carries penalties for first time offenders of up to five years in federal prison, a $250,000 fine, forfeiture and restitution (Title 17, United States Code, Section 506, Title 18, United States Code, Section 2319).”
This collaboration of different divisions of law enforcement during the course of their investigation where able to download thousands of copies of popular mobile apps free of charge. The notice given highlights the fact that other countries usually host the apps on servers being sold through third parties. This fact is why other countries law enforcers were brought into the investigation.
This is bad news for those that are used to getting all of their apps for free, or at least a discounted price. This being said, those developers that are being taken advantage of will now have more income from the apps that they have developed to help improve their offerings.