The Federal Bureau of Investigation and law enforcement from 10 other countries conducted over 90 searches worldwide as part of "Operation Site Down," designed to disrupt and dismantle many of the leading criminal organizations that illegally distribute and trade in copyrighted software, movies, music, and games on the Internet.

Operation Site Down is the culmination of three separate undercover investigations conducted by the FBI. In the past 24 hours, more than 70 searches were executed in the United States, and more than 20 overseas. Four individuals were arrested in the United States, and searches and/or arrests occurred in the following 10 countries: Canada, Israel, France, Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands, United Kingdom, Germany, Portugal and Australia. At least eight major online distribution sites were dismantled, preventing tens of millions of further losses to the content industry. More than 120 leading members of the organized online piracy underground were identified by the investigation to date, and as the investigations continue, additional targets will be identified and pursued.

"The theft of this property strikes at the heart of America's economy," said FBI Assistant Director Louis M. Reigel. "It deprives many Americans and others around the globe of their right to be paid for their labor and enjoy the value of their hard work."

In addition to attacking piracy globally, Operation Site Down struck at all facets of the illegal software, game, movie, and music trade online, which is commonly referred to as the "warez scene."

The investigations focused on individuals and organizations that were the "first-providers" of copyrighted works to the warez underground - the so-called "release" groups that operated as the original sources for a majority of the pirated works distributed and downloaded via the Internet. Once a warez release group prepares a stolen work for distribution, the material is distributed in minutes to secure, top-level warez servers throughout the world. From there, within a matter of hours, the pirated works are distributed globally, filtering down to peer-to-peer and other public file sharing networks accessible to anyone with Internet access.

The release groups targeted by Site Down specialize in the distribution of all types of pirated works including utility and application software, movies, music, and games. Among the warez groups hit yesterday are: RiSCISO, Myth, TDA, LND, Goodfellaz, Hoodlum, Vengeance, Centropy, Wasted Time, Paranoid, Corrupt, Gamerz, AdmitONE, Hellbound, KGS, BBX, KHG, NOX, NFR, CDZ, TUN, and BHP. These groups alone are allegedly responsible for stealing, cracking and distributing hundreds of well-known titles, such as Autodesk's Autocad 2006, Adobe's Photoshop, and the movies "Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith" and "Mr. and Mrs. Smith." Operation Site Down is expected to dismantle many of these international warez syndicates and significantly disrupt the illicit operations of others.

Conservative estimates of the value of pirated works seized in yesterday's action exceed $50 million, which is only a fraction of the losses attributable to the online distribution hubs also seized in this operation. Top-level release groups like those targeted in the operation are primary suppliers to the for-profit criminal distribution networks that cost the copyright industry billions of dollars each year. Illegal warez copies of titles such as Autocad 2006 and "Mr. and Mrs. Smith" are easily and cheaply converted to optical discs and distributed throughout the world from factories in Asia and elsewhere. Spammers regularly advertise cheap software that can be downloaded from websites or shipped from overseas, usually bearing the signature mark of the warez group that released it.

Operation Site Down comprises three separate FBI undercover investigations run by the FBI field divisions in Charlotte, North Carolina; Chicago, Illinois; and San Francisco, California. The U.S. Attorney's Offices in San Francisco, Charlotte and Chicago assisted in the investigations and a majority of the domestic targets will be prosecuted in those districts. The Justice Department's Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section also assisted in the investigations and led the coordination of foreign enforcement actions in 10 countries.

Operation Site Down is the latest in a series of actions taken by the Department of Justice to crackdown on illegal online piracy. In the past four years, beginning with Operation Buccaneer in 2001 through Operation Fastlink in 2004, the Department has prosecuted a number of international investigations into these top piracy organizations.

In March 2004, as part of the Administration's Strategy Targeting Organized Piracy (STOP!) Initiative, the Department established the Task Force on Intellectual Property to address the increasing problem of intellectual property theft.

The Task Force examined how the Department protects intellectual property through criminal, civil and antitrust enforcement, legislative proposals, international coordination, and prevention. A report issued by the Task Force in October 2004 recommended comprehensive improvements in the Department's overall efforts, many of which have already been implemented. One of those recommendations was to continue the Department's strategy of dismantling and prosecuting multi-district and international criminal organizations that commit intellectual property crimes. Operation Site Down represents the Department's continued effort to pursue this strategy.

Police say a motorcyclist and the woman riding with him were going more than 70 miles an hour -- and neither was wearing a helmet -- when the bike hit street sign and a concrete staircase in York County.

Thirty-four-year-old George Sparks Junior of Windsor pleaded guilty Tuesday to homicide by vehicle, reckless driving and driving under the influence of alcohol in the September 17th crash that killed 34-year-old Rhea Baldwin of Airville. Common Pleas Judge Penny Blackwell said Sparks' blood-alcohol level was zero-point-19 percent, more than twice the legal limit.

Sparks agreed to serve one to seven years in prison, have no alcohol for seven years, and turn in his motorcycle license. He could have been sentenced to more than 17 years in prison. Blackwell scheduled sentencing for July 23rd.

A former high school teacher has pleaded guilty to having sex with a 17-year-old boy on the school's football team.

33-year-old Darcie Esson pleaded guilty yesterday to one count of sexual assault on a child by a person in a position of trust. Prosecutors dropped two other sexual assault charges as part of a plea deal.

Esson faces a sentence ranging from probation to an indeterminate life sentence without the possibility of parole.

Prosecutors say Esson had sex with the teen in a Glenwood Springs motel room in November while the Elizabeth High School football team was out of town for a playoff game.

Authorities say Esson's two young children and a teenage baby sitter were asleep in the room at the time.

The school is in Parker, about 135 miles east of Glenwood Springs. An arrest warrant affidavit says Esson had no official role in the team's trip.

School Superintendent Bob Neel says Esson resigned her teaching job in December.

Ohio State basketball player David Lighty pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor assault charge and was fined $250 in a case involving a jogger who was shot with a BB gun last year.

Two of Lighty’s former teammates at Villa Angela-St. Joseph High School in Cleveland also entered pleas in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas on Tuesday.

Jimmy McLeod and Darryl Rushton each were fined $100 after pleading guilty to disorderly conduct, a minor misdemeanor.

James Nugent, 55, was not seriously hurt last June when he was hit in the back by at least one plastic BB while jogging on the VASJ track. In Cleveland, BB and pellet guns are considered firearms and it is illegal to have them in public places.

Nugent said Tuesday that he had forgiven the 19-year-old defendants and thought the sentences handed down by Judge Kenneth Callahan were fair.

After he was sentenced, Lighty shook Nugent’s hand. Lighty told the judge he wanted to apologize “to Mr. Nugent, to my family, my community and my school.”

Lighty, a 6-foot-5 guard-forward, started seven games last season as the Buckeyes set a school record for victories with a 35-4 record. He was at his best as a defensive specialist who hit some big shots during Ohio State’s run to the national championship game, where the Buckeyes lost to defending champion Florida.

In an effort to support the public dissemination of information on the state of U.S. corporate governance, independent corporate governance research firm The Corporate Library has initiated a series of comparative reviews of large corporations' governance practices. The first study in the series, a review of a compilation of Household Services-related industry sectors, was run using The Corporate Library's Corporate Benchmarker analysis tool. The result of this evaluation suggests that there is still no overall consistency in corporate governance policies and practices.

Examples of two of the largest variations as identified by the tool include:

--  Multiple classes of voting stock are in place at more than half of
   media and entertainment companies, but virtually absent in the rest of the
   Household Services-related industries.
  
--  Around half of communications services, financial services and retail
   grocery companies have a formal governance policy posted on their website,
   compared to 90% for residential construction and 100% for health &
   disability insurance.
   In conducting the analysis, the 41 fundamental corporate governance policy and compliance variables that make up The Corporate Library's Governance Practices Compliance Score were compared using Corporate Benchmarker in an industry-averaged, side-by-side analysis.

Data for the study was derived from The Corporate Library's database which contains information on over 3,000 U.S. public corporations. This data resource is updated on a regular basis from governance-related filings and policy statements. Additional reviews are planned to take place throughout the year.

About The Corporate Library

The Corporate Library is an independent research firm that provides corporate governance information products, research services and data to a broad variety of clients including institutional investors, corporations, D&O liability insurers, law firms, accounting firms, executive search firms, academic institutions and the media. The Corporate Library produces the definitive ratings of U.S. corporate boards of directors, allowing businesses that subscribe to the service to evaluate governance as an element of investment and other risk. The Corporate Library is also a leading publisher of corporate governance reports and studies, including reports on executive compensation, governance practices, and mutual fund proxy voting, which its analysts compile using its extensive database of over 3,000 public companies. Additional information on The Corporate Library and its suite of online corporate governance data and analysis products can be found on its website at www.thecorporatelibrary.com.

The Humane Society of the United States and Weil, Gotshal & Manges have filed what they believe to be the first class action lawsuit against a U.S. puppy dealer, alleging that the company sold puppies with genetic defects and contagious parasitic infections and failed to reimburse customers for the sick animals or their medical problems.

Weil Gotshal, led by New York litigator Paul Ferrillo, filed the lawsuit on a pro bono basis on behalf of the Humane Society in Broward County Circuit Court against the south Florida-based Wizard of Claws. The lawsuit so far represents about 100 class members, said Jonathan Lovvorn, who heads up the Humane Society's litigation department. Each representative will have damages of $2,000 to $5,000, making the lawsuit worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, he said.

The sale of sick and dying puppies to customers who were unable to receive reimbursement for either the price of the sick dogs or veterinary treatments that sometimes cost thousands of dollars violated Florida animal and consumer protection laws, the Humane Society said. The lawsuit seeks unspecified compensatory damages and injunctive relief against the further sale of puppies by Wizard of Claws.

A Web site for Pembroke Pines, Fla.-based Wizard of Claws shows photos of various breeds of puppies for sale. All puppies are checked by a veterinarian and "all our attention goes to their well being," the site says. The company says it "backs up our puppies 100 percent." A Wizard of Claws representative declined comment and referred calls to owner James Anderson, who was not available.

Ferrillo, who was drawn to the case in part by his affection for his Jack Russell terrier, investigated the puppy dealer and brought the case with help from a team of about a dozen lawyers in Weil Gotshal's Miami and New York offices in addition to Humane Society attorneys.

The complaint alleges that Green and Baine fraudulently prepared a return for one customer—a gospel singer––that claimed that he purchased 6,214 gallons of diesel fuel for off-highway business use. The suit notes that for the claim to be accurate the gospel singer (whose total income for the year was less than $2,341) would have to have spent approximately $12,248 to purchase that volume of fuel, and would have to have driven approximately 24,280 offroad miles during the year, an average of 340 miles each day of the year.

The government complaint alleges that the IRS has identified more than $150,000 in fraudulent fuel tax credits in returns TAS Services prepared.

The Justice Department obtained an injunction in April against a Miami tax preparer in a case involving allegations of similar fraudulent fuel tax credits. http://www.usdoj.gov/tax/txdv07254.htm

Since 2001 the Justice Department has obtained injunctions against more than 240 tax preparers and tax-fraud promoters. Information on those cases is available at http://www.usdoj.gov/tax/taxpress2007.htm. More information about the Justice Department’s Tax Division can be found at www.usdoj.gov/tax