CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA B George C. Stoutenburgh, 50, of Bennet, Colorado, was sentenced to one year and one day of federal imprisonment yesterday for his involvement in an Internet software piracy ring, the Justice Department announced.

Stoutenburgh was indicted in July 2005 as part of Operation FastLink, the largest and most successful federal crackdown against international Internet piracy to date. FastLink resulted in more than 120 search warrants and arrests in 12 countries; the confiscation of hundreds of computers and illegal online distribution hubs; and the removal of more than $50 million worth of illegally-copied copyrighted software, games, movies, and music from illicit distribution channels. To date, 47 defendants have been convicted of felony copyright infringement offenses as a result of this Department of Justice anti-piracy initiative.

Stoutenburgh was known as a site operator (or "site op") in the illegal software, game, movie, and music trade known as the "warez" scene. He owned and operated an online computer hub that illegally distributed copyrighted software, games, movies, and music to members of a private underground group. He controlled all access to the computer site, permitting members to upload and download the site's contents, which consisted of thousands of pirated works. He himself enjoyed access to the entire online library of copyrighted works.

Such warez distribution sites ultimately supply the for-profit criminal distribution networks that cost the copyright industry billions of dollars each year. Although pirated software titles are initially distributed only to a closed group, the titles quickly filter down to commercial distribution sites and peer-to-peer networks within hours. Illegal warez copies of software or movies are then 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.

This case was investigated by Special Agent Darren Mott of the FBI's Charlotte Division. It is being prosecuted by Corbin Weiss and Richard Green, Trial Attorneys for the Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section of the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington, DC, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Corey Ellis of the Western District of North Carolina.