A London information-technology (IT) specialist was jailed for two and a half years on Friday for his role in a global gang of Internet pirates behind the UK's biggest software theft.
A court in central London heard that Alex Bell, 29, a Morgan Stanley IT worker, belonged to an international underground hackers' organization, DrinkorDie, which prided itself on cracking even the most complex security codes and putting illegally copied software, games, music and videos on the Web before their official release.
The group, 70 members of which have been arrested worldwide, was not driven by financial gain, but by the technological thrill and a dislike of corporate giants such as Microsoft. But its actions cost the computer industry millions of dollars.
Bell and co-defendant Steven Dowd, 39, both denied conspiracy to defraud, but were convicted by the jury. Two other men, 31-year-old Mark Vent and Andrew Eardley, 35, admitted the charge. Dowd was jailed for two years, Vent for 18 months, and Eardley got an 18-month suspended sentence.
Bell was a "staff member" of DrinkorDie, with some kudos in the hierarchy, and fraudulently used other people's credit cards to buy software for the group to crack. Dowd was also a member and police found a "treasure trove" of pirated software in his home.
Judge Paul Focke said that while the defendants were not the ringleaders of DrinkorDie, all four were involved in activities which "struck at the very heart of software trading."
"The cost to software owners through piracy is staggering," he added. "Not only does it have an effect on them but it also has an effect on related businesses and the lives of their employees can be rendered catastrophic."
Bruce Houlder, prosecuting, described the gang as computer obsessives who lived in a virtual world where they were Internet heroes.
"Computers are their universe. They seem to live and breathe the world of computers. They see themselves as stars and come out at night. They are the night-time tappers of keyboards whose lives are bound by random access memory. Their lives revolve around cyberspace.
"Often they don't do what they do for money but for a kind of street cred among their fellow Internet devotees. But they see themselves as Internet heroes.
"They may think of themselves as latter-day Robin Hoods, stealing from the rich and giving to the poor ... but this Robin Hood mentality is just something that serves their purpose. In reality it is a cover for fraud," he said.
British cyber-detectives worked with the FBI on a five-year investigation and British Detective Superintendent Mick Deats said that DrinkorDie was one of the most sophisticated groups making up the "Warez Community" -- a network of gangs which started in the 1990s, "ripping" software by removing protective copyright and then posting it on the Internet for illegal downloading.
"Internet piracy is a growing problem, with organized crime moving into this space and defrauding the individual, business and governments of millions of pounds," Deats said.
Merida Industry Co (美利達) has seen signs of recovery in the US and European markets this year, as customers are gradually depleting their inventories, the bicycle maker told shareholders yesterday. Given robust growth in new orders at its Taiwanese factory, coupled with its subsidiaries’ improving performance, Merida said it remains confident about the bicycle market’s prospects and expects steady growth in its core business this year. CAUTION ON CHINA However, the company must handle the Chinese market with great caution, as sales of road bikes there have declined significantly, affecting its revenue and profitability, Merida said in a statement, adding that it would
i Gasoline and diesel prices at fuel stations are this week to rise NT$0.1 per liter, as tensions in the Middle East pushed crude oil prices higher last week, CPC Corp, Taiwan (台灣中油) and Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化) said yesterday. International crude oil prices last week rose for the third consecutive week due to an escalating conflict between Israel and Iran, as the market is concerned that the situation in the Middle East might affect crude oil supply, CPC and Formosa said in separate statements. Front-month Brent crude oil futures — the international oil benchmark — rose 3.75 percent to settle at US$77.01
RISING: Strong exports, and life insurance companies’ efforts to manage currency risks indicates the NT dollar would eventually pass the 29 level, an expert said The New Taiwan dollar yesterday rallied to its strongest in three years amid inflows to the nation’s stock market and broad-based weakness in the US dollar. Exporter sales of the US currency and a repatriation of funds from local asset managers also played a role, said two traders, who asked not to be identified as they were not authorized to speak publicly. State-owned banks were seen buying the greenback yesterday, but only at a moderate scale, the traders said. The local currency gained 0.77 percent, outperforming almost all of its Asian peers, to close at NT$29.165 per US dollar in Taipei trading yesterday. The
RECORD LOW: Global firms’ increased inventories, tariff disputes not yet impacting Taiwan and new graduates not yet entering the market contributed to the decrease Taiwan’s unemployment rate last month dropped to 3.3 percent, the lowest for the month in 25 years, as strong exports and resilient domestic demand boosted hiring across various sectors, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) said yesterday. After seasonal adjustments, the jobless rate eased to 3.34 percent, the best performance in 24 years, suggesting a stable labor market, although a mild increase is expected with the graduation season from this month through August, the statistics agency said. “Potential shocks from tariff disputes between the US and China have yet to affect Taiwan’s job market,” Census Department Deputy Director Tan Wen-ling