Risciso

Infobox computer underground
group_name = RiSCiSO


caption =
years_active = 1993-2005
origin =
country =
category = Warez (Courier) (Release Group)
platforms =
founders =
products =
affiliate =
website =

RISCISO was an online warez group, founded in approximately 1993, dedicated to illegally distributing newly-released copyrighted software, games and movies. The acronym 'RISC' stood for Rise in Superior Couriering while 'ISO' referred to a file format commonly used for the storage and transfer of pirated software. The organization operated until the summer of 2005. American authorities are still searching for the organization's ring leader Sean Patrick O'Toole, after he failed to appear in an American court in February of 2006.

All 19 defendants were charged with one count of conspiracy to defraud the government, and 15 of the 19 were charged with one additional count each of copyright infringement. The indictment also seeks forfeiture of 172 items of computer hardware and related electronics that were seized from the defendants during the searches. The defendants are:

SEAN PATRICK O’TOOLE, also known as “chucky,
SANDY FURY, also known as “asylum,” and "TheAsYLuM"
VAHID PAZIRANDEH, also known as “vman,”
MATTHEW PLOESSEL, also known as “kkits” and “stikk,” (Co-author: Hacking Exposed)
LINDA WALDRON, also known as “bajantara,”
PAUL YAU, also known as “ann,”
MARC BARTEL, also known as “biosprint,”
TU NGUYEN, also known as “dray,”
RICHARD BALTER, also known as “ducky,”
DANNY LEE, also known as “messy,”
PETER ANDREW HOLLAND, also known as “thebinary,”
JASON DOBYNS, also known as “supafly”
DAVID LEWIS, also known as “keymaster”
MATTHEW CITTELL, also known as “keymaster”
JOSEPH TOLAND, also known as “anim8,”
FRED AMAYA, also known as “audiovox,”
LANCE WARNER, also known as “transform,”
GREGG PIECYHNA,
JEREMIAH STEVENS, also known as “^mort^

The conspiracy and copyright infringement charges in this case were brought under the No Electronic Theft Act, known as the NET Act, which enables prosecutions of copyright piracy. The NET Act makes it illegal to reproduce or distribute copyrighted works, such as software, games and movies, even if the defendant acts without a commercial purpose or for private financial gain.

The government was being represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Pravin Rao and Angela Crawford but Christopher Veitch has since taken over the case for the Prosecution. The Justice Department’s Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section, which is part of the Department’s Criminal Division, has provided assistance.

The public is reminded that an indictment contains only charges and is not evidence of guilt. The defendants are presumed innocent and are entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

eptember 2008 Update

Sean O'Toole is still a fugitive and no one has heard from him in 2 years.
Linda Waldron remains a fugitive in her home in Barbados.
All other Defendants have signed 5 year plea agreements except:
Sandy Fury is scheduled to go to trial on February 2, 2009
Due to numerous problems with the prosecutions case brought up by Fury, Jason Dobyns has also decided to go to trial.

None of the Defendants have served a day in jail except for Sandy Fury who (reminiscent of Kevin Mitnick's similar persecution by the government) went for a status hearing on March 19, 2008 where a pre-trial services officer lied to the court causing her bond to be revoked. Sandy Fury spent 184 days (6 months) in the Jerome Combs Detention Center in Kankakee County Illinois fighting to get her bond back. After firing 6 attorneys and filing her own Speedy Trial Act Motion as a pro-se litigant, Chicago Federal attorney, Michael Clancy was appointed to her case. Leading forensic expert Jeff Fischbach (http://www.secondwave.com) has been appointed to Sandy Fury's defense team. And, Miss Fury was finally re-released on her own recognizance (with GPS tracking and house arrest) on September 18, 2008. She is scheduled for an appearance before Judge Amy St. Eve in the Northern District of Illinois on October 8, 2008.
Executive Editor of Wiley & Sons, (publishers of Kevin Mitnick and Bruce Schneier), had been in talks with Sandy Fury (who is also an Information Security Professional and Forensic Analyst) about a publishing deal prior to her detention. There is no information on the status of these talks and whether the book's topic will be a tell-all book about the warez scene, or her current ordeal, or Information Security.

References

* [http://www.theage.com.au/news/World/US-hunts-accused-Aussie-internet-pirate/2006/02/23/1140563884153.html The Age article]

External links

* [http://www.linuxelectrons.com/article.php/20060202121742146 19 Indicted in $6.5 Million “RISCISO” Software Piracy Conspiracy]
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