FTP world

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FTP-Welt (FTP based on: File Transfer Protocol ) was a German Internet portal founded in June 2003 . The purpose of the hitherto largest piracy network, as the commercial sales was mainly movies, music, computer games and warez . Because the operators lacked the consent of the rights holder , www.ftpwelt.com went offline on September 16, 2004 after several house searches. The investigation against two brothers as operator (then 20 and 30 years old), their Web programmer (then 19) and their accountant and lawyer Bernhard Counsel in loud public prosecutor "most comprehensive method for the distribution of pirated copies on the Internet" led to probation and fines .

history

FTP world came into being at a time when the first Internet file sharing platforms were at their peak. From 2003 onwards, the operators and users of file sharing sites came under the spotlight of the investigative authorities with an amendment to the copyright law . In the case of FTP-Welt, the information to the public prosecutor's office came from the Society for the Prosecution of Copyright Infringements (GVU), which spoke of “probably the world's greatest blow” against commercial providers of pirated copies.

The operators of FTP-Welt advertised their service in 2004 with this announcement:

“Are you still charging with eMule , Kazaa , Bittorrent or even eDonkey ? Then you know the annoying topic of download speed. [...] 2 or 3 days and longer for a film? That was the past, because now there is finally a possibility at a breathtaking speed (max. 2300kbit / s) the latest films (cinema, (S) VCD, XXX), PC games, PC programs, music (album sample , Current Top 100 etc.), eBooks to load directly onto your computer at home. FTPWelt.com is always TOP up-to-date and faster than ANY other site. "

The portal's servers were u. a. hosted in the Netherlands , the Czech Republic and Estonia in order to withdraw them from German legal access. A specially developed dial-up program even simulated intercontinental connections. In total, around one million sales were achieved through the largest German pirated copy network to date. The decisive clues for the raids came from a hacker who had obtained the access code and then made the portal 's email traffic and its customer database available to the Society for the Prosecution of Copyright Infringements (GVU). Around 120 officers were on duty when searches took place in the early afternoon of September 16, 2004 at several locations in the federal states of Thuringia , Bavaria and Hesse . The portal could still be reached one day after the arrests , as the arrested persons initially did not disclose their access data to a server in Latvia . The service was registered in June 2003 with a PO Box address in the British Virgin Islands . The GVU complained about damages in the double-digit million range, some films were already offered two days before their German premiere.

In order to have the media data available for download , customers had to pay: two to three films could be downloaded for around 15 euros; a flat rate was available for three-digit monthly amounts in euros . The public prosecutor's office in Mühlhausen / Thuringia investigated thousands of such customers after the portal was closed. In total, the portal had 45,000 registered customers, including 17,500 paying customers. Most of them paid their bills by credit card ; FTP-Welt had also offered payment by telephone bill as an alternative. The Thuringia State Criminal Police Office wrote to 1,009 banks nationwide to determine the personal details of over 15,000 customers . Immediately after the arrest of the operators of FTP-Welt, the first users of the service contacted the law enforcement authorities by telephone, in some cases there were immediate voluntary reports .

The proceedings against the four accused began in December 2005, and in mid-February 2007 the criminal proceedings, which the public prosecutor described as “the most extensive proceedings to date for the distribution of pirated copies on the Internet”, concluded. The outcome of the proceedings had been eagerly awaited by criminal law experts, because never before had money been made on such a large scale with pirated copies on German soil. Bernhard Syndikus got away with ten months ' imprisonment on probation and payment of € 90,000, the two operators also received probation and fines. The proceedings against the fourth had already been discontinued on the first day of the hearing against payment of a fine. The court had assessed the perpetrators' confessions as mitigating the penalty. The turnover generated by the perpetrators was almost completely skimmed off.

There was no doubt about the guilt of the convicted, but there was also criticism of the public prosecutor's office in the aftermath. Instead of acting proactively, she allowed herself to be driven by the GVU as a lobby of the film and software industry at the expense of taxpayers . The GVU also boasted in connection with the proceedings triggered by FTP-Welt with several thousand house searches and 450,000 pirated copies confiscated.

Already in the run-up to the conviction, the GVU carried out the campaign " Pirate copiers are criminals ", which was carried out with great effort , in which, for example, movie spots with pirated copiers were shown behind bars, while the main suspects were already free after a few days of pre-trial detention.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Film off - biggest raid against pirates In: Der Tagesspiegel September 17, 2004
  2. ↑ FTPWelt.com ( Memento from June 15, 2004 in the Internet Archive )
  3. ^ Caribbean brawls . In: Der Spiegel , September 20, 2004
  4. ↑ a b Holger Bleich: The FTP World Case - How the large Warez download platform was discovered . In: c't 21 2004, p. 62
  5. ^ Maximilian Schönherr: Strike against pirates In: Deutschlandfunk September 18, 2004
  6. ^ Attorney on the wrong track In: Focus September 20, 2004
  7. ^ Investigations against users of pirated copies In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung September 17, 2004
  8. ↑ Police are investigating over 1000 German banks . In: Der Spiegel , September 30, 2005
  9. ↑ Falk Lüke: Copy hunters in the criticism In: Die Zeit January 25, 2006
  10. ↑ Cay Dobberke: There are prison sentences only in the cinema In: Der Tagesspiegel February 25, 2007
  11. ↑ Holger Bleich: Suspected sentences for operators of the commercial Warez platform FTPWelt In: c't , March 5, 2007
  12. ↑ Holger Bleich: At the taxpayer's expense. Public prosecutors as vicarious agents in the media industry . In: c't June 2008, p. 112
  13. ↑ Markus Pilzweger: Pressure on pirate copiers is growing . In: Süddeutsche Zeitung
  14. ↑ Pirate copiers are criminals - tough but fair! on YouTube
  15. ↑ Film industry attacks pirate copiers - campaign against “criminals” started In: Der Tagesspiegel December 1, 2004