As our communications networks improve and become faster, more and more Australians use the Internet as a means for obtaining digital products. Those who choose to profit from the sale of illegally copied products may find themselves caught by the long arm of the law.

On Wednesday raids were carried out on suspected Internet pirates in Australia and more than a dozen other countries.

The FBI led investigation dubbed “Operation Site Down” by law-enforcement officials, involved three separate undercover operations and consisted of more than 70 searches across the globe.

Eight major servers used to distribute pirated materials believed to be worth more than AUS$65m—including movies, software and music—were also shut down and more than 120 leading members of the on-line piracy ring have been identified through the operation.

Contrary to popular opinion, this operation is unrelated to and is not targeting peer-to-peer networks but those who use these networks, or any other, to perpetrate crimes of piracy.