FBI’s Cyber Division served a sealed warrant on Deer Valley School District (AZ) as part of online piracy crackdown
As part of a national crackdown on pirated music CDs and movies, agents from the FBI’s Cyber Division served a sealed warrant on Deer Valley School District (AZ) and interviewed about 20 employees at the district’s Administration Services Center. The FBI action at Deer Valley was part of "Operation Fastlink," which involved raids on 120 sites in 27 states and 10 foreign countries. Announcing the raids at a press conference, U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft declined to say why Deer Valley had been targeted. School district officials said they do not believe that students are targets of the investigation because separate search warrants had not been issued at individual schools. Superintendent Virginia McElyea sent a letter to parents in which she said the district would work with federal authorities on the investigation. While Mr. Ashcroft refused to reveal whether any other schools in the state or nation are targets, he did say, "Our educational institutions have access to very high speed and good computer capacity, and the ability to move things digitally. So, it's not surprising to me that there may be individuals who would seek to use those kinds of access points into the (pirating) system."
Arizona Republic
Billy House, Monica Mendoza, and Brent Whiting
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