O F F I C I A L U S E O N L Y DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY ICE REPORT OF INVESTIGATION CONTINUATION PAGE 1 CASE NUMBER **REDACTED (b)(2)High, (k)(2)** REPORT NUMBER: 022 DETAILS OF INVESTIGATION: On February 22, 2006, SA **REDACTED (b)(6), (b)(7)c, (k)(2)** received from the FBI, a copy of the transcript for the interview of **REDACTED (b)(6), (b)(7)c, (k)(2)** that took place on August 17, 2005. **REDACTED (b)(6), (b)(7)c, (k)(2)** was interviewed via telephone at the United States Attorneys Office (USAO) U.S. District of Arizona located at 2 Renaissance Square, 40 N. Central Avenue, Suite 1200, Phoenix, Arizona. On February 22, 2006, SA **REDACTED (b)(6), (b)(7)c, (k)(2)** received a copy of the transcript for the interview of **REDACTED (b)(6), (b)(7)c, (k)(2)** that took place on August 17, 2005 **REDACTED (b)(6), (b)(7)c, (k)(2)** born **REDACTED (b)(6), (b)(7)c, (k)(2)**, security number **REDACTED (b)(6), (b)(7)c, (k)(2)** , residing at **REDACTED (b)(6), (b)(7)c, (k)(2)**, cell phone (602) 881-**REDACTED (b)(6), (b)(7)c, (k)(2)**, home phone (623) 551-**REDACTED (b)(6), (b)(7)c, (k)(2)**, was interviewed via telephone at the United States Attorneys Office (USAO) U.S. District of Arizona located at 2 Renaissance Square, 40 N. Central Avenue, Suite 1200, Phoenix, Arizona. Present in Phoenix were Assistant United States Attorney (AUSA) John Lopez, **REDACTED (b)(6), (b)(7)c, (k)(2)** attorney, **REDACTED (b)(6), (b)(7)c, (k)(2)**, FBI Special Agent (SA) **REDACTED (b)(6), (b)(7)c, (k)(2)**. and via phone SA **REDACTED (b)(6), (b)(7)c, (k)(2)**, Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), SAC San Diego and U.S. Department of Justice Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section (CCIPS) AUSA Andrea Sharrin. **REDACTED (b)(6), (b)(7)c, (k)(2)** was presented with a proffer letter which he reviewed with his attorney. **REDACTED (b)(6), (b)(7)c, (k)(2)** signed the letter and the interview began. After being advised of the nature of the interview and the identities of the interviewing agents, **REDACTED (b)(6), (b)(7)c, (k)(2)** in essence provided the following information: **REDACTED (b)(6), (b)(7)c, (k)(2)** is married and has **REDACTED (b)(6), (b)(7)c, (k)(2)** children. Because of the young age of his kids, **REDACTED (b)(6), (b)(7)c, (k)(2)**, went online to look for movies to download so that he wouldn't have to take his young children to the movies. He started with the www.torrentbits.org (TB) website until it was taken down by either the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) or someone else. Contacts that **REDACTED (b)(6), (b)(7)c, (k)(2)** made while at TB directed him to the www.ELITETORRENTS.org (ET) website around October 2004. **REDACTED (b)(6), (b)(7)c, (k)(2)** initially downloaded movies and computer games. He had been utilizing the Kazaa peer to peer (P2P) client to transfer files before he found bit torrent (BT) clients and websites. Unlike the regular P2P clients, BT clients and websites tracked the download to upload ratio for each user. **REDACTED (b)(6), (b)(7)c, (k)(2)** was aware that a member needed to have a ratio of 1 to 1 to maintain their account. All that was required to get a membership was a login name and valid email address. **REDACTED (b)(6), (b)(7)c, (k)(2)** used the screen name (nic) **REDACTED (b)(6), (b)(7)c, (k)(2)** or **REDACTED (b)(6), (b)(7)c, (k)(2)**. **REDACTED (b)(6), (b)(7)c, (k)(2)** had utilized these nicks for some time. The only place **REDACTED (b)(6), (b)(7)c, (k)(2)** downloaded torrents were the TB and ET websites. When he first joined ET, he O F F I C I A L U S E O N L Y THIS DOCUMENT IS LOANED TO YOU FR OFFICIAL USE ONLY AND REMAINS THE PROPERTY OF THE DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY, ICE. AND FURTHER REQUEST FOR DISCLOSURE OF THIS DOCUMENT OR INFORMATION CONTAINED HEREIN SHOULD BE REFERRED TO ICE HEADQUARTERS TOGETHER WITH A COPY OF THE DOCUMENT. ICE.000029.2011FOIA904