Tech Shout!

The United States Department of Justice on Tuesday achieved a victory in federal court against three members of the “Apocalypse Crew” warez group. The individuals who pleaded guilty have been sentenced on the charges of sharing digital pre-release copies of songs and albums through P2P networks.

In a statement, the DOJ said Derek Borchardt, 21, of North Carolina; Matthew Howard, 24, of Colorado; and Aaron Jones, 31, of Oregon obtained the music through insiders at record companies, magazine publishers and retail outlets. Songs were stored on servers run by the group.

From there, the copyrighted material was distributed “to peer-to-peer and other public file sharing networks accessible to anyone with Internet access and potentially appearing for sale around the world,” the DOJ said.

The Justice Department previously sued George Hayes, 31, of Virginia, who pleaded guilty to one count of criminal copyright infringement.

The four men could possibly be imprisoned for five years and be fined for around $250,000. The definite date as to when the sentences will be handed down has not yet been revealed.

In its legal fight against P2P users, the Record Industry Association of America announced it had filed another 750 lawsuits against undisclosed individuals. These “John Doe” suits include the individual’s IP address, which the RIAA uses to discover his or her identity.

In a statement, RIAA president Cary Sherman hailed the lawsuits as protecting the reliability of the market so legal music services like iTunes can flourish. Sherman also created a new phrase for those who download music illegally, likening them to retail shoplifters with the term “songlifter.”

He said, “Just as we continue to educate fans about the right ways to enjoy music online, we will continue to enforce our rights through the legal system. Songlifting is not without consequences.”