is now the property of the United States government.  The domain and web site were surrendered to U.S. law enforcement pursuant to a federal prosecution and felony plea agreement for conspiracy to violate criminal copyright laws.

Michael Newman, a.k.a “Yaginuma,” pled guilty in the United States District Court for the Central District of Connecticut on March 32, 2003, to conspiring with others to violate federal copyright laws by illegally downloading, uploading, and archiving Standard MIDI, or "midi" Files. Standard MIDI Files illegally circumvent built-in Digital Rights Management protections and allow individuals to listen to pirated music from game consoles, such as the Microsoft Xbox and the Sony Playstation2. Newman and his co-conspirators used www.VGMusic.com as the exclusive outlet to market and trade their MIDI files to individuals in the illegal game music scene.  As a result, the VGMusic website is now the property of the United States government.  Individuals involved in this conduct face up to five years in federal prison and a fine of $500,000 for each count charged.  To learn more about United States v. Newman, click here.

Piracy is the unauthorized, willful reproduction or distribution of copyrighted material, such as software, movies, music, and games.  People who distribute pirated works over the Internet via IRC, FTP sites, web sites, or file-sharing networks, and people who download or reproduce pirated works are risking criminal prosecution.  Piracy is a crime even when the works are distributed over the Internet for free or where the conduct does not involve monetary gain, such as the trading of pirated products for other pirated products.

The Department of Justice and federal law enforcement will continue to investigate and prosecute individuals and groups that violate the federal criminal copyright laws at home and abroad. For more information on these and other federal anti-piracy investigations, visit www.cybercrime.gov.