Washington - A federal jury has handed down the first criminal copyright infringement conviction, finding a 26-year-old Virginia man guilty for his role in operating EliteTorrents.org, a peer-to-peer site that offered pre-release movies and other content, the U.S. Justice Department said.

Daniel Dove was arrested as part of Operation D-Elite, a federal crackdown on the EliteTorrents network, which the DOJ said "attracted more than 125,000 members and facilitated the illegal distribution of approximately 700 movies, which were downloaded more than 1.1 million times."

"The Motion Picture Assn. of America provided substantial assistance to the D-Elite investigation," according to the Justice Dept.

Dove's conviction was the eighth to come as a result of Operation E-Elite.

He faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison, and is scheduled to be sentenced on Sept. 9.

Related Links:
http://www.usdoj.gov/opa/pr/2008/June/08-crm-574.html

http://news.cnet.com/8301-10784_3-9980256-7.html

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117988276.html