US authorities said they had charged eight people with copyright infringement and snared illicit goods worth 100 million dollars, in their largest global sweep against organized crime online.

In a crackdown centering on 15 nations, from France to Singapore and Hungary to Australia, the US Justice Department claimed a serious blow against illegal online copyright pirates which bilk industry of billions of dollars a year.

"Today's charges strike at the top of the copyright piracy supply chain - a technologically-sophisticated, highly organized distribution network that provides most of the copyrighted software, movies, games, and music illegally distributed over the Internet," said Acting Assistant Attorney General John Richter.

Eight men are alleged to have committed criminal copyright infringement in Charlotte, North Carolina, after two Federal Bureau of Investigation operations, known as Operation FastLink and Operation Site Down.

Richter said the probes were the "two largest and most aggressive international enforcement actions against criminal organizations" involved in online piracy.

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Soource : Yahoo News