FBI and Australian Police Raid Xbox 720 Leaker's House

[Timothy Chang]

FBI and Australian Police Raid Xbox 720 Leaker's House

SuperDaE, the man who leaked the "Durango" dev kit, has assets seized over an attempted eBay sale.

While Sony has been busy preparing for their PlayStation 4 presentation, an individual renowned for leaking details on the Xbox 720 developer kit was busy dealing with the law. Dan Henry (an alias), aka "SuperDaE", had his premises searched and hardware confiscated a couple of days ago, partly due to the alleged attempted sale of a "Durango" dev kit on eBay.

Henry tweeted the raid, saying that that an FBI agent was working with West Australia police officers from the Computer Crime Squad.

[tweet t=https://twitter.com/superDaE/status/303758749426933760]

[tweet t=https://twitter.com/superDaE/status/303775148035674112]

According to a copy of the search warrant [http://www.thetechgame.com/News/sid=4125/fbi-down-under-superdae-raided-over-durango.html], the officers were tasked with seizing computer hardware, media, "any and all gaming consoles", and Henry's mobile phone. The warrant also suggests that the raid was triggered by Henry's attempt to sell his Durango dev kit, as one of the search criteria stated that police were to search "any record...related to Microsoft Corporation and any partner organization, PayPal and eBay".

West Australia police confirmed the raid to The Verge [http://www.theverge.com/2013/2/20/4010904/next-gen-xbox-leaker-raided-durango-dev-kit], verifying that the warrant was genuine but neglecting to comment further on the case. "If he wants to tell the world that Police have been investigating him over stolen property that is his choice," they said.

In a recent interview with Gizmodo [http://www.gizmodo.com.au/2013/02/the-raid-of-superdae-how-a-prank-over-the-next-xbox-ended-in-corporate-espionage/], however, Henry further admitted that he was involved in breaching the systems of several other games companies for information, including Valve, which would explain why his hardware was seized in the raid.

Henry also revealed in the interview that the FBI was seeking to extradite him. "They can't extradite me straight up but they're looking for those loopholes to do it," he said. If charged, Henry could face charges of corporate espionage, dissemination of confidential documents, and misuse of a computer and/or carrier service.

Henry gained notoriety when he presenting Kotaku with information from more than twenty Xbox 720 white papers [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/118776-Durango-Developers-Verify-Xbox-720-Prototype-Details], which detailed specifications such as integrated Kinect, storage capacity, controller design, and the console's proposed internal hardware.

Microsoft had no information to share in regards to the raid.


Source: Gizmodo [http://www.thetechgame.com/News/sid=4125/fbi-down-under-superdae-raided-over-durango.html]

Permalink

 

[Fasckira]

"If he wants to tell the world that Police have been investigating him over stolen property that is his choice," they said.

This bit made me chuckle the most.

Guy is a bit of an idiot though. eBay is hardly the place to fence high-profile stolen goods, especially seeing as it holds your address for a start. He breached trust, broke NDAs etc... deserves the full whack.

 

[Saulkar]

deserves the full whack.

I more or less agree but I firmly believe it should be left to Australian authorities. He broke the law and several contracts and it will hit him hard however it should not be something that cripples his ability to recover after his has served his time/fine instead of a 80+ million dollar lawsuit/10 years in prison overseas. Obvious hyperbole however I find it odd(sarcasm) that the FBI would be the ones to deal with this instead of run of the mill cops.

 

[Vault101]

western Australia!? WOO!!!

I wonder where he is...probably perth...how did he get his hands on that stuff?

 

[knight steel]

deserves the full whack.

I more or less agree but I firmly believe it should be left to Australian authorities. He broke the law and several contracts and it will hit him hard however it should not be something that cripples his ability to recover after his has served his time/fine instead of a 80+ million dollar lawsuit/10 years in prison overseas. Obvious hyperbole however I find it odd(sarcasm) that the FBI would be the ones to deal with this instead of run of the mill cops.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
This a thousand times this, they didn't need the FBI to handle a guy like this it was overkill, plus it happened on Australia soil and he's an Australian therefore us Aussies should be the one to deal with this.
This includes being in an Australian court and sentenced to an Australian jail, I wonder if America would let Australia get involved like this if the positions were reversed.

 

[Dryk]

I hope they don't extradite him, I'm sick of the US taking over cases like this. We can deal with him guys, it's okay.

 

[DigitalSushi]

Corporate Espionage, yeah he deserves that. I don't think he should be extradited though.

western Australia!? WOO!!!

I wonder where he is...probably perth...how did he get his hands on that stuff?

You thinking of doing a road trip?
Just go to Perth, look for a jittery fellow in a cafe tweeting.

 

[AstaresPanda]

America needs to f**k off already, they are not the world police, no one like they way they run anything. The ONLY thing they did right was help out during WW2 but that was only after letting perl harbor get the crap beat outta it so they had a reason. Otherwise piss off. America is barely 230 years old....grow some pubes then you might be able tell ppl what to do.

 

[Mayamellissa]

The FBI invaded Australia to help raid a moron's house.
Do I have that right?

 

[Some_weirdGuy]

I second all sentiments of 'guy deserves a solid smack' and 'america/FBI should really stop overextending their reach'.

Infact, I thought they had a separate entity dedicated to international stuff like this, and FBI was purely internal(domestic) matters? Either way, neat tha the guy got busted, and i'm certainly not against international collaboration, but extradition is a big fat no, australian dude on australian soil should face australian criminal justice system, not some forign country he's probably never even been to.

 

[Zombie_Moogle]

I second all sentiments of 'guy deserves a solid smack' and 'america/FBI should stop overextending their reach'. Infact, I thought they had a separate entity dedicated to international stuff like this, and FBI was purely internal(domestic) matters?

The FBI is internal, but they're given faaaaar too much latitude when it comes to what they can decide not to tell the public they're doing

Not that these are the same thing, but the FBI got involved with the Dotcom debacle too; in his case, I'm pretty sure the FBI was calling the shots & the NZ police were following their lead. Did the Australians ask for FBI assistance here, or was the FBI in charge, and if so why do these governments keep following FBI orders?

 

[Kinokohatake]

America needs to f**k off already, they are not the world police, no one like they way they run anything. The ONLY thing they did right was help out during WW2 but that was only after letting perl harbor get the crap beat outta it so they had a reason. Otherwise piss off. America is barely 230 years old....grow some pubes then you might be able tell ppl what to do.

Though the last few lines are mildly insulting I agree. We really should become a lot more of an isolationist nation. If something happens here, we take care of it. Otherwise withdraw troops, money, aid, foreign aid workers,and stop getting into the middle of foreign investigations. We have plenty to worry about here without worrying about some sentient koala stealing an X Box kit.

 

[Colt47]

I had to read the article twice just to make sure I read it right. So a guy in Australia is getting investigated by what is supposed to be a US investigative agency? What the heck is going on here? Last I checked the United States does not own Australia, and for that matter, the business of someone breaching contracts in Australia should be taken care of in Australia! We've got an over bloated corporate culture that can't seem to differentiate a corporation from a person.

Edit: [em] reads the FBI home page about protecting people over seas. [/em]

Yes, a mindless automaton is a person now...

 

[RhombusHatesYou]

deserves the full whack.

I more or less agree but I firmly believe it should be left to Australian authorities. He broke the law and several contracts and it will hit him hard however it should not be something that cripples his ability to recover after his has served his time/fine instead of a 80+ million dollar lawsuit/10 years in prison overseas. Obvious hyperbole however I find it odd(sarcasm) that the FBI would be the ones to deal with this instead of run of the mill cops.

Most contracts establish which jurisdiction's laws the contract will be interpreted under and who's courts will be the venues for settling all legal matters involving the contract(ones that don't do so are bad contracts and can cause all sorts of problems)... so the contract issues will be settled whereever the contracts say they will be settled.

As for the FBI, any crime that crosses state borders in the US comes under their jurisdiction, so I'm guessing crossing national borders does the same, as well as federal crimes and some other stuff... they might have only had an agent on-scene as an observer allowed as a courtesy by the WA plods because of the possibility of extradition.

The other possibility is that they let the FBI agent come along to scare the piss out of the guy and get him shitting himself about possibly being extradited so he'd be more cooperative with the WA plods.

As for extradition itself... ennnhhh... tough call. He's not accused of a capital crime so there's nothing to prevent an extradition hearing going ahead... the rest depends on which country the hearing decides has the best claim on the right to put him to criminal trial (extradition for civil matters is close to impossible to get here).

 

[Moosejaw]

I second all sentiments of 'guy deserves a solid smack' and 'america/FBI should really stop overextending their reach'.

Infact, I thought they had a separate entity dedicated to international stuff like this, and FBI was purely internal(domestic) matters? Either way, neat tha the guy got busted, and i'm certainly not against international collaboration, but extradition is a big fat no, australian dude on australian soil should face australian criminal justice system, not some forign country he's probably never even been to.

You're right, it's called the CIA. I'm really shocked we're worrying about all this international law shit when our usual MO regarding people we suspect in foreign countries is to just drone bomb this guy and anyone unfortunate enough to be in the blast radius when we do (if they're over 18 and in the area, they are obviously involved).

So I'd recommend all you Aussies give this guy a wide berth and keep an eye out for specks hovering in the sky.

 

[cerebus23]

stop using the fbi as the personal lapdogs of corporate america, that would be a good first step.

also what happened to the fbi being a domestic agency? or does microsoft cutting a big enough check eliminate that also?

revoke our international monetary status and lets get this over with.

 

[RicoADF]

deserves the full whack.

I more or less agree but I firmly believe it should be left to Australian authorities. He broke the law and several contracts and it will hit him hard however it should not be something that cripples his ability to recover after his has served his time/fine instead of a 80+ million dollar lawsuit/10 years in prison overseas. Obvious hyperbole however I find it odd(sarcasm) that the FBI would be the ones to deal with this instead of run of the mill cops.

Agreed 100%, fortunately they can't just take him and the extradition should be denied, unless our courts decide to bend over for the US of A. And they wonder why the rest of the planet hates them for kidnapping people from around the world to make their big corporations happy..... *sigh*


disclaimer - I know it's the US and its laws and not the American people (mostly) that are causing this, no offence intended.

 

[Colt47]

stop using the fbi as the personal lapdogs of corporate america, that would be a good first step.

also what happened to the fbi being a domestic agency? or does microsoft cutting a big enough check eliminate that also?

revoke our international monetary status and lets get this over with.

Trust me, this makes about as much sense to everyone over seas as it does to the average citizen in the United States. Nothing our government has been doing in the last 10 years seems to be jiving with common sense. Heck, my Grand Parents remember better days of government and public cohesion.

 

[Vault101]

Corporate Espionage, yeah he deserves that. I don't think he should be extradited though.

western Australia!? WOO!!!

I wonder where he is...probably perth...how did he get his hands on that stuff?

You thinking of doing a road trip?
Just go to Perth, look for a jittery fellow in a cafe tweeting.

I'm sad to say I'm actually getting enjoyment over the fact the FBI was doing FBI shit in WA....I wonder if they'll catch onto the PS4 devkit I "aquired" not too long ago...

now somones at my door..odd at this hour