Agents instrumental in combating piracy across the internet and beyond, including work on infamous Mondello case
WASHINGTON, May 6 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA) celebrated the accomplishments of three federal agents at its annual conferences in San Francisco, in presenting each of them with its third annual Anti-Piracy Leadership Award. The honorees include: Senior Special Agent Mike Godfrey, Senior Criminal Research Officer David Collins, and ICE Special Agent, JW King, all of whom work for the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
The SIIA Anti-Piracy Leadership Award recognizes and celebrates extraordinary efforts to combat software and content piracy on behalf of SIIA, its member firms, and the hi-tech/digital content industries overall.
Godfrey, Collins, and King have been responsible for spearheading numerous successful criminal copyright infringement cases during the past several years. Of particular note, all of them were fundamental to cracking the now-infamous 2008 Mondello case. SIIA began investigating an online auction seller named Jeremiah Mondello in 2007. Using data collected by SIIA's proprietary Auction Enforcement Tool, SIIA identified Mondello through his eBay seller ID and determined there were many more additional auction identities that likely were being used by him. SIIA then referred all of its case information to federal authorities, where Godfrey, Collins, and King and others at DHA and the Department of Justice used the information to identify Mondello and determine the extent of his illegal activities regarding falsifying identities, creating fictitious PayPal (online) IDs, and selling pirated software on eBay. Their work resulted in Mondello being sentenced to four years in an Oregon prison.
Michael Godfrey has been employed as a law enforcement officer for 29 years. As a Special Agent with U.S. Customs, Godfrey worked exclusively on Intellectual Property (IP) investigations since 1993. In 2008, he was assigned to the new ICE National Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Center (IPRC) in Arlington, VA, where he is responsible for leading a team of agents and analysts in conducting IP investigations throughout the U.S. and abroad.
David Collins has been employed by ICE for the last twenty years, and for the past ten years he has worked almost exclusively on cases involving intellectual property rights. He is one of two Criminal Research officers within ICE who are members of the Computer Forensics Program and qualified to conduct forensic examinations.
JW King began his career in law enforcement, as a Police Officer in Commerce, Texas. He later went to work for ICE, and then became a Special Agent in 2000. He is stationed in Oregon -- the home state of Jeremiah Mondello).
According to SIIA President Ken Wasch, "We are very pleased that we're able to celebrate the incredible and dedicated accomplishments of Mike Godfrey, David Collins, and JW King, and to honor their tireless work by bestowing this year's award to all three of them. The Anti-Piracy Leadership Award is designed to recognize individuals within the government and private sectors whose work has had a significant and positive impact on the fight against piracy domestically and internationally. Mike, David and JW certainly fit this mold."
Added Keith Kupferschmid, SVP, Intellectual Property Policy & Enforcement for SIIA, "Our organization is pleased to show its recognition for the unwavering support of Mike, David, and JW and ICE generally in the fight against software piracy during the past several years. In particular, we appreciate their efforts in vehemently prosecuting software piracy that occurs on eBay and other Internet sites, and we applaud their ongoing and diligent efforts to lead such important and essential work."
Godfrey, Collins and King join previous recipients Marc Miller and Jay Prabhu, who are both Trial Attorneys for the Computer Crime and Intellectual Property division at the Department of Justice, and have helped SIIA and our members by prosecuting numerous software and digital content piracy criminal cases.
About SIIA
The Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA) is the principal trade association for the software and digital content industry. SIIA provides global services in government relations, business development, corporate education and intellectual property protection to 500 leading software and information companies. For further information, visit: www.siia.net.
SIIA Communications Contact: Eileen Bramlet, 202.789.4469
Rational PR Contact: Beth Dozier, 202.429.1833
SOURCE Software & Information Industry Association
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