French cybercops are extremely active these last weeks. They stopped members of two famous French warez. If you are used to scout P2P for French movies, then the names of CaRNaGe and cinefox are probably familiar to you. Four members of CaRNaGe have been arrested. CaRNaGe was the first release group to provide a cam of latest French blockbuster: “Bienvenue chez les Ch’tis” the day of the theatrical release. A few days later, an excellent version ripped from a DVD version used in post production houses was in circulation on P2P, delivered by another release group.

They may incur up to 5 years of jail and a fine of 500,000€. The timing of these arrests is interesting. It coincides with the French presidency of EU. French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, has promised that fight against piracy will be of of his priorities during this coming semester of presidency.

CaRNaGe, as a warez, collected terabytes of movies, songs and software. Typically, warez data flows after a few days or weeks to P2P networks. Release groups are at the top of the pyramid of Internet piracy.