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Fast ... A screengrab from one of the games that was allegedly pirated, Nascar / file
US authorities are seeking the extradition of a 26-year-old Perth man in connection with an internet piracy racket that has allegedly copied more than $8.6million worth of software, games and movies.
The US Department of Justice served a 15-count indictment in Chicago yesterday naming Sean Patrick O'Toole, of Perth, as the de facto ringleader who used the internet name "Chucky".
Mr O'Toole is alleged to have been behind a worldwide group that illegally copied software, games and movies to swap online.
Others named in the indictment include Linda Waldron, 57, of Barbados.
Australian Federal Police officers confirmed yesterday that they had received a request from their US counterparts for assistance to investigate an Australian member of an alleged internet piracy organisation.
The spokesman said US Justice Department officers had issued similar requests to at least 10 other countries.
He said the Federal Bureau of Investigation had provided information to the AFP, identifying a global group of people connected to the internet investigation.
US investigators claim Mr O'Toole's internet scheme marketed pirated films including Sin City, Closer and Meet the Fockers, and games such as Super Streetfighter-2 and NASCAR.
It is alleged that one server recorded uploads and downloads of more than 19,000 gigabytes, or enough material to fit on 23,000 CD-ROMs, according to the indictment.
Federal police had identified an Australian who was allegedly part of the internet ring and in response executed search warrants on a Mount Pleasant house in Perth's southern suburbs on June 29 last year, the AFP spokesman said.
"During that event, computer equipment and documents were seized and are currently being forensically examined," he said. "No charges have been laid at this stage and no one is in custody."
A spokesman for Justice Minister Chris Ellison confirmed the department was aware of the US extradition request.
"The Government takes hi-tech crime very, very seriously indeed, including banking fraud and online child pornography," the spokesman said.
Under Australian law, US prosecutors would have to demonstrate that the activity Mr O'Toole is accused of conducting offshore would also be subject to criminal sanction here.
Mr O'Toole is the second Australian to face extradition proceedings to the US to answer software piracy charges in recent years.
The US Government asked Australian authorities to extradite Hew Raymond Griffiths, 42, of the NSW central coast, after a grand jury in the state of Virginia indicted him for copyright offences in mid-2003.
US prosecutors allege that Mr Griffiths was a leading figure behind a criminal internet gang accused of pirating software worth $50million, known as "Drink or Die".
Mr Griffiths, who has spent 18 month in custody since the extradition request was lodged, has lost a High Court bid for special leave to challenge his extradition last September.
